Scarleteen

I've recently switched from the pill to the medroxyprogesterone shot because it seemed like random things happened every month that could affect my pill, like vomiting or diarrhea. Things I just couldn't control. I made the switch and was told by my pharmasist and doctor it would be effective immediately. But honestly, I'm having a hard time trusting my birth control right now. We still use condoms, but my boyfriend would eventually like to stop using them. And I honestly don't love them.

My main problem is that everywhere you look, especially the internet, there are literally hundreds of people claiming they've gotten pregnant on everything from the pill to the IUD. Does hormonal bc really fail that often? Is it stupid to trust that it'll work long-term on its own, without condoms?

Have you seen this article yet: http://www.scarleteen.com/article/etc/h ... aith_in_bc

So, here's the overall scoop. NO method is 100% effective. None. We can send people to the moon but we don't have that, which is ridiculous, but I digress.

Let's look at what that means with a given method so you can have a tangible sense of things. Your current method is 99% effective in perfect AND typical use. It's one of the most effective methods there is, and that's especially since there's almost no room for user error. The only way you can mess this up is by not getting shots on time.

99% means that around 1% of people using it, over one full year, still do become pregnant. It means that of every 100 people using it, within a year, 1 of them will become pregnant. But 99 of them won't. That 1% is rare.

But billions of people use contraception. Because this is one big data piece we have, this method is basically the most popular in Africa. In Africa, around 12 million people use it. That means that in a year, 11,880,00 people do NOT become pregnant using the shot. But 120,000 people do. That is still a lot of people, and that many people reporting failure is going to feel like a lot, because it IS a lot.

That is, until we compare it to 11,880,000 people. Then it looks like very, very little. Because it is. Get what I'm laying down here?

It's not stupid to use the method you are without backup (however, going without condoms to reduce STI risks may not be wise, depending on what your sexual life looks like and involves). These choices are all about what works for you and what you want. Do know, though, that what has been shown to work best to prevent pregnancy is TWO methods, so if you worry about this, using that backup might be something you find works better for you because you can basically know that the shot plus condoms (again, aside from the STI protection and prevention) all but makes it impossible for pregnancy to occur. Worrying all the time about sexual outcomes can make it awfully hard to really enjoy sex, on top of stressing you out in the whole of your life.