I’ve got Paragard (copper IUD). That can have some side effects like heavy periods and cramping, but I haven’t had any of that. Putting it in was … extremely uncomfortable without actually being painfull. Hard to describe. It didn’t hurt, but it just felt wrong. That was only for a few minutes though.
When I was 16, I hopped on the bus to Planned Parenthood to get myself a little birth control. The doctor there, probably due to seeing a bunch of teenage girls mess up their pills and end up on the bad side of a pregnancy test, heavily pushed Depo on me. I looked at their little brochure and said, “But, what about these bad side effects? Weight gain? Migraines? Vision loss? Hair loss?” The doctor kind of shushed me and said that they HAVE to put that because it effects a few people, but she had personally never seen a single bad side effect from Depo, so I should just take it. Now, I think the doctor’s heart was in the right place, but man, Depo fucked me up. Seriously. I wouldn’t wish that crap on my worst enemy.
Every bad Depo side effect? I got it. I gained 70+ pounds in about 6 months (the doctor told me that Depo doesn’t make you gain weight, it just makes you more hungry. So, I worked out extra, went on a crazy strict diet, and STILL gained 70lbs), my vision was constantly blurry, I was constantly nauseous (and threw up several times a day), my hair fell out in clumps, I’d get migraines so bad I’d pass out from the pain, my feet would swell up, and for the first time in my life, I was crazy emotional (sobbing one minute, fine the next).
I got a total of three depo shots- each time with the doctor telling me, “Oh, those symptoms are just you body getting used to it! It’ll even out!” Finally, I just Googled around and discovered that those symptoms the doctor claimed to have never seen were INCREDIBLY common. When I finally went back in and talked to a different doctor, she told me that she wasn’t sure what the other doctor was smoking, because she sees a lot of side effects with Depo on most women.
Long story short, I ended up on the pill and am now fine. But I had those on and off again side effects from the Depo for years after. While I’ve heard some folks who swear by Depo, I’ve heard just as many, if not more, who swear it is the worst thing to ever happen to them. The risk just is not worth it, as there are so many other kinds of birth control that you have more control over and are less prone to harm.
Love love love my Mirena IUD. Love it. (Need to get it replaced soon, but I’m popping another one in just as soon as that one comes out. Before, even.) Ladies get all evangelical here about the DivaCup, I get all evangelical about the Mirena. (Seriously, a search will bring up like eleventy billion posts from me on it.)
It’s awesome. Insertion does indeed suck, but then it’s the bestest thing ever. I never think about birth control. Ever. And my periods have pretty much stopped, which is also excellent.
Did I mention that I love the Mirena IUD? Good.
Oh - a lot of the literature or commercials or websites will say that it’s only for women who already have kids. Untrue. I asked my doctor about this and she said that they say that because insertion for women who’ve had kids is easier, but it’s definitely not limited to them. I don’t have kids, and I have a Mirena.
If it wasn’t for Mr. Snicks, I think I’d marry my IUD. It’s the most seriously awesome thing ever.
I wanted an IUD. Because I’m not monogamous, I couldn’t have one. 
(I explained that I’m not exactly slutting it around town, even though I’m not monogamous. I also explained that I always (literally always) use condoms. No dice).
Shit, I AM monogamous and my doctor ruled out anything that could possibly make me infertile, no matter how unlikely, because she’s absolutely convinced I’ll change my mind about having kids. The only options she left me were the pill, Depo, and the ring. I chose Depo but last month was my last shot. I don’t get the life-ruining side effects, but the ones I do have are pretty lousy (painful stabby-cramps after an orgasm or at random? yay!) and I don’t have insurance anymore.
Our next goal is something permanent for him or me, after I find a new doctor that will actually listen to me.
Interesting - my Doc was also a bit pushy about the whole “but you haven’t had kids yet”. she was still telling me that crap at 35. Hon, if I wanted 'em, I’d’ve had 'em by now. Glad I found a new doc.
I’m still working off the 25lbs I gained while on Depo. There’s some evidence that the weight gain is long-term, long after you’ve stopped it (here).
The biggest bonus with an IUD is that you have birth control for a set number of years; no worrying about temporarily being without health insurance, or about going with a high-deductible.
Unfortunately, I’ll stay on Yasmin as long as my acne proves to be a problem. I wish there were a long term BC option that improved acne as well.
ETA: Didn’t see what Diosa said. But yeah, that. Please don’t do Depo.
