Thank you. Good morning, everybody. It is 3 a
.m. Here where we are and this is food for thought
thoughts if it were you by neogentrics Now there's
a lot of different topics out there. Like I said
before things that I wanted to cover but at first
I had to cover Ignorance in the last podcast
man. I know this is not I know that wasn't a
topic exactly a lot of people were comfortable
with but hey Some of the stuff that a lot of
y 'all have asked me to cover or even go over,
to be fair, has been a little uncomfortable for
me. But, in the thought and the consideration
of education, I plowed through it. Because there's
some people out here who just don't know this
stuff, or don't even stop to consider stuff like
this. Thus is the whole point of this podcast.
So, per the request of select people, I will
not go into whom, I will be covering the topic
of contraception today. It's, or for most people
as it is known, birth control. It's basically
designed to prevent pregnancy. Birth control
methods may work in a number of different ways.
from preventing sperm from getting to the eggs.
Types include, you know, the condoms that people
are usually familiar with, diaphragms, cervical
caps, and contraception sponges. I'll list what
different types of methods there are in the next
piece after a break, but continuing what I'm
saying, you know, the whole gist of it is keeping
the woman's ovaries from releasing eggs that
could be fertilized. Types include birth control
pills, patches, shots, rings, etc. IUDs, sorry
about that, devices, which are basically implanted
into the urethra. They can be kept in place for
like several years. There's also sterilization,
which permanently prevents women from getting
pregnant or a man from being able to even impregnate
a woman as well. I'm not really a fan of this,
but I'm just letting you know what they are.
Your choice of birth control should depend on
several different factors, however. And that
would be your health, your frequency of sexual
activity, number of partners, the desire whether
or not you actually want to have kids in the
future. Your health care provider can also help
you select the best one that fits for you. But
it depends on the person. Why do this? You know,
a lot of people don't want kids right away. Young
people are stupidly active and they don't want
to accidentally end up with kids too soon, you
know, or, you know, parent adults just want to
have fun and don't really care. There's multiple
different reasons why people do this. I'm not
saying that it's right, but to each their own
on that decision. Okay. I am not. I'm not the
judge or jury on this topic. My goal here is
just to explain what they are for those who don't
know or want to know. So we're going to take
a short break here and I'll be back with the
different types and their effectiveness and what
they are. Okay. we're back all right so I did
say that I would be back and I list the different
types of birth control there are as well as you
know which are more effective and which are more
convenient I must only go in that order okay
because I feel like if I go by cost it's not
gonna matter so I'm gonna go with the ones that
are more effective first down to the ones that
are just most convenient, right? People have
different objectives as to which ones they want
to use, okay? First one on the list is the birth
control implant. It's low maintenance. It has
a 99 % effectiveness. It costs anywhere between
$0 to $1 ,300, and it lasts up to five years.
It's the minimum amount of information I could
give on each one of these I will. Next one down
from that would be the IUD. I'll go into what
that is later Same effectiveness as the implant.
They're both low maintenance the implant and
the IUD Again, it can cost anywhere between zero
to thirteen hundred dollars The only difference
is the IUD only lasts for between three to twelve
years So it has a little bit longer time span
than the birth control implant It's just a matter
of which one you want The next one down on the
list would be the birth control shot, which I
found to be recently a little more common than
the pill. You have to use this on schedule, whatever
schedule they set you up on. It has a 94 % effectiveness,
and it can cost anywhere between $0 to $100.
You have to get it every three months. Next one
down from that, same as before. This one and
the next two have to be used on schedule just
like the bird control shot Unlike the shot the
birth control vaginal ring only has 91 % effectiveness
It can cost anywhere between zero to two hundred
dollars, and you have to replace them monthly,
okay? Next down would be the birth control patch.
I've seen this one pretty often, too Also, it's
a use on schedule type of uh birth control method
also with a 91 effectiveness uh can cost anywhere
between zero to 150 dollars but you have to replace
this one weekly okay the one that most people
are familiar with is the birth control pill uh
has a 91 effectiveness uh can cost anywhere between
zero to fifty dollars you have to take that one
daily otherwise it doesn't serve a purpose Then
you have the all -too -familiar condom, which
is actually very sporadic. Its effectiveness
is anywhere between 75 % to 85 % effective. It's
not 100%. But then this is already a known factor.
