Real Stories: I love the hormones in my birth control!

For some of us, the benefits of hormones in birth control aren’t limited to their no-babies effect.

Let’s be real—side effects from hormones can be a necessary evil of effective birth control. But can the hormones in birth control have positive effects instead? Hell. Yes.

Because we’re all unique beautiful snowflakes (no, but seriously), the hormones in birth control can affect us each in different ways. That’s why one person can use the ring and feel like it makes them bloated, while another can use the ring and feel like a million bucks.

To inspire you to keep trying till you find your million-buck method, here are 6 people who found theirs—hormones and all!

Dara, 18, the patch

Dara counts on her patch for pregnancy prevention and period control. She loves that her method has “the perfect level of hormones for me.” We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.

Ashley, 19, implant

Ashley got the implant to help with severe PMDD (which she describes as “PMS times a million”). The implant did the trick to majorly reduce her PMDD symptoms—and, bonus, she’s noticed perks for her sex life and peace of mind to boot!

Mal, 30, IUD

Mal first got the Mirena IUD to deal with heavy periods. When he decided to transition, he worried at first that the hormones he’d be taking could conflict with those in his IUD. His health care provider had good news though—turns out hormonal IUDs can actually benefit vaginal health for folks taking testosterone.

Colleen, 32, IUD

Colleen loves many things about her IUD—the fact that its hormone is only in her uterus is just one of them.

Alexandria, 21, the ring

Alexandria noticed that the hormones in the ring make her periods lighter and shorter—and she’s alright with that!

Andi, 22, the ring

Andi identifies as androgynous—not male or female—so for them, the steady dose of hormones in the ring is a big plus. No periods. No hormone fluctuations. Just easy-to-use, reliable pregnancy prevention.