The biggest reason I’m tired of my Ortho Lo is because whenever I miss two pills in a row, no matter what freaking color they are, I don’t just get spotting — I get my period for two whole weeks. It’s just about the opposite of fun, and it happens a lot. Oh yeah, and additionally? Sometimes even when I don’t miss a pill, I’ll get my period early. No warning. Just BAM, welcome to cramps and have a great day!!!

I haven’t had a long term relationship for a while and I’m really over my hook-up days, so the only reason I’m still on BC is to keep my periods regular and short, and if that isn’t really happening…why the crap am I even bothering?

After doing a little research online, it seems like getting off birth control can be a tricky thing. It can throw your body wayyy out of wack, give you headaches, and possibly cause your face to break out — something I am never ever going through again.

So here I am, stuck at work, pissed off that my period is almost 2.5 weeks early, but scared to actually do anything about it. This is where you come in, lovely readers. Are any of you going through this? Have you gone through this in the past? Do you recommend taking a break from birth control?

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to satisfy my second chocolate craving in three weeks.

A: Ladies, listen up: Plan B is NOT the abortion pill. Not by any stretch of the imagination.

So what is it if it’s not the abortion pill? Basically, Plan B what it sounds like — it’s your backup plan, meant to be taken up to 72 hours after unprotected sex or contraceptive failure, to prevent pregnancy. In fact, Plan B contains levonorgestrel, an ingredient found in many regular birth control pills — but in a higher dose and in two pills, taken 12 hours apart. Again, Plan B only prevents pregnancy; it doesn’t terminate an existing one, like the abortion pill would.

That being said, yes, stock up! Plan B is now available at pharmacies without a prescription if you’re 18 or older. Whether you’re boinking every hour on the hour or in a dry spell, it will give you some peace of mind to know you have a “sh*t happens” plan. My friend recently needed it, and although she was able to get it within a few hours, not everyone is so lucky. Plan B reduces the chance of pregnancy by up to 89%, but it’s more effective when taken sooner rather than later.

Get it now, on your next tampon run, and you won’t have to deal with any what ifs down the road. You may never need it, but if you do, whether it’s because of a broken (or forgotten) condom, or a sexual assault, the last thing you need to be doing is freaking out and driving at 3AM in search of an open pharmacy. If you’re shy about asking for it, you can print out a request card for it on www.go2planb.com and just hand that to the pharmacist. Don’t worry, you won’t be the first to do it.

Of course, once you have it, it shouldn’t be your primary method of birth control. It’s up to 89% effective, so if you use it irresponsibly, you’ll soon become part of the other 11%. Have safe sex, have extra condoms on hand (enough for you and a friend!), and consider using a birth control pill if you’re having sex regularly.

For more information on how to use Plan B, head to www.go2planb.com.

As it seems, birth control is one of those things that the girl is expected to pay for, and I am not happy about it. Last week I went to pick up a few months worth of birth control and was completely shocked to hear the nurse say to me, “That will be $97 dollars.” I stared blankly, and peered into my brown paper bag, yep, there was still only 3 months worth in there. She must be mistaken, so I asked her to make sure.

Nope, $97 bucks. Obviously I have grown too accustom to the generous helpings of birth control that were handed out at the health center in college like candy. Free candy.

I sadly handed over my visa and thought of the darling little number at Banana Republic that I would have to put on the back burner for another pay check and went home.

Upon my arrival, my gent inquired as to my appointment. I jumped at the opportunity to share my outrageous bill and almost vaguely saw a ray of hope towards getting the outfit from Banana again! This would be the time when my gent says: “Whoa! $97 bucks?? I’ll give you some money for that.” Because lets face it, it is the right thing to do and as I recall, it takes two to tango.

This sentiment in mind, you can imagine my shock to hear this:

“Man, that sucks.”

I stared at him waiting for the rest of his sentence, but nothing more came.

Good bye new outfit.

Instead of calling him out on his obvious oblivion, I just agreed, it sucked indeed. Now, I feel it is important to include a disclaimer here, my gent is extremely wonderful and generous, and had I have asked for money, he would have absolutely given it to me, but I just couldn’t; possibly to not feel like a cheap-ass, possibly to maintain my independent woman status, and possibly because I just hatched a secret plan to just stop offering to pay when we go out, I just kept my mouth shut.

But the irksomeness of this issue has not faded after several days, and upon discussing this event with my ladies, it seems that the assumed common sense to help pay for birth control is not just an affliction my guy suffers from – but all of them. And I think I can speak for all of us gals when I say, we are sick of it.

In all honesty, it isn’t completely the money that I am so irritated about. It is the fact that I was expected to spend my hard earned money on something that, well, is for both of us. At the very least, if you don’t want to shell out some money for it, can I get a little acknowledgement to the fact that I did?

In a feeble attempt to start correcting this problem, I’d like to offer a little head up to the gentlemen out there: if you trade off on who picks up the tab, split the bill on the groceries, or are in a relationship with someone, pitch in on the BC.

That being said, I swear when I go back for refills, I will be going Dutch (that ship has kind of already sailed on this round – plus my plan for skipping out on the bill proved plenty effective on debt collection.)

As someone who’s been taking it for 7 years, I obviously flipped out upon reading, because what the hell I’m just trying to stop my monster cramps and not have a baby!??!!

We’ve all been there; you wake up and instantly feel stabby pains gnawing at your insides, already knowing you’re going to have to do laundry before you throw off the covers to investigate. Or you suddenly sit up a little straighter in your chair, taking a moment to process the fact that yes, your period has indeed started without warning, right in the middle of class.

Wouldn’t it be great if there was a way to find a pattern, a method to the madness of your menstral cycle? Well, now there is — on the internet, no less! Mon.thly.info is a website that was invented to help women everywhere keep track of their cycles with a super simple, super clean interface.

“Each time you start your period, add the date to your Mon.thly account“, the website states, “and it will use your history to predict the next time your cycle will start. This provides you with a record of your menstrual cycles, which can be an important addition to your medical history. If you want, Mon.thly will also email you a customized reminder before or on your next estimated start date.”

I mean, could you do this on a calender or in a journal? Of course. But who has time to actually write something down by hand? Plus, can the calendar in your kitchen send you emails? Nope. And getting cheerful, helpful emails is always fun — especially when those emails help you avoid inching to the bathroom against the wall in those new white summer pants.