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Male birth control shot found effective, but side effects cut study short

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poppabk

Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
30% if women who take birth control suffer from depression and have to take medication for it? Anyone have a link to that statistic as it seems insanely high. That's a 400% increase over the general population.
 

RowdyReverb

Member
30% if women who take birth control suffer from depression and have to take medication for it? Anyone have a link to that statistic as it seems insanely high. That's a 400% increase over the general population.
That does sound highly inflated, especially given that psychological side effects (namely libido) of oral contraceptives have had conflicting evidence at best. In fact, I'm reading through the literature and I can't find an association between hormonal contraceptives and depression
 

Keri

Member
If your doctor is responsible, they should be screening for risk factors for coagulopathies before starting you on contraceptives, but it's true that there is a slightly increased risk.

I don't think it's common to do any tests. At least, in my personal experience, they just gave me a pap smear and then wrote out a prescription.

IUD's are pretty god damn stellar. Copper ones last ten years, are *very* cheap and, last i checked, had a better track record at preventing pregnancies than condoms or the pill.

Hormonal IUD's are even better, since they often reduce/eliminate blood flow. Price goes up and they "only" last 5 years tho.

Sadly, apparently, if you've never given birth, they can be quite painful to put in place.

Wish there was a male version, tbqh.

IUDs have their own set of scary potential side effects, though. Including perforating the uterus during insertion or migrating out of the uterus. This is one of the forms of birth control that they'll warn could render you infertile, if it isn't put in correctly. Also, my doctor warned that it could cause months of bleeding. I considered it as post-baby birth control, but got spooked by all the negatives and just went back to the pill (which worked for me, before).
 

Lyn

Banned
May I ask what type? Professional curiosity

If your doctor is responsible, they should be screening for risk factors for coagulopathies before starting you on contraceptives, but it's true that there is a slightly increased risk.

Mine did something along these lines. Due to a family history of heart problems, we both agreed that for ease of mind we should make sure I'm not high risk for clotting issues. All was well and good, until I got the bill for the blood test that my insurance refused to cover. Nothing like paying over $1000 for that and be forced onto payment plans.
 

Izuna

Banned
I would be a fan of much better sex education and removal of stigma towards contraceptives.

This double standard is gross, truly.
 

Sayad

Member
Fascinating really a study within a study. Women are expected to be essentially the gatekeepers of pregnancy prevention and undergo all the issues that come with it, the first serious attempt to bring men into that equation gets shut down early because of the very same side effects (at a lower rate) that medicine has deemed acceptable for women to undergo.
Aren't condoms by far the most used pregnancy prevention method?!
 

Nivash

Member
30% if women who take birth control suffer from depression and have to take medication for it? Anyone have a link to that statistic as it seems insanely high. That's a 400% increase over the general population.

The closest I found was a correlation study out of Denmark recently that saw a 30 % risk increase for developing depression in women on medication. The actual prevalence was 1.7 % without the medication, 2.2 % on the medication. I'm going with the professor outright lying with that number or that she has severely misunderstood the research. It's somewhat telling that she's a professor of biology and philosophy; not medicine. She's not actually an expert in the field at all.

Pop-sci blog post on the Danish study: http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/can-hormonal-birth-control-trigger-depression-2016101710514

I don't think it's common to do any tests. At least, in my personal experience, they just gave me a pap smear and then wrote out a prescription.

IUDs have their own set of scary potential side effects, though. Including perforating the uterus during insertion or migrating out of the uterus. This is one of the forms of birth control that they'll warn could render you infertile, if it isn't put in correctly. Also, my doctor warned that it could cause months of bleeding. I considered it as post-baby birth control, but got spooked by all the negatives and just went back to the pill (which worked for me, before).

Those side effects are pretty rare, thankfully. IUDs are emerging as a top recommendation these days. Especially the newer versions seem to be reliable, effective and have minimal side effects compared to pills because they producera minimal whole-body circulation of the hormone. Not to say your doctor was wrong or anything but they might have overplayed the downsides a bit.
 

digdug2k

Member
Aren't condoms by far the most used pregnancy prevention method?!
The CDC says the pill wins: https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/contraceptive-use-united-states

I'm guessing among teens the condom wins, but I think men underestimate just how many sleezy guys there are out there who basically refuse to have anything to do with contraceptives. Even ignoring the jerks who refuse to wear a condom, there are a lot who would never have anything to do with something that affects their sperm production. Their entire self image is based on their dick.
 

