Find Your Own Damn Condoms, Pal

[AFpheonix]

I'm on the shot. Yes, many more side effects, but no period for me. Ever. And for the weight gain, as long as you eat sensibly and keep exercising, the shot won't make you gain any weight. I've been in the same weight area since I first got on the shot. And it has a much better success rate.

If used correctly, oral contraceptives are 99% effective compared to the shot's 97%. (caveat is the correct use, of course)
Also, it is not recommended to be on the shot for more than 2 years continuously, as it is linked to bone thinning.

Don't bet on it. Men's health gets covered faster and more fully than women's health in most instances.

They've known for more than a decade that two nights of hospital stay provides exponentially greater benefits to women who have undergone a mastectomy than a single night. It still is not covered. However, less than a year after it was released to the market, and I knew people who were getting Viagra through their health plans.

I bill a lot for viagra and other pills of its ilk, and it is still rarely if ever covered, at least by the plans in my area. (we dispense so much viagra 100mg, we have it in the dispensing machine) It's more common now, but still a rarity.
As for the masectomy coverage, it's entirely dependent on your insurance plan. Each plan is different on what they'll cover and at what cost to you or them. I can't count the number of times people ask me what their copay is going to be on something random, and I have to explain that if I don't have a claim to put through, ie a prescription, I have no idea. Every plan is different.

I'm just amazed that there's plans that will now cover oral Lamisil and topical Penlac for nasty toenails.

[Will-Mun]

I do not want kids... I don't like little children, it's all I can do not to smother them with pillows.

My girlfriend does not want kids, same thing, cept she's a bit less homocidal about it. Anyway, a while back, after I had talked to her about that subject, kids, I looked up vasectomys.

Not that I was gonna get one (yet), but Vasectomys are the best way to make sure you never have kids right? A million times safer than a woman getting her tubes tied, easy procedure just a snip and you're done. And sometimes, its reversable!


Boy was I wrong. It's not a snip and you're done, it's snip and about two weeks recovery time. It's a snip and hope to GOD you don't feel any blinding pressured pain down there... A snip and you can't take a shower till the bandages come off. Oh, and don't count on that reversability! It's a more rare than they say, and it's usually only if you just recently have one, getting more and more imposable as time passes!

Still the safer route for the 'permenant' solution, but right now... If and when I need it... I will get condoms, and my girlfriend said she would get the pill.

[Kusanagi]

:raises hand: Another pill baby here. My mom was on antibiotics at the time. Whoops!

Well we're only talking pregnancies here, and of course the pill and shot are going to be more effective than condoms.

That being said, I'm all for male birth control, even if it is a condom and it doesn't "feel as good," (I won't lie, it doesn't) but that's just something else to fall back on if her pill fails, or his pill fails or the condom breaks, etc. It's a redundancy that I'm sure most guys would be willing to have.

For those women that are paranoid that we wouldn't take them, well, it goes both ways. How do we know you're keeping up with yours responsibly? ALOT of good natured guys are paranoid over that because there's nothing to prove that you ARE, and yes, there are some women out there who have lied just to take advantage of the overabused family court system and get a meal ticket for the next 18 years.

At least with male birth control right now, it's fairly obvious if the person uses it :P

But, that only becomes an issue if I know my partner is clean. Otherwise, I'd wear a condom simply because of the risk of STDs.

[Noelegy]

I have a rant on that one. I hate how guys try to do everything in their power to convince the girl they don't need one. Oh, it feels better. Oh, I can't stay hard with one on. (my friend's boyfriend says this and if he gets her pregnant any time soon, I'll kill him for getting her to believe that load of crap.) Oh, I forgot one. No excuses! Don't be a fool, wrap your tool! Take away that pathetic excuse of, "Oh, whoops, I forgot, teehee."

I was home sick a couple of days last week, and I ended up watching some daytime talk shows. One of them was Maury, and I swear every time I've run across that show the subject has been babydaddies and the identity thereof. I find it depressing that there are that many people having casual, unprotected sex. Yet oddly enough that aspect of the situation was never discussed.

[myswtghst]

As a Pill person myself, I feel the need to chime in, in it's favor.

I'm on Ortho Tri Cyclen, the full strength kind, and have been since I was about 15, and started having the most horrific periods due to endometriosis. Got them regulated thanks to the hormones in the pill, and I've been on it ever since. I'm the type of gal who is all for condoms as a second line of defense, and as a protective thing with STD's. I will go without condoms with a serious boyfriend who I know has been tested, but I generally don't like to make it a habit, more of an exception to the rule. That being said, I've made it almost 7 years now, on the pill, generally taking it on time and daily, and being extra cautious when on antibiotics, without any issues. This may be just me, and I'm knocking on wood right now, but I've not had any problems with it. Just my two cents.

[Gurndigarn]

Boy was I wrong. It's not a snip and you're done, it's snip and about two weeks recovery time.

