FUCK CANCER, FUCK CANCER, FUCK CANCER. It cannot be said enough. I'm so sorry, Ginger, I remember you talking about how close the two of you have been for such a long time.

Which I should know, after 25 years, that whenever I find myself saying "I suck", 99% of the time, my period is due in a day or two. Chemistry is amazingly powerful.

No kidding. Just this week, I had a day where my moodswings were batshit and it was all I could do not to bite my coworker's head off. Come home, check the pill pack - nope, I hadn't skipped a dose and was mid-cycle. Then I went to the bathroom... and I was spotting. Further confirming that I will be looking to change birth control soon. Just as soon as I find a new GP.

Stephanie, I hope you've heard the last of crazy GF.

I am taking a night off from parades, though I may go to a capes and underwear party later. More likely that I will crash, though.

Not to mention the coin-toss nonsense about if I'm going to be emotionally or physically incapacitated by my period. Which will it be: hysterical sobbing over cute animal pictures on tumblr, or cramps that make me long for death? There's no way of predicting until it happens!

Yeah, perimenopause has been superfun. I just have to wonder if the emotional stuff is going to incapacitate me. The physical incapacitation has been a given for a while. The only useful bit about perimenopause is that it brought regularity to the game. Still, I am so over it and am very ready to be done.

That hasn't worked out, so now I'm considering Implanon (no clue on the spelling). It is inserted in the arm, lasts 3 years, and can make your period go away. Anyone know anything about this?

Is that comparable to the Norplant? I had that and it was easy peasy. Didn't get my period during it either.

I think it is a newer generation but like Norplant. Need to see if insurance will cover or it is off to PP. sadly the BC side is the least of my concerns. Cutting down on the cramps, even a bit of the moods, and stopping periods has to help my anemia.

My BFF had problems when the time came to have her Norplant removed--adhesions, I think. With any luck they've fixed that problem in the past 10 or so years, though.

Ginger, I'm sorry about your friend. FUCK CANCER, indeed.

Cutting down on the cramps, even a bit of the moods, and stopping periods has to help my anemia.

This is the real reason I got the Mirena, not BC. FWIW, my insurance paid for it, but that may have been because I got it after fibroids were discovered.

< insert standard rant about BC always being covered by insurance, period and that BC should be over the counter and cheap >

Has anyone had issues with Mirena? I'm thinking about giving it a try.

I've heard there were some adhesion problems. I got mine when they were first first out and PP offered it free if you'd tell them about your experience. I have two little scars on the inside of my right arm.

sadly the BC side is the least of my concerns. Cutting down on the cramps, even a bit of the moods, and stopping periods has to help my anemia.

It just stopped everything for me.

I might have been more stressed about the missing periods if I also hadn't just gotten into a LTR with a woman. So no real worry about contraception with the sexytimes.

Worked great for me. Only side effect was the turning me gay.

Has anyone had issues with Mirena? I'm thinking about giving it a try.

From what I've read on other websites (corporette discusses every so often), it can be hella painful (or not!) when being put in, but most people love it. But apparently while for most people there's a little spotting and then you rarely if ever get a period, for some people you start spotting and just...keep spotting. Which would be obnoxious.

Mirena was not comfortable being installed, but I'm a huge wuss, and I handled it okay with a Valium. The discomfort didn't last past the actual installation. I wouldn't consider discomfort a reason not to get it, honestly not even if it had been more painful than it was. There was some spotting for a few months after, but it didn't bother me. I still get mild cramps, but they can be managed with an Advil. I haven't had an actual period since I got it. I still have the black moods, but they're more...I dunno, contained? They last a couple days, they have clear boundaries and I can recognize when they're happening, as opposed to being lost in misery and confusion and wondering what the hell is wrong with me, if that makes sense. I'm clear-headed enough to KNOW what's wrong with me, and how to manage it and ride it out.

That was wordy. Sorry.