I want to share my experience with my Paragard IUD and its removal. I read some experiences on here before my hysteroscopy that were so helpful with setting expectations, so I figured I’d add mine.

Long story short, it was amazing to have, and the worst to remove, because it ripped in two when they tried to take it out. I’ve since switched to Mirena.

I originally chose Paragard because I wanted something non hormonal. When I was a teen I got terrible periods - mood swings, acne, debilitating cramps, nausea. I threw up pretty much every time and it was a good day when I could keep the midol down.

As I got older - or maybe because of the Paragard - my period changed. No naseau, manageable cramps, and the mood swings improved.

After 12 years with no issues, I made an appointment to get it changed out. I was terrified because when it was first put in, I had a horrible, crampy time after the cervical block shot wore off and didn’t want to go through that again.

I told her how nervous I was and I asked for the shot before the removal. She said, “Don’t worry. I’ll use extra numbing gel.”

Boy, I should NOT have taken that for an answer.

I’ve never cried from pain before, but after getting the Paragard out, I can check that off my bucket list. Literally, it was the worst pain I’ve ever had. After over a decade hanging out inside me, that thing was so stuck that the midwife had to go get another doctor to help.

Well, they got it out - most of it. The IUD ripped in two pieces and one of the arms was still stuck inside in my uterus. Doctor said, “Oh, yeah. That can happen.”

To get it out, they told me they had to do a hysteroscopy, which they only performed once a month in-office. With the in-office procedure you’re awake the whole time, so there’s no twilight anesthesia (like what you get for a colonoscopy).

I got scheduled for an ultrasound first to locate the IUD, which was fine and not painful, just a little uncomfortable because they make you drink a lot of water so you have to pee pretty bad.

Then I had to wait. I had some intermittent cramping on the side where the IUD arm was lodged over the course of a few weeks, but nothing too terrible. I did a consult with the doctor ahead of time, told her about my nerves and pain during removal, and she prescribed me cytotec, ativan, and norco.

The day of my hysteroscopy I took a single ibuprofen and put the two cytotec pills in my lower cheeks (like a chipmunk) and let them dissolve. After about an hour they were still there, so I swallowed the remnants. I was worried about taste, but it was just chalky nothing.

The cytotec is supposed to open up your cervix, and they warned me it could make me crampy and nauseous. They were right - but it was pretty minor (maybe the ibuprofen helped?). I didn’t need a heating pad and felt pretty fine.

About 30 minutes before the procedure I took the Ativan, which is for anxiety, not pain. I was so nervous about this whole thing, and I would have been a WRECK without this to calm me down.

When I got there, they gave me a pregnancy test first, followed by a shot in my butt of super strong ibuprofen, essentially, a heating pad, and a cervical block, which is a needle they stick up you. It isn’t pleasant but I was SO glad to have that. After it kicked in, it felt less like trying to breathe through the worst cramps of your life, and more like someone is rummaging through a drawer near you that you can kind of feel pressure from.

She first tried to see if she could just get it with tools and couldn’t, so then set up for the hysteroscopy, which involves a lot of water. They dilated my cervix, which was not my favorite, even with the cervical block, and tried to get the camera in.

Camera was too big, more dilation.

Camera still too big. She went back in with her tools blind and GOT IT. Thank goodness, because I am fine if no one ever dilates my cervix ever again.

She put in the new IUD, which was just a quick pinchy feeling, what with all the stuff they had given me.

And no, it was not another Paragard. I have completely lost faith in them. I heard that this type of failure, while super rare to happen in IUDs in general, is crazy common for Paragard - to the point where people have sued for this exact design flaw. The arms get brittle after so many years and can snap off when you try to remove it, which is exactly what happened to me.

After the procedure I felt a little disoriented, like how you feel getting up after a massage or walking off an intense roller coaster. They gave me a pad for the spotting, which was pretty minor. I had someone drive me, which I highly recommend. I probably could have driven myself if I had to, since at that point I hadn’t taken the norco, but I wasn’t in the right frame of mind.

The cervical block took a couple hours to wear off. I took the norco she prescribed me once it started to hurt and took a nap with a heating pad for three hours straight. I am feeling very hopeful that my new Mirena will not rip itself into pieces in eight years when I go to have it taken out. Wish me luck!

I’m basically really really tired. I’ve been on birth control since 2019 - I started on Yasmin but eventually got migraines on the sugar pills so switched to Norimin/Brevinor after about 1.5-2 years.

I’ve been diagnosed with idiopathic hypersomnia which is basically like “we don’t know why you’re excessively sleepy so this is the name for it”. It just means all I want to do is sleep, have brain fog and take ADHD meds to help it.

I’ve done all blood tests and everything is fine, I’m not celiac, no thyroid issues etc.

