Does anyone use a diaphragm - is it effective?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I've read too many articles about complications from IUDs -especially Paraguard, from extreme hair loss, to weight gain, cramping to having the damn thing get stuck and needing invasive surgery to remove it. For something that is "non-hormonal" it sounds like it has just as many bad side effects if not more than the pill. It sounds like the diaphragm isn't anyone's favorite either. I feel pretty much screwed here. Guess were stuck using condoms.

Vasectomy.

[Anonymous]

Used it a long time ago in college. Not a big fan. Annoying to insert and remove. I think I got UTIs because of it. I liked the Today sponge better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're using the pulling out method...and I keep an eye on the calendar.

I know someone who used this method. She has a 3-year-old now.

[Anonymous]

I had 2 girlfriends in college who used a diaphragm. It wasn't so bad from the male point of view. Miles and years better than condoms. I didn't mind bumping up against it--it got out of the way, same as her cervix and other parts up there. I'd rather bump up there than wear a condom.

It's funny, though, I think they've become dated. Kind of like the pubic hair those college GFs had too.

[Anonymous]

We've used pulling out and the calendar for over a year now. We are older (almost 40), so I think we will be ok. Honestly, the calendar works for most folks.

[Anonymous]

I used the diaphragm for almost all of my childbearing years (except for two or three months in adolescence when I used the pill). I'm from the generation when there were many concerns about the pill and the IUDs so the diaphragm was considered the way to go.

Yes, it's a pain to insert. You have to be sure you do it right or you can wedge it between the cervix and the vaginal wall instead of over the cervix. (Happened to me a couple of times) If you don't get it in right the first time, your fingers are all slippery from the spermicide and you have to go wipe them off. I'm post-menopausal now so I don't know what the situation is now but towards the end I started having a harder time finding it. Used to be able to get it at the supermarket but then I had to start going to a drug store to get it. (I was really annoyed to discover you could buy vaginal lube at the supermarket but not spermicide! But now I need that lube and I don't need the spermicide! Ha ha!)

OTOH, you only use it when you need it. You don't have to worry about taking a pill every day. You're not having drugs released into your body every day.

It also worked well for us. I stopped using it at the age of 37 in order to get pregnant. Having gone so many years without having a scare I wondered if I was really fertile at all. But in just a few weeks I got pregnant so I know that the diaphragm was actually protecting me from getting pregnant!

But I don't know if I were doing it today what method I would choose. I was deciding what to use in the era where there had been some pretty scary incidents with IUDs and people were less sure about the effects of the pill. But it is doable! And it worked for me.

[Anonymous]

I used the diaphragm and spermicide + tcoyf tracking for a few years pre kid. I also couldn't do
Hormones, and ordered spermicide online. Kept us not pregnant, but we would have been open to it we had been one of the oops. Other positive? Mess free sex during period. Post kid? I wanted something surer so I got a para guard and I love it. Heavy periods the first... Year or so, but no crazy side effects and have had it almost 3 years.

[Anonymous]

And spermicide is still on amazon and drugstore.com: http://m.drugstore.com/products/qxp12654

[Anonymous]

I was considering the diaphragm but since we are not okay with an oops I decided on the Paragard. Can't comment on the side effects yet, since I just had it inserted this morning. Also started zinc and iron supplements to help ward off side effects. I will say that insertion was very easy and I feel fine a few hours later, even went out for my usual run!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I've read too many articles about complications from IUDs -especially Paraguard, from extreme hair loss, to weight gain, cramping to having the damn thing get stuck and needing invasive surgery to remove it. For something that is "non-hormonal" it sounds like it has just as many bad side effects if not more than the pill. It sounds like the diaphragm isn't anyone's favorite either. I feel pretty much screwed here. Guess were stuck using condoms.

Vasectomy.

Good option but we have not decided if we are going to have more children...so it can't be something "permanent"

[Anonymous]

^^^ method pre-kids was calendar/temping/charting to avoid. Just not comfortable with failure rate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And spermicide is still on amazon and drugstore.com: http://m.drugstore.com/products/qxp12654

Oh, of course, I probably went through menopause before the advance of amazon prime! D'oh! (Menopausal former diaphragm poster here.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know you say you don't want a foreign object, but....

Just get a hormone-free IUD. No mess, no fuss, no pregnancy.

I've read too many articles about complications from IUDs -especially Paraguard, from extreme hair loss, to weight gain, cramping to having the damn thing get stuck and needing invasive surgery to remove it. For something that is "non-hormonal" it sounds like it has just as many bad side effects if not more than the pill. It sounds like the diaphragm isn't anyone's favorite either. I feel pretty much screwed here. Guess were stuck using condoms.

They don't write articles about the majority of women, including me, who have no problems with it and have found it to be a better form of birth control than anything else. All of the things you mention are freaky, rare side effects---almost any medical device/procedure will have those.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^^ method pre-kids was calendar/temping/charting to avoid. Just not comfortable with failure rate.

Just using a calendar/rhythm method is not very accurate. Charting with temping, etc, is FAR more accurate and a decent method once you know your body and have a decent charting pattern.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know you say you don't want a foreign object, but....

Just get a hormone-free IUD. No mess, no fuss, no pregnancy.

I've read too many articles about complications from IUDs -especially Paraguard, from extreme hair loss, to weight gain, cramping to having the damn thing get stuck and needing invasive surgery to remove it. For something that is "non-hormonal" it sounds like it has just as many bad side effects if not more than the pill. It sounds like the diaphragm isn't anyone's favorite either. I feel pretty much screwed here. Guess were stuck using condoms.

They don't write articles about the majority of women, including me, who have no problems with it and have found it to be a better form of birth control than anything else. All of the things you mention are freaky, rare side effects---almost any medical device/procedure will have those.

Agree. Very happy with my Mirena, and pretty much everyone I know who has one is happy as well. I've read that it is the most popular option among female OBs.