(no subject)

[hathycol]

So let's talk about contraception.

I used to have a tag for this, but since those days I have cheerfully wandered off Microgynon 30 and onto Marvelon. That was about... five, six years ago? And generally it was working for me but over the last year, perhaps longer, not so much. I stuck with it though because mostly I am lazy, but the last five months have become intolerable.

It's not so much that I have lost my sex drive, because I haven't, but mostly I sort of just... don't care really? It's lovely once I get into it, but, well, previous to that...

Well.

Anyway, I had made up my mind to talk to the nurse once this prescription was out because there's another reason behind getting fed up and that is trying to get an appointment. You know what I don't enjoy? Having to explain to the receptionist why I want an appointment. Oh no, just 'contraception' won't work, I have to give DETAILS. I have complained about this before, but it's clearly not working. I planned to speak to the nurse and perhaps go on another pill and then move from there, but I had a really distressing time with the receptionist ("No, I don't want to talk about why I want an appointment I'm in an open plan office and surrounded by MY COLLEAGUES!") and now I have lost my fucking patience with the damned pill. PLUS my appointment isn't for about another two weeks.

So. When I do go and speak to her, I will be speaking to her about wanting to go onto long term contraception. This is a new thing for me. I don't really want an implant on the basis that I tend to try and rip my eyebrows out at an ingrowing eyebrow, let alone something in my arm. The coil is a bit... odd, conceptually but I think I would like to start with it and move from there. I just can't face having to go through the faff of making an appointment every six months, even though I was cheerfully on a twelve month prescription when still living up north. I will be making this quite clear to the nurse. I can't find a local family planning clinic for over-25s, unfortunately.

In the meanwhile, I am now off any kind of hormonal contraceptive for the first time since I was 18. How alarming and strange. Obviously I am using other contraceptives, but it's a slightly weird feeling. I will try to keep up to date with any changes because I do think it's important to talk about this kind of thing. But still.

Comments

[littlered2.livejournal.com]

Contraception can be so tricky. I have been on the same pill for about five years - it seems to work for me well enough - and I like many aspects of it, like being able to schedule periods, but I have been thinking that a change might be good at some point. (And, while I don't blame it for either of these things, it would be quite interesting to see if either my mental health or my sex drive are better without it.) I don't really want to be on hormonal contraception for the next 30 years, so I asked my GP about the coil, but his response was that they don't like to give those to women who haven't had children. Where that leaves women who don't want children but would quite like the coil, I do not know.

It's infuriating when getting appointments is made more difficult. I tried to make an appointment to see my GP the other day - my current contraception prescription runs out in about a month, so I thought that would give it enough time. "You want an afternoon appointment? Well, the computer system isn't letting us view afternoon appointments at the moment, so we can't book them. Try calling in a fortnight and we might be able to book one then." Argh.

[hathy-col.livejournal.com]

I'm just so FED UP of trying to phone the doctor the thought of something that will last for 3 years is a tempting one! It's such a hassle.

If they don't give me a coil we will have a chat about how I would like them to tie my tubes but they won't let me do that either. COIL NOT LOOKING TOO BAD NOW HUH.

[littlered2.livejournal.com]

Yeah, my GP was even less forthcoming about the prospect of sterilisation. Which I understand, but still, when will I be allowed to make a decision about it?

(My mum still talks fondly about the day she was sterilised. Apparently it was great. Admittedly, she had three-year-old triplets at the time, which will probably make even the most broody person think twice.)

[not-vacillating.livejournal.com]

I'm sure I have a least one childless friend who has a coil if not more, so there must be circumstances under which they offer it. I usually start these debates by arriving at the appointment already armed with a pros and cons chart for a couple of options.

I've also been on the same pill - actually a double dose of Cerazette, which is a POP - for over five years. The prescription does make pharmacists double-check, and I have to go back twice as often because they can't prescribe more than x months at a time, but the other options seem worse. Oestrogen pills gave me really bad emotional side effects, and a normal dose of Cerazette was like being pre-menstrual all the time, but the double dose suits me well and has the bonus that in five years I've had fewer than five periods. (This does make some gynaecologists frown a bit, but I have excellent reasons for wanting to avoid periods and when I make it clear that This Is On Purpose And I Wish It To Continue they back off; none have ever given me an actual health reason to change, only the 'are you sure you don't want to be normal, sweetie?' look.)