I’m wondering if anyone else became extremely tired since starting birth control?

Me and this girl have been going out for about a month. We are super into each other and happy with each other. We see each other all the time and have had no issues. She always texts me Goodmorning and calls me throughout the day. The other day on Saturday ( October 17th) we had inter coarse we've done plenty of times before. I did not finish inside of her but didn't use protection so we both agreed that she should take a plan b. I was worried about the hormonal effects it would have on her. She took it the same night. It's been almost two full days. She seemed fine yesterday I was with her. But today she didn't text me or call me at all which was really weird. I almost think she was testing me or lost interest but it doesn't seem like that could be the case. I could be wrong. I did some research and it can have a heavy effect on her feelings and hormones. If anyone has experienced this with yourself or their partner please reach out and let me know. Any bit of advice or reassurance would definitely help out a lot. I'm not sure what to do. If I should reach out to her or just give her space. I want her to know that I'm there for her because I've helped her get through her period once before. I already called twice earlier in the afternoon and a little while around 8:30pm. But nothing. She also hasn't been on Instagram all day which isn't her. She's on it all the time sending me goofy stuff. I know this is really early on into dating for this to happen but we wanted to play it safe. And I'm a overthinker so I just wanna make sure it's her hormones and not actually her just ghosting me or whatever which doesn't seem like her. Anyways anything helps. This is my first post by the way so I would appreciate the help and support. Thanks!!

i started yaz for pmdd. i had felt so awful for so long and i was already doing therapy & on psych meds for a slew of other things that would also be considered first line treatment for pmdd.

i’m thrilled to report that i started yaz on aug. 10, and i have had no suicidal thoughts since then. this is the longest period of time i can remember that i haven’t been suicidal. i cry thinking about it; it’s actually so silly i’m so grateful for this birth control

I was gaining so much weight on the mini pill, so I switched from mini pill to combo pill. I was on pill 8 on the mini pill, and the next day I started my first day of combo.

My question is am I protected? Or should I use backup? My physician said it was okay to have unprotected sex, but I wanted to make sure.

been almost two years since I'm on the combo pill and I gained crazy amount of weight, I look so puffy, used to be underweight for so long, everybody tells me I look nice but I can't get along with my weight gain and on the other hand I don't wanna stop taking the pill because it saved my life in many ways

I wanna know if anyone else experienced weight gain and what did you do for it

🤍

Long story short, I'm on my second mirena and its reaching the end of its life as evidenced by the recent spotting I've been experiencing. I got my tubes removed a few years ago so technically I dont need it anymore for birth control reasons, so the next logical conclusion is to not get it replaced.

My fear however is that I'm going to have a really bad time adjusting after so long. I've heard of people getting an IUD and dealing with intense period and mood issues and feeling immediately better after getting it removed, but I almost had the opposite experience. I had HORRIBLE periods prior to my IUD, including what I now think is PMDD. Heavy bleeding and cramping, literally debilitating at times. My experience with Mirena has honestly been great and its been so liberating to not be burdened and catatonic for a week every month. I experienced some weight gain but other than that really no long term symptoms that I've noticed.

The thing is I know long term birth control use is not studied enough but is generally discouraged. So I feel like I should let my body get to its natural baseline without synthetic hormones. I'm just terrified that my natural baseline sucks lmao Anyone else have a similar experience or some good research to look into? Any other ways to stop periods long term? I've heard of ablations and am planning to ask about that since i already got my tubes removed.

Hi! I was just curious if anyone had advice on how i can get myself prescription birth control without my parents knowing. i’m 19 years old but i’ve never been able to really talk to either of my parents about birth control/sex. i’ve been taking opill for a little over a month and have been on my period for 17 days. i’m so over it lol so i want to get on something that will hopefully stabilize that.

i’ve heard a lot of good and a lot of bad things about birth control so does anyone have any advice on which ones are best? i really dont want to gain weight so im super worried about that.

but back to my original question, how can i get birth control without them knowing? how do you even go about getting birth control? i don’t have a gyno or anything. i would probably pay out of pocket so i need it to be relatively affordable a month. just any and all advice, please and thank you!!

Hello I recently got an IUD like three weeks ago and recently I have experienced heavy bleeding with constant clots. idk if this is normal when its barely inserted or should I schedule a same day appointment with my gyno?

I’ve been on annovera for about a month or two now and i’ve been bleeding non stop the blood is extremely dark red almost black and it doesn’t come out when i pee but i’m still constantly bleeding. i just took it out will that help any?

Hi all! So I just got my IUD removed because it was actually one of the most painful things I’ve ever experienced and basically torture (lol). And it cussed me acne as well. So my new doctor recommended Nikki to help clear up my skin as the other combination pill I was on before the iud (Vienva) and the iud (Kyleena) caused me horrible breakouts. Has anyone had any positive experience with this specific birth control?

