Booyamos

I remember reading a post here a while ago about condoms and someone said something like

"Sex with a condom is like wearing your socks in the shower" which I totally agree with.

And most people seem to think sex without condoms is 10x better

But I just wanted to know how effective Birth Conrol Pills actually are. From what I remember it is 99.9%

WebMD says it is theoretically 1/1000 but actually 8/1000, still 99.2%.


Guess I am just lookin for other people's opinions, since IMHO condoms suck

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Jenny

Don't quote me on this... Just from what I remember...

Birth control pills, taken 100% correctly are almost as close as you can get to abstinance (little less effective than a condom, but ONLY if a condom is used 100% correctly as well, and they are easy to mess up...).

But lots of things can affect the effectiveness (haha) of the pill. Antibiotics, maybe some other meds, forgetting one or more pills, etc. Also, sometimes the strength of the pill is too low for a certain woman. You may not find that out until it's too late.

I'm not saying don't use the pill. Far from it. You would MUCH rather deal with the pill (I'm on a roll tonight! lol), than go without a condom and any other form of bc. But realize that there is a risk and if you want to be EXTRA sure, do the pill and the diaphram or pill and a condom, etc.

Thesifer

Just have her get the shot, mate. Its something she cant forget. and Supposedly more effective then "The Pill"... Condoms are worthless.. although used properly.. they do work..

Jenny

Be careful, though. The shot can cause major problems I hear...

Kim

How close are you? I mean, you will be depending on her to actually take the pill. If you feel like you can be safe with that, then I think it is very effective. If not, then If I were you, I'd take the responsibilty for the birth control myself.

I did the depo shot for a few years, I liked it, but it messed me up hormonally. Plus, when it was time to get pregnant, it took me a LONG time!

Good luck whatever you decide!

avlena

there's also a patch that you're supposed to change once a week. in theory, that's easier then the pill, since you don't have to worry about missing a day, but personally i don't find the pill a problem at all. i just put them next to my toothbrush, or something else i do every day (sadly, my computer is also one of my spots ) and i rarely forget to take one. btw, my mum said that the way the pills work is that if you get off them(or forget more then 1 day in a row), you're likely to be very very fertile... that's how she conceived my little bro, at doctor's orders.

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whitak24

i have never been able to find out what the effective percentages apply to. does 99.2% (or whatever) mean that .8% of cycles end in pregnancy?

if this is the case, then you're pretty much looking at an "accident" every 8-10 years

Booyamos

well the pill has been working well for me so far.. err well for my girls in the past I guess I should say

I would like to be safe and say i'd use condoms too... but once you go condomless it sucks to go back, bah.

Ahh Kim, making me all paranoid but I trust her and I know she doesn't want that right now, she's only 20 (i'm 22)

Kim

Sorry to make you paranoid, I just hear too many stories of girls trying to "catch and keep" their guys that way. I'm sure she wouldn't do that.

Pinkgirl36

OH MY GOSH! Anyone that would do that has serious issues!! I love my pills...I've been on them for like a year and a half no problems
And from what I've heard is that the shot like makes you gain weight as well, I've seriously been thinking about taking it but decided to just stick w/ what I have.
My doc said to try the patch...I just looked at her and said, no that's ok...I don't trust that really....

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Freelance Superhero

oh okay, interesting...

i always thought the pill messed you up hormonally too, but i guess i was thinking of the shot...

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Kim

Yes, pills do mess you up hormonally too. I think they are just a lower dose than the shot.

molecularfire

All of those things mess you up hormonally (although I know some girls who like being messed up... it makes your periods a LOT lighter). The only effective form of birth control is extreme ugliness used with a complete lack of personality.

Seriously though... pills are VERY effective (actually so is the shot or the patch), but only if used right. Most of the time that the pill fails is because people use them wrong. Now... I personally hate shots (although... I wouldn't use either the pill, shot or patch because I'm a guy), so even if I was a girl, that wouldn't be the way I'd go. That and the shot uses a very long acting form, so if you decide later that you want to have a kid... might make it tough till that stuff clears from your system. If you're not a swimmer, I'd suggest getting the patch. Otherwise, I'd get the pills.
The other option is to get your BF to get himself cut. Don't quote me on this because I haven't verified it, so you should verify this before you make him do this, but I think they can do it reversibly now.
Oh... and remember, the pill doesn't protect you from anything but sperm. Anything else in that goo you get, you're stuck with. I'd suggest you stick with the condom anyways just for that.

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Disclaimer - The above opinion should not be taken as medical advise. My only advise is to talk to your doctor. If you are stupid enough to take anything I say seriously, you have nobody to blame for your cranio-anal inversion but your stupid self.

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cheapie

plus, the pill won't do anything about disease. before you laugh, check out the statistics of people in our generation with std

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cheapie

A man walks into a drug store with his 8 year old son. They happen to walk by the condom display, and the boy asks, "What are these, Dad?"
To which the man matter-of-factly replies, "Those are called condoms,
son..... Men use them to have safe sex.
"Oh, I see," replied the boy pensively. "Yes, I've heard of that in health class at school."
He looks over the display and picks up a package of 3 and asks, "Why
are there 3 in this package?"
The Dad replies, "Those are for high school boys. One for Friday, one for Saturday and one for Sunday."
"Cool, says the boy. He notices a 6 pack and asks, "Then who are these for?"
"Those are for college men," the Dad answers, "Two for Friday, two for Saturday and two for Sunday.
"WOW!" exclaimed the boy, "then who uses THESE?" he asks, picking up the 12 pack.