It can cost anywhere between $0 to $10, depending
on the type you get. And unlike the previous
four or the first two, you have to use this every
time you intend to have intercourse. Other version
is what they call an internal condom. This refers,
is in turn for women. Has a 79 % effectiveness,
as it can also break inside. Can also cost between
$0 to $10, and you have to use them every single
time as well. Down from that, there's a few more
that you have to use every time you intend to
have fun, as they say. There are four more. That
are right below the condoms and a lot of people
don't know these exist. So I'm going to go ahead
and mention them now. Next is called a diaphragm.
I'll go into what that is in a little bit. In
a minute. It's effectiveness is anywhere between
85 -88%. It can cost $0 - $75. You have to use
that every single time. Then there's the birth
control sponge. Its effectiveness is between
76 % and 88%. It can cost anywhere between $0
to $15. Next, we have the cervical cap. It has
a 71 % to 86 % effectiveness. It can cost anywhere
between $0 to $90. One that I've recently found
would be the spermicide. I hate the way that
sounds. It just sounds creepy. It has a 71 %
effectiveness, can cost anywhere between $0 to
$8. Okay? That aside, we have the ones that are
lifestyle change. Okay? They can be used or not
used, basically. One is called the Fertility
Awareness, or FEMS as they are known. Um, knowing
when you're fertile, when you're not has a 76
to 88 % effectiveness can cost anywhere between
zero to $20. And you use this thing daily. Some
people don't have a week period when they have
their period, when they're fertile, some people
are just randomly fertile. So this is a good
thing for them to have. Um, The all -inclusive
withdrawal or pull -out method that I've been
hearing a lot about has a 78 % effectiveness.
It's not 100 % and you can still screw up. It
doesn't cost you anything, but you have to do
that every single time. The other one is known
as the breastfeeding as birth control method.
I'll go more into what that is in a minute. It's
a 98 % effectiveness. It doesn't cost you anything
and you do it every four to five hours. Yeah,
I feel like I really need to go into that one
a little bit more but I will in the next piece
The next one is the outer cores and abstinence
method Of course this one will work 100 % effectively
because you just don't do anything So there's
that and then the last two on the cover in this
segment are the permanent methods One is the
vasectomy, which is a 99 % effectiveness. It
can cost anywhere between $0 to $2 ,000, depending
on the person. And it lasts for life. To my knowledge,
though, recently I found out that this can also
be undone. Still, though, don't recommend it.
The other method, which also sounds a little
cringeworthy to me, is the sterilization method,
or tubal... Legation has a 99 % effectiveness
Also a permanent solution if you just don't want
to ever have kids can cost anywhere between zero
to almost eight thousand dollars depending on
where you go and While these methods are stupid
expensive. They are Effective, okay And we're
back. Okay, so we're going to start with the
first one. The birth control implant. Okay. Different
things to talk about in this section that I want
to go ahead and cover. Like I mentioned before,
it has a 99 % effectiveness and it can cost up
to almost $1 ,500. But it can also be nothing
depending on the person or your insurance. It's
usually put in by a doctor or a nurse and it
lasts for five years. Well. Let's go into this
a little bit further, as it is the first one,
okay? The birth control implant, or next plan
in as it's known, is basically a tiny thin rod
about the size of a matchstick, okay? The implant
basically releases hormones into your body that
prevent you from getting pregnant. Doctor or
nurse inserts the implant into your arm and,
you know, that's it. You're protected from pregnancy
for up to five years. It's a get it and forget
it kind of birth control. Okay. But I guess,
you know, that doesn't really get it for a lot
of people. You're like, well, is that it? There's
nothing else. Okay. So with that, let me just
go ahead and address this right now. How does
this implant work? I like asking these questions.
It's kind of the whole point of this podcast.
So I'm going into that. The birth control implant
is basically, like I said before, it's a tiny
rod about the size of a matchstick. It's also
known as Nexplanin. That's its scientific name.
There's a slightly older version called an Implanin,
basically. It's the same thing. The doctor inserts
the implant under the skin of your upper arm.
It releases the hormone progestin to stop you
from getting pregnant. The hormone in the border
control implant that prevents pregnancy in two
ways. Progestin thickens the mucus on your cervix,
which basically stops sperm from swimming around,
you know, through your egg. Simple enough, right?