I also have considerable amounts of trouble booking GP appointments. The thing where they reduce waiting times by making you phone at 8am, and 8:02, and 8:05, and 8:06, and 8:07, and 8:10, by which time all the appointments have gone and you need to try again tomorrow? I hate that, and I don't have a) a full-time job, b) a sleep disorder, or c) massive telephone anxiety.

[littlered2.livejournal.com]

It is infuriating. I know that it can be hard for GP surgeries to find an option that works for the largest number of people - the one where I used to work as a receptionist had a system where a certain number of appointments were kept as same-day ones - they weren't bookable until 8 that morning, and so people would phone in a mad rush then and they'd often go very quickly - but surgeries where you can only book an appointment by phoning at that time sound awful. That's just not going to be possible for lots of people.

[hathy-col.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I have my list so fingers crossed the nurse will be reasonable. In terms of making an appointment with our surgery you have to phone when the moon is in a certain phase and Mars is in the fifth sphere, or something like that. It's IMPOSSIBLE. "Oh, we do late night surgeries!" "When?" "er..."

[sebastienne.livejournal.com]

Your GP's info on the coil is quite out-of-date.. obviously there's no accounting for individual practitioners being kind of crap, but I wonder if you'd have got a different response at a family planning clinic? (I'm childfree and happily be-coiled for over 4 years now, the Oxford family planning clinic didn't bat an eyelid.)

[littlered2.livejournal.com]

Maybe - he was nice, but seemed a little under-informed on some things ("no, you won't have side effects from discontinuing antidepressants"). This was about a year ago, with a former GP, so I might run it past my current one and see what their thoughts are. If he says no and I still want to go for it, family planning clinic sounds like a good option.

[balthaser.livejournal.com]

Getting an appointment is the most hassling thing about contraception I AGREE!
Down in London I only had to get a nurses appointment which was so much simpler. Up here I've never seen the Dr because it took so long I ended up going back to the ISIS in Southport which is fantastic.

I know they don't like people going on the coil unless they're absolutely certain because it can be a pain to take it out early. I know my friend found the side effects were too much for her and she had to argue to get it taken out when she'd had it less than a year.

[hathy-col.livejournal.com]

I know of at least two family planning clinics in Southport and Ormskirk, it is SO GRATING that there isn't one near here. Come on NHS! There are loads more people living down here!

[kelemvor.livejournal.com]

Aaargh! The receptionists do not need to know why you are booking an appointment! It would make me consider the hassle of leaving a practice , with a sternly worded letter explaining why...

My Mum used to swear by the (quarterly? six-monthly) contraceptive injections, and as I was living with her at the time, so did I. Now that she's closing out her 6th decade, such things are less of an issue, but if it's still around it might be something to consider.

It occurs to me that while I've been happily reading your journal for about eight years, we still haven't met. I find this Odd, in a strangely reassuring way. However, I spent part of Saturday evening in Green Park with Boyfriend #3, feeding nuts to squirrels and assorted birds. If the weather shows any sign of behaving itself over the next month, would you be interested in joining me for more of this?

[ann-pan.livejournal.com]

My GP was positively encouraging me to go onto long term contraception and explained all of the options without me really asking. Perhaps he thinks my genes should in no circumstances be passed on... I hate the pill. It makes me super sad, but I'm not wanting to go on long term so I have to live with it. Why are our lives so hard?! ;-)

[hathy-col.livejournal.com]

Why isn't there one that just... works? With no hassle?!

[tau_sigma]

Bleh, I don't envy you; I think I would be awful on the pill, given a combination of somewhat similar side-effects of antidepressants and/or depression and a tendancy to forget to take tablets at a regular time... I can heartily recommend the implant, but can also understand it not being everyone's thing; I hope you find something that works for you, anyway (and gah, doctor's receptionists! I have had far more bad experiences with them than good.)

(Side note, based on my choice of icon: can you imagine trying to get contraception off McCoy?! He'd just call you darlin' and flirt with you in a condescending way; the Doctor would be able to provide you with the exact probability of failure for every possible method of contraception you can think of - and some you can't - the only one you'd have a hope with would be Beverly, who would just be fucking ace and supportive and help you to make an informed decision.)

[hathy-col.livejournal.com]

At least in the future they will just fix you up. Or maybe all of the men will also be on contraceptives!! Oh, to dream.

To be fair I think Julian would be much worse than McCoy for contraception.