Alright fellow CFers. I've done some research of my own, but since all of my friendships are dropping like flies due to endless pregnancies, I don't have anyone close to me to just get some casual real-world feedback on birth control.

I'm over 35 and I'm a smoker. Yes, I know it's awful, and yes I am progressing (albeit slowly) into smoking less and eventually not at all. A large cause of my smoking is stress, and worrying about pregnancy is high on that list. I also have excruciating periods which I have been trying to get help for for years.

Sterilization is totally an option at some point, but my healthcare coverage through work has been fickle in recent years (it feels like they switch providers every single year and each time the benefits & coverage switch up in weird ways. It should improve in the next couple years but I don't see sterilization as a viable option just yet). I know it would be easier and more affordable for me to do something like an IUD currently, while everything settles down.

My yearly gyno appointment is coming up soon and I'll be seeing someone new at my doc's office. I'm going to have to restart the process of figuring out a plan for my heavy/uber painful periods, and discussing a long-term birth control option.

Is there anyone here who can relate to this situation and has any opinions on what has worked for them?