Well, after two years of thinking about it and doing much research I am finally getting my IUD at the end of October. I had considered having my uterus removed and donating it to science (science fiction- the story of the freakish woman who doesn’t want kids…). That and my husband is such a weenie when it comes to any pain at all, so him getting the snip-snip is, well, out. for now
I just had my annual girly-bits exam and discussed it with my doc. I had two choices the ParaGuard hormone free or the Mirena with hormones.
I decided on the ParaGuard IUD for three reasons:
to get off the hormones as I have been on The Pill for nearly 10 years
I am concerned with the long term effects of artificial hormones, regardless of how safe they say they are.
because I smoke, and quitting is hard
I am, however, a bit nervous getting off the hormones, because I have no intentions of having kids.
Did I make a good decision to go with the hormone free or should I call back and get the Mirena instead? Help me settle my nervousness.
I’m doing the hormone free version; I hate messing with my hormones any more than necessary. I believe that both forms of IUD have an amazing success rate (99.9?), higher than the Pill IIRC.
Fingers crossed I’m getting Mirena in about 6 months, under General anaesthesia, while I’m getting the full service (laparoscopyand hysteroscopy).
In my case, Mirena appeals because I have horrible period pain (the operation is actually to see if I have endometriosis) and the 20% chance of having no periods at all for the next 5 years, minimal side effects and almost 100% contraception, with immediate return of fertility and with a lower dosage of hormones than any other hormonal method seriously appeals to me. Plus, I’ll be knocked out for the insertion, and spending the next day in hospital, so I get the good pain pills.
Mirena is actually slightly more effective than a non-hormonal IUD, being more effective than female sterilisation- still, we’re talking about the difference between 99% effective and 99.99% effective, so it’s not really important.
I used to feel completely psycho every month (it just about killed me to bottle all that rage and crazy up) until I got the Mirena. Since then I’ve been in heaven, hormonally.
Note that it doesn’t do a darned thing for clinical depression - but still, given the choice I prefer to be just depressed instead of depressed AND wrathful all in one unstable package.
Mirena has truly changed my life.
It’s due to be replaced this year and I will definitely be getting another one put in. With any luck I can get through the rest of my pre-menopausal years with this thing.
If your hormones are generally nice to you anyway, there’s probably no need to go down the Mirena route. For folks like me, whose hormones hate them, it’s a godsend.
I have a no hormone IUD. I don’t and never had any complaints about my periods such as pain, cramps, or emotional things. I do have a heavy period, but consider the IUD worth the trouble. I absolutely cannot get pregnant again- the last pregnancy was a very expensive disaster (even though I eventually got a nice kid out of it!).
I am in year 9 of my 10 year IUD and will see the Doc about what to do next this week. I’m thinking of an endometrial ablation, but am unsure if I can get one having had a classical c/s.
I’ve got an appointment to talk to my doc tomorrow about one. I’d just as soon avoid the Mirena because I’ve been off hormones for about a month now and feel better than I have in a couple of years.
I sure hope he’s willing to work with me on this. I can deal with heavier periods, I have really light ones anyway.
It sounds like your main reason for doing this is because your husband is afraid of the pain of a vasectomy- with all due respect, tell him to man up. It takes about 20 minutes in the doctor’s office, and the worst of the pain is a tiny pinprick for the local anesthetic. After that, he’ll get some cool drugs for the healing pain, and with a bag of frozen peas on his lap for the afternoon, he’ll be up & shooting blanks in a couple days.
He’ll be out of commission for one weekend- which seems like a hell of a small sacrifice for the lifetime benefit it offers.
My wife got an IUD. Then she got pregnant. After she delivered my youngest daughter I got the vascectomy. Much easier in the long run. I waited to have it done the morning the NCAA basketball tourney started, that worked out well. I was ordered to relax for a weekend and there was basketball all weekend. Win-win.
I got a Mirena IUD about two years ago, and I love it! I didn’t get the non-hormone IUD because when I’m not on hormones, I get debilitating period cramps. My doctor told me that ParaGuard can actually cause heavier periods and cramping, so I didn’t consider it an option in my case. I think I had one more period after the Mirena was inserted, and I haven’t had another one since. The mother of a friend of mine has a ParaGuard, and she’s apparently happy with it. The difference in effectiveness is negligable, IMHO.
I feel I should warn you that the insertion was very, very painful. (It’s not supposed to be as bad for women who’ve given birth, but I take it you haven’t.) Per my doctor’s request, I took a very large dose of Tylenol about half an hour before my appointment, and I do think that helped with the cramping afterwards. If you have any perscription painkillers you’ve been hoarding, this might be the time to use them. (Though not, of course, in combination with Tylenol or other medications, alcohol, etc., standard disclaimers.)
I have a ParaGard. I had to have an alternate method because after gastric bypass surgery, the effectiveness of the Pill was questionable (absorption issues).
I’ve had no problems other than a slightly increased flow - nothing to make me demand it be removed.
I had a copper IUD for nine years with no problems, and I also had no problems conceiving when I had it taken out. I disagree that it’s necessarily very painful at insertion - mine wasn’t bad at all. I had a couple of months of heavier-than-usual cramps and bleeding, and then it was pretty much the same as it had always been. I would definitely recommend it as a birth control method.
If you’re that sure you don’t want kids, why not go for a tubal ligation? Insurance paid 100% and recovery time for me was 2 days. I never have to worry about appliances (IUDs or diaphrams, etc) or hormones or anything like that again.
I’ve also been considering the IUD for close to a year now. As a fellow smoker, the Pill makes me incredibly nervous. This thread is great and I’m excited to hear about all of the good experiences women have had.