It all depends on the doctor you get; I had one treat me like I was an imbecile who couldn’t handle an IUD insertion because I’ve never been pregnant, and I had another who gave me information to read and then quizzed me on what I learned and what I liked or disliked about the information I was given before agreeing to let me get one. In one case, the hurdle was the fact that I didn’t already have children, and in the other, it was making sure I knew what I was doing and trusting me to make my own decisions. However, what also helped in that situation was that I was monogamous and on my way to being married. The first case did recommend Implanon and told me that she could look up local doctors who did Implanon insertion, but then neglected to actually do so when I requested on multiple occasions. I’m guessing a lot of her issues was that she wasn’t interested in providing birth control beyond the oral contraceptive route for women without children.
Even with having gotten the side effects of occasionally heavy periods and the occasional horrible cramping period, I still love my IUD and wouldn’t go back to the pill or other hormonal contraceptives.
I was on Yasmin for a few years until I got switched over to the generic version and started getting horrific migraines again. My friend’s neurosurgeon boyfriend did a lil bit of research for me and said there’s a whole mess of new research linking Yasmin and its generic to brain lesions (and hemmorrages and stuff) in young girls who would normally have no such problems (early 20s). Apparently, this is more common with Yasmin and the generic than it is with other pills- hence all those law suit things you’re seeing advertised now, “Have you ever taken Yasmin?”
I stopped the pills and my migraines immediately stopped. So, just something to think about.
For what it’s worth, I switched from Yasmin, to generic Yasmin, to Ortho Tri Cyclen (which made me feel pukey all the time), to Ortho Cyclen (which I’m quite happy with at the moment).
I have a Mirena IUD.
The insertion was excruciating because I have not had a child. IUDs used to be contraindicated in women who had not given birth, but my OB/GYN said she does them all the time for childless women. She said the main risk was that of uterine perforation, but it was so rare, she considered the risk negligible. The Mirena is a 5-year IUD; there’s a copper one that lasts ten years. After the intial insertion, I haven’t had any pain, cramping, or periods. At all. Sometimes a little spotting. No problems at all. I’m in year 3.
I had Depo for ten years.
Aside from gaining 1-2 pounds per year (which did add up to 20 after ten years) I had no side effects at all. I quit taking it because of the weight gain and for no other reason.
It’s different for everyone.
Mmm shit, really? Jesus. If you have any links to the studies, would you post them or PM them? I honestly thought those ads were spam, and tuned them out entirely. Worth talking to my doc about, or just outright going in to switch?
Does your Ortho Cyclen reduce acne at all? Obviously I’m more concerned about brain lesions, but my acne is still important to me.
Last sentence made me laugh, ngl. 
Anywho, I don’t have direct access to whatever articles he used (he looked 'em up in an academic search type thing, don’t remember which one) and of course Google just turns up a bunch of people complaining about getting brain lesions from Yasmin. When I Google Scholar it, I just get a bunch of medical stuff I can’t understand. Go me!
From one of the law suit websites (which I’m not a part of, I should add), I see:
And apparently Yasmin was also fined by the FDA for not being clear with the risks of their medicine in their commercials (hence the “We weren’t clear before, so let’s tell you again!” commercials they’ve been running the last year). You can find the sanction letters online it looks like (one thing they got dinged for was over stating the acne benefits of the med).
I don’t really have acne- just a few little bumps on my chin that get laughed off by doctors when I ask for something to make it go away. The Ortho isn’t really doing anything, but either did the Yasmin. Have you tried Retin-A? That was the only thing that worked really well for me.
Talk to the doc or switch? That’s up to you, of course. For me, I was having a serious problem that stopped as soon as I stopped the meds. If you’re not having any problems, I’d probably say just run it by your doctor. If you start feeling like you’re having a stroke, though, I’d stop the medicine :).
I mean, on a daily basis, what do I worry about more, acne or brain lesions? Gonna have to go with acne…even on a monthly basis I’m only seldom worrying about brain lesions. It’s because I’m young and think I’m totally invincible!
Yeah, I saw the fact they got dinged on the acne aspect, but honestly it made my acne better. My diet/exercise/life hadn’t changed at all, but on Yasmin it’s markedly better.
This weekend while at my parents’ house, I’ll surreptitiously grab a copy of their JAMA, and register online to see if they have searchable archives. If I find anything, I’ll post to the thread. Otherwise, I guess I’m off to see the gyno next week. Thanks so much for doing the original ‘fighting ignorance’ mission of the dope
Anyways, back to the original conversation! Lindsaybluth is also in the market for a new form of BC, so share your experience with yours in particular! A pill without weight gain is a plus. Anyone had the patch fall off before? Is it okay during swimming? I’m big on the hottub, so I wouldn’t want it falling off.
