# Ladies, tell me about your IUD. Need answer fast. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 16, 2010, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-tell-me-about-your-iud-need-answer-fast/546899 "2010-07-16T11:39:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ritter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ritter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ritter)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2010, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-tell-me-about-your-iud-need-answer-fast/546899/21 "2010-07-17T21:53:10Z")
**Irishgirl** , your Mirena experience sounds like my fantasy contraceptive. I wish it was subsidized where I live, but looking at the one-off cost across five years it works out to be pretty reasonable. **Olives** , your experience sounds traumatic to say the least! ---
**Author:** ![Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8c91f0/32.png) [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bam_Boo_Gut)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-tell-me-about-your-iud-need-answer-fast/546899/22 "2010-07-18T15:33:23Z")
No regrets, since having my baby 21 years ago, I’ve had mine changed every five years. The first one gave me a really rough period, but only the first one. I crawled back into the clinic asking them to take the damn thing out. Luckily for me one of the doctors asked if I usually had not very painful periods, which was true. She said give it a chance, I did and I’ve been back to my normal light periods ever since. It doesn’t suit everyone (sorry **Olives** ) but it suits me. Last time it cost around USD$150. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-tell-me-about-your-iud-need-answer-fast/546899/23 "2010-07-19T14:03:01Z")
> [@irishgirl](#): > > Mirena […] is safe for women with history of blood clots, migraines, those with a BMI over 30 and smokers. Yup, that’s why I have mine! I’m never allowed to be on normal hormonal birth control again after my pulmonary embolism last year, which is why my hematologist recommended the Mirena. So if it’s safe for \*me \*to have one, I can’t imagine it would be a problem for someone with a lower risk of clots. > [@Ritter](#): > > I wish it was subsidized where I live, but looking at the one-off cost across five years it works out to be pretty reasonable. 1.) If you can’t afford one on your own, it’s possible that your doctor, Planned Parenthood, etc. might be able to supply one. 2.) Like you said, when you spread the cost over the whole five years, it’s probably way cheaper than any other form of hormonal BC. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-tell-me-about-your-iud-need-answer-fast/546899/24 "2010-07-19T15:59:35Z")
> [@Ritter](#): > > **Olives** , your experience sounds traumatic to say the least! It sucked, but I think my experience is in the minority. I’ve always had major issues with PMS and menstruation and have been on birth control of some kind to control it since I was 12. Whereas a lot of women find hormonal BC exacerbates their issues, my body actually needs that stuff to keep it in line. It took me a lot of experimenting before I finally found something my body could deal with. That ‘‘something’’ is my NuvaRing, which the doc said I could leave in for a full month and switch on the same day. This means I never have a period. No more cramps, no more bloating, no more rapid and extreme mood swings, no more bleeding, no nothing. It’s beautiful. (And I’m hoping once I take it out next month I get pregnant DAMN FAST because the thought of having BC-free periods for months before conception is terrifying!) ---
**Author:** ![Velma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/85e7bf/32.png) [@Velma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velma)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-tell-me-about-your-iud-need-answer-fast/546899/25 "2010-07-19T20:37:11Z")
I am also a Mirena user and love it. I am surprised at the number of people here who paid so little for it though! I had to pay the full price (something like $750 inserted) because my insurance didn’t cover birth control. I thought that was pretty typical - are more carriers finally covering it? (It was still worth the cost for me, BTW, but I am glad it worked out for me. I would have been kind of pissed to pay that much and want it taken out after a year or so.) Oh, and I did have spotting/odd cramps for quite a while at first. Over 6 months, IIRC. I was just at the point of getting discouraged about it when all the bad things stopped and it started getting awesome. So I am glad I stuck with it, although just as another anecdote, I have a friend who was also on it for a few years and just had it taken out because her acne was getting so bad. I have noticed a minor blemish once in a while but nothing that really bothers me. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2010, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-tell-me-about-your-iud-need-answer-fast/546899/26 "2010-07-20T14:28:59Z")