Sheroking

Member
The CDC says the pill wins: https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/contraceptive-use-united-states

I'm guessing among teens the condom wins, but I think men underestimate just how many sleezy guys there are out there who basically refuse to have anything to do with contraceptives. Even ignoring the jerks who refuse to wear a condom, there are a lot who would never have anything to do with something that affects their sperm production. Their entire self image is based on their dick.

"Since 1982".

Yeah, I'm going to need a more modern sample size. Some shit has happened since 1982 and I'm willing to bet condom use has consistently increased in the wake of it.
 

Kinokou

Member
Anyone being upset about the double standard or upset about the study shutting down should read up on Vasalgel and consider donating to its development, I have already done so.
 

99Luffy

Banned
Not a health expert but Ive always thought birth control 'balanced out" hormone levels in women??

This on the other hand..
'basically, the brain assumes the body is getting enough," so the body shuts down its own production of testosterone.'
..seems like it might have issues.
 
yea, while i was reading the study i thought to myself "wait a second, isn't that the same thing that happens to women...?"

glad tey talked about it in the article themselves....also release that shit, now. I want it!
 
"Since 1982".

Yeah, I'm going to need a more modern sample size. Some shit has happened since 1982 and I'm willing to bet condom use has consistently increased in the wake of it.

You do realize the meaning of "since"??

Like every study from 1982 and onward has shown the same results of the pill and sterilization being the highest used contraceptive? All the studies are from 2006-2016 for the data. Read the reference links at the bottom of the page, it tells you when each study was done.

And some shit has changed in the world of hormonal birth control too, still making it the most popular option.
 
Birth control is tough. It's a shame there isn't a perfect solution yet. All solutions people have come up with so far have some dealbreaking flaw.

My girlfriend and I just use condoms. They're annoying because putting them on and taking them off interrupts the action. But the alternative is my girlfriend using the pill or an IUD, and neither of us wants her to have to go through that.
 

MGrant

Member
I must be extraordinarily unlucky, but none of the sex partners I've had for the last ten years have been on the pill or an IUD, nor have they carried condoms. I buy the condoms every single time. Feel free to make the small sample size joke of your choice (it's been about a dozen women). In three different parts of the world, too. Is it a generational thing?
 

KonradLaw

Member
Any man with a brain should welcome more options of male birth control. Vasagel seems most promising, but even with side effects hormonal pills would be interesting option too. Not any heavy side effects of course, but similiar ones to female versions would be acceptable.

The ability to not be at your female partner's mercy when it comes to controlling whether you have a child or not (because condoms have high risk of failing) is something men should welcome with open arms.
 
Birth control is tough. It's a shame there isn't a perfect solution yet. All solutions people have come up with so far have some dealbreaking flaw.

My girlfriend and I just use condoms. They're annoying because putting them on and taking them off interrupts the action. But the alternative is my girlfriend using the pill or an IUD, and neither of us wants her to have to go through that.

If you're pretty sure you don't wanna be pregnant for a few years, a Mirena IUD is an outstanding option, imo...
 

Theecliff

Banned
27 billion condoms was sold last year so saying birth control is mostly a burden of women seems incorrect.
what?

buying condoms isn't a burden on men. they're cheap as fuck, you can get them in different sizes, and if you're allergic you can buy different materials. unless there's a probable risk that your dick can fall off by wearing one, condoms are not a serious burden at all. on top of that, i'd wager that most sexually active women make an enormous chunk of that figure anyway.

the fact of the matter is that only women currently have to deal with chemical contraceptions that have long lists of negative side effects. and the answer to 'why take it then?' is that most women taking contraception don't want pregnancy. even though pregnancy is the responsibility for both the man and the woman, only the woman has to go through with the intense physical burden. women stand to lose a lot more if they don't take extra precautions which are currently only available for them despite the problems associated.
 
I wonder if the standards for acceptable medicine have changed? I mean, if contraceptive pills for women were invented now, maybe they'd be deemed unacceptable as well?

This is sadly a more likely explanation. They should definitely be reassessed for safety and taken off the market if they don't meet current day standards.
 

spekkeh

Banned
Makes for a nice headline that doesn't hold up at all to scrutiny.

