Pill, IUD, or Patch?
Hi, I’m freshly 18F & me and my boyfriend are getting more sexually active. As this progresses, I want to be as safe as possible. Growing up, I was always taught that its better to be safe than sorry (being safe and not getting knocked up.)
I’m thinking of going on a form of birth control but am unsure of which one. And there is a little bit of backstory:
When I was 13, I went on the pill for acne purposes only. My family doctor suggested trying it after we came to her with concerns about my severe(ish) acne, and she thought that the pill would help lessen it. Bottom line, that didn’t work. If anything it made my acne worse and many other effects followed it including:
- Severe mood changes (fluctuations** and I was a raging B.I.T.C.H)
- Weight gain (I used to be flat all around but once on birth control, I gained a lot of weight on my mid section that I have never been able to lose since)
- Lengthened periods (my regular periods before (and now after) the pill were 5 days, but once on the pill, I was having periods that lasted 10-15 days)
- Depression (I had already had mental health issues, and still continue to, but being on birth control made my mental health take a huge plummet. I had suicidal thoughts, was incredibly irrational and irritated, not wanting to ever do anything. The simplest of tasks were almost impossible)
My friend has the patch, and I’m open to any ideas or suggestions, but after my horrible experience with the pill, I don’t think I’d ever want to take it again. I need a safe, and secure (safe and sound) option that won’t drive me off the wall with weight gain and depression.
Anything helps, thanks!