There's not really a lot of recovery beyond the usual "be careful" you get whenever you have stitches. Oh, that and no sex for a month, but my wife was recovering from pregnancy, so it was probably a good idea anyway.

It's a snip and hope to GOD you don't feel any blinding pressured pain down there...

Eh... it does feel odd when stuff gets tugged in places that you know aren't being touched... but that's about it.

A snip and you can't take a shower till the bandages come off.

They skipped that one with me.

Oh, and don't count on that reversability!

>sigh< Well, we wanted another one, but weren't willing to risk her health. So I guess non-reversable is good...

[Kusanagi]

There's not really a lot of recovery beyond the usual "be careful" you get whenever you have stitches. Oh, that and no sex for a month, but my wife was recovering from pregnancy, so it was probably a good idea anyway.

I have this mental image of your wife in labor, grabbing your shirt and dictating angrily to you that you WILL get a vasectomy because you'd never put her through the experience again.

[iradney]

TTO and I just use condoms. I can't go on the pill. I'm on a constant emotional rollercoaster as it is, the hormones would just drive me batty.
I'm looking into the Mirena (sp?) IUD, as it appears to be 100% reliable, but I need to do a little more research before I'll make a decision on it.

[MinimaMagistra]

I'm looking into the Mirena (sp?) IUD, as it appears to be 100% reliable, but I need to do a little more research before I'll make a decision on it.

One of the first things is: Have you ever had kids? Rather, I would look more closely at the Paraguard. The Mirena is also a hormone-based method of birth control, whereas the Paraguard just works in mysterious ways. But still, the Mirena is even more strenuously recommended only for those who have had at least one child before.

My shift's done, but I'll check back here later. Research rocks.

[iradney]

One of the first things is: Have you ever had kids? Rather, I would look more closely at the Paraguard. The Mirena is also a hormone-based method of birth control, whereas the Paraguard just works in mysterious ways. But still, the Mirena is even more strenuously recommended only for those who have had at least one child before.

My shift's done, but I'll check back here later. Research rocks.

Nope, never had sprogs. Paraguard sounds interesting, but I doubt it's available in deep dark Africa (just kidding, it's not that deep and dark here!). I'll have a squiz around tho, just to find out. Tx!

[draftermatt]

I have this mental image of your wife in labor, grabbing your shirt and dictating angrily to you that you WILL get a vasectomy because you'd never put her through the experience again.

My mother did that to my father when my sister was being born. She grabbed him by the throat and said "boy or girl you're not getting another chance"

He got a vasectomy short after... in 1987. When you had to stay overnight to get it.

[Gurndigarn]

I have this mental image of your wife in labor, grabbing your shirt and dictating angrily to you that you WILL get a vasectomy because you'd never put her through the experience again.

She had been through it before. The first time, after delivery, she said "Oh, that wasn't so bad. Not that I want to do it without a baby as a result, but..." But while labor wasn't so bad on her, her pregnancies made her weak, to the point where she didn't get out of bed much at all.

[Banrion]

If used correctly, oral contraceptives are 99% effective compared to the shot's 97%. (caveat is the correct use, of course)
Also, it is not recommended to be on the shot for more than 2 years continuously, as it is linked to bone thinning.

You are backwards on your stats. The pill is 97% and Depo is 99.7% effective according to the Depo Patient insert. And according to the Ortho Tricyclen insert, the pill under normal use is only 95%, but 99.5% under IDEAL usage with Depo remaining at 99.7%. There is also still heavy debate in the medical community about the bone loss correlation. I have been on Depo for 11 years now since I was 15, and none of my Dr.'s have a problem with it. My insurance asked for a bone scan last year, and I am within the normal range.

There has also been some preliminary links made between regular periods and uterine and cervical cancer. The theory is that before BC most women spent between 3-5 years on average pregnant and the break in the cycles allowed the uterus to "rest." Now with the BC women are having 35-60 more cycles in their lifetime which is stressing the uterus and causing cancer. Thats why more and more of these seasonal BCs are being created.[/QUOTE]

[blas]

I thought Depo was 99.7% as well, too. Although I'm pretty sure the bone thinning varies from woman to woman. I've been on Depo for 3 and some odd years now, and my doctor hasn't told me to cease yet.

She did advise me when I was 16 that they normally only recommend Depo for 2 years because of the weight gain it causes some women and because of the bone thinning it can cause some women and because of all the effects that Depo can do to a woman's body. It varies woman to woman.

I'm pretty sure I can stay on the Depo as long as I want, provided I maintain a healthy weight and show no signs of negative effects of Depo.

[Will-Mun]

She had been through it before. The first time, after delivery, she said "Oh, that wasn't so bad.

Actually, in females, after birth the brain releases a chemical that literally makes the women forget just how painful birth is. (They still know it's painful of course, just not to the right degree.)

This is done so that a woman will be able to give birth again, as oppose to just "Never in a million years."