Hello, I have put a lot of time into researching different birth control options over the last few months and I am wanting a second opinion before my upcoming appointment with my doctor. I went on b.c. when I was 13 and I am now 19(I was born in 2001, not 2004). I have been on more than 20 different birth control pills since first starting b.c. due to a huge hormonal imbalance where my body makes 4 times the amount of estrogen that it needs and I only make 1/4 amount of testosterone that I need. I usually switch to a new pill around every 3 months cause I end up having bleeding that lasts 28 days with maybe 2 days of no bleeding from where my body gets too used to the pill I take at that time.
My doctor in the past has told me to skip my placebo week to stop my period, but when I did that, I had horrible bleeding and was in constant pain until week 2 of the new pill pack (I would take weeks 1-3 pills, skip placebo week, but bleed horribly during week 1 and until week 2 of my new pill pack). I have been on the patch which I loved since I only had to change it once and not worry about taking it everyday, but soon my body went into the 28 day bleeding cycle all over again.
My doctor has told me I am a candidate for the shot, the implant, and the IUD, or I could continue switching pills every 3-4 months to continue to monitor my period cycles. However, I am a little hesitant due to my hormonal imbalance being so out of wack, and have heard that getting either the implant and IUD hurt more coming out than going in.
I also want to mention that having my period makes my brain rest easy as my boyfriend and I do have sex. We don't do it often maybe twice a month) as we don't want our relationship to be based on sex, however when we do, he always wears a condom, ejaculates outside of me, and I religiously take my b.c. pill every night and have not missed a pill in ages.
I read a lot of the articles and message boards already published on this site but I was left more confused than when I started (I thought I wanted the implant but now I don't know what I should tell my doctor).