Unless you’ve been living under a rock lately (which is totally possible, it is midterm season), you’ve heard about all of the controversy surrounding birth control. From Congress to the presidential debates to Twitter to Facebook, everybody is talking about birth control, who should have access to it, and how they should get that access.

That conversation mostly focuses on the birth control pill. Sometimes Nuva Ring and Depo Provera, the monthly shot, are also mentioned. But there’s another form of long-term birth control that’s gaining popularity in the U.S. And when considering your birth control options, it might be worth a look.

The intrauterine device, or IUD, is the most popular form of contraception worldwide. But not in the U.S., where oral contraceptives are the most commonly used form of birth control. Why? In the 70s and 80s, lots of poorly conducted research incorrectly linked IUDs to serious infections. It was also thought that IUDs might affect future fertility, so they were only recommended for women who had already had children and wanted to prevent future pregnancies. But better research has disproved all of these fears, and now IUDs are becoming more popular among young, unmarried, childless women. And they’re blogging about it, too, on sites like IUD Diva. Read More »

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As college girls, we have a lot of on our minds. From balancing work and class, yoga and fast food, our boyfriends and Half-Off Ladies Night, there is a lot to keep track of! So maybe you can relate with me when I say that the last thing on my mind is remembering to take the biggest pain in my ass, The Pill. Ladies, I am going to be honest with you. I hate the pill. I truly despise it. I leave it everywhere, sleep through my ‘You Don’t Want a Kid” alarm, and often go days without even thinking about it. So let me tell you, when I heard that there was another alternative – that doesn’t involve shots or wearing a patch – I was intrigued. When I read that it was the safest and most effective alternative to taking the pill, I called my doctor. Read More »

Gettin' some doesn't come cheap.

With the latest events surrounding Planned Parenthood, I’ve been thinking a lot about how much it costs to be responsibly sexually active. Birth control, condoms, PAP smears, STI tests, and Plan B — it adds up fast!

In Canada, the cost of medical tests are usually covered under our provincial health care. As far as birth control goes, my school’s health insurance plan covers the vast majority of the cost every month, leaving me to pay a tab that usually ends up anywhere between $3 and $5.

But for Americans without access to insurance or an institution like Planned Parenthood, the cost of having a healthy active sex life can be huge. Prices tend to vary from place to place, but according to the Planned Parenthood website, here are some ball-park figures of how expensive it is to get sexy:

Standard medical exam (needed in order to receive a BC prescription): $35-$250

The Pill: $15 – $50 per month

NuvaRing: $15 – $70 per month

Depo-Provera: $35 – $75 per injection (4 injections per year)

Ortho Evra (the patch): $15 – $70 per month Read More »

[It's pretty obvious that the average CollegeCandy reader has some very strong opinions. Opinions that she likes to share with everyone on the site. We love a strong woman (unless she happens to be charging at us with her fists raised), so we thought we'd give her a real forum to discuss her thoughts, feelings, and perspectives. Every Friday I'll be featuring a hot topic (like vampires! ) and leaving it up to you, the readers, to duke it out. So, read it and get your debate on in the comments section below!]

Once a month, I walk up to the pharmacy, pick up my prescription, and the woman behind the counter inquires warningly if I realize that my generic birth control pills cost $50. I tell her yes, pay my “don’t want to have a baby” money, and try not to gouge holes in the countertop with my fingers. Every single month. That’s just the way it goes, for me and plenty of other women out there… but maybe not for long.

Birth control is one of many things on a list up for consideration to be included as required free preventative care on overhauled healthcare plans. If BC makes the cut, it could eliminate the extra costs to prevent pregnancy for women all over the country – but should it be included? Read More »

Talking sex with your doctor isn’t always easy. Whether you are afraid she or he will judge you,  you just don’t feel comfortable sharing the intimate details of your life between the sheets, or you can’t think straight with a speculum between your legs, many people get tight lipped in the doctor’s office. But that doesn’t mean you don’t have questions.

We thought we’d help and every Thursday our friend Dr. Lissa Rankin will be answering your questions. The ones you couldn’t ask your doctor in person and didn’t really trust the Yahoo community to answer for you. Just leave your questions in the comments, or send em over to us. (We’ll keep it all anonymous for you.) Dr. Lissa will answer anything – really, anything – about sex and other lady things. Don’t be shy; she’s waiting for ya!

Q: I’ve been on the pill (normal combination pill) for 3 years. I am very happy with it. I never miss a pill, but I take it at very different times during the morning. Does this decrease the effectiveness?

A: It’s always better if you can take your pill as close to the same time as possible, but if you normally take it at 8am and the next day, it’s not until 11am, that shouldn’t make much difference. The one exception is very low dose pills like Yaz and Mircette (pills with 20 micrograms of estrogen). In this case, it’s more important to try to remember to take your pill at the same time.

Q: I was also wondering, is it possible to use the pill with the Mirena IUD? Would you recommend it?

I hear you, sister. I’m assuming you DO NOT want to get pregnant! While I appreciate the sentiment, I would not recommend using a Mirena IUD with a birth control pill. Both contain hormones that act differently. And since both the Mirena IUD and oral contraceptives are highly effective, I don’t see the reason to assume the risks of both. If you’re particularly worried about pregnancy and want to use double protection, consider condoms plus the Pill or condoms plus an IUD. But adding two hormonal methods together can really mess up your system.   Read More »

Talking sex with your doctor isn’t always easy. Whether you are afraid she or he will judge you,  you just don’t feel comfortable sharing the intimate details of your life between the sheets, or you can’t think straight with a speculum between your legs, many people get tight lipped in the doctor’s office. But that doesn’t mean you don’t have questions.

