Hi Divas!!!!

I got my Mirena inserted in early November while on my period and I finished my monthly course at first I then had an extended period of spotting followed by some soreness and then everything was going great. I had a bit of spotting when I was supposed to get my next period and thought that was it but I was wrong.. A couple days later my period came full force and has been here ever since-cramping, pmsy and all. its now been 2 weeks and I am starting to get a bit frustrated as since I have inserted it I have only not been bleeding for about a week and a half and the cramping has been bad and the bleeding heavy. I am sure many of you have experienced this before and just was wondering when I should start to see things calm down and go back to normal ( I know people say about 3 months but living like this for 3 months would be very tough). When I used to be on HBC like Seasonal where you skip your period I had to go off of it since I experienced too much breakthrough bleeding and always had my period so it didnt end up working out too well. I am looking for some support of others who had the same experience in letting me know that this will pass soon and I can get though this. Thanks Divas :)

Hi all,

I'm looking for some guidance/experience beyond what my doctor has advised.  I've had a Paragard for 3 years.  Love love love it.  Unfortunately, I recently became pregnant.  A few weeks into the pregnancy, I had a miscarriage.  Phew.  After miscarriage, my doctor ordered an ultrasound to check the position of the IUD.  The ultrasound showed that my IUD is still perfectly in place.  My doctor then advised that I could continue using my IUD for contraception.

Doc said "I've never seen anything like this before, and I think its very unlikely that a pregnancy would occur again".

But, being that I'm the one that's going to have to have the abortion if this thing fails again, I'm finding myself a bit apprehensive about using the IUD as my only method of birth control.  On the other hand, I had my paragard inserted after trying hormonal BC, diaphram, spermacide, condoms...everything.  All have been terrible except the Paragard.  So what else to do?

Has anyone else had a similar experience where they had a pregnancy, but kept the IUD, and found that it worked from there on out?  I've searched far and wide for scientific articles or websites that have studied pregnancy and then continued use with the same IUD, but haven't found anything helpful to my situation.

Thanks!

 Greetings!

Just wanted to post a six month update. I'm 30 np, was on the pill for 10 years before this past year. I had my paragard inserted at the end of June. Insertion was a breeze (much less eventful than my mirena insertion, which had to be removed 6 weeks later), no cramping. I did have heavy periods for the first two months. The first month I also had a period every two weeks. By the two month point I was getting a period every 25 days. It is now every 28 days, with only one heavy day, and my period lasts about 5 days, just what it was pre-pill. I may get a few cramps but nothing to worry about. My DH has never felt the strings either. I'm very pleased with Paragard and would recommend it to anyone! Just need to get through the first few months while your body adjusts to the change. It's worth it!

Cheers! 

hey divas!!
im 20. np and I got my copper iud inserted on the 1st july this year.
for the 1st couple months it wasnt very good. i had awful pains, really heavy periods and just felt like crap. i also got anaemic. =(

Now, nearly 6 months down the track, i still get spotting, but its bearable.
I also now, never ever ever have any pains with my period!! HORRAYYY!!
and my sex drive, is unbelievable!!! amazing!! Now condoms dont ruin the moment! lol. and i actually WANT TO HAVE SEX! (ALOT) As before, being on the pill for years.. i had no sex drive what so ever.

my bf has never felt the strings while having sex, and havent had a preg scare - touchwood.
Mentally, i feel honestly like a new woman. no more horrible hormones to make me feel awful.

If i could rate this iud out of 10, i ould give it 1000000000!
its amazing and i recommend this to anyone. even with a history of heavy periods, like me!

i will post again after a year, but its truly an amazing contraceptive!

goodluck to you all!!!
and if your not having a very good time with your iud. wait it out. its worth it!

xxx

I've been following this community for probably about 2 years or longer, wanting to get an IUD of my own. A doctor at Planned Parenthood attempted an insertion a couple years ago, but was basically prodding at me for almost an hour, unable to get it in because we cervix was too tilted.
This time, however, I took Cytotec to help dilate my cervix a bit and went to a private practice doctor. The insertion (3 days ago) was a little more painful than I anticipated, but it didn't last long. I only had cramps for the first day, and they really weren't too bad. I've been spotting since then, and I hope I won't have to deal with this for too long, but it's not that big of a deal.