With a sigh, the Dad replied, "Those are for married men, one for January, one for February, one for March...............................

Booyamos

lol nice joke... ha ha

and molecularfire I don't need the pills (I am a guy ) I was just wondering about it

oh and I remember reading a while ago about how they are developing birth control pills for guys to take... that would be interesting but I am sure it would mess you up good hormonally.

InfiniteNothing

Don't quote me but I think the basis is a year. So more like once every 125 sexually active years.

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cheapie

doesn't it just mean that out of every 100 opportunities that could end up in pregnancy, 99 of them are thwarted?

Thesifer

dont think it really translates to that.. Cause that would actually be a pretty high chance of getting pregnant.. that says if you have sex for 100 days ... Then.. definately she is pregnant.. but.. you have to factor in more than just "pill fails=Kid" .. Thats not always the case.. as im sure you have heard people saying "I've tried for 1 year to get pregnant" .. would be someone not taking ANY type of Contraceptive.. and they still arent pregnant.. Dont know the percentage of pregnancies where you are trying etc.. but.. It also depends on the time.. There are many factors.. so.. 99 out of 100 times that She COULD get Pregnant.. She WONT.. so.. like .. 99999 out of 100000 or something like that (just making up a figure.. I hate math..)

cheapie

well, not really cuz in each cycle there are really only a few days when you can get pregnant.

i really don't know. i was just guessing.


this might help
http://www.uhs.uga.edu/sexualhealth/...ctiveness.html

whitak24

according to that link, 85% of people will get pregnant within one year if they're having unprotected sex (i would assume they mean sex on a regular basis). no wonder so many teens end up pregnant.

WhiskeyPapa

Ohhh... That explains it!

brainsmile

I agree Kim... the guy should always take the pill with the gal.

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bluedevil

People can say all they want about unprotected sex, but the bottom line is: condoms are a necessary thing. Even with the pill, unless you live with you bf or gf, there's no way of knowing if your partner's 100% faithful. And I've known some girls who took the pill exactly how they should and still got pregnant. And others who swore their bf are the most faithful guy in the world, and got STDs that he caught from another girl, all because of unprotected sex. That's scary. Better go with pill AND condom. And hey, there's so many kinds of condoms to choose from out there, everyone can find what they're looking for.

look_ma

Old thread (07-02-2003 05:35 PM), but yes condoms prevent the spread of MOST STD's.

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nickel

well since this thread was dredged up....
i found out something intresting last week from my gynocologist. it seems they are now manufacturing a birth control pill that allows women to have their period only 4x/yr which they have determined to be safe.

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Houdini

Actually, it's a fairly common practice for women to use the pill to postpone menstruation. In many cases, one can just skip the placebo pills and start a new pack. Without the hormone withdrawal, there's no period.

whodini

avlena

glamour had an article about that a few months back. they were actually warning against it though. the main reason being that that means if it fails, and something goes wrong, you don't have much indication you're pregnant until it's too late. i know there's other signs, but usually people look to the period as the red flag (sorry for the pun) for pregnancy. personally, i'd rather have that reassurance every month, cuz i've had enough friends get pregnant on the pill to know it's not 100%.

InfiniteNothing

Wow, Dredged time. Someone must have been searching.
BD, you have some messed up acquaintances. The trick is sleeping with someone who's trust worthy. Since no method is 100% perfect, you shouldn't really sleep with someone you'd never want to get pregnant. Just picture her as the mother of your child. Since the risk is always there, even with condoms, you have to be picky. Now if you are picky and she is on the pill, and she is someone you love and trust, (but not necessarily want to impregnate at the moment) you might as well take that extra small risk and take your socks off when you take a shower since you take a risk either way.

NB: good stuff. I read that the "period" one has when they are on the pill is really drug withdrawal bleeding, not a real period and it's therefore fine not to have one. It sounds like, from what I've read, it's probably better not to go off the pill. It might be more effective too. It seems like the 4X a year is a good compromise between the benefits of having a period every month and the benefits of never having one.

AV: You can always just take a pregnancy test. I'm wondering why not, by your logic, use the pill to have a period every 3 weeks (shudder). The main reason to have a "period" is cost. It costs about 33% more for the extra pills and it would cost about $7? every time you wanted to make sure with a pregnancy test. But if it's all covered by the insurance, the extra pill cost shouldn't matter. And $7? not to have a period seems like a bargain!

bluedevil

"you shouldn't really sleep with someone you'd never want to get pregnant. Just picture her as the mother of your child."

If everyone thought like that, you wouldn't have bfs running away from their gfs the second they hear that she's pregnant. It's a sad fact that a lot of guys are just in it for easy sex, no matter with who. Hence the need to use condoms.