There's only one 100% reliable method of contraception - and that's abstinence! You have now started a trend. Sex is likely to take place on a regular basis from here on. Both you and your boyfriend need to discuss contraception, together and with someone like a doctor, or a properly qualified herbalist, to find which method of contraception suits you best. Contraception is the responsibility of BOTH partners. Perhaps your partner might consider taking neem. Or perhaps you could each use 'something'. Unless you are prepared to accept a pregnancy and the responsibilities it entails, I think you need to consider something a little more reliable than a herb. Don't rely on herbs. Any herbs. They might, at best, reduce the likelihood of a pregnancy, but not by much. Some of them work by inducing an abortion - and in most cases, that puts both mother and foetus at risk because of the high doses needed for it to be effective. If you want to try the QAL, then you need to take the seeds IMMEDIATELY after coitus. Much like the 'morning after pill'. Which means it's a bit late for you this time! Read the article at the link, then ask yourself just how scientific it is!! (I'll tell you - not scientific at all.) Did you know that QAL has been used to treat infertility?? Think on that. Here is a link that might be useful: QAL as a contraceptive

The pills I have are too small I think to try & split; I will try the flush-free niancin pills again though. Yes, I think a lot of it has to do to heridity also: I am out in the sun (no sunscreen/tan-no burn... ashamed to say!) some days 6 hrs. at a time & live at a mile high, hot summers/cold winters,arid area- zone 7. Still, after taking 5,000 IU of Dry Vitamin D-3 daily my levels are on the 'low' side but bone density still OK! Daughter-in-law is a therapist & believes in alternative medicine ... herbs, 'tapping' etc.& I am western medicine trained so find it hard to accept/understand some of it. The mfg.& testing of those things is not scrutinized as well here in the U.S.as prescriptiom drugs are I feel! Our doctor is from Pakistan & he will suggest some things like tumeric capsules, the B12, etc. but doesn't push it. Mediterranean diet? we don't care for seafood nor olive oil, wine... but the fruit, etc. OK! One study of a group of close knit people in a small mediterranean village had one of the highest blood lipid levels on record ... & also very long & healthy lengivities! Go figure?!

Yeah Edith, you're scaring me! Hope we don't see you over at the pregnancy forum! Just kidding. Since I've gone off the pill I feel 100 times better (wait, i already said that in another post...). Did I mention I feel better? LOL I'm just waiting for my pants to fit better, since I'm not shoving nearly as much food into my mouth as before! LOL I know you can even get pregnant while ON the pill, although that is probably rare. There is another post on the health forum about Yasmin, a new pill that is supposed to have no side effects, but these women will take a pill for a month, have bad "side effects", take something else, yada yada yada, until they've tried like 20 different kinds. For the most part, (unless this Yasmin is the miracle birth control pill), they're all the same. Just different formulations. I checked the Physician's Desk Reference once (yes, I know, I'm a nerd), and counted like nearly 30 different kinds of pill alone. Crazy. Then there are shots, creams, gels, sponges, etc. So at least there are lots of options!!

I am so glad this discussion is on here! I am 52, and was just told to go off the combo pill in August, after being on it nearly continuously since 17 when I picked it up in college. My blood pressure had started to go up last year, so we figured this was the cause. I had never had high blood pressure before - usually the opposite. I tried reducing salt and increasing exercise for a bit, but it had little impact. So, I was recommended going off or switching to the mini-pill progesterone-only. The first two weeks were fine, then I had a couple of weeks of constant overheating(no 'flashes', just constant hot). I read about how sometimes when you go off the combo pill, your insulin levels can be weird as your other systems take over estrogen and general thermostat regulation, so I cut out all the high spiky insulin foods(think sugar and white rice along with the rest of the online lists of foods to avoid) and reduced some caffeine, and the heat problem turned off completely. Now it has been three months of progesterone only, and I can see my skin aging, and hair growth slowing. I had been having a lot of brain-fog issues the past few years, and those have not changed, sadly. It's very annoying, and I hope that part at least sorts itself out by 60. Bonus and unexpected - my internal base stress level has gone down. It's just easier to cope. I have added rice and sugar back with no problems, and overheating is completely gone. I am sleeping better, although now I have weird little dreams, when I have never been one to remember dreams much at all. I do not have more energy, and some of my hand strength is just gone. Also, mentally, I find I am more detached from things and people, but not in a depressed or destructive way. More the feeling of having a choice about being involved or not, rather than having an immediate reaction (like wanting to scream at the grocery clerk that eye-rolled when asking a valid question). Hoping I am just done, but it's too soon to tell. I get mild cramping with no period, and some spotting during the week I would have normally had one in the '4th week off' time. But it's too soon to write off periods altogether. I am hoping most of the worst of it was masked during the past 5 years. But...I do have female relatives that didn't hit menopause until 56-65. One would have thought with half the planet going through this in their lives that there would be more medical study and progress on this in the last 50 years, but apparently no. lol I think starting a better workout routine and nutrition plan is next on the agenda. Wondering how much of my personality and priority-setting is hormone related. Will be interesting to see who I become now. Maybe my ten year old self has a chance again. :) She was fun.