What are some birth control options available without a prescription?

Question

I am married, so abstinence isn't an option...

We don't like condoms, and I don't want to take hormones

and nothing intrusive, we may be wanting to have another baby soon (we have a 4 year old son), and want something that's easily reversed.

Answer 1

Fertility awareness (also called natural family planning or periodic abstinence) is a way to check the changes your body goes through during a menstrual cycle. This information can help you learn when you ovulate. You can then time sexual intercourse to try to become pregnant or to try to avoid pregnancy.

A woman is usually able to get pregnant for about 5 days each month, around the days when ovulation occurs. On average, ovulation occurs 12 to 16 days before the menstrual period begins. Therefore, ovulation would occur on about day 10 of a 24-day menstrual cycle, day 14 of a 28-day cycle, or day 21 of a 35-day cycle. Sperm can live for 3 to 5 days in a woman''s reproductive tract, so it is possible to become pregnant if sex occurs 2 to 3 days before ovulation.

See an illustration of the menstrual cycle Click here to see an illustration..

For fertility awareness to be used as birth control, either you must not have sex or you must use a barrier method of birth control (such as a diaphragm or condom) for 8 to 16 days of every menstrual cycle. To use fertility awareness, you must prepare each month, be familiar with your body changes, and talk with your partner about your cycle.

Fertility awareness is not the best method of birth control to prevent a pregnancy. The number of unplanned pregnancies is 25 out of 100 women who typically use fertility awareness. However, this method can be very helpful to time when to have sex to become pregnant.

There are several basic methods for determining the time of ovulation. For fertility awareness to be most effective, you need to use all of these methods in combination. Check your body changes using these methods for several months before using them to avoid pregnancy.
Methods

* Calendar (rhythm) method. For the calendar method, you guess your next ovulation time after recording your last few months of menstrual cycles. From the record, you guess which days of the month you are most likely to ovulate (be fertile). Your fertile days start 5 days before ovulation. This method works if your menstrual cycle is regular because then you will ovulate on a certain day of the month. However, very few women have regular 28-day cycles. Even women who have regular cycles can have irregular periods from time to time. Also, a woman does not always ovulate right in the middle of her cycle and is more likely to ovulate between 9 and 17 days before her next period. Therefore, the calendar method alone is not the most effective method of guessing when you might be ovulating.
* Standard days method (SDM). The SDM works best for women who have cycles between 26 and 32 days long. You usually use a special colored string of beads (CycleBeads) to keep track of your cycle if you use this method. The red bead is the first day (day 1) of your period. Count each day as one bead. A dark brown bead marks day 26 and the last brown bead before the red bead is day 32. If you have more than one cycle in one year that is shorter than 26 days or longer than 32 days, you may need to use another method to avoid pregnancy.
* Basal body temperature (BBT) method. Basal body temperature (BBT) is the lowest body temperature a healthy person has during the day. A woman''s hormone levels during her menstrual cycle naturally cause her BBT to fall 1 to 2 days before ovulation and then rise 1 to 2 days after ovulation. By carefully measuring and recording your BBT every morning before you get out of bed, you may be able to guess the day you will ovulate.
* Cervical mucus method (Billings method). The amount, texture, and look of mucus made by your cervix changes during your menstrual cycle. By watching, feeling, and recording this information for several cycles, you may be able to guess when you will ovulate.
o Right after your menstrual period, you will not have much cervical mucus and it is thick, cloudy, and sticky.
o Just before and during ovulation, you will have more cervical mucus and it is thin, clear, and stringy.
* Hormone monitoring. Home ovulation kits can be used to help you learn the most fertile days of your menstrual cycle. These tests check the level of luteinizing hormone (LH) in your urine. You use a dipstick or test strip, dip it in your urine, and read the level on the strip or put the strip in a small computer unit that shows the level of LH. The computer can tell you when your most fertile days are.
* Combined (symptothermal) method. This method uses some of the other methods all at once to tell you the most fertile days of your cycle. You check your basal body temperature, the changes in your cervical mucus, a hormone test, and watch for signs of ovulation (such as breast tenderness, belly pain, and mood changes). The physical signs of ovulation help you learn when you ovulate.

