Hey desertgirl!
If you're breastfeeding exclusively your period might not show up until month 4 or 5--or sometimes later especially if you delay solid foods. Glad to hear it was easier this time, and congratulations on your baby!

Hello everyone! I am very excited to learn about IUD's i have been trying to decide what will be the best form of bc for me. My husband and I have two beautiful kids and are definitely done. We do not want to have any more. I am currently on the pill. I took the pill for six years before having kids and never once forgot to take it, well now with everything that we have going on I am constantly forgetting the pill. Having surgery for a tubal scares me to death and I do not believe that new Essure is safe. I had a friend say to try an IUD, but I know very little about them. Different types, pros, cons, any info you wonderful ladies can throw my way will be greatly appreciated! We just moved and I am in the works of getting insurance switched over and getting all new docs, as soon as that's in place I will seek them for advice too!

Thank you in advance!

Hey LOTM! Welcome to the forum.

The copper IUD can make your periods heavier and/or irregular than they currently are, some women experience increased cramping around their periods as well. I have one myself because hormones from birth control affect me really really badly so I didn't want to try the Mirena only to have it taken out.

If you had no ill-effects from the Pill, the Mirena might be a better option for you, it decreases your flow from what I've heard and can decrease the pain from your period as well. It's the IUD that has a small amount of local hormone that should only affect your uterus, not your entire system.

Family Planning Clinics can be really helpful in choosing a new birth control as well!

Feel free to browse this forum, keeping in mind that posters who come to post negative feedback might seem to flock here, but that for each one of them there are probably 3 or 4 times as many who had no ill effects at all

Good luck!
Row

My update: My 'new' IUD has been in for a couple of months now. No issues, evertyhing's going great with this iud. Still breastfeeding, so I haven't yet had a period.

(I previously had an iud for about 1.5 years. Had it removed after several months of having horrid pms, crazy-short cycles, and I could actually feel the iud when I was sitting. Immediately became pregnant, had another copper iud inserted 8-weeks postpartum. For the most part, my iud experience wasn't bad--usually had no cramping, periods remained short and light...I didn't have any problems until after a gyno visit where the iud strings were shortened, still have no idea if iud caused all the crazy symptoms I was having, but do think the iud shifted after the strings were cut).

hey dg, thanks for sharing! It's nice to hear a story that ends well

Hi all,
Im new to all this, but I've been looking through and its really helpful to see how other people are feeling.

I am 23 years old, no children, and i had a copper IUD fitted last friday the 30th October (its now Tues 3rd Nov)as a alternative after reacting really badly to the pill.
The pain when it was inserted was awful and took about 6hours and some nurofen to calm down, since then i've been bleeding everyday, but proper red blood. Not loads, but i'm not really sure how much "spotting" consists of.
I've been getting cramps in my legs and lower back, again dealt with by nurofen.
But today, i've been very lightheaded, headachey and nauseous. Is this a sideeffect of the IUD? Normal?
I haven't stuck it out for very long, it hasn't even been a week yet, do i need to stick it out for longer??
This is all very new to me and i would appreciate some feedback on whether this is all normal.
Thanks alot!

Hi specialk10, and welcome

It isn't uncommon to continue to have bleeding like a light period after your IUD is put in from what I know. I also had transient cramping in my lower back and upper thighs, like you said, controlled by pain meds.

If you continue to be lightheaded, headachey and nauseous for more than a day or so I would be seen to rule out the possibility of side effects from blood loss (low blood pressure) and of any other complications.

In general, though, I would give it more time (barring a continuation of those three symptoms)--it took a few months for mine to settle completely--I cramped probably for the first week straight and then periodically after that. I also spotted blood on and off for a few months.

hey raunchy-row. Thanks for your reply! I spoke to the clinic and the lightheadedness is not anything to do with my iud and is probably a bug, will keep an eye on it.

Another question... Is it advisable to wait until your 3 week check up before having sex? i know it is effective straight away, but are there any risks of infection by having sex within a week of insertion?

Thanks!

I would give yourself some time before having sex, honestly--the first time I had sex after it was in was a month or two later and I bled afterwards even then. Sex at this point will most likely trigger bleeding and if it's not correctly in place or your cervix is still open it could still interfere with it settling properly.

hello

i'm new to the forum and wanted to post my experience of getting a copper IUD, hope this is the right place!

I got my IUD fitted 19 Oct, I was really worried about how painful it would be, since I've never had children and apparently the doctor couldn't see my cervix very well. I've been told at smears that my cervix is inverted(?that might not be the correct term).

Anyway I took 2 painkillers about an hour before and the actual insertion was fine. There was a kind of sharp but very brief pain, which felt like a strong cramp and that was it! They took my blood pressure in case I was faint but it was apparently high.

So I left the doctors walking very slowly and did intend to to go work but my legs felt quite 'wobbly' so got a very bumpy bus ride home, not fun! and then stayed in bed not doing very much with quite strong cramps during the day but was fine by evening.

During the week afterwards, I sort of had a sensation that I could 'feel' the IUD, and the strings were a bit annoying but that has settled down. I also had cramps in the afternoon and all day coming up to ovulation but that has now stopped.

