Depends on your age & your ability to deal with the consequences of BC pill failures & STD's. Use both if; pregnancy & STD's are not issues you wish to embark upon at this time in your life. ;)

Women in their twenties and in stable relationships rarely use a condom with the pill. If either of you is messing around outside, the condom is STD protection. If pregnancy would approach disaster for your lives, using both reduces the chance to practically nil.

Then use both. Each of you is responsible for looking out for #1--you. If you do not want to be an unwed father, use a condom. If she does not want to be an unwed mother, she should be using a contraceptive.

A medical doctor married to a chiropractor!!!!

THAT should be adequate contraception for the rest of your lives!

in my highschool sex ed, they used to push the oral contraceptive/condom combo alot...in fact those were the only methods they talked about

[QUOTE=Brandye;200176]A medical doctor married to a chiropractor!!!!
[/QUOTE]

Perhaps he is going to be an Osteopath. That ought to work OK, also.

[quote=dancingdoc2;200182]Perhaps he is going to be an Osteopath. That ought to work OK, also.[/quote]Hopefully he goes D.O. if they plan to marry! The other two don't meld at all! LOL!

Until such time of completing Rotations...use both mehtods.

[quote=hotbot1950;200186]haha... wow ... didnt think the MD vs DO dilemma would come up after posting this topic... how funny! Just got accepted to a DO school though! so that sounds like the direction I'm headed! Thanks for the advice everyone![/quote]
Since you will be doing odd hours (both) I would consider an IUD and condoms! Best of luck with school and congratulations to you both!

Well I always say 2 methods are better than 1.

When you go sky diving out of a plane, they usually have a parachute and back up parachute in case one fails right? Well...I kinda see birth control as the same thing haha.

I like the everyday protection I feel from the pill, and the regularity it provides for me, and other benefits. But I also like to SEE my birth control working. Which is why my boyfriend and I (together 5+ years, and each others first, 23 and 24 years old) use birth control AND condoms.

I say 2 methods are better than 1. I don't like to depend solely on something I pop in my mouth everyday and "assume" its doing it's job. And I don't like to depend on a little thin piece of latex either, and hope that it doesn't break. So I feel a lot more relaxed and protected with both. But it's a personal choice I think...

STD transmission & pregnancy aside - there is one other issue involved.
You EACH should have to bear your burden of responsibility re: safe sex.
It is not fair to put her on the hormones while you get off "scot-free" and vice-versa. Fair is fair - so be a "team player" and wrap that 'bad boy' up!

[QUOTE=hotbot1950;200109] I made sure she was on birth control and also offered to wear a condom. She said she trusted the birth control and that i didnt need to wear a condom.[/QUOTE]

How exactly did you make sure that she was on the pill, have you been there everyday to witness her take it at the prescribed intervals?

Bareback always feels so good, but I always view this from a slightly paranoid perspective. Not only have I heard the story countless times where the girl claims to be on the pill, but is only trying to trick the guy into getting her pregnant... but I have been a personal witness to the drama (one of my kids of wife's best friend was concieved out of deceit, and years ago I had a girlfriend that tried to trick me as well)

What is all this "scot-free" stuff? Now my nationality is under attack along with my profession!!! I shall pout.

Tsk tsk@Brandye.

Sorry, buddy, but I don't trust men who are NOT collared to me.

To the OP: Look at your futures...and your potentials. Why ruin such???? BCP's can fail.

I am in the same situation. My previous girlfriend and I were together for a little over 3 years, were each other's firsts, and never touched a condom-she was on the pill. We never had an incident. My current girlfriend and I have been together for 3.5 years now, and she is on the pill, and we use condoms...much to my dismay. I cant even explain the loss of sensitivity in switching to condoms, but, it's cheaper than a kid.

Brandye and/or Sera - would you please list the risks and side effects of using BCPs for these gentlemen?

Side effects associated with BCP use:
Weight gain, bloating, increased risk for blood clots, increased risk for vaginitis, loss of libido, depression, headaches, irregular bleeding or missed periods, anxiety, restlessness, and unpredictable "failure rates" due to user or regular failure--pregnancy. These are just a few of the major ones. There are also other hosts of various symptoms.

[SIZE=3]****No protection against STD's. [/SIZE]

FYI: I did have a 19 y/o in cardiac arrest on autopsy attributed to BCP use. This is VERY rare; however, nonetheless it was a risk.

Sera shows the risks to the woman taking the bcp. Accurately. For the "gentlemen," EEK, sera's bold is a big side-effect of the bcp only and the other is being with one of those three women out of a hundred each year who turns up pregnant while taking the pill.

Most women who were sexually active in their teens have heard the old argument of sensitivity many times. My stock reply was, "My vagina with a condom or your hand with a tissue?"

As a further thought, sera accurately lists the POSSIBLE side-effects for a woman. Two thoughts: 1. The risks of pregnancy are greater than the risks of hormonal birth control, and, 2. Smokers older than their mid-30s represent a majority of those experiencing these side-effects.

All of that to your loss of sensitivity. In other words, yes, we feel your pain but give it a rest, fellas!

This is only intended for men to realize when we are on the pill we are dealing with side effects to protect our health. The expectation is YOU wear the condom. No condom? There is risk of STD's & pregnancy. If I had a dollar for every time someone tells me we are in an exclusive relationship (therefore used the pill without the condom) who ends up w/a positive STD test; I'd be rich.

It does not end in teens, young adults, and DOES extend through marriage. My greatest risk for STD's was during my marriage, unknown to me....and yes, I did have a full check up to be certain. He got what he deserved for not being honest and I am certain he has spread the gift which keeps on giving...difference is I locked the doors to the house.

This does not mean women should not use the pill; they work very well...it means men have too assume their responsibility too and women need to hold him to the standards. No condom no sex---unless you are ready to assume ALL risks.

I actually have to agree cause I would want to feel protected and want to trust the person I want to have sex with otherwise forget it!!

Make sure that my boyfriend always wears a condom and I take whatever birth control method is right for me.

I'd say it's not overkill at all. For one, if you're not there to remind her to take her pill at the exact right time, you can't know if she remembered to take it or not, and sometimes it's easy to forget, if you don't have a reminder (I recommend using a cell phone alarm). It's also nice so that all the pressure isn't on her if something fails and you do end up with an unplanned pregnancy. You have a backup in case the pill fails, and if the condom fails, then you have the pill to fall back on. It's like double bagging a trash can that you know is going be filled to the brim, it can't hurt to be careful, and if you're not, you could end up with quite a mess on your hands.

Also, just because you're each others first doesn't mean there's no risk of STDs or STIs or whatever letters you'd like to use. I'm sure you trust your partner but there's no guarantee that they'll always be faithful, there's no guarantee that they haven't participated in oral sex before losing their "virginity" with you (virginity is in quotes because some feel that oral sex counts as just that, sex) and it's possible to get an STD through oral or from birth, there's some diseases that are passed down from mother to baby...but if you've both been tested it's not as big of a concern I suppose.

My opinion is to always err on the side of caution, unless you want to err on the side of baby!

I think the Pill is a good BC I'm using it right now and I'm always remembering it so far at least cause I have other pills to take at night.