Answer 2

Condoms and foam together are a good combination available at drug stores if you don't want to go to the doctor for a prescription for the birth control pill.

A number of other things like a diaphragm or an IUD also require a trip to the doctor's office.

I just saw your update. The only thing over the counter really is condoms and foam or the sponge. The sponge or foam used without a condom is not effective and you would likely end up pregnant.

There is the rhythm method where you track your temperature, secretions etc. and try to avoid sex while ovulating but there is also a high level of failure with this method.

If none of those work for you, you'd have to go to the doctor. Avoid mirena and the pill if you don't want hormones. Your doctor could fit you for a diaphragm that you would need to put in before sex, but even with that there is usually only a 70 - 80% success rate of avoiding pregnancy.

Unfortunately, without using condoms or the pill there aren't a lot of options that are very reliable and unobtrusive..

Answer 3

Birth control pills are by prescription only. A diaphram needs to fitted and prescribed by a doctor. You can get a lot of things without a prescription at any drug store: condoms, spermicide, and the sponge. Birth control pills cost about $45 to $60 a month. You ask about pulling out. You won't need to pull out with these methods, but the fact that you ask suggests that you may be using withrdrawal instead of condoms now. That is a good way to get your gf pregnant, so at least start using condoms every time. If she thinks that going to the doctor for a visit is difficult now, wait until she gets pregnant or gets a UTI from having sex. It will be far worse then.

Answer 4

Well if you don't want a trip to the doctor and won't use a condom your options are incredibly limited.

Spermicidal products are about the only things available on your list. These include foams, gels, and vaginal films or sponges. These products are NOT as effective as the pill and MUST be used according to the directions. The last I read put spermicides at an 80 something percent effective rating. This means that 20 out of 100 women who use them correctly for a year will become pregnant. Many of these products must be applied in very specific ways and time frames. Read all directions until you could recite them in your sleep.

I would suggest trying condoms again. There are dozens of styles and brands. Many of them are ultra thin and really do not get in the way. Putting on a condom is much less of an interruption than inserting a sponge 20 minutes ahead of time, lathering yourself in foam, or squeezing spermicidal gel everywhere. Applying a condom is easier with practice and can become just another sensual part of the act. If you're going to use condoms, be sure to grab some lube as well. A little extra slipperiness can sort out a lot of condom related issues.

If you don't want hormones, but will go to the doctor speak to your gyno about being fitted for an IUD or a diaphragm. Diaphragms are used in combination with a spermicide and have to be inserted a certain time before sex and left in for an amount of time after sex. IUD's come in a non-hormonal copper form. Be very specific with your doctor that you DO NOT want a hormonal IUD and see if they would recommend the copper style for you. A copper IUD can be removed with an office visit and you will be able to become pregnant almost immediately again.

Answer 5

Responding to the answer above Mirena is horomonal. There is a copper IUD that can be removed at any time that is not horomonal. That seems to be the only non-horomonal option available other than some type of condom. IUDs can increase the chance of a tubal pregnancy in the future though. If I were you I would go with a horomonal option. I was not interested in them either at first but they made my periods lighter, made my breasts larger, and i am not afraid of becoming pregnant until i am ready.

The best thing to do though is to go ask your doctor. Most birth control options you will need a perscription which you can aquire through a family planning clinic if you do not have a doctor or insurance.

Answer 6

I'm not aware that there are any over the counter birth controls. The only practical birth control that I can think of is a condom. You may not like it, but that's about all there is.

Answer 7

birth control pills are easily reversed. you can get pregnant fairly soon after stoppping them.

you don't need a prescription if you go to planned parenthood.. but getting a prescription isn't too hard if you just go ask your doctor!

Answer 8

You can learn to track when you ovulate so that you abstain during your fertile days. Check out the Billings Ovulation Method...

Answer 9

Go to the doctor and have him put in a mirena is is suppose to last 5 years unless you want it out sooner

Answer 10

You can try the intravaginal contraceptive film insert, Encare, or foam. All of them work pretty well, you can get them at any most stores, but they work better if you also use condoms.