Intra Uterine Devices and other non-hormonal birth control methods

Yeah, are non-reversible procedures an option? My GYN recommended Mirena plus endometrial ablation (I’ve been calling the latter “scorched earth”) to deal with bleeding issues.

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What vacuum to buy?

Coincidence? You decide :smiley:

Not yet, I think. Realistically, I doubt we could handle having another child any time soon, financially or logistically, and I won’t be fertile forever, but my husband was an only child and didn’t like being one. He’s said before that he’d want to have two kids if he had any. Plus, he’s head-over-heels in love with our son and very much enjoying being a father – to his surprise. He keeps saying “I had no idea being a parent was going to be fun,” with this adorable, amazed look on his face. Can you tell he had kind of a lousy childhood?

If he has a tragic flaw, it’s the inability to face major decisions (he’s kinda Hamletty that way) so I doubt he’d be happy with anything permanent at this point.

Yabbut … some of us lurkers don’t want kids, so if anyone else out there wants to chime in about “scorched earth” :slight_smile: I’m happy to hear everyone’s horror and/or love stories. (Any docs out there performed it? Nurses - assisted at one?) I was totally gung-ho about the idea of an ablation, the theory of it, until I went to the Wikipedia page and read the facts and details on precisely how they do it. I mean, I know it’s surgery and all, but … ack! They burn your insides! :eek:

What’s the worst-case scenario with an ablation? (OK, death, I guess. What’s one step back from that?)

I haven’t had it yet obviously, but a couple issues that my doc mentioned were that you would probably still have some bleeding going on monthly or however often (ugh), and that I’d still have to have a Mirena or something similar because I’d still be ovulating. Supposedly I’d only have to stay home 3 days with the method she wanted to use, called Novasure.

Can I hijack slightly with a question about the endometrial ablation procedure? How come your doc says you still need Mirena, and the Wiki page for the proceduresays, “It is still possible to become pregnant after having this procedure. Some type of birth control method must be used after having endometrial ablation.”

If the uterus lining is destroyed to the point that it doesn’t slough off and re-generate … how in the name of hell can an embryo implant? Hypothetically … what would happen if I got an EA and then didn’t go on Mirena, or if the Mirena failed? What then?

Same here. Totally worth it.

I just wanted to let you guys know that I did finally get in to see my doctor about Mirena and just got the insurance letter in the mail - I was thinking I’d have to set aside part of my bonus for it, because my insurance company is a pack of morons, right? Obviously it’s to their benefit, but so are a lot of things they don’t like to pay for.

I’ll have to pony up a whole big 30 bucks. :slight_smile: Sweet!!! September 13.

Not non-hormonal, but not entirely non-germane to the thread, right?

My understanding, which may not be entirely correct, is that it can eventually heal and go back to normal, at which point you’re completely unprotected against pregnancy if you’re not using some other form of birth control. Chronically regenerating is, after all, what the endometrium does. Endometrial tissue is some tough, persistent shit–ask anybody who’s ever had endometriosis. My poor sister-in-law has had that crap scraped out of her fallopian tubes twice already, and if she doesn’t give in and have a hysterectomy in the next few years, they’ll probably have to do it again.

One of my friends had EA recommended to her for medical issues, and she refused because it might make her infertile. Not would, might. I’ve heard of people having it done more than once. Neither of those things exactly screams to me “This is permanent, irreversible, and fool-proof,” ya know?