- Looks similar to is hardly scientific
- No shit new medicine needs to be better than existing medicines. The original BC pills were a massive shock, 0 to 96%. Since then there have been many refinements and different pills for different side effects.
- Injections are less useful than pills
- A lot of girls (most in the west?) don't in fact take BC because they are sexually active, but to mitigate/control periods
- Testosterone is a more (societally) dangerous hormone than estrogen.
 

pa22word

Member
Some of the arguments here are really crappy. "I suffered through similar shit when I start BC, therefore men should too" is a thoughtless argument. It reminds me of those "we shouldn't raise the minimum wage because I had to work to X first!" arguments.

Making more shitty birth control, but this time for men, doesn't solve the issue that we need better birth control. Shoveling out another unstable solution for seemingly no other reason than you want men to suffer just as much as you do both does nothing more than serve to create unnecessary problems and reeks of pure schadenfreude. Do the current solutions available put more of the weight on a woman? Yes. Does that mean we should haphazardly throw dangerous drugs out on the market to even the scale, purely out of spite? Of course not.

I can't believe that this is being used as a tool to fuel conflict between genders.

got people to click the link though didn't it?
 

acohrs

Member
Condoms are an inconvenience for both genders.

I think condoms (the one for men) are the best method thus far and really have yet to be topped. By best, I mean with the least number of harmful side effects for both partners, but that's my view not a fact.
 
Some of the arguments here are really crappy. "I suffered through similar shit when I start BC, therefore men should too" is a thoughtless argument. It reminds me of those "we shouldn't raise the minimum wage because I had to work to X first!" arguments.

Making more shitty birth control, but this time for men, doesn't solve the issue that we need better birth control. Shoveling out another unstable solution for seemingly no other reason than you want men to suffer just as much as you do both does nothing more than serve to create unnecessary problems and reeks of pure schadenfreude. Do the current solutions available put more of the weight on a woman? Yes. Does that mean we should haphazardly throw dangerous drugs out on the market to even the scale, purely out of spite? Of course not.



got people to click the link though didn't it?
Its not dangerous because women have been taking them for decades now, with worse side-effects apparently. So yes, if it works and the side effects are even less than womans birth control it should be put on the market. If there is a better option, sure, that would be nice, but clearly that is still many years away, so withholding this option really is unfair to women.
 

Xe4

Banned
I think condoms (the one for men) are the best method thus far and really have yet to be topped. By best, I mean with the least number of harmful side effects for both partners, but that's my view not a fact.
Not to mention, they're the only method of birth control to protect against unwanted pregnancies and STD's.

But people are dumb and think something like the pullout method is just as good. D :
 
Where is that method where they inject something into your balls? Still in the (early) testing phase I pressume. Because I am desperately waiting for that one.
 

RowdyReverb

Member
I don't think it's common to do any tests. At least, in my personal experience, they just gave me a pap smear and then wrote out a prescription.
No, I wasn't referring to tests. By screen, I meant ask pertinent questions about family history, smoking history, and medical history primarily to identify patients at increased risk of adverse events
 
glad tey talked about it in the article themselves....also release that shit, now. I want it!

Its not dangerous because women have been taking them for decades now, with worse side-effects apparently. So yes, if it works and the side effects are even less than womans birth control it should be put on the market. If there is a better option, sure, that would be nice, but clearly that is still many years away, so withholding this option really is unfair to women.

I mean, the big hormone they using is testosterone undecanoate. If your endocrinologist clears you for it, you can get that right now. Just so happens that it is mostly used for TRT.

If they make that thing OTC, bodybuilders will buy it in bulk, fwiw. Somehow i don't think that anyone gonna do that with a steroid any time soon.
 
It's not that surprising that men aren't really interested in a contraceptive with serious side effects.

I've seen a lot of, "Men are just wimps. Women have been dealing with this for years what an epic double standard" on social media comments.

That ignores a lot of context. And a lot of comments seem to assume that as soon as this shot is ready, men and women should be equally using these contraceptives. And that's simply not going to happen.

-Some people are going to find an oral contraceptive to be more appealing than a shot. Not all, but some.

-If female birth control never existed today, and they were in the process of testing it and rolling it out with the same side effects, many women would not be interested. But many girls are put on the pill during their teenage years by their mothers. The pill has already been ingrained in our culture.

