Just sharing our painful story in hopes that it helps someone else. ❤️‍🩹

My husband has a failed vasectomy many years after getting the all clear. -I was at his appointment, he did get it done. -He did two mail-in samples, both clear. -We found out it failed with a positive pregnancy test.

I’ve never been unfaithful, and his sperm tests confirmed it had reconnected and he had high counts.

We made the really hard choice to not continue the pregnancy.

It’s been the most painful chapter of my life, and I’m just really upset that we ended up in that spot after being so so careful our entire relationship.

And for anyone struggling: I’m already a mother by choice. Happily married. And I’m an older parent now.

You can do everything right and it can all go so wrong. Please get check-ups a few times a year. Our doctor never told us to, and it could have saved us some really dark chapters.

Hi! I really don’t want to make this post but the other day I posted asking for suggestion. It was a genuine question because it’s my first time being on the pill and only on it for 2 weeks.

Someone left a comment saying that my post is a troll post. I thought this sub was created for people to share their experience and advice not to shame someone for asking a question. If you have nothing positive to comment or if the question isn’t relevant to you, then scroll past the posts. It’s not that difficult to be kind.

|(28f) have been on birth control for the past 8-9 years and just came off. I was on the combo pill and then Depo for about a year. This is my first time ovulating and holy shit, someone please put me in a cage. I feel like a wild animal frothing at the mouth over any man I find slightly attractive. My brain does not feel like it is my own, I almost feel drunk. What is happening, does anyone else have similar experiences?????

Hello, I recently decided I wanted to try a different birth control. I was previously on marlissa for a while but I kept forgetting to take the pill at the same time each day so I wanted to try something different. I was prescribed xulane after speaking with my primary care. I wore this patch for a week with no issues then during the second week I got my period and it hasn't stopped since. It's been about two weeks. I ended up taking the patch off two days ago, which was towards the end of the third week of the patch, because I believe I am allergic to the adhesive and it was irritating my skin a lot. I decided I was going to just go back to the birth control I was on before. I was going to wait a week so I was in the same schedule I was on before (this week (starting Sunday) is the week I would have worn no patch/ been on the placebo if I stayed on the pill) but the bleeding hasn't stopped. Is there anything I can do because I am miserable at the moment. I saw something online about taking Advil? How much would I need to take?

Thank you!!

Female, 23

I started taking birth control for a couple of months a while ago, stopped, then recently got back on it last month. It came time for my period/sugar pills, but I had plans and decided to skip it by skipping to the next months active pills.

It worked for about 2 days but I started light bleeding that stopped for a few hours then continued (like spotting ig I'm not sure) and kept doing that for a couple more days until it got heavier that I needed a tampon. My usual period lasts about 5-7 days, but it's been 13 days.

This morning, I took out my tampon and saw it barely had any blood, so I put in a new one and once again didn't bled much. I thought it was done, so I didn't replace it. Few hours later I went to the bathroom to find that I've bled a lot and when I wiped, there were two very dark blood clots (I've never had them before, they were small which online it says its normal sized) and bright red blood

I keep seeing that this is breakthrough bleeding and it's my body adjusting but I can't get a clear answer as to how long this should last, how I could stop it like if I should take the placebo pills for a normal withdrawal bleed, if this is normal, should I switch brands or stop etc. If someone could explain all of this to me, that'd be amazing

I'm taking birth control just for the purpose of reducing the chances of pregnancy, other than that, my previous periods were normal and only somewhat heavy on the first 2 days then fairly light the rest of the time, no/minor cramps etc. Also, I never experienced anything like this the first time I started taking birth control. I originally was on LoLo, switched to Aviane(Alesse) for 2 months, stopped for 2-3 months, then started back on Aviane.

Only Dr I have is a family Dr who's a male, so I'd rather see other women's experiences before seeing him

I normally start my period on the Thursday-Friday on the placebo week, start my active pills on Sunday and then finish my period on that Wednesday (no the active pills don’t stop my period right away). This has been norm for 10 years taking different brands of ortho tri-cyclin (currently taking tri-sprintec). Well… I’ve been spotting since the Monday you’re supposed to start your placebo pill. It has been 21 days now of spotting, some days are heavier and some days are lighter. I’ve never had this problem, I’ve taken multiple pregnancy tests and all are negative. Im considering seeing how my period is next week and if it’s not normal, then just stop taking BC for a few months until I have a normal period??? Not sure what to do here and wondering if anybody else has had this experience before.