We thought we’d help and every Thursday our friend Dr. Lissa Rankin will be answering your questions. The ones you couldn’t ask your doctor in person and didn’t really trust the Yahoo community to answer for you. Just leave your questions in the comments, or send em over to us. (We’ll keep it all anonymous for you.) Dr. Lissa will answer anything – really, anything – about sex and other lady things. Don’t be shy; she’s waiting for ya!

Q: I am weighing my birth control options with my boyfriend. There are so many different choices now, so which is the least likely to fail? Any help would be appreciated!

A: In my opinion, the two reversible birth control options that are the most reliable are the Mirena IUD and Depo-Provera. Other hormonal contraceptives are also highly effective if used correctly.  Barrier methods, such as condoms and the diaphragm, are the least effective for pregnancy prevention.  To help you, I’ll go through each birth control method, one by one. Read More »

It’s been almost six months since I wrote to you all about my blood clot experience, and, let me tell you, has it been rough. I’ve gone through a lot of snags that I didn’t expect, but then again I didn’t expect to get a clot either.

I’ve spent the first half of 2009 looking like a heroin addict from all the blood tests I’ve gotten and a pill-poppin’ animal (thanks, Lil Wayne) from all the medications I’m taking. I can’t even count how many times I’ve told the story of what happened and answered countless questions. I particularly love the, “Aren’t you young?” question.

Yes, I’m young.
Does it mean I’m invincible? No.

The first few months were very difficult for me because I was still adjusting to the medication and trying to process the fact that I almost died. Coumadin, or Warfarin, is a blood thinner. I quickly found out that being on blood thinners makes you cold. Almost all the time. So walking to class was hard because I was freezing my little butt off. And don’t even try me on going to parties at night. Since my clot was bigger, it took a long time for it to disappear, which made it hard for me to breathe a lot of the time. Long walks across campus got me winded, and I couldn’t exercise. Pretty much, my whole love for being fit and athletic went out the window.

Along with my lack of exercise, my love for healthy foods like salad, broccoli, asparagus, basically anything green (yeah, kiwi too), was gone. Since foods that are green are rich in vitamin K, a blood thickening agent, I couldn’t eat them unless I did it consistently. I decided it was better not to eat them at all because my blood level was so hard to regulate in the first place. Read More »

Talking sex with your doctor isn’t always easy. Whether you are afraid she or he will judge you,  you just don’t feel comfortable sharing the intimate details of your life between the sheets, or you can’t think straight with a speculum between your legs, many people get tight lipped in the doctor’s office. But that doesn’t mean you don’t have questions.

After so many of you wrote in to ask Dr. Lissa Rankin questions during CollegeCandy’s STD Awareness Day, we thought we’d bring her back more regularly. So, every Thursday she will be answering your questions. The ones you couldn’t ask your doctor in person and didn’t really trust the Yahoo community to answer for you. Just leave your questions in the comments, or send em over to us. (We’ll keep it all anonymous for you.) Dr. Lissa will answer anything – really, anything – about sex and other lady things. Don’t be shy; she’s waiting for ya!

Q: I am on the birth control pill and I want to stop using condoms with my boyfriend. I know he is clean, so I am not worried about STDs, but I am worried about pregnancy. Is the birth control pill enough to keep me from getting pregnant? Am I safe without condoms? I’m sorta freaking out, so any answers you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

A: Well, you know what they say- the only perfect birth control is abstinence (with one famous exception- and even that is highly contested!).  But the birth control pill, when taken daily – without fail – is extremely effective. Are you the type that forgets your pill from time to time?  Lower dose pills (ones that have 20 micrograms of estrogen, like Yaz or Lo-Estrin 1/20) are pickier pills, meaning that it’s more important that you take them at the same time every day.  But if you’re good about taking your pill every day, around the same time, you’re pretty darn close to protected (>99%). Read More »

This morning on Good Morning America, hypocrite Bristol Palin discussed her plan to push an “abstinence-only” message on teens. She couldn’t quite explain how abstinence got her where she is today (with, ahem, a child at age 18), but she was very confident that “abstinence is the only way you can effectively, 100%, prevent pregnancy.”

Props to B. Palin for that brilliant realization (and for basically admitting being a mom sucks), but since, as she said herself just weeks ago, “abstinence is unrealistic,” why don’t we figure out a more-um-successful way to stay child-free, while still satisfying our libidos.

Enter: Birth Control!!

Crazy, right? This stuff comes in all sorts of forms: patches, IUDs, condoms, looking at teen mothers trying to care for their kids and realizing how much less fun life would be with a child… Oh, and the pill, which, when taken correctly (not a difficult feat to accomplish if you can swallow a pill), is 99.9% effective. Certainly more effective than preaching abstinence…and then having unprotected sex with your hockey playing boyfriend in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness. And most of the pills now come in pretty packaging! (Yaz has a tidy blue suede case with fun stickers that help you stay on track and turn birth control into a fun craft project).

Of course, we all (should) know that hormonal contraception doesn’t prevent against narsty STDs, so, unless you and your sex-bud have been tested and are exclusively hookin’ up, please use condoms too! I can tell you from looking at some pretty graphic books that Syphilis ain’t pretty. Neither is abandoning your education to raise a child on welfare and food stamps. So instead of shooting moose, go get yourself some nooky. Because, like Ms. Bristol once said, not getting any is just “unrealistic.”

Just remember to pop that very important pill first.