The IUD - experiences and advice?

i've decided, on the recommendation of my gyno, to try the IUD (intra-uterine device). remember that scary anchor-looking thing you learned about in sex ed that sits in the uterus and pokes through the cervix? that's the IUD.

it acts as a semi-permanent spermicidal implant. it contains copper, and any sperm that come in contact with it as they try to wriggle into the uterus are killed. if this fails and the egg becomes fertilised anyway, the IUD also tends to hinder implantation.

you just go to the clinic, they put it in place, and you're good for 2-10 years.

i still have to go to the IUD clinic and talk to them some more about this, but i think i'm going to go for it. still, i'd like to hear from some people who've actually tried it!

 

I'd think again. The two people I know who had them were NOT happy.

One of my best friends had the thing put in, and was one of the "rare" folks who ended up getting pelvic inflammatory disease from it - she has to wait a few months to find out if damage was done that will prevent her from EVER having another child (she has one). Another friend had it removed because it caused her such extreme pain that she was doubled over and could hardly walk. Be careful...

 

oh shit...
that sounds awful. i hope that's not common...my wonderful gyno told me she thinks they're a godsend and she'd recommend them to anyone.
see, i'm on the pill but i'm still worried about that .001% risk. i've been using condoms, but my partner and i really hate them and they tend to make sex extremely painful for me. and last time we had sex, the condom slipped off unnoticed in the middle of it and he came inside me, so we don't think they're a reliable form of birth control.
ugh, sometimes i wonder why i even bother having sex. it's such a fucking hassle. why am i screwing with my biology for this?

...anyway, is there anyone else here with some input on the IUD?

 

PIDs are VERY common with IUDs. Especially when you have a lot of partners.
A freind of mine had to have a hystorectomy, as her IUD "implanted" itself deep into her uterus. She had left it in for more than a decade, though. But her doctor should have checked it before then.

Most docs won't give you an IUD if you have painful periods, heavy periods, fibroids, endometriosis or have never had children. (It retains better and is less painful in a womyn who has had children.) The PID/infertility rate is pretty high, so consider it "semi-maybe permanent birth control."

It also increases your risk of an ectopic pregnancy (a pregnancy in your fallopian tube, or outside your uterus) which always requires surgery, and runs a high infection rate, and even can be fatal. The fetus always dies, there is no way to "reimplant" it. Some doctors sell these things like used cars to womyn they seem to think "shouldn't" have children. Do your own research. This form of BC is not without risks.

Personally, I wouldn't ever have one. But that is just me.

The pregnancy risk for the pill is a hell of a lot higher than that. More like 0.5 to 1%.

 

My friend's sister has had one and thinks she may have been prego 3-4 times. She has 3 kids and has had a couple mscarriges BEFORE the IUD so she knows her body when she is prego, Says she knows she has been prego but since the IUD will NOT allow an egg to attach she also knows when it passes,,like a clot or something....

But another friend had one after her first baby,,, took it out 2 years later to try again and got prego in 3 monthes and had it put back in after this one,,she loves it and has never had any problems. SO I would bet with any other BC it depends on the persons body.

I am thinking about the nuvo ring ,,, I have heard good things about that!

 

I have had one for over two years, never any problem. My cramps were worse for a period of time after having it inserted, but my uterus has adjusted and it seems a small price to pay for peace of mind.


They are not recommended if you have multiple partners, however, since the string which hangs down into the uterus can be a vehicle for STDs to travel into your uterus.

Otherwise, I have found it to be worry-free.

 

whew...it's good to hear some (more or less) positive experiences with this...i'm really looking at it as my best option and i was getting worried.

i never had severe cramps, and since i went on the pill they've become even easier. cramps do suck, but it's nothing an ibuprophen won't fix.

actually, i talked to my gyno about the "vehicle for STIs" thing and she told me that, IUD or no, if you have sex with someone with an STI you'll get the STI. the IUD does have the potential to increase the severity of the infection, though, as well as direct it toward the uterus and ovaries. she just recommended that, if a woman has multiple partners, she should be getting regular STI screenings anyway and this would eliminate any of the elevated risk the IUD provides.

 

I've had one for a few years, and I think it's great - no having to remember to take a pill, or messing around with condoms - yuck! Although, I was led to believe that it's only really for women who have already given birth....?

I would say its a great method of contraception - just make sure you go for your yearly check-ups.

 

that sounds pretty scary to me. I wouldn't do it!