When sperm can't meet up with the egg, basically
pregnancy doesn't happen. That's the cut dry
point of that. Okay. It also stops eggs from
leaving your ovaries as well, which is known
as ovulation. Usually happens during, you know,
your period. So basically, if there's no egg
to fertilize and it can't be released, then you
obviously can't get pregnant. That's the theory
behind it, okay? One of the awesome things about
the implant is that it lasts for up to five years
and it's not permanent. So you can always say,
hey, you know what? I'm done with this. I just,
I want to have kids. If you decide you want to
get pregnant, you don't have to have your implant
anymore, okay? Your doctor can just take it out.
You'll be able to get pregnant quickly after
the implant is removed, so keep that in mind.
It makes you extremely susceptible. The good
news is you can keep track of your insertions
and removal dates using the apps that they've
created for that now. Let's go on into the next
bit of this. Does the implant prevent STDs? Well,
no. Next planet doesn't protect against STDs.
Luckily, the use of condoms and female condoms
every single time you decide to have sex lowers
your chances of getting them or spreading them.
So using condoms with your endpoint is a better
way to prevent infection overall. Okay, so keep
that in mind. Okay. It's effectiveness, though.
Like I mentioned before, it is 99%. That is fewer
than 1 out of 100 people who use it will get
pregnant each year. It doesn't get much better
than that. The implant is so effective because
there's no chance of making a mistake since it's
in your arm. You can't forget to take it out.
You can't forget to take it. You can't use it
improperly. It protects you basically all day,
every day for up to 5 years. And if you decide
you want to get pregnant, just call the doctor
and say take it out. It doesn't protect you from
STDs. Let's ask the next question. How long does
it take for the implant to take effect? Usually,
during the first five days of your period, you're
protected from pregnancy right away. But keep
this in mind. Like I said, depending on your
body, it's different. If you get the implant
anytime in your cycle, use some other form of
birth control like condoms during the first week.
After the first week, the implant should start
working for you. You're protected from pregnancy
for up to five years. That's why it's called
a get it and forget it kind of birth control.
Keep that in mind. If you're going to do it,
do it before or after your period, not during
it. Because during that cycle, it'll be hard
for it to stop something that's already in process.
I've already gone over the cost for this. It
can be as low as $0 up to $1 ,300. It just depends.
If you have insurance, Medicaid or some other
kind of government assistance, it can basically
help you take care of the cost. As to where you
can get it, you can usually get it from Planned
Parenthood health centers. Be careful who you
get it from. Because you don't know if that place
is trustworthy or not or if the device is sterile.
Because you can still get yourself pregnant from
improper handling of the thing. Let's see here.
Let me go on to the next set of my notes. How
does it feel to get an implant exerted? Basically,
people feel a little pinch or stinging when they
get it. the numbing shot before they insert it
after that you shouldn't be able to feel the
implant being inserted after the pain medication
has worn off your arm may ache a little where
the implant was inserted but it does go away
after a time so you may have some tenderness
or swelling around the implant for a few days
it may even look like you're bruised for a week
or two but the but most doctors and nurses say
that you know they'll tell you to wash and take
care of your skin around the implant for the
first couple of days you won't even notice so
that means that You know, it's not as bad. The
next question that's probably going to come up
is how soon can you have sex after having the
implant? Now, I'm going to go ahead and tell
you what the information I have received says.
It's up to you to make the right decision here.
If you're not sure, don't do it. According to
the information, it shows that you can have sex
right away from the implant. From all the different
sources I've gathered on this specific one, that's
what they say. It's up to you to decide, though.
But if you don't get the implant during the five
days of your period, you should use some other
kind of birth control regardless for that first
week, like I mentioned before, after you get
the implant. If you do get the implant during
the first five days of your period, you should
be protected right away because it's going to
stop it immediately as it's starting. Okay? Like
I mentioned before, it is pretty safe. There
are risks. keep this in mind let's go into the
risk real quick serious problems with it are
rare but they include like i mentioned before
the arm pain that doesn't last more than a few
days an infection in the arm that needs medicine
or a scar in your arm where the implant goes
so there's that if that does happen you need
to tell your nurse or doctor immediately so that
they can help with that Examples of this would
be bleeding, pus, redness, pain in your arm where
the implant was inserted that doesn't ever go
away, yellowing of your eyes or skin, much heavier
or longer than normal bleedings from your vaginal
area, or the implant has moved. Okay, keep this
in mind. And with that being said, for those
who are breastfeeding, it is safe. it shouldn't
have an effect on how much milk you produce and
it wouldn't won't hurt your baby in fact the
implant is a great method to use if you're breastfeeding
and you don't want to get pregnant at the same
time because you know if you get pregnant your
breast milk changes okay so with that that's
the birth control implant and next we're going
to go into the shots since a lot of people seem
to be interested in that the break now before
I go into the next one which is the birth control
shot I want to go ahead and mention that there
are some negative side effects to using this
okay the most common side effect is a regular
bleeding aka spotting especially in the first
six to twelve months that you have it if it causes
long -term spotting or periods of longer or heavier
periods make sure you tell your doctor It is
known that having the implant makes a lot of
people's periods a little bit lighter. It's every
one in three people, so it's not like 100%, okay?