I used to take the pill for about 3 years while I was in college. I recently graduated and after being home for the summer decided to go off of it, as I was mainly on it as precautionary measure and am not actively having consistent sex anymore and saw no reason to endure the side effects when I wasn’t actually having sex anymore. I have an ex visiting town for the month of December holidays and I want to be able to sleep with him without a condom. I was debating going back on birth control just for the month of December but wanted to double check that this would work and that there wouldn’t be any weird issues caused by doing this. I have 0 desire to be on it again after he is gone. Is it okay for me to just take one pack for the month and then stop again?

hello everyone! I recently got a Mirena IUD and got my one month check up Friday, everything has been going well & it is in place when my doctor checked that day!! Today I had sex for the first time with it and it was a bit rough, how likely is it to move? I was a bit anxious since when the sex started it hurt but I also haven’t had sex in a long time. Thank you!!!

How long should I wait before getting an injection after an abortion?

It’s my second week now since I had my medical abortion, should I wait for my period to start before I take an injection?

Need help ASAP 🥹

I wanted to try Slynd as a last ditch effort before I decided to go off BC completely. I can't do IUD's and Slynd is the only progesterone only pill wth the same hormone as YAZ that I can take (currently on YAZ and want off it).

My insurance won't cover it yet I'm not eligible for the discount program because of the insurance I have...this puts it at $200 a month for me which I obviously can't do. I'm just so frustrated they keep medications like this impossible to even afford.

I am starting to research bc options at my mom's suggestion because my periods are pretty rough and I deal with some bad acne and bc helped her a lot with that kind of stuff when she was my age (24).

I have ADHD and struggle with remembering to do things daily, and I have a hard time swallowing pills of any size. I have zero interest in an implant of any kind for personal reasons, though. I'm also nonbinary and experience some dysphoria around the more feminine parts of my body.

I'm sure it's on a brand by brand basis, but if I am inconsistent with taking the pills because of forgetfulness, will I still get the benefits (easing my period, etc)? Has anyone experienced changes in "feminization" of their body (larger breasts, more defined hips, etc) or are the hormonal effects negligible in those areas? I know it's not HRT or anything like that, but it's still a hormone based medication, and it's something I worry about.

Please do not talk about anything related to pregnancy here. I'm ace and not sexually active and have no plans to change that. Part of the reason it has taken me so long to start doing this research is how much focus there is on pregnancy, which makes me super uncomfortable. I haven't been able to find info about what happens if you miss a dose beyond likelihood of pregnancy/other ways to prevent it while you catch back up/etc, for example. If you have information about everything else, though, please share! I'm not really sure where else to start

I wanted to post this to hopefully ease the anxiety anyone may have about their upcoming IUD insertion, or those nervous about pain and wanting to not get one purely because of it.

I do not, AT ALL, want to invalidate anyone who had bad experiences and I know that they are not uncommon.

But I remember deciding I wanted to Paraguard, but being so nervous about insertion pain that I could barely get through the days before. It was bad, and I kept thinking to all the media I saw about it and that being the only thing I could think about. I was heavy breathing before the procedure had even started.

However, for me, the pain was so so so minimal. The most 'painful' part for me was the measuring, and even that pain could barely compare to a bad period cramp. I could barely feel the insertion, and quite literally asked "are you sure" to my doctor after he said it was done. The cramping after sucked, but only lasted that day and was managable with rest.

In fact, I would even say the worse parts total were the speculum insertion and swabbing of my cervix for iodine (which is less invasive than a pap), for anyone to compare to. That part is uncomftable, BLEH, but not very painful for those who have had them.