I've been reading on various forums around the interwebs about boyfriends/husbands complaining of being stabbed by the string. Some people say that the solution to this is to cut the string shorter, and some say it's much better to leave it longer so that the string curls up and rests against your cervix. I read that cutting the string too short makes it inevitably pokey, as there is no way for it to curl up anymore. What are your guys' experiences with this? Did your SO complain of being stabbed? How long did the string take to soften? I haven't had sex since the insertion, and think I'll try waiting another few days.

Anyways, thanks. :) I love my Mirena already! And I'm grateful to this community for providing so much valuable information.

It has been 12 months since I had my Paraguard inserted, and I have to say that I have no regrets.
The first 3 months were as awful as I'd been warned - heavy periods that lasted weeks in duration, severe cramps that made not only my uterus hurt, but also my pubic area, my hipbones, and my tailbone, anemia from all the bleeding. At 3 months, I was about ready to have it removed.
But almost magically, by 4 months, my periods calmed down. By 6 months, they were almost as long/heavy/crampy as they'd been before I started birth control. The weight I'd gained after a year on Depo Provera started to slowly come off.
And now it's 12 months. I have few to no cramps, rarely do I have a super-heavy period, my libido is back to where it was at previously (thank you Jesus!) and I've lost all the weight.
If all goes well, this is what I can expect for the next 10 years or more. How fabulous is that? I'm so glad that I had a doctor that encouraged me to try an IUD and get off the hormones, a loving partner who rubbed my back and held me when it felt like I was bleeding to death, and a community of like-minded women who answer questions and provide support. Yay!

Hi all - since the results of the hiatus poll were overwhelmingly in favor of taking two weeks off for the holidays, 4077th_watch is now officially on hiatus. I'll post the new discussion posts - the DVD special features - after New Year's.

Of course, being on hiatus only means there will be no new posts - not that you have to stop discussing! If you're around and online, please feel free to keep discussing GFA, or any of the other episodes you're not quite finished with! :)

Also, thanks so very much to timberwolf63 and verlindahenning, who have volunteered to take over the mid-week reminders. I really appreciate it!

See you in January - hope everyone who celebrates has lovely, stress-free holidays!

I just wanted to update! I just finished up my 3rd Paragard period and wanted to share because it was actually pretty boring and I think nobody ever posts when things are boring! =)

It started exactly a month after my last period so that was good! I didn't get any PMS or pre spotting which I was super happy about! All in all it wasn't too bad of a period....5 days. Cramps got pretty bad on day 2. They came and went throughout the day. Flow was heaviest on day 2 and 3. Day 4 I was able to have sex with no mess, cramps or feeling of any stings on his part. Day 5 it was pretty much just spotting and over by the evening.

I'm super super happy with my Paragard. I recommend it to anyone who asks about it!

I must say that I wish I would have found this site a lot sooner. There is so much helpful information and I am so glad to see everyones posts because I can relate to a lot of you.

About six years ago ( I was 18 at the time )I was hospitalized for almost a month because of a collapsed lung. This was do to the patch that I was on at the time. I developed a blood clot and didn't know it and it broke lose from my leg and went to my lung. So for the past few years I have had to hope that I wouldn't get pregnant since I couldn't take any form of birth control. I did good with not getting pregnant up until this year. I got pregnant I would say around the end of June and had a miscarriage in the beginning of August. It was reallly rough but at the same time kind of a good thing. I found out afterwards that I would have a really rough pregnancy and it would cost a lot of money even with my insurance. So after that my OB brought up the Paragard. Being that this is my only option I decided to give it a shot.

