Tell me about the sponge
 

It's a female contraceptive my girlfriend recently found out about.

http://www.todaysponge.com/

Has anybody out there tried the sponge before? My girlfriend and I are looking for additional/alternatives to just a condom, but still using over-the-counter contraceptives (i.e. not the pill). Thanks for the responses everyone.

Also, where in the US could I find this? Thanks.

KRAMER: I'll tell ya, I think birth control should be discussed in an open forum.
ELAINE: The sponge, o.k.? The Today sponge.
KRAMER: But wasn't that taken off the market?
ELAINE: Off the market? The sponge? No, no...no way. Everybody loves the sponge.

Sounds a bit risky, I would go with condoms and/or the pill ...

Yeah, the sponge is historically a backup method, and not a primary method of BC. If you go barrier method, get a diaphram (or however the crap you spell it).

http://www.plannedparenthood.org/pp2.../birthcontrol/

Ah, planned parethood. Lists all types of BC, risks, how you use it, all that good stuff. If you don't have health insurance/ don't want your parents finding out/ don't have a lot of money you can go to planned parenthood for a consultation for cheap and on the DL.

the sponge uses nonoxynol-9 which a lot of women have problems with....Im one of them, Im very allergic to it so if you use it make sure that you have no allergies to it. I tried them way back in the day (around 1986) and this is when I found out about my allergy....also it was near to impossible for me to get out, so even without the nonoxynol-9 I wouldnt touch them again.

Yes, the sponge is just a way to hold spermicide. There are many ways to incorporate spermicide into your birth control, including a film that dissolves after a few minutes, a suppository-type insert that needs more time to dissolve, and a foam that works immediately. The foam is messy though so most women use the film as a happy medium and just mess around until it's ready to use. You could try a diaphragm or cervical cap but I think those are annoying to put in and take out.

I used to use the spermicide foam as a back up to using hormonal birth control- but my guy at the time was very sensitive to the spermicide and ended up with a UTI.

Is there any reason why your GF doesn't want to try hormonal birth control? There's so many different kinds out there that it's easy to find one she likes :D

Sage, she tried two different birth control pills (3 months on each one) a few years ago (she used it to control her period, not for actual birth control), and she said she was miserable and emotional much of the time she was on it. Plus she said that it's kind of expensive, which is understandable, although I did offer to help pay for it too. But overall it was the side-effects that turned her off to the pill.

D-I-A-P-H-R-A-G-M... that's how it's spelled, I think.

:thumbsup:

How's the sponge?

Well, I'm my mama's little sponge-baby.

There you go.

If BC is too expensive, GO TO PLANNED PARENTHOOD or to your local health department. Based on your income you might only have to pay a fraction of the med cost. I got my IUD for free- FOR FREE - based on my income level at my local Health Department. I now have ten years of no babies FOR FREE.

Also, since there are so many different types of BC on the market, it's a little silly to stop with just two tries. That's like... Walking into a department store to buy shoes, grabbing the first two pairs you see, and if they don't fit, not buying any! Birth Control is every sexually active person's right, and it's their right, as a sexually active person, to make sure they're doing everything they can to NOT get pregnant. It's a lot cheaper to buy pills every month than it is to raise a kid!

Amen.

I was on pills for two years when I worked at a minimum wage job. I got discounted ones from the health department, and $15 dollars a month was still pretty expensive to me...but since $15 will get you ONE jumbo package of diapers (40-50 diapers, which you will go through in a week)....it seems pretty cheap in comparison, doesn't it?

The sponge has to be left inside long after sex is over and this can be a very uncomfortable sensation, enough to perhaps throw caution to the wind and remove it too early. Also, it can be dislodged during sex and it can cause infections and its gross to remove and its not reliable for preventing pregnancy...go with a condom, cleaner and more reliable.

I qualified for the Family Planning Project here and I've gotten all my birth control through them for several years now. That would be about five years of BC (various methods) for free. Yay for the health department!

let's see... a totally porous matieral that simply soaks up semen... and i'm supposed to think this is in ANY way reliable? No way in hell. It's meant as a secondary, no matter what their own advertising tells you. Is there a reason not to use the pill?

It's been about 10 years since I used a sponge. I never had any pregnancy scares with them, but my boyfriend and I both had minor irritation from the spermicide. Itched like hell for a few days after. You have to put it in a certain number of hours ahead of time, then you have a large window of several hours to have sex, and then you have leave it in for a certain number of hours afterwards. (So make sure you read and follow the directions carefully.) This means that you have to be in a sex marathon mood to get your money's worth.

I noticed that "sponge-worthy" Seinfeld episode referenced here. So funny, so true!