VS.

I have been addicted to Diet Coke for years. I used to start off with a jumbo fountain D.C. on my way to class at 10 AM, followed by another one at lunch and yet another (mixed with rum) for an evening snack. There was nothing on this planet that could come between me and my beloved Diet Coke. In fact, I wasn’t sure there was any way I could love it any more.

But, dear readers, there is: it seems that not only is Diet Coke the tastiest, most delectable treat on this planet….

It is also an effective spermicide! Read More »

Q:What exactly is “Plan B”, that abortion pill, and should I really stock up now in case I need it later?

A: Ladies, listen up: Plan B is NOT the abortion pill. Not by any stretch of the imagination.

So what is it if it’s not the abortion pill? Basically, Plan B what it sounds like — it’s your backup plan, meant to be taken up to 72 hours after unprotected sex or contraceptive failure, to prevent pregnancy. In fact, Plan B contains levonorgestrel, an ingredient found in many regular birth control pills — but in a higher dose and in two pills, taken 12 hours apart. Again, Plan B only prevents pregnancy; it doesn’t terminate an existing one, like the abortion pill would.

That being said, yes, stock up! Plan B is now available at pharmacies without a prescription if you’re 18 or older. Whether you’re boinking every hour on the hour or in a dry spell, it will give you some peace of mind to know you have a “sh*t happens” plan. My friend recently needed it, and although she was able to get it within a few hours, not everyone is so lucky. Plan B reduces the chance of pregnancy by up to 89%, but it’s more effective when taken sooner rather than later. Read More »

Good news, everybody! Now you can get a free sample of a really creepy vaginal contraceptive product!

It’s a piece of spermicidized film that “is manually inserted high into the vagina” to prevent pregnancy. However, not only do you have to really get that shiz up in there (and I mean REALLY up in there–check the little illustration), it’s not even as effective as a condom.

According to Planned Parenthood, the spermicide used in this product is not very effective.

And just for your own purposes, here is another pretty good resource: GoAksAlice.

I don’t know. I mean, on the one hand, the site offers a free sample (and God knows I love a free sample, almost as much as I like a wide-legged pant…but I digress). So it won’t cost you anything to try it out.

Unless, of course, you get pregnant as a result.

And then it’ll cost you a whole lotta baby (and maybe some unwanted baby daddy too).

Well, I don’t know. I haven’t used it. Anybody here tried VCF? Am I totally off base?

My love-hate relationship with the Pill is something I have come to accept.

I always feel as if I technically should be on it for the generic reasons of being a 23-year-old female. But, then, when I am on it, it makes me super-emotional (which is out of character for me), moody, bloated, and just plain not myself. Now, that could just be because I haven’t found the “right” brand of pill, as my gynecologist rudely told me. But I know I am not the only one who feels this way. I have talked to numerous friends who stopped taking it for a multitude of different reasons.

I actually have a real problem with people expecting that just because I am a young recent college graduate (or for those of you still in college– a crazy co-ed), I should, without a doubt, be on birth control. It’s my body and I can choose to do whatever I want with it.

Certain studies and hazards of the Pill make me suspicious as to what’s the truth about the side effects and what is just fodder from the pharmaceutical companies trying to make big bucks.

That being said, I have to weigh the potential benefits of taking the Pill, and the results of a recent study just may cause me to reconsider…

Read More »

Okay, I’m pretty sure that the last people to ever use “Sponges” as a contraceptive method were our moms…maybe our grandmas. Well, that might be a little overdramatic. I think Elaine on Seinfeld was the last person to discuss their death on that famous Sponge episode. And seriously, the thought of using a Sponge nowadays is as obsolete as the idea of boy bands making a comeback.

So, it came as a surprise to me when I saw an article in the New York Times reporting that “The Sponge is Back, With a More Modern Approach.”

Apparently, the pharmaceutical company has updated the packaging for the Today Sponge from conservative and feminine looking to pictures of “hip-looking women, playful typography, and colors that officials call ‘fuchsia and wine.’”

Interesting marketing ploy, but I have a hard time believing that young women will start using the Sponge again, mainly for the statistics of inefficacy.

“16 percent of American women who had never given birth and may have used the sponge incorrectly or inconsistently became pregnant within a year, while 32 percent of women who had given birth and used the sponge this way became pregnant. The pregnancy rate for women who relied on condoms for birth control and may have used them incorrectly or inconsistently was 15 percent, while the rate for women using birth control pills in this way was 8 percent.” Read More »