QuestionI am just now getting off the pill after 10 years being I am having numb sensation in hand and MD said that I am having vascular spasms from it. He advised taking baby aspirin everyday with pill, but I quit taking the pill since that scared me. My question is: I would like to try a diaphragm or cap but when I use spermicide it hurts to pee after sex BAD!!! But I do not feel comfortable enuf to use just a condom. I honestly never want children (27 yrs old and married) and neither does my husband. Could it be possible for me to use a barrier method without spermicide and him use a condom also and be pretty well protected. Or do I ahve to use spermicide with the cap and stuff. (Personally I would love it if he got fixed)
AnswerWell, the fear of pregnancy is a stronger fear than the fear of future health consequences. I find that kind of perplexing. Why a medical doctor would just add another drug to your drug regimine is beyond me?
You are wise to stop taking the pill and to consider your options. If you have not ever read the package insert that comes with your pill package, you should. There are many many consequences to those false hormones.
On the other hand, there are consequences to everything else we do, including sterilization. Whether it is you or your husband who "gets fixed" there will be problems with that person's physical health later on. It's kind of like when the Army Corp of Engineers puts in a dam. Lots of changes occur to the ecology and landscape and over time those changes can be come acceptable but really and truly they are not natural or normal. Now, the ACE is reassessing some of those decisions and removing some dams to allow free flowing of the water levels again.
Anyway, there is no birth control that is 100% but when you increase the number of them that you use, you do lower your risk of pregnancy, that big fear you have. So, of course, you can use a diaphragm and a condom without spemicide, that's two types of BC. Your risk is lower than not using either or only one, but not as low as if you used spermicide with both of them.
Now, there is always Natural Family Planning which has no risks or side effects and certainly offers effectiveness equal to the best case scenarios of the pill and other more permanent solutions. Your health is preserved and your options are always open in case you should respond to an urge someday down the road to allow the love you and your husband share to take shape in the form of a child.
Other than that, I can offer no other suggestions. But I am glad you are considering your future and quitting the pill. You've made the right choice. I hope you continue to make the right choice.