I have never done any form of birth control. I want do it raw with my fiancee when I see him next (We are long distance so I just havent gotten birth control yet).

I am seeing him soon and I was going to get on the Opill for a the month while we are together.

But I am really struggling with the fact that I can still ovulate on the Opill. How will it stop pregnancy? And how do I know if it will even actually work for me?

Please help me out.

Does the levonorgestrel mini pill (microval) help with heavy bleeding?

Does Metronidazole
Mess with the nexplanon?

Hi! I’m 16 and I just started birth control today for PCOS. I just have one thing in really confused about. Today is Monday but my pills start on a Sunday, so I just took the Sunday pill. But, I really want for the days to match up in the future so I don’t get confused and think I accidentally missed a day or something. Is there any way I can match the days up? Like would I take 3 placebos at the end of the cycle instead of 4 or would I just skip one of the active pills and take 23 instead of 24? Do I just have to stay a day off for as long as I take BC? For context I’m taking yaz/Nikki and it’s for PCOS, not avoiding pregnancy. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

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Hi! I had a copper IUD inserted on sept 19 (Flexi-T 300) my period arrived a day later very heavy and it lasted \~8 days, I went to a check up appointment 3 weeks later and it was coming out, because I didnt have any pain the dr thinks that because this iud is the smallest in the market and it has a rounded shape it may have just slipped.

At that appointment (oct 10) they replaced it with a Mona Lisa mini since it has a more rigid frame and its a little bit bigger than the flexit-t, I bled for 2 days and spotted all week. I got my period on saturday, I have been very crampy but manageble like 4-5/10 but the flow has been very light? Like even lighter than my pre iud periods. Not sure whats happening, maybe I have been in a lot of stress this month? With the insertion and then the expelling and then reinsertion and being worried that this one will stay 😭

Hi everyone, I’m wondering if someone has had a similar experience to mine with birth control. Prior to starting birth control, I had a high sex drive. Due to unwanted symptoms while taking it, I decided to stop. That is when I lost my sex drive almost completely. My gynecologist told me that it should pass after a few months, but I’m going on two years and I’m still having a hard time. I regret getting on it so much as I still don’t feel like myself. Has anyone had a similar experience? If so, what has helped you the most with this?

I (28)F, am starting the depo shot for my PCOS since I’m not very ontop of myself with taking my medication. So, I decided to give this shot a try, since I don’t exactly get my periods normally. I’m aware that weight gain is a possibility to encounter but is there anything I should look out for? What should I take while on depo, is there any pros and cons etc etc. I’m mainly starting this as a way to help prevent endometrial cancer in my case since I haven’t had a natural period in a long period of time (,: so my primary doctor suggested it for me. It’ll be my first time taking bc in general tbh since I’m tired of having to take provera to medically induce a period lmfao. But I wanted to get other women’s experiences with taking the shots. I’ll have to get them every three months for what my doc told me.

So me(19f) and my bf(18m) had a sleepover this weekend and we decided to have intercourse. But it was originally unplanned so neither of us had protection on us. We had sex anyway, 4 times, and in all those times he never finished inside. We both knew pre is still a risk but decided that we should generally be good since I’m on the Desogestrel pill (Zelleta), and had just begun 6th week of it without any missed pills. Only 2 were taken late, 1 was 40 mins late and the other was almost an hour late but they were in the early 2 weeks of me taking it.

Am I still safe or did I make a huge mistake?

I wanted to come on and share my positive iud experience! I chose Kyleena. I’m a 24F and this is my first form of birth control since the pill in high school (horrible fit). I had anxiety about getting it placed, my doctor wrote me a script for a Xanax to take before my appointment and a Percocet to take if the cramps were bad the following days. Morning of my appointment I took .5 mg of Xanax and 1,000 mg of acetaminophen. She recommended to take ibuprofen three times a day two days in advance but I couldn’t because I have Crohn’s disease. They scheduled an ultrasound first to make sure I could get an iud and used the sonogram machine to make sure it was placed properly during the placement. It was a cough, a pinch, and a wildly uncomfortable cramp but for less than a minute total. My doctor was definitely experienced and it showed. Yeah it hurt a bit and was uncomfortable but it was FAST, definitely manageable. After it was placed I took a breath thanked the doctor for a good experience and felt relieved. Afterwards I was experiencing what felt like day one or two period cramps. They were uncomfortable and painful but not terrible. Just felt like a rough period. I’m on day four post placement now and the cramps have stopped I did take the pain medication they prescribed on the 2nd day which helped a lot. I’ve been spotting but just a bit of blood nothing gross and my PH, bacteria, and yeast are all normal nothing was thrown off. I got it placed on day 7 of my menstrual cycle so I’m in my follicular phase now and omg I have been HORNY. Sex has been great not uncomfortable or anything and I’ve been getting so wet. All in all I’m having a great experience thus far and am excited for my iud journey.