And I must say WOW I didn't think it would be like this. I have had a really rough past few months. I got it put in Nov 20. I forgot to take the Ibuprofin like they told me and I was in a lot of pain while she put it in. I thought I was going to pass out. Well all the night at work I was having really bad pains even worse then I do with my period (I also have endemetiosis so my cramps are pretty bad). And all through the weekend the pains continued. Come to find out the reason was because my body was getting rid of the IUD. So I went back Monday had it taken out and got another one put in (I took the Ibuprofin this time). Since then I have gotten an ultrasound and its in place which is good. After that I bled and had cramps for about 2 weeks. Not to mention I was getting a really sharp pain off and on for a few days. I stopped for about a week and then started again. This time I am assuming it was my period (it was around the time I should have gotten it). Again it lasted like two weeks and was very heavy. I kept calling the Dr because I was worried something was wrong and they said no everything was fine that my body was just tying to get used to it.

Finally this week I was able to have sex for the first time in several months. I stopped bleeding however I am still having cramps. I guess its still normal but it sucks that I have to keep taking medicine to help the cramps. I am glad that I got it put in I am just waiting for my body to get back to normal.

Sorry for such the long post but I don't really have anyone to talk to that understands how I feel right now. My BF wanted me to get it out seeing how much pain I was in but I wanted this to work. I don't want to have a child right now. I am just not ready to deal with all the things I have to go through. Thanks for listening.

Hello again! I posted last night asking about IUDs since I had surgery today and my doc wanted to insert one while I was out. Mods, I apologize if this post is too soon after my last, and if you'd prefer, I'll be happy to cut and paste this into that post and then delete this one.

I had a laparoscopy, hymenotomy, and IUD insertion this morning at 9. The goal was to find out if I had endometriosis, which I do. My doc said that on a scale of 1-10 my endo is at an 8, it's so bad. I'm 19, NP, and only been with one guy - for almost 4 years. It's a little depressing, but I figured I had it all these years, and this confirmed it. Being that this is my first surgery, I was so proud of myself for not being nervous! I was only nervous about the IV, but it was fine. I really enjoyed getting knocked out, and being out of it. Lol! I found out I may have an irregular heartbeat when they checked my pulse/blood pressure/etc, so they did an EKG while I was out. I don't know the results and probably won't until January 7th, my next appointment.

At first, I asked my doctor to insert the IUD only if I did have endo, and if I didn't, then to not insert it. I finally settled with inserting it no matter what, because even if I didn't have endo, I'd still have cramps. So I am now a proud diva! :) She put in a Mirena. I'm not sure what to name it yet. So far, no problems other than minor cramps and a small amount of bleeding, but I was prescribed Tylenol 3, which is amazing.

Anyway, I wanted to thank those who commented. I read the posts I hadn't replied to after the surgery, but I wanted you to know I did indeed read them, and appreciated every post. :) Your advice really helped and I feel better than I thought I would!

Also, I have pics of my insides affected by endo, so if anybody would like to see them and/or hear my surgery story, feel free to ask and I'll update this entry with it. It went swell and took an hour and a half for everything, and it was overall a very pleasant experience! I had no problems whatsoever and would do it again. If any of you live in the Sacramento area, I would highly, highly recommend my doctor, Bethelen Johnson. She works at Sutter in Davis and knows her stuff about endo and IUDs, and was the one who recommended the IUD to me initially. :)

EDIT 12/19: Photos and details! I'll cut it in sections so you don't have to read the entire story if you don't want to. I figured writing it in detail would help those who are nervous about surgery. Also, there are some things repeated, because this was cut+pasted from my LJ. Apologies.

( Getting to the hospital, papers, pre-surgery, IV )

( right before surgery, talking to Dr, wheeled into operating room )

( getting knocked out with anesthesia )

( after surgery )

( Pictures of endometriosis )

 Hi, this is my first time to this site; I have been looking for something like this for days. I am 21, have never been pregnant and had paragard inserted on October 6th.  I had been on the pill for about 3 years before I switched to paragard.  I had my first period on November 9th and everything was normal.  My last one was due on December 6th (if you count by 28 days) and no signs of it yet.  I haven't had any cramping or spotting this month.  I know everyone is different but I was wondering if its normal or anyone else has had irregular/late periods on paragard.  Thanks for any help!

