I had an IUD put in after my daughter was born last year. Since then I've gotten more than the standard side effects: skipped periods, extra long periods, super heavy cramping, blood clots and crazy heavy two days followed by weeks and weeks of trace bleeding. I'm free of blood for only about a week. While I really like not thinking about the contraception, I'm getting more irritated by the side effects as the days go on. I've seen the doctor and she can't find anything wrong with me. I'm wondering if anyone else has had this reaction and what they've done about it..
V.,
I did hear that the copper IUD would cause more bleeding whereas the Mirena which gives a low dose of hormones at the site to prevent pregnancy usually decreases the bleeding or incidence of periods. Good luck with this problem - hopefully you will find something that works best for you!
Take care,
A.
I had an IUD put in after the birth of my second daughter. I enjoyed it for about 4 months and then I started to have the same things as you and gave it a full year with it in before I had it removed. After, I had it removed I stopped spotting almost immediately. I went back on the pill and haven't had any problems since.
Hi V.,
I personally never had one put in, but my sister did. And she experienced the symptoms that you are having. She finally couldn't teke it anymore and had it removed. The IUD had caused so much scar tissue that she had to have a hysterectomy. Please go see your OB
That sounds like at least as much hassle as thinking about the contraception! Given that this is causing you so much of an inconvenience, I would strongly urge you to at least do a little research into Natural Family Planning. With the Billings Method (www.boma-usa.org) there really is very little work involved (no temperature taking or anything) and it's extremely accurate, even for irregular cycles. My mother-in-law and I both do this exclusively with our husbands and conceived our children exactly when we wanted to, no sooner or later. Plus, there's lots of health benefits to not having all these interferring chemicals and appliances in our bodies!
Good luck, whatever you decide!
Hi V. -
I had an IUD for