IUD’s….Caitlin Moran article

I had one fitted arouns 40 years ago.
It was the worst pain ever,i couldn`t stand up straight for over a week and my periods were horrendous and sex was straight out of the window.
Had it removed,never again.

I have had two fitted over a period of time. Didn't feel painful being inserted but the first one was removed because of heavy bleeding and that hurt. The 2nd one was the same, no pain but I became pregnant and it came out with the baby.

MissAdventure

mokryna
I can't bear the thought of being poked around "down there", specialist or not.
I'm of the ignore it and it'll be ok school of thought.
I ought to know better..

I feel for you but I have it done as there is history in my family.

I have looked for articles on the web and this came up but I must say I have not joined - Facebook group called Do Not Fear The Smear- . Maybe it could help.

I had one fitted because after I had my daughter I was getting terrible headaches on the pill. Had no trouble at all. Dont need it now obs if I got pregnant now I would be in the papers. Ha ha.

@valdali, I hadn't had any kids yet when I had mine fitted, I think that was the problem.

Yes OnwardandUpward that is a shocking violation of that poor woman. Absolutely awful what Britney Spears has been/is going through.

mokryna
I can't bear the thought of being poked around "down there", specialist or not.
I'm of the ignore it and it'll be ok school of thought.
I ought to know better..

I thought they were wonderful, never any pain fitting or removing ( & i'm not stoic, couldn't tolerate pipelle biopsy at a gynae outpatients). Had one as soon as completed my family, the pill made me really nauseous, but IUD worked like a treat. Certainly worth a try. IUDs without hormones will make bleeding heavier, but MIRENA is used as a treatment for heavy bleeding because of its slow release hormones, so they're not all the same.

I had a funny turn when it went in and passed out, then I bled continuously for six months afterwards, but after that it’s been fine

MissAdventure I am sorry you suffer so much. Can’t you explained to your doctor and get them to refer you to a specialist? Surely they will take you seriously as it a health concern. Just kick up a hell of a fuss if they don’t. Would you give it a try?

As I see it, the person who doesn't want children has the responsibility to ensure there are none. If a man is adamant that he doesn't want to be a father, then he should get a vasectomy and not leave it to his partner, therefore if a woman doesn't want them then the responsibility falls to her.

I'm in my 50s, so should still be having them, mokryna.
I'm just too cowardly, plus it really hurts me; not discomfort - deep pain!!!

Jaxjacky

I had one fitted, probably 1981/82 no problems, I also have no issues with smears, both are momentarily mildly uncomfortable. Perhaps I’m fortunate, I do totally relax when smears are done.

yes you are fortunate

MissAdventure I am 71+ but I still have check ups.

Ps My first baby was 9lb 10 only with the help of gas and the two others nearly as heavy, withou a péridurale

Oh lord.
I'm years past the time of my smear test being due.

I did try the pill in the 60s, felt ill and I am allergic to condoms, really it is very painful as it doesn’t appear straight away, so not apparent.
The first IUD I had fitted wasn’t that painful, family planning clinic but taking it out was another thing. After having each child I had another fitted and taken out, painful. Moreover, since the early 90s the speculum medics insert now are disposable ones and I find the are more painful than the steel ones. I do worry every year before each check up, Pap test etc.

I thought the fitting of the coil was horrendous, until the doc said that was just the measurement thingy, to size me up.
He suggested I could have a little op to insert the coil, but I was sure there wouldn't be any such kindness when it was time to remove it.

It’s the women’s responsibility as we are the ones who get pregnant! I don’t expect a man to have a vasectomy for me as there have been cases when the marriage ended and the man could no longer father a child with a new partner. While if I don’t want children I don’t want them now nor with a new future partner, therefore I’ll get myself sterilised.

My take on it was that, if anything happened to me my husband could remarry and have more children so I didn’t expect him to have a vasectomy. However my reluctance to take the pill and then inability to use IUD probably led to my marriage falling apart, especially as he was so insensitive to how upset I was about the problems the IUD had caused me. His only comment being, when it dropped out being ‘well, for the amount of sex we have it doesn’t really matter does it’, and he just walked away leaving me holding the coil in my hand and fighting back the tears .

That's quite rare though nanna I think it's about 5-10% of men have a vasectomy and the number is falling apparently.

I was never able to take hormonal contraception so it has fallen to my husband. I suppose at least women now have a choice and are in control of their own contraception (in most cases hopefully) which is always a good thing.

Not always- after no.4 baby my husband had a vasectomy. I’d had the pain of childbirth so we figured it was his turn !

Why is contraception always the woman's responsibility, hormonal and other dangers included, and pain?

It is interesting how some women experience pain and others don't but I guess the point is, if it can cause considerable pain for a proportion of women, surely that should be taken into account before fitting one? Especially if they have been causing pain for 50 years

IUD are hormonal btw, I know there has been suggestion that they are not but modern ones are progesterone (sometimes synthetic)