Looking for birth control options

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I'm heading to the doctor in the next week or so to get my last tetanus shot, but I've been thinking about getting birth control while I was at it. I can't decide if I want the pill or Mirena though.

For those of you who have been on or are currently on birth control, what was the best option for you? What didn't work out? Dp you have any tips you could give me about making a decision? I think I might end up going with Mirena, but I wanna be sure there's no other option out there that would work for me.

i used to use the diaphragm. very few side effects. you just have to be religious about using it. if remembering to use something is an issue, i'd definitely go with mirena.

Everyone is different, so your experience may vary, but I am sensitive to hormonal birth control and had trouble with the Pill in the past. Lots of side effects from it. I've never used an IUD, but if I find myself in a long-term relationship again, I'd probably be interested in trying one. Given my past experience, though, I would likely go with a non-hormonal type, rather than Mirena.

Edit: I just typed IED and had to correct myself. Never had one of those 'installed' inside me, either, thank God!

@cathylynn: I think my mom used the diaphragm for a few years. I'll have to ask her what that was like. She's on the pill right now.

@blueroses: That's a good point. I've been going toward hormonal contraception because I get really bad PMS and have really heavy flow on my period, and I was hoping the hormone change would alleviate or eliminate it entirely.

Mirena is routinely used to reduce bleeding. There is an IUD like it that is designed for women who've never had children. It's smaller and supposed to be easier and less painful to insert. It's called Skyla. If you are leaning towards an IUD, you may want to ask if that's a better option for you.

I used various hormon birth control (normal pill, mini-pill, plaster, ...): On one side they worked great. I got so tired from them, that I slept half of the day, the other half of the day I was working, so there was no sex at all = 100% safety. ^^

Beside that it made me tired at hell, specially the oral pill is a bit buggy in my eyes. If you have any illnesses, fast-poop, vomiting, whatever ... the reliability of the oral pill is already gone and you need to relie on something else. Certain medication influence with it... With the mini-pill, I had the additional prob, that you need to take that on time every day, and if you forget, reliability was as well gone. So we hardly had any sex, and additional needed another kind of birth control half of the time. -.-

IF you have your period in an reliable cycle, those body-heat/hormon-level computers of the pharmacy might be an option and are rather reliable. With rather I mean, that I would not use it, until you and your partner are willing to take that little risc of an pregnancy. My partner and I have been together for 14 years, and we knew that we wanted kids, once house renewing is done...so god damn, if an "accident" happened, it would have been ok as well, kid simply would have needed to wait for its own kids room.

Personally I was very happy with an copper IUD. They are a bit outdated, so sadly about 10% of woman have troubles with it, and need to remove it again, but if it works for you: They work without hormones, causing no side effect from that. Once its in, you cant forget about anything of it, so no need to watch for diseases, forgetting something, ... As well that, once removed, you are instantly fertile again. Most of my friends taking hormon birth control, had to wait half a year, until their hormon levels were back to normal and they got pregnant. With copper UID you are simply supposed to wait for a period, so that eventual scratches from the removing heal, and thats it.

Diaphragma shall be safe as well, the one thing that kept me from trying it, was that you need to adjust in the middle of intimacy with some kind of item. I prefer simply cuddling with my partner, and if lust comes then its ok, and if not its not. But I really dislike that you cant simply be spontanous, in my oppinion.

@metaldanielle: That sounds like something that could work for me. Thanks for sharing.

@Scheekugel: I think I might end up with an IUD. I'll have to go in and see if anything like the copper IUD is available to me. Any kind of IUD would work just fine for me actually.

I didn't like the pill at all. It made me fat and moody. Well fatter and moodier than I already was. I use condom, though if I were married I might try the sponge or spermacidal foam. Both of which are over 80% effective. Not as good as condoms, but I hear it feels better without condoms and in a marriage you don't have to worry about diseases. Well, you shouldn't anyway.

I'm not too familiar with IUD's--but my mother had problems with hers. I've heard about other people having problems, too.

To me, it seems like a device that's invasive--thus increasing the risk of infection. I've heard how the uterine lining "sucks in" the IUD.

Why can't you use the diaphragm? To me, it seems like a relatively painless, yet effective method of birth control (especially when a guy uses a condom).

Obviously, people who have successfully used IUD would, inevitably, offer good advice as to its efficacy.

I don't have the best feeling about it, though. That's just me, though.

I don't think I could even get a diaphragm in and out right. Back when I was on birth control I had Norplant. I think there is some new equivalent with a different name now. It was little hormone sticks that they implant in your arm and leave there for up to 5 years. It made me bleed a lot when I first got it. I don't know if the new versions are like that. It was good for me because I am really bad at remembering to take pills.

I don't need birth control any more because I don't have sex and I had a hysterectomy.