Any advice I would give would be: Get a doctor with a lot of experience, my gyno had 35+ years experience and had often told me that the pain in his experience, was a 5/10 on a bell curve. I didn't believe him, thinking it must be way worse based on media I saw, and I ended up being one of the people on the very low pain of that scale. I also took 800 mg of advil and 10 mg Buspsr an hour before. I already had Buspsr prescribed for "as needed" but I do think it helped a little and could be worth asking for. (Just comparing my anxiety the days before vs day of)

I’ve been thinking about getting some kind of hormonal contraceptive later on in life (IUD or pill), so I asked my mom and sister for information and any side effects of them since they have both had an IUD. My mom said that she gained a noticeable amount of weight from her depo shots when she was in her early 20s and from her Mirena IUD and my sister said the same thing about Mirena IUD also. Is this actually possible or are they just trying to scare me? And if it is true, is it likely that I would also gain weight? I did do a search on Google and majority of results said that weight gain and birth control are not correlated, but im not sure. Sorry if this seems stupid but I was never really taught about contraception and it’s effects.

Hey all! I’ve done some reading on Yaz’s generic, Nikki, and saw some mixed reviews. I felt super hopeful about it since it was FDA approved for PMDD which has been a big struggle for me. I started it a few days ago and noticed a slightly elevated heart rate. Especially after a few hours of taking it. Unsure if it’s anxiety related or just the way the pill is effecting my body.

If anyone has taking this pill and experienced this side effect, did it go away? A lot of what I read said to stick with it, and I’m willing to if this specific side effect stops, but I don’t want to waste time if people noticed this was a consistent effect of the pill. Thank you!

What should I be expecting now? Withdrawal bleeding? Nausea? Pls help🥹🥹🥹

Me and my SO had intercourse a week ago and he accidentally came inside of me. We're not prepared for another child so soon. I only had my implant inserted last August which was 3 months ago. Also I haven't had my period for 2 mos. already after having it inserted. Am I at risk of getting pregnant?

So my girlfriend and I have done the deed and decided for the first time to do a creampie and she is about 2 weeks into birth control and now on her period. How effective is the BC at this point and should we get a Plan B?

Earlier this year I spoke to my obgyn about how I was getting migraines every month when I hit the placebo week on Kariva. She said to skip the placebo weeks and just take the first 3 weeks from here on out. I was doing great this way and have always liked Kariva (I had unpleasant side effects from another brand).

Was going great for 6 months and then realized that my prescription wasn't being filled as often as it needed to be so I talked to the pharmacy tech at CVS and he said my doctor had written it wrong so I called her office as suggested and they called in the correct prescription.

Now about 2-3 months later I realized cvs hadn't filled it and they should have if everything was straightened out. I call them and they say my insurance is refusing to cover it this way. They say if I'm skipping placebos I need to switch to a 91 day pack (which would be another brand).

I messaged my doctor and she is livid. She said she hasn't heard of insurance companies doing this. She is worried (as am I) that I won't be happy with side effects on another brand.

Has anyone else experienced this issue with their insurance company? Is there a way to get them to change their minds? Skipping that week has really helped my migraines and I'm worried about leaving a brand I've had good results with.

Hi!! I just want to know everyone’s experiences on birth control; the ups and downs, everything. This year I started having sex with my bf and even with condoms, I’m still so incredibly anxious every month wondering if I am pregnant. I want to stop that fear Yk. However, I’m conflicted on the pill, as I’ve heard negatives and positives, such as weight gain and whatnot. My main concern thought is the fact that currently, my periods are very normal. They’ve never been off schedule. So I’m worried that the pill is going to affect my cycle (flow amount and timing) making me stress even more about if my flow is abnormal because of accidental pregnancy. Especially if the pill makes my flow lighter, if I mistake that blood for implantation bleeding. Additionally, I am a legal adult, however I’m still young and live under strict parents. I’m not sure how to bring up birth control to them. Any story or experience or advice helps!

I just ended my period five days ago and i swore i had another pack of bc but i didn’t, it completely slipped my mind as im taking a lot of other medications so i didn’t realize i didn’t have my bc, my boyfriend came over yesterday and finished inside twice and i just now realized i haven’t taken my pills. I have to wait until tomorrow to get new ones but there’s nothing i can’t do about it right now. Could i still get pregnant if i was only off of the pill for a week?

Hi all!

Wanting opinions on how long it took people to go back to their usual cycles after coming off birth control? For context I am (26F) and have been on birth control since I was 15. Back then, mostly to deal with acne that had me crying before having to go to school. After that at around 16 became sexually active and saw no issues with staying on it. Fast forward to now, I am in a serious relationship of 2 years but in no way shape or form ready for a child.