I’m looking for other people’s experiences because this has honestly been horrible, and I just want to feel like myself again.
I was taking Jencycla 0.35 mg (norethindrone mini-pill), and I decided to stop taking it cold turkey while I was on my period because I was experiencing symptoms that I felt were getting worse while taking it.
Since stopping, I’ve been dealing with symptoms that have been going on for about a week, and they come and go throughout the day. Some of the symptoms I’ve been experiencing are:
Brain fog and feeling mentally cloudy
Dizziness and lightheadedness
Mild headaches and head pressure
Mild chest discomfort, almost like an itchy sensation in my chest, NOT chest tightness
Breast tenderness
Back pain
Feeling generally unwell and exhausted
I’ve actually gone to the ER and had medical testing done, including CT scans. They evaluated me and told me they weren’t finding anything wrong. I’m relieved that they didn’t find anything concerning, but I’m still experiencing these symptoms, and it’s really affecting my quality of life.
What’s confusing is that after I stopped taking the pill, I had a couple of days when I felt better, but then some of the symptoms came back. I’m still on or coming off my period, so I don’t know whether that could also be contributing.
I’m wondering if this could be related to stopping norethindrone suddenly, hormonal changes, or my body adjusting after being on the pill. I know everyone is different, but I would really appreciate hearing from anyone who experienced brain fog, dizziness, headaches, chest sensations, breast tenderness, or back pain after stopping Jencycla or another progestin-only pill.
My biggest questions are:
How long did your symptoms last after stopping the pill?
Did your symptoms come and go, or did they gradually get better every day?
Did anyone experience brain fog and dizziness for days or weeks after stopping?
Did anyone experience breast tenderness or back pain after quitting?
Did you eventually feel completely back to normal, and how long did it take?
I’m not looking to restart the pill right now. I just want to hear from people who have actually gone through something similar and understand how long it took them to feel normal again.
Thank you to anyone who shares their experience. ❤️

Hi I’m 18 and don’t really have a clue what I’m doing. I’m not close enough with my mum to ask her questions and I don’t really know anyone to talk to about this. Ive been having unprotected sex for a year and due to a few scares I’ve decided I want to start birth control. Im not really sure what method to choose. At first, I wanted an IUD because I was anxious about hormonal techniques. However, due to hearing a few horror stories and already having extremely painful periods I feel as if this would be the wrong choice. I’m also terrible at taking pills regularly so that’s out of the question. Does anyone have any advice or suggestions on which method might be worth looking into?

My period started October 3rd this month. Today is 16 days after. I had unprotected sex this morning and he ejaculated inside me against my wishes :/

On my flo app, it says that today is the last day of my fertile window and my ovulation day was on day 14. I’m extremely fearful that any emergency contraception won’t work because I’ve already ovulated

It was at 7am and I took EllaOne at 1pm. Then I started researching that it won’t be effective because I’ve already ovulated and came across copper iud that can be used as emergency contraceptive.

I’ve never taken any form of birth control like pills let alone a metal shoved inside me.

I found a clinic nearby with an appointment available on Wednesday (in 2 days) for the insertion

Will this be effective enough? I’m planning to do the procedure and then take pregnancy tests next month. I’m so scared about seeing the test negative but then I end up pregnant.

What is it like getting the IUD? How painful is it?
I’m not planning on keeping it in because I’m not actually sexually active and if I do a condom is used for sure. This is the first time I didn’t use one and my luck :/ can’t believe he did that

Please let me know your thoughts and experiences thank you!

Basically I went to the gynecologist I was pretty emotional during the session soo we didn’t do much but I just told him my history with my period. He prescribed me yaz pills but I have been unsure about taking them since seeing all the side effects online. I need to understand the real benefits of this pill like I get it stops period pain but at what cost bruh or should I just take Mefenamic acid. Please help I am super conflicted what long term benefits does the pill offer compared to just taking a painkiller I don’t understand honestly also I’m only 19 but my period pain has been getting worse and worse soo idk helpppp 😭 edit: also opinions on levongorgestrel

trying to make this as short as possible. got the mirena iud this year and removed it at 6 month mark. started my Yaz pack the next day after removal. finished the yaz pack, (only missed one yaz pill and took it the next morning, usually take the pill at 10-11;30. skipped the placebos and immediately started slynd. had unprotected sex last night and then took my day 2 of slynd first pack still. am i good??