So, I realised that I never explained the mysterious "health visit" from last Friday.
Like I said, I have a boyfriend of two years who I am very fond of. Like most couples our age, we sleep together (in both senses of the word). Anyway, because of that I've been on the pill (Ocella) since June 2009, a few months after we started dating (we started dating in March, and "first"* slept together at the end of May, not ideal I know). Anyway, I periodically go to the doctor to get my prescription refilled. One of the side effects of the pill is high blood pressure, so I also get that checked. Before I was on the pill (and when I was chilled out and at home for the summer) my bp was 100/60 (pretty low). My blood pressure now hovers around 135/95 (pretty high. If I was my grandmother they'd give me medicine for it.) I'm pretty sure that a lot of it is stress/diet/lack of exercise, but regardless my doctor was kinda worried. I measured it regularly for about a month, but also started thinking about other types of birth control.
I'm very close to my mum and best friend, so I talked over it with both of them (and my boyfriend of course!). Anyway, I decided that I wanted to switch to the nuvaring which (and don't read this part if you're squeamish) is a flexible plastic ring which fits inside you, and stays there for three weeks. It releases low levels of hormones, so mimics pregnancy (like the pill). There are a few advantages of it for me - not needing to remember to take the pill at the same time every morning, lower doses of hormones (which my doctor thinks will help the blood pressure) and hormones not going through my gut (it's just not good for you to send things like hormones through it).
I had to go to the doctor to get the new prescription. She was really in favour of the switch, so that's good.
I actually put it in for the first time today...it feels strange. I know this is a bit gross, but I'm not entirely convinced that it's in me quite right (but, given that I have my period right now, I don't really want to go fishing around down there too much). I'm going to see how it goes though, and hopefully I'll get used to it (and stop being afraid to pee - I'm terrified that it'll fall out into the loo when I pee!). When I started taking the pill it gave me some...issues. I was stressed and depressed, and constantly angry at my family. I'm going to be recording how I feel with this new type of BC - I'm hoping I don't get any negative side effects from it.
*I'm pretty conservative, and I absolutely categorically do not believe in one night stands. I'm much more relaxed in relationships though, and even at the beginning of our relationship I thought we had a lot of potential. Anyway, we actually slept together before that first time (while we were dating). It was maybe a month into our relationship, but it wasn't a good idea. We both thought it was a good idea beforehand, but we weren't ready. The boyfriend had never had sex before, so that made it an even less good idea (I had, story for another day) (also, the fact that he was and I was pretty much a virgin is part of the reason that we have "unprotected " sex. He's also been tested for STDs).
EDIT: So it did almost fall out when I just used the bathroom - not just me being paranoid! I took it out and reinserted it though, and it feels much better now!
Good luck with the new birth control! I'm on the pill, and it took about a year for my blood pressure to settle down; it went from normal to very high, until it eventually settled on low (about 58 over 85, which is low but not dangerously so). Hopefully, switching to the nuvaring will fix your problems.
ReplyDeleteOh right, that's really interesting. I was on it for almost two years, and I think my bp just kept climbing! :S. Every time I went to to doctor it just seemed to get higher! I'm glad yours sorted itself though (and fingers crossed about the nuvaring)!
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