And with that being said, it is totally safe
to not get a period while you're on the implant,
so you won't need to worry about being pregnant
even if you don't get a period, okay? So there's
that. The only other side effects that there
are is headaches, breast pain, nausea, weight
gain, ovary cysts, which that you need to get
checked out immediately. Pain or bruising where
the implant was inserted or an infection where
it's been inserted. And again, it does not protect
against STDs. So make sure you take note of that.
And as far as getting pregnant is concerned,
as soon as you remove it, like I said, it works
for five years. The removal only takes a few
minutes. And after about a couple of hours of
having it removed, if not almost immediately,
you should be able to get pregnant fairly easily
for those who care about that. I did say I was
going to go into the birth control shot next.
I was supposed to cover the IUD, but I'll come
back to that. Let's go ahead and cover the birth
control shot. Again, it has a 94 % effectiveness
rate. It does cost anywhere between $0 to $100.
It can also cost almost nothing. It's injected
by a doctor or a nurse, or you can basically
do it at home yourself. The stuff in a bottle
and they'll tell you how much you have to take
every three months. It really does work and it
gets it done all the time because it's injected
into your body directly. Basically, the birth
control shot, also known as Depo Provera or DMPA.
Contains the hormone progestin as well. It stops
you from getting yourself pregnant, preventing
ovulation again. When there's no egg, you can't
get pregnant. It also works by making cervical
mucus thicker as well, preventing you from getting
pregnant. It does not protect you from STDs.
Luckily for you, they have condoms and things
of that nature that works out well. To basically
get the shot's full birth control effect, you
have to remember to get a new shot every 12 to
13 weeks. That's about every three months or
four times a year, basically. There's three fours
in a year. Sorry, four threes in a year. Most
of the time, the doctor or nurse needs to give
you the shot, so you have to make an appointment
with a health center and then remember to go
to your appointment. But you also have to be...
be able to get the supply of shots to take home
depending on your situation, and keep track of
it in the birth control app, depending on if
that place has it, or just use some random third
party. You can use the birth control shot whenever
you want. If you get your shot in the first seven
days after the start of your period, you're protected
from pregnancy almost immediately. If you get
it at any other time during your cycle, you'll
still need to use a condom for the first week
until it takes full effect. After your first
shot, it's all about remembering to take the
follow -up shots as well and using a birth control
reminder calendar as well on a daily basis. Bottom
line, do whatever works for you. Make sure you
get the follow -ups for your shots. Make sure
you keep track of them. And if you want to really
be super, super sure that you don't get pregnant,
make sure you use a condom as well. Whether you
use the male or female one does not matter. The
effectiveness of this shot is 99%. That means
that one out of every hundred people are still
likely to get pregnant regardless. But again,
it also depends on the person's body. So what
if you're late? getting your birth control shot
if you're late getting it you're not protected
from pregnancy but it does depend on how late
you are you can get your follow -up shots as
early as 10 weeks after your last shot or as
late as 15 weeks after your last shot but if
you get your shot more than 15 weeks later You'll
still need to use another method like a condom
or such because you run the risk of getting yourself
pregnant. If you have vaginal sex without using
a condom more than 15 weeks after your last shot,
you should use emergency contraception. I'll
go into what that is in a second. You may also
need to use a pregnancy test as well before getting
your next shot because it can cause issues. The
emergency contraception would be considered the
morning after pill. Everyone's familiar with
that. It's usually pretty effective almost immediately.
Alright? That's all that is. Keep that in mind.
The shot is 100 % safe. Make sure that the doctor
and them always use a sterile needle as well.