 

During my last pregnancy my doctor and I discussed birth control and the IUD as an option, he told me that it was probably in my best interest to NOT get one. He told me that of all the women that he had put them in, only a handful still had them....everyone else had to many problems with it. The OB/GYN I was seeing at that time was the most popular one around here, so I figure he's had a LOT of patients...if only a few of them didn't have any problems, I don't like those odds. He also told me that he did not even use them as a form of BC for women because of the complications.

I took his word for it

 

moonshyne, how long ago was this?

i talked to a doctor today about the IUD and she told me that nearly all the horror stories circulating around IUDs are about the old ones, which were poorly designed and not as carefully installed. they caused a lot of problems and in the 70s or 80s a group of women who'd suffered complications filed a class action lawsuit which didn't fade out of the media's attention till the 90s. they've had a bad reputation ever since. i don't remember word-for-word what the doc said, but she basically told me nearly all of those cases of pelvic inflammatory disease occurred because they didn't screen for STIs and bacterial vaginosis before implanting the IUD, which shoved all that bacteria straight into the uterus and resulted in uterine infections. also, the old IUDs had a braided string which allowed bacteria to climb up into the uterus with ease. there were other technicalities, too, which i don't remember.

apparently, in recent studies, the current IUD design has been shown to have little to no effect on spread or severity of STIs. my doctor said they've evolved to the point where they're as safe as any other popular birth control. every treatment has its risks - the pill can cause strokes, the shot causes a lot of girls to go physically and emotionally apeshit, and spermicide can cause horrible reactions and increase risk of STI transmission. she also told me that, in her experience in the IUD clinic, only 10% of the women had theirs removed within the first year. she said, when properly and carefully implanted, they're just as good for a woman who hasn't had children as one who has.

both the doctor and my regular gyno feel that IUDs are a great option for women...i want to believe them, and i don't see any reason for them to mislead me about the safety of the IUD...why the disproportionate number of negative reports? i'm getting nervous.

 

my mum fell pregnant with me whilst having a IUD.
Thanks to that little thing not being effective i'm here, in this cruel world.

 

lucky you!


i was a diaphragm baby.

 

This wasn't in the 70's and 80's.......it was about 4 1/2 years ago. Back in 2000-2001 when I was pregnant with my youngest child.

 

I had one put in a couple months after my 2nd baby was born. I got pregnant less then a yr later. The doctor removed the IUD and we hoped for the best. My son will be 19 next week and he was born without any problems. I seem to have heard that they have changed the IUD since then.

 

please people let's not scare potential users of the IUD with horror stories.. no offence.. but there is so much misinformation in this thread.

surely the people u want to ask are your OBGYNs? and bear in mind as well that there will be differences in opinion between different doctors..

in the main no contraception is risk free but there are millions of users all over the world who are happily using Depo/OCP/IUD etc etc with no ill effects. don't overemphasise the ones who have problems. the vast majority (99%+) use their methods of contraception quite happily.

 

~

 

I would like to share my and my sisters experiences with the IUD..I had one and when I was much younger in my 20's..A stupid b/f pulled it out on night thinking it was a tampon string.. the pain was horribal and I bled for weeks..I had another one put in and I had an egtopic pregnancy that I almost died from..My sister had an IUD and she got pregnant and they couldn't take it out without aborting the fetus.. the child was born with the IUD stuck in her forhead..OMFG.. and had birth defects.. the child was blind in one eye and had to have several surgeries.. so..please think about getting an IUD..take the shot..

 

that 1% sure shows up a lot..tell the horror stories and be educated in the subject.. remember your dealing with doctors who prescribe poison to their patients everyday.. it's your body and your in control of what goes in it..the female uterus does not like forien objects shoved up into it.. I used Wild Yam Root for contraceptive.. it worked for me.. but you have to take it for three months before it takes affect..

 

ANYTHING can be poisonous if you take too much of it! Shit, it's even possible to overdose on WATER for god's sake. Don't diss doctors for filling out prescriptions that can be VERY helpful to many people. Everyone's body is different, that's why people react differently to different procedures and prescriptions. I would trust a doctor over you anyday.

Thank you captain obvious. No one is forcing her to get an IUD.

Female uterus? As opposed to the male uterus? And to be fair, my BODY doesn't like getting CRAMPS every month, my bedsheets don't "like" to be stained with blood, and my family and friends don't like to put up with me when I'm having horrible PMS, so why is it so important what my uterus wants?

And Depo-Provera (the shot) doesn't work for everyone either--I've actually heard more horror stories from that than from an IUD.

And about your sister--Yes, if you allow a fetus to grow in the same womb as an IUD, OF COURSE it will have severe deformities! That's why they recommended an abortion. I'm not saying whether or not she should have had one, but just don't be surprised when it's deformed.