-Some women take the pill to regulate and reduce the pain of their menstrual cycle. Some women claim that is their primary usage because the pain is so bad.

-At the end of the day, getting pregnant is still going to be scarier and more burdensome than getting someone pregnant. If you want to have sex and not get pregnant, you should still take precautions.
 
Wasn't there one attempted suicide associated with this too? I'm sure the article I read on the study noted the suicide (which was unrelated) and an attempted suicide which was relate to the study -I'd assume due to the side effects? or scrutiny?

Its an interesting study and one I've been interested in for years - my interest started out due to mistrust of an Ex, who 'forgot' to take contraceptives quite frequently, so I wanted something other than condoms that I could control. but the reasoning developed overtime as I matured into wanting to control my own options and a sort of "why should women have to be the sole one responsible for this" attitude

The side effects are interesting and whilst not ideal I'd hope they would continue to research this
 
Wasn't there one attempted suicide associated with this two? I'm sure the article I read on the study noted the suicide (which was unrelated) and an attempted suicide which was relate to the study -I'd assume due to the side effects? or scrutiny?

Its an interesting study and one I've been interested in for years - my interest started out due to mistrust of an Ex, who 'forgot' to take contraceptives quite frequently, so I wanted something other than condoms that I could control. but the reasoning developed overtime as I matured into wanting to control my own options and a sort of "why should women have to be the sole one responsible for this" attitude

The side effects are interesting and whilst not ideal I'd hope they would continue to research this

Suicides were apparently ruled out as being caused by the drug and I think there was only one. It's mentioned in the article.
 

Audioboxer

Member
Wasn't there one attempted suicide associated with this two? I'm sure the article I read on the study noted the suicide (which was unrelated) and an attempted suicide which was relate to the study -I'd assume due to the side effects? or scrutiny?

Its an interesting study and one I've been interested in for years - my interest started out due to mistrust of an Ex, who 'forgot' to take contraceptives quite frequently, so I wanted something other than condoms that I could control. but the reasoning developed overtime as I matured into wanting to control my own options and a sort of "why should women have to be the sole one responsible for this" attitude

The side effects are interesting and whilst not ideal I'd hope they would continue to research this

You can read it all in the report

Results: Of the 320 participants, 95.9 of 100 continuing users (95% confidence interval [CI], 92.8 –
97.9) suppressed to a sperm concentration less than or equal to 1 million/mL within 24 weeks
(Kaplan-Meier method). During the efficacy phase of up to 56 weeks, 4 pregnancies occurred
among the partners of the 266 male participants, with the rate of 1.57 per 100 continuing users
(95% CI, 0.59 – 4.14). The cumulative reversibility of suppression of spermatogenesis after 52 weeks
of recovery was 94.8 per 100 continuing users (95% CI, 91.5–97.1). Themost common adverse events
were acne, injection site pain, increased libido, and mood disorders. Following the recommendation
of an external safety review committee the recruitment and hormone injections were terminated
early.

Conclusions: The study regimen led to near-complete and reversible suppression of spermatogenesis.
The contraceptive efficacy was relatively good compared with other reversible methods available
for men. The frequencies of mild to moderate mood disorders were relatively high. (J Clin
Endocrinol Metab 101: 0000 – 0000, 2016)

There was 1 death by suicide in the efficacy phase that
was assessed as not related to the study regimen. The participant
received 3 injections and committed suicide 1
month after the last injection. The family indicated that he
could not cope with his academic pressure. Other nonfatal
serious AEs were 1 case of depression (assessed as probably
related) and 1 case of intentional paracetamol overdose (assessed as possibly related) during the suppression
phase, as well as 1 case of tachycardia with paroxysmal
atrial fibrillation (assessed as possibly related) during the
recovery phase. Ten other serious AEs were assessed as not being related to the study regimen.

http://press.endocrine.org/doi/pdf/10.1210/jc.2016-2141
 

acohrs

Member
The CDC says the pill wins: https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/contraceptive-use-united-states

I'm guessing among teens the condom wins, but I think men underestimate just how many sleezy guys there are out there who basically refuse to have anything to do with contraceptives. Even ignoring the jerks who refuse to wear a condom, there are a lot who would never have anything to do with something that affects their sperm production. Their entire self image is based on their dick.