They have to keep these things protected. They
have to use certain... uh, precautions when they
do this, there are, uh, set in place for a reason.
Okay. Are there any risks with taking the shot?
Well, let's see, even though the birth control
shot is very safe and using birth control that
has progest, uh, progestin in it can slightly
reduce your risk of certain health problems.
These complications, uh, aren't common, but they
can be serious. Your doctor or nurse will need
to figure out what risks are there for you based
off of your, your. your body structure and such.
You know, people who use the birth control shot
may have temporary bone thickening. It increases
the longer they use the shot. Bone density usually
comes back after they stop using the shot, except
for women who have already reached menopause,
if you have or haven't. So to protect your bones,
stop smoking, limit your alcohol, get regular
exercise, make sure you have extra calcium. All
right. There's a very small chance that you can
still get pregnant even if you're always using
the shot correctly. So keep that in mind. The
shot will not increase the risk of birth defects.
So that's a bonus. Most people who use the birth
control shot won't have any problems at all.
But just in case, it's good to know what the
signs of a serious issue are. And tell your nurse
if you have any of them at all. One is severe
depression. Migraine with aura. Basically, it's
a bad headache where you see bright flashing
zigzags across in front of you or just a bad
headache in general. Pus or pain for many days.
Bleeding where you got the shot. This can indicate
an allergic reaction to it. Very heavy bleeding
from the vaginal area or bleeding for... a lot
more days than usual uh yellowing of the skin
or eyes if any of these things even occur you
need to call your um doctor immediately and again
like much like the other one you can still breastfeed
uh while you're uh on the shot as well okay let's
see the only thing left to cover now are disadvantages
of the shot so let's go into that real quick
shouldn't be a whole lot of disadvantages okay
First things first, you have to get the shot
every three months. Well, we already covered
that, and that's one of the main things that
you know you have to do. Moving a little bit
further ahead, some people may get annoying side
effects while using the burr control shot. Most
of them usually go away within two or three months.
Most people, as far as... because we're talking
about women here, have a change in their periods,
including the bleeding more than usual, spotting
between periods, or just no periods at all. And
this is most common during the first year. There
are other side effects, like I mentioned before,
nausea, weight gain, headache, breast tenderness,
so your breasts are really tender, depression,
slight bruising where the shot was given, very
rarely. but a small permanent dent in the skin
where the shot was given also. So there are some
slight side effects, but it also depends on your
body. Make sure you talk to your doctor or nurse
while you're taking the shot if you have any
of these issues. It also may take up to 10 months
after stopping the birth control shot if you
decide to get pregnant. So unlike the implant,
You can't expect to get pregnant immediately.
You have to wait until it completely wears off
and it's no longer in your system. Alright, everybody.
And that'll be it for this piece of this podcast.
I'm going to be covering birth control over the
next two or three days because there's so much
information out there and I just can't cover
all of it in one episode. Sure, I could give
a short run through of everything and be done
with it. But for those who actually need to know
this information and can't get a hold of it,
I want to go as much in depth as I can. And if
I have to go a little bit deeper, I will. So
for this one, this is. This ends basically part
one of the birth control list. In part two, I'm
going to cover the IUDs, hopefully the birth
control vaginal ring, and the birth control patch.
And that'll leave just one episode left to cover.
Well, actually, you know what? Yeah, so next
time I should be able to cover the last of the
low maintenance. And the other three use on schedule
birth control methods, which would be the IUD
is the last low maintenance and the birth control
vaginal ring. Like I said before, the birth control
patch and the pill in the next episode in part
two. And then in part three, I plan to finish
covering both the different types of condoms,
the diaphragm birth control sponge, the cap and
spermicide. And then we'll talk about the life
lifestyle changes. in hopefully the fourth episode.
So again, I thank you guys for listening in and,
you know, sticking around with this podcast,
even though it's a new year and there's a whole
lot of other things that we could be talking
about, but with February here and it being the
month of love and Valentine's day and such, I
just want to make sure everybody's safe and secure
and doing whatever it is that they do. Um, and,
you know, avoid any unnecessary complications.
So again, this is Neogentrics with Food for Thought
Thoughts, if it were you. If you like what you're
hearing or you have any suggestions, thoughts,
or concerns, hit me up on the anchor .fm forward
slash neogentrics site, my Facebook, Instagram,
Twitter, Snapchat, whatever you have. And we'll
see you next time.