ETA: Thanks for the link, needscoffee
This contraption seems to have been a positive thing for a lot of people, but when it goes wrong, it can go really, really wrong.
I have had extremely painful periods, huge mood swings including severe depression/exacerbation of anxiety and bloating for most of my life. Basically I spent two weeks out of every month miserable and feeling like a completely different person. Nothing really worked, so I decided I was going to try the Mirena IUD, even though I’d never had children. Keep in mind this is after I’d tried oral contraceptives without success.
The pain going in was very minimal. But starting at about three weeks post-insertion I began having severe abodominal cramping–like ‘‘I might need to go to the ER’’ bad. I went to the doctors who checked everything out, thought there might be an infection, put me on antibiotics and sent me for a transvaginal ultrasound. The ultrasound was extremely painful but revealed nothing, they told me the IUD was in place. They told me to stick with the IUD and symptoms should clear up within about three months.
Months and months pass, I’m having all this breakthrough bleeding, nausea, some vomiting, and diarrhea. I kept going to the doctor and they kept telling me it wasn’t the IUD. The symptoms started out sporadically and became worse and worse and more frequent until finally I couldn’t take it anymore. After about a year post-insertion, I went to a new gynecologist, who took a peek and said, ‘‘Your cervix is swollen, inflamed and bleeding. This needs to come out now.’’ She removed the IUD right away.
So it turns out I wasn’t ‘‘breakthrough’’ bleeding after all – I was bleeding bleeding. Ostensibly for* a year*. :eek:
I felt some immediate relief, but it actually took about 4 months after the insertion for my body to return to normal. After that I tried Yaz, which sucked. Then I tried Lo Ogestrel, which was an improvement but still very unpleasant.
Finally I went to a new doctor and said, ‘‘Look, I want to never have my period again.’’ I had never tried this tactic before; I wasn’t sure what kind of response I would get.
‘‘We can do that,’’ she said.
This is how I was introduced to the NuvaRing. Most people take it out after three weeks, have their period for a week and then put a new one in. Not me. I leave it in for four weeks and switch it on the same day.
Had it installed three months ago and have not had a period, or menstrual cramps, or bloating or PMS-induced depression ever since. I NEVER HAVE TO HAVE MY PERIOD AGAIN. This stupid little plastic ring has transformed my life forever. There are no words.
claps for olivesmarch4th Yay!
I have had ParaGard for just over 10 years now and am waiting for insurance authorization to replace it with a Mirena, recommended by my new GYN, who says the hormone will reduce the heaviness of my periods. They were heavier earlier in my ParaGard days, but still heavier than I’d prefer. I would love to not have a period.
The ParaGard was recommended and installed shortly after the birth of my daughter when the cervix is still relatively pliable. Having babies hurt way more than having the IUD installed, IMHO. I have been thrilled to have it. Yes, my periods are heavier than they used to be, but I’ve not experienced any of the incredibly negative side effects of previous BC I’ve tried.
I had a similar experience with PP and DepoProvera to what **DiosaBellisima **described; only my side effect was bleeding profusely for 3 months straight. I was told to continue the DP for another 3 months and the bleeding would clear up, but no, instead I continued to bleed for another 3 months.
The Pill (Ortho Tricyclen, IIRC) turned me into a monster. Severe mood swings, cramping, and general feeling of blah. Couple that with the fact that I was then a smoker and my OB-GYN decided the Pill was not a great idea.
Suffice it to say, I’m a big fan of IUDs. It should be noted that I was the perfect candidate for it: married (read: monogamous) with children.
Wow olives, that was really touching. I’m glad you got it squared away; also was surprised to hear you can do that with Nuvaring.
Anyone tried the pill where you get your period just a few times a year? Seasonale or Seasonique? Or Lybrel, no period whatsoever?
I have found my Copper T (Paraguard) IUD* to be quite effective and not really noticeable; especially happy about the fact that there are (apparently) no side effects. I’m allergic to Nonoxynol-9, get UTIs from the diaphragm, have serious, dangerous mood swings with the pill and other hormones, and don’t want to get sterilized at the moment. It was either the IUD or a “quiver full” family, which we were not quite ready for!
*Hurt like a crazy bitch going in, but not any worse than a childbirth cramp. (Afterwards, and I’ve had it for three years now, can’t really feel it.)
Ditto. I’ve just had mine replaced after 6 years. Although in the interests of full disclosure, when I really investigated to find out if I was in trouble for going beyond the 5 years shelf life, I discovered all kinds of complaints about back pain and weight gain and was torn by the trade off of having no periods. Luckily my new diet/exercise regime looks like it might sort out both problems so I opted to have it replaced. Man it felt oogey goin in though!