So overall, so far, i'm really pleased with coming off Marvelon and trying out the IUD. I've lost 3.5 lbs so far, I don't want to constantly eat anymore and my mood is so much better. I feel like I have an interest in stuff again, I don't feel 'flat'

Still have to see how my first non-pill period goes, i'm expecting it to be heavy but will perserve. I really want this IUD to work out. I've tried 3 types of bcp and all of them have made me mental in different ways, and the worse thing is, I didn't realise quite how much until I stopped taking them!

Good luck dinkyks! Let us know how it goes!

Hi - I am new to this forum - to any forum actually.
I had this inserted 1.5 years ago - I had my cycle for 29 out of 30 days for about 3 years and decided to go the route of Mirena- the doctor said it will stop my cycle and at the end of 5 years I wouldn't have it anymore. So today's update is as follows: spotting every 4 months or - probably stress, I have gained 25 pounds, I have abdominal pain every 2 weeks and I feel like I am going to give birth. My lower back is sore - like I'm in labour. I don't miss the other but is this normal - is it me - is it IT? I am thinking of getting it removed but if my cycle returns the way it did before - I think my husband will flip - lol. I do have depression but I also lost my dad this year and had some other stuff going on so I am aware of it - and watch the depression very carefully. Please provide me your thoughts, experiences and feedback - I don't want to be premature and get it removed when there is something else I could do but I also don't want to keep it in if this not normal. Thanks so much everyone!!

Do you check the strings? Are you sure it hasn't migrated or perforated your uterus or something?

I had Mirena for 4 years. I loved how it made my periods so much lighter. But I have steadily gained weight that whole time. I joined a gym in october and gained 5 pounds (and it's not muscle). That was the last straw bc if I gain any more weight I'll be a plus size. I hypothesized that Mirena was causing my difficulty losing weight. I got Mirena taken out in January to test this hypothesis. I lost 4 pounds in 9 days. I was like yay! and then I was like oh wait - no! Now what birth control am I going to use?! I really can't stand periods so I didn't want the copper IUD, although my sister and a coworker have it and they don't mind it. So I was thisclose to trying centchroman but guess what? Haven't lost any more weight. Guess it wasn't from Mirena. So I got a new one yesterday. It hurt really bad (I cried) but I felt fine once it was over.
I guess my point is, I got mine taken out early and regret it bc then I had to buy a new one (insurance won't cover it). So unless you need it taken out because it's migrated or perforated your uterine wall, don't take it out cuz you'll probably just want it back. But decide soon! The price is going up May 1st from $468 to $700 something. Although that might not affect you if your insurance covers it.

Wow Im definitely considering Mirena (I migrated from the pregnancy board and Im nowhere near ready for another child). Thanks for the heads up on the price increase.

I am considering the copper IUD but the thought of heavier and longer periods are NOT ABSOLUTELY NOT pleasant. I also dont like the fact that my period could be more painful. I know for a fact that I don't want another baby till 2013 and also I dont want ne hormones in me so the IUD seems to be my only option.

Wow! I didn't realize Mirena cost that much! I know Paraguard was $500-something a few years ago when a doctor was trying to talk me into it. My insurance covers Mirena but not Paraguard. For a $5 office copay and a $3 prescription drug copay Mirena is covered. I thought it would be under the durable medical equipment clause since it's more than just a pill or shot, but apparently not because it's hormonal. Strange!!

The Paraguard was expensive when I bought the second one last year, though the first one was covered by insurance. I can't remember how much it was, oh, all my medical records are right here....holy crap! $404 for the iud, and $242 for insertion, not to mention $83 for a patient visit!! Well, some of that was actually covered by insurance, so the grand total out of pocket cost was $497. Still, what a crock!

The first paragard I had in, I still had light periods that were on a few days long. This second one I've had in for 10 months and I've had 3 postpartum periods. The 1st was awful, but the last 2 have settled down. I think within in a few more cycles, I will be back to barely having a period, yahoo.

I'm looking into getting an IUD, originally I wanted the paragard, but the heavy bleeding is a concern. I was on the Nuva ring for about six months until I realized that the difficulty sleeping and sudden depression was a side effect of it. Other than that, I really liked the nuva ring.
If I didn't react well to the Nuva ring, should I expect that I wouldn't react well to the Mirena? I read that less than 10% of its users experience depression, new hair growth and a slew of other things I wouldn't want.
Has anyone found Mirena to work where other hormonal birth controls have not?

Ithica--I wondered the very same thing, ended up opting for the Paraguard and although my periods were pretty heavy the first year or two I also was never very regular so didn't have to deal with it every single month so it was okay. It's a tough question to answer--there are risks for reaction with both, as you'll see from the multiple women here who have copper allergies they only found out about after having a copper IUD placed.

I suppose it depends on how severe your reaction was to the Nuva Ring, and keeping in mind that it's supposed to be fairly "local" dosed hormone (the Nuva Ring) take a look at the exact hormones that are in it, and in which doses, and then compare them to the Mirena, which is supposed to be even more localized. Take your time and really consider your options, is the best advice I can give you! A lot of us here are learning by trial and error, unfortunately!