Scarleteen

Hey.. I’m 17 and in a long term relationship and looking for advice. We are planning to have sex which I am certain about but what I’m not certain about is the birth control pill or condoms to prevent pregancy. I am in boxing so gaining weight as a side effect from birth control is a risk I can’t take so my main question is are condoms reliable ? As kids are not an opinion right now .. we have discussed it and he doesn’t mind wearing condoms everytime ( extra safe durex ones ) so please help a girl out and just give me some advice are condoms effective or am I best sucking it up and gaining weight

Hi Caoix,

You can read about the effectiveness levels of different birth control methods here: Birth Control Bingo! . If used correctly, condoms are extremely effective at preventing both pregnancy and STI transmission, although we actually recommend people combine methods (like the pill and the condom) if they want to be as safe as possible. Would you be interested in pursuing hormonal birth control methods that aren't the pill?

As a side note, while the pill can cause weight changes in some people it's by no means a for sure outcome. So if they are an option you're interested in trying, it may still be worth it to use them and see what happens.

Thank you so much ! I’ve read that and it gave me a lot of useful information. I know that weight gain doesn’t occur in everyone but it did in my sisters so I kind of think I’m prone to it unfortunately But condoms do the same job? Thanks so much you’ve settled my mind