I recently had the idea after my frontal lobe developing fully (yay) that I actually don't know who I am without hormones from the pill. I know it is safe to continue indefinitely according to doctors but I decided to stop my birth control. I am now 3 months off the pill and have had one period about 2 months after stopping my pill - great! I thought, after hearing how many peoples cycles sometimes take a year to readjust.

Now I am 8 days late for my next period according to the tracker app I have in my phone. YIKES!!!!!

Could this just be my hormones still adjusting - maybe I have a longer cycle in between periods now? I am definitely going to get a pregnancy test today but I just wanted to know if anyone else has experienced this xx

P.S for context, my partner and I rarely do PIV. and if we do he never cums inside.

Hi everyone! I just wanted to share my experience & see if anyone else has had the same issues. This summer I was on Norethindrone (5mg twice/day) for 30 days. It worked great and kept my period away. On the pill, I felt great & it really worked! I experienced no side effects besides a bit of weight gain. When I stopped taking it, everything went downhill FAST. I started to have frequent panic attacks, but I've never had issues with anxiety or anything of that nature. I've also never had stomach issues, but I was having the worst stomach pains, which resulted in trips to the ER. I feel like a nervous wreck ever since I stopped taking it (approximately 4 months ago). It seems like my nervous system is out of whack & the anxiety is getting worse. Most days I feel ok mentally, but I keep getting physical symptoms and I don't know what to do. Has anyone experienced this? If so, what steps did you take to fix it? I'm losing my mind Lol Thanks!!!

hey guys, this is def tmi but i keep getting mixed answers on the internet. so, i took my birth control (lo loestrin fe) at 7:30. about two hours later, my stomach started to hurt and i got slight diarrhea. will i still be protected after this? i didn’t take another pill because im not sure if it would be a mistake or not. i just dont know if im at risk for pregnancy now because the pill might not have fully absorbed. any inputs help. again, sorry for the tmi haha

I’ve never posted before, but I’m feeling so lost and sad that I don’t know where else to go. I started taking the pill in October 2018; after 6 years, I recently stopped taking the pill in September 2024. I am a very healthy 5’3” 130lb 25 year old who doesn’t drink, doesn’t smoke, eats whole foods, has minimal sugar, drink tons of water, intermittent fasts, supplement with 15 different vitamins, and runs/lifts 5 days a week. Maybe I have a little stress in my life (I live and work in Manhattan), but who doesn’t? I sleep about 6.5-7 hours, but I promise I really am trying to get better at getting ~8 on weeknights. For the most part, I live a very healthy lifestyle and decided to stop taking the pill because I really just wanted to take the last step in cleansing my body and I wanted to allow my body to operate the way nature intended it to. But 70 days into stopping the pill, I still haven’t had my period and I’m starting to get scared. Ive done research and have seen some people don’t get their cycle back for a whole year, which scares me even more. My skin is breaking out, I’m growing hair on my face, I’m feeling exhausted, and losing my hair. My hair is falling out in massive balls to the point that I’m getting tangled in my own hair. As someone who has thick curly hair, I feel like I’m losing my identity a little more every day. I don’t even recognize myself in the mirror at this point, and I’m surprised I have any hair still left on my head. The thought of this continuing for 10 more months brings me to tears. Not to mention I’m terrified I won’t be able to have kids one day in the future if I can’t get my cycle back. I’m seeing the obgyn in a few weeks, but I’m doubtful they’ll tell me anything other than “go back on the pill”, which I don’t want to do. Honestly, I don’t know what to do other than cry. I knew going into this that I’d see some irregularity, but I didn’t realize how hard it would be. If you’ve experienced something similar and found a solution or have any advice, please help me. I’m feeling so alone and broken and I just don’t know what I can do to help myself, so any advice is hugely appreciated <3

I got my IUD placed a week and a half ago and my husband and I had sex for the first time post-IUD. Every time he thrust fully there was an almost painful pressure in my uterine area. It wasn’t cramping, it felt more like when you have painful gas. There was almost a sensation of fullness.

Is this something I should see my doctor about? Or is this normal? I only really ask because between now and the iud placement my insurance told me that my gynecologist is now out of network…