After numerous tries, I finally have a paragard.  I wanted a paragard because the list of potentional side effects is way shorter, and I desperately need to lose some weight.

I went out to karaoke last night, so this morning I looked and felt my best. But honestly it was no where near as bad as I had it in my head.  I was in and out of the office in 30 minutes.

There was sort of a constant dull pain as the doctor was working on me which got more intense when he was putting things in.  I just made sure to breathe and attempted to talk about innocuous matters in order to calm down.  Not the worst pain in my life, but definitely unpleasant.  He said I would spot for the next couple of days from the stuff he put on my cervix. 

I would describe the cramping afterwords as like a bad period.  After about 4 hours they're mostly gone. Every so often I've been getting a particularly strong one but the frequency has decreased.  My boyfriend spooned with me for a while.  Also this might be TMI but every so often he would kiss my ear and play with my breasts which I actually found kind of helpful. It was really nice to feel something pleasurable, and it seemed to lessen the cramps. I've taken a lot of ibuprofen, used a heating pad, and drank some tea.  

I'll report back on the sex issue and my Diva cup when events arise.  Thanks all!  The info from this community has been amazing.

Well after 5 years with my IUD, I got it removed and re-inserted. It HURT like hell. I fainted afterwards and felt like I'd been kicked by a horse.

However, the strings are in a much better place, they haven't hurt my husband once as opposed to 5 years of being stabbed during intercourse.

Want the fabulous news? Because my body was used to one and I only occasionally spotted, I bled heavily for 2 days and spotted for a week. That's it! I was worried I'd go back to a year of constant spotting like I had with the first one.

Very pleased. I had posted earlier about the time frame for a vasectomy to be considered safe and to be 100% it is a full 12 months post surgery to ensure it hasn't grown back. The husband is getting one in a few days.

Hi all! I joined earlier tonight after going through a bunch of tags and memories and reading the FAQ and much more. :) I have a question, and I apologize if I missed this in the memories, but I looked extra hard!

I am going in for a laparoscopy tomorrow to find out if I have endometriosis or not [my mom had it, both my grandmothers had it, etc]. Long story short, I get terrible, terrible cramps with every period and went on the pill [Lo Ogestrol] for over a year, but the cramps were just as bad, if not worse. I was moody, I was way too hungry, I gained weight. It was overall a bad experience.

With the lap, we have a hymenotomy planned [ugh, thick hymens are horrible], and she also wants to insert a Mirena IUD. Being the paranoid something-or-other that I am, I looked up Mirena reviews and found huge complaints and bad reviews overall, which scared me and I told my doctor about this. She reassured me that the benefits outweigh the risks and that it is not as bad as it was made out to be, and still pushed the idea of putting one in. She noted that if I do indeed have endo, then it's a good idea to get one because otherwise, we're back at square one on how to deal with the painful periods. Also, people with endo who have had an IUD have done remarkably well, I'm told.

I'm just nervous about getting one in and having complications. She said it's up to me and I can let her know before they put me under [and luckily I'll be asleep when she inserts it!], but she would do it if it were her.

My question to you guys, is what should I do? I'm at a loss and don't want to have to deal with cramping, as well as recovering from surgery and a hymenotomy. But I also don't want to have to go back in to get it inserted if I do have endo. I was thinking of telling her to put one in if I do have it, and if I don't, I'll take some other course of action - but I have a boyfriend of almost 4 years, which is also another problem as it's a good method of birth control.

Does anyone have any good advice for me? I realize it's ultimately my decision, but I still don't know what I should do. Also, I'm 19 and never been pregnant.

Thanks! :)

I REALLY want to get off HBC and have paragard inserted. I am 28, unmarried, never gave birth. I moved from a larger city about two months ago and was going to get paragard inserted there on my GYN's recommendation and decided against it after I found out I'd be moving.

I just had an initial consult with a nurse midwife and expressed my interest in paragard. She tells me that the dr's in the office likely won't insert it without spinal anesthesia since I've never had children. Now this is a complete 180 from what my dr in NY had told me. I expected maybe having to take the med to thin my cervix, but a spinal???

