Contraception

[ailbhe]

It's a feminist issue.

And today I'm annoyed because my arm hurts, my bandage is uncomfortable, my wound is where Emer rests her head while feeding, muscle movements when I pick the girls up cause all sorts of twinges, the wound is still bleeding (14 hours later), and I'm too upset by the whole thing to find it ghoulishly interesting that I can wiggle the implant around visibly under the skin.

I've put arnica on it.

And, you know, at least now I can't get pregnant even if it suddenly seems like a good idea to try.

Rob and I were wondering what happened to the male pill. I seem to recall that it wasn't available for general release due to copyright issues.

Comments

[kaberett.livejournal.com]

I posted a rant here (http://lizzip.livejournal.com/329360.html).

Basically, due to a merger between two companies, there's no longer any interest - possibly because the company doing the takeover is one of the main manufacturers of EC, but the official line is that "[men having an implant changed once a year and getting an injection every three months] is not as convenient as a woman taking a pill once a day".

Article here, for those not on my flist... (http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2007/June/22060701.asp)

[da-pol.livejournal.com]

http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/menshealth/feature/malepill.htm

Seems it wasn't generally released due to undesirable side effects at the moment, which is a damn shame as I was quite looking forward to it - I find the idea rather more appealing than an invasive surgical procedure like vasectomy.

It's the one area where female medicine is rather ahead of male I'm afraid - if there were a male form of the Essure process I'd even consider that.

[taimatsu]

I found my implant-site healed pretty quickly, but I had hideous problems with the bandage - it became clear that I'm probably allergic to the adhesive on the one they used (not their fault, they asked if I had problems with plasters and I said no, because I'd no idea) and the wound that caused took *longer* to heal than the insertion point itself. Other than that I'm pleased with it. Very much take your point in general, though. :/

[da-pol.livejournal.com]

Give me a once a day pill - I'm diabetic so I take more than that anyway as a matter of course.

Speaking as a man, I'd like more choice than invasive surgical procedure, (no matter how minor), stupid spoingy teary rubber thing or accidentally getting somebody pregnant.

[kaberett.livejournal.com]

I can't take the combined pill because of migraine with severe aura[1]; I had such a bad experience with Cerazette that I never want to take hormones again.

Obviously I wouldn't compel a partner to take hormones if they messed with his system as well, but it would be nice to have that as an option in addition to it being solely up to me whether I picked the invasive surgical procedure, stupid sproingy teary rubber thing or accidentally getting pregnant...

[1] "Oh, you've only had two ever? Well, given that they're so rare..." [description of auras] "... we might refer you to a neurologist. Um." That was a fun visit to the GP. :p

[ailbhe]

I know plenty of women (two is plenty) with severe latex allergy and serious side-effects with hormonal contraceptive; I don't think they'd care much how their partner dealt with it as long as they didn't have to worry about pregnancy...

Of course, I found Cerazette a fantastic period-and-migraine cure-all. It's just not proof against a strong desire to be pregnant.

[da-pol.livejournal.com]

For what it's worth, there are options, but they either rely on the woman being informed and prepared, or the partner being at least prepared if not informed.

For example, for myself I tend to carry latex condoms, polyeurethane condoms, occasionally lambskin condoms, Orthoforms (Nonoxynol pessaries - not for me, but sometimes useful to have).

I seem to be relatively rare - I sit firmly on the side of "Recreation, not procreation" and I want to make sure that all involved have as much fun as possible - this does not normally include unintended pregnancy, hence my wanting as many options on *my* side as possible short of absolute abstinence (and sometimes even that) to preclude that occurrance.

Contraception *shouldn't* be an issue purely for the woman - men should think a bit more than they tend to and make sure that they are doing the best they can to make sure they aren't going to get a partner pregnant unless they both intend to.

[kaberett.livejournal.com]

If my partner ended up suicidal (or even "merely" severely depressed) on hormonal contraception[1], I obviously wouldn't want him taking it, and we'd probably just stick to Not Having Sex; then again, for the time being not getting pregnant is a much stronger desire than my broodiness, so it's not an issue for me...

[1] Cerazette would have worked for me as a contraceptive primarily because I would have been incapable of having sex for myriad reasons both mental and physical. :/

[sidheag.livejournal.com]

ISTR that the side-effects which mean the male pill can't be marketed are a subset of the very common side-effects of the female contraceptive pill... However, I do think I'd have a hard time trusting even my DH to take it without fail every day. At least if *I* make a mistake it's emotionally salient enough that I don't forget about it.

[barakta]

My ex was involved in male pill trials in the late 90s. I believe the problem they came across then was that after about 3-6 months the efficacy went from 100% to something less and the man's sperm count started coming up again...

And yes, my ex for all his faults was unusual in that he passionately believed in the pill for men given the likelihood of fewer complexities than the female pill. Even though hospitals and the minor implant op made him /very/ squicked he thought it was worthwhile for a year's worth of protection.

[ailbhe]

Side-effects!

highly personal question - please feel free to ignore

[merryhouse.livejournal.com]

does sex still hurt as much, or did you get that (semi)sorted? I seem to remember you discovered there was an infection, but this was after you got pregnant so it wasn't going to be treated yet.

Re: highly personal question - please feel free to ignore

[ailbhe]

We don't know. I might get over it, but the whole idea is so upsetting that we don't even pretend to try any more. I'll probably end up going for sex therapy at some stage.