> [@Velma](#): > > I am surprised at the number of people here who paid so little for it though! I’ve already hit my deductible for the year, so my insurance covered most of mine. Which is fortunate, because all the fancy stuff I had with my insertion made it pretty expensive (I think the total was around $1,800). I’m really surprised your insurance doesn’t cover birth control at all–even the super-crappy insurance I had when I worked for a temp agency for five minutes covered BC, as long as I could get a doctor to say it was medically necessary (easy enough). Do they cover pregnancy-related things? That’s got to be a hell of a lot more expensive than helping you not get pregnant in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2010, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-tell-me-about-your-iud-need-answer-fast/546899/27 "2010-07-20T15:22:38Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > I’ve already hit my deductible for the year, so my insurance covered most of mine. Which is fortunate, because all the fancy stuff I had with my insertion made it pretty expensive (I think the total was around $1,800). > > I’m really surprised your insurance doesn’t cover birth control at all–even the super-crappy insurance I had when I worked for a temp agency for five minutes covered BC, as long as I could get a doctor to say it was medically necessary (easy enough). Do they cover pregnancy-related things? That’s got to be a hell of a lot more expensive than helping you not get pregnant in the first place. It’s not uncommon for insurance policies to not cover birth control. In my case, they don’t cover it at _all_\*, but that’s because we have my husband’s policy and he works at a Catholic hospital organization. Sigh. - Okay, they _do_ if you get a note from your doctor saying you’re using whatever birth control for non birth control reasons (acne, endometriosis pain, etc.). Still! ---
**Author:** ![Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8c91f0/32.png) [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bam_Boo_Gut)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2010, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-tell-me-about-your-iud-need-answer-fast/546899/28 "2010-07-20T17:30:15Z")
> [@zweisamkeit](#): > > It’s not uncommon for insurance policies to not cover birth control. In my case, they don’t cover it at _all_\*, but that’s because we have my husband’s policy and he works at a Catholic hospital organization. Sigh. > > - Okay, they _do_ if you get a note from your doctor saying you’re using whatever birth control for non birth control reasons (acne, endometriosis pain, etc.). Still! This pisses me the hell off. At one point I had a private health insurance from work, but still covered under the national health service. The private wouldn’t cover the coil, and the national will throw all the condoms, pills and shots at you that you want - but the coil? Oh no, why not? Surely it’s the most cost effective, and probably the most effective birth control. I should have faked **acne** then? ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2010, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-tell-me-about-your-iud-need-answer-fast/546899/29 "2010-07-20T17:46:47Z")
> [@zweisamkeit](#): > > It’s not uncommon for insurance policies to not cover birth control. In my case, they don’t cover it at _all_\*, but that’s because we have my husband’s policy and he works at a Catholic hospital organization. Sigh. > > - Okay, they _do_ if you get a note from your doctor saying you’re using whatever birth control for non birth control reasons (acne, endometriosis pain, etc.). Still! Exactly my point. They \*do \*at least cover it if you can get a doctor to say it’s medically necessary, which you should have no problem doing. (A lot of doctors hate these policies, too.) So to say that they “don’t cover it at all” is very inaccurate. Now, it’s complete and utter bullshit that you can’t get it just for reasons of BC, but that’s not the same thing as saying it’s never covered. ---
**Author:** ![Palo\_Verde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Palo\_Verde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palo_Verde)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2010, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-tell-me-about-your-iud-need-answer-fast/546899/30 "2010-07-20T18:58:54Z")
I’ve had a copper T IUD for the last 6 years and I love love love it. I like that there are no hormones involved because those make me loopy. I like that there is nothing to forget to do. I like that it is worry-free for 10 years. I like that once it’s paid for, there are no additional costs. It hurt a little to get it inserted, but not too much, and then my body adjusted. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2010, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-tell-me-about-your-iud-need-answer-fast/546899/31 "2010-07-20T19:28:16Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Exactly my point. They \*do \*at least cover it if you can get a doctor to say it’s medically necessary, which you should have no problem doing. (A lot of doctors hate these policies, too.) So to say that they “don’t cover it at all” is very inaccurate. > > Now, it’s complete and utter bullshit that you can’t get it just for reasons of BC, but that’s not the same thing as saying it’s never covered. True, but it’s splitting hairs, IMO. I mean, I know what you’re saying, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there are doctors who would refuse to say it’s for something non-BC if BC is why you want it. Know what I mean? ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2010, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-tell-me-about-your-iud-need-answer-fast/546899/32 "2010-07-20T19:31:07Z")
> [@zweisamkeit](#): > > True, but it’s splitting hairs, IMO. I mean, I know what you’re saying, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there are doctors who would refuse to say it’s for something non-BC if BC is why you want it. Know what I mean? Sure, but then you just say you get cramps. What are they gonna do, give you some Magical Pain Test during your next period? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-tell-me-about-your-iud-need-answer-fast/546899.md?page=1)