Quote Originally Posted by napolitana869
hey birdgirl I have a question about diaphragms. I love nuvaring but I had my well woman check up last month and the doctor told me that a medication that I take makes it less effective. Stopping this other medication isnt really an option right now, and my boyfriend and I dont like condoms. Do you think a diaphragm would be a good back up method? And is it hard to put in and take out?
I found it to be a good method for me, and as an extra backup to the Nuvaring, I'll bet it'd be great. If you make an appointment to get fitted for a diaphragm, ask to see if your doctor/nurse practitioner agrees.

Putting it in takes a little practice at first, I found. It's a little rubbery disk with a strong ring around the edge. There's a picture on the link below, along with detailed instructions. You put spermicide cream or gel around the edge and then in the center of the diaphragm, which'll go up against your cervix. To put it in you fold it in half so it's narrow enough to insert into yourself, and you basically insert it so the top end is up as far as it can go toward the back of the vagina, and when you let go, it springs into place, held in place on the front edge by your pubic bone and on the back edge by your levator muscles. The trouble I mentioned above about it springing across the bathroom like a Frisbee happens occasionally when my hands are slippery from the gel and in the attempted folding-before-insertion process, it just goes SPROINGG!and gets away from me. No worries about internal Frisbee problems. Once it's in, it's in.
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The advantages as I see them are it's easy, safe, and relatively inexpensive. The disadvantages are that you have to use them if you want them to work and sometimes when I'm going with the mood and being spontaneous, I'm just too horny to stop the fun and go put it in. Also, you have to leave it in for at least six hours after sex, so you definitely have some "drip" afterwards from fluids, semen, and spermicide. And getting it out can be a challenge. You have to squat down and reach your finger (can't have long nails easily and use a diaphragm) up to the front edge of the ring, the one that's hooked behind your pubic bone, and sort of scrape it down and out.

At your clinic or doctor's office, they'll often have you practice putting in and taking it out the appropriately sized fitting ring while you're still there to make sure you can do it. Oh! There is one other advantage, and it's this. I use it for this purpose every month or two, actually. If you want to have sex during your period, you can put your diaphragm in and it'll keep period sex from being so messy because your mentrual flow will just collect in the little dome of the diaphragm. Helps protect your sheets and bedding a little more during that time of the month, assuming you feel like having sex when you're having your period.

Hope that helps. Good luck, Napolitana!
birdgirl73 Reviewed by birdgirl73 on . Birdgirl - birth control option for me? I have decided (with my husband) that I should stop taking the pill because it kills my libido. But we do NOT want kids. We are still young, though, so when he offered to get a vasectomy, I told him NO, because we may change our minds and I don't want to try to reverse a surgery. We don't mind using condoms but we are afraid they won't be effective enough. I don't want to do an IUD; I don't prefer a diaphragm but would be willing to try it and see how it goes. How effective is the Rating: 5