Has ANYBODY had a spinal done for this procedure? I am obviously aware of the INTENSE pain that may occur during insertion, but IMO that is better than paying a 40 dollar monthly copay for HBC and for being tied to a daily med! I don't know what next step to take. The city I live in doesn't support a lot of GYNs so I doubt that finding a different small town dr will change my chances of finding one to insert it "normally".

Does anyone know if the bookstore is doing the same thing as it did in the beginning of the year concerning holding an order and not charging until financial aid comes through?

It went well. I'm NP and 34. A week or so before, I'd had a failed Paragard insertion.


I took 1200 mg which was 400 more than they recommended, but I was kind of hoping to extend its efficacy.

I took misoprostol buccally, one 200mcg in each cheek, 3 hours before the procedure. I swallowed what hadn't dissolved.

Instead of just one doctor, there was a resident, the clinic head--who's done cool research on IUDs and birth control access in Afghanistan-- and a nurse who was partly there to hold my hand. They gave me a heat pack which was really nice.

Unfortunately, the misoprostol hadn't done much, so they dilated my cervix, and they gave me 20cc of lidocaine. I thought that helped a lot. They made sure that I widen my legs as far as they would go. They also brought in an ultrasound which the nurse kept an eye on to make sure that neither the sound nor the IUD perforated the uterus. I really liked that.

The actual insertion really didn't hurt. I attribute that to their having dilated my cervix first. I felt great for a while. I thought I might even be able to take public transportation part of the way home, but I'm glad that I opted to take a cab the whole way. I had a little cramping on the way home,but it really hit when I got home. I didn't take anything, because they'd warned me not to after taking such a high dose. (Maybe I should have anyway.) So, I rested with a hot water bottle.

By Tuesday things were hugely improved. I did take an ibuprophen around 11 or so after a slight twinge, but that was more as a preventative measure so that I wouldn't have to take a higher dose.

The attending recommended that I finish out the remainder of the pill pack; I was at the beginning of the 2nd week of a Kariva pack. She said that she generally recommends that people use a back-up method for the first 5 days or so even though copper IUDs can be used as emergency contraception. She also thought that it would be good if I wanted to avoid a lot of random bleeding until I was scheduled to have a period.

I haven't tried it out yet, because I wanted to clean myself out, and then I was just tired, but I'm looking forward to condom-free sex and not having to remember to take a pill every day. (I was never actually perfect which is why we always used condoms as a back up.)

P.S. They left the strings about 3 cm long.

When I started combing the WWW for information about IUDs, I read a lot of horror stories. Painful insertions, pregnancies, complications... I got second thoughts. So I'm really glad I found this community and I wanted to come add my own good experience to the pile so that people like me will see that there's a reason these are popular, and that its not all bad.

( Read more... )

So, there you have it. I hope that even if no one finds my story in particular, that people like me who were looking for info find this community because its a real gold-mine of IUD-positive people, and it makes me happy.

I had my IUD inserted in October. The insertion itself was painful, but since then everything has been fantastic. I occasionally get cramping around the day that I ovulate, and very rare cramps during my period. My spotting has increased, but other than that everything is exactly the same as it was before. Minimal cramping, a normal period, occasional cramping during sex, etc. Just wanted to add a very positive experience to the set of weird/awful experiences.

Hey Divas,

Question: I've never taken hormonal birth control, and I have a copper/Nova T iud. It's been a week since insertion, and I am still bleeding. It was inserted at the end of my period (day 6), and the unusual quasi-period stuff is still happening. Some days I'm barely bleeding much, and others (a la this PM) it's worse than the final day or two of my regular period. How long did it take for your uterus to calm down bleeding wise? (ie. How long did you go without having to wear pantiliners?) I haven't been cramping at all with the IUD and my body feels FINE. I'm just wondering about the blood. (my doctor said I'd bleed for a few days...but it's been a week, and I feel like a week and a few days are substantially different progress wise--I am aware some people have bled for over a month, I just want to find some sort of community average).

I've read some entries about fish oil being good for slowing bleeding? Is this true? What can I do to help stop this?