we have been using "pull-out"/cycles method since I got it removed, so far 1.5 years successfully. Prior to that, we used it a couple of times in total maybe another 1.5 yrs. Now I'm using condoms. I wouldn't recommend using anything hormonal and I personally will never take anything like that into my body. It affects liver so much :( I've read and researched a lot about side effects of hormonal birth control, and convinced they cause a lot of people being sick, cancers and such.