Didn't realise that there was a prevalent amount of men that refuse to wear condoms. The only one I knew like that basically did it to himself by doing so much drugs that he could barely keep it up even bareback.

I agree with the posters on here that we should be encouraging women off birth control with harmful side effects rather than getting men to start taking them too. Had 2 exes on the pill, and the hormonal changes were startling. Wouldn't want my current GF or daughters to be on them if at all possible.
 

Audioboxer

Member
Didn't realise that there was a prevalent amount of men that refuse to wear condoms. The only one I knew like that basically did it to himself by doing so much drugs that he could barely keep it up even bareback.

I agree with the posters on here that we should be encouraging women off birth control with harmful side effects rather than getting men to start taking them too. Had 2 exes on the pill, and the hormonal changes were startling. Wouldn't want my current GF or daughters to be on them if at all possible.

The mini-pill can sometimes be a solution

The mini-Pill remains one of the most popular methods of birth control – though it's still nowhere near as widely-used as the 'ordinary' Pill.

The big difference between the mini-Pill and the Pill, is that the mini-Pill contains only one hormone instead of two.

This makes it milder than the regular combined Pill. It's often referred to as the 'progestogen-only Pill' or 'POP'.

This is because the female-type hormone it contains is a progestogen (known in the USA as a 'progestin'). There is no oestrogen in the mini-Pill.

The mini-Pill is really a very good method of contraception. It's been around since 1973, and during that time it has proved remarkably safe to use.

How does it work?

The mini-Pill:

thickens your cervical mucus, so that it's more difficult for sperms to get through
thins the lining of your womb, therefore making it much less likely that an ovum (egg) will implant there
affects the motility in your Fallopian tubes, thus reducing the chances of fertilisation
in some instances, prevents ovulation (egg release) – this is particularly so with Cerazette.
What are the mini-Pill's advantages?

The main advantages of the POP are:

it has fewer side-effects than the combined Pill
it can be taken at any age (unlike the combined Pill, which is generally 'phased out' after the age of 35)
it can be taken by breastfeeding women
it can be taken by smokers
it doesn't raise your blood pressure
it can help to ease PMT (pre-menstrual tension).
Are there any drawbacks?

The main drawbacks of the mini-Pill are the following.

It doesn't control your periods, in the way that the combined Pill does.
It's slightly less effective than the ordinary Pill.
It's not always effective in preventing ectopic pregnancies.
It may not be as effective in women who weigh over 70 kilogrammes (11 stone).
You have to remember to take it at roughly the same time each day (within three hours. In the case of the older mini-Pills).

http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/conditio...6/the-mini-pill-progestogen-only-pill-or-pop/

This is obviously the sticking point for some "forgetful" couples

You have to remember to take it at roughly the same time each day (within three hours. In the case of the older mini-Pills).
 
so i'm a bit confused about the premise of the OP.

better/modern research and medical standards are indicative of some sexist bias?
 

Damerman

Member
Honestly i don't even want women to take birth control because of the side effects. The double standard is there, but why the hell are either sexes supposed to suffer them? There has to be a more efficient way that is sex neutral.
 

Akuun

Looking for meaning in GAF
That's sad but it's true that female pills have a lot of bad side effects. Some pretty thoroughly suppress the libido too, so you end up with the catch-22 of being able to have sex, but having no interest in it.

It's bad that the male injections were stopped too, but efforts should be made to reduce the side effects of the male pill too.
 

Keri

Member
No, I wasn't referring to tests. By screen, I meant ask pertinent questions about family history, smoking history, and medical history primarily to identify patients at increased risk of adverse events

Yeah, they definitely did that, but that's isn't a very thorough way of testing. I think most women go on birth control when they're young enough to not have any medical history. It's strange knowing that there's a possibility that a pill being prescribed to you, could possibly kill you, and the only method of screening you is to basically ask: "Have you heard of anyone else in your family dying this way?" Obviously the odds of being someone who can die from the pill are very small, but still it feels strange how we all just accept playing the numbers. I suppose it's because getting pregnant can kill us too...

Not a health expert but Ive always thought birth control 'balanced out" hormone levels in women??

It basically tricks the body into thinking you are already pregnant, so you stop ovulating. So, I don't think that's really "balancing." A common side effect is mood swings, because your hormones are all being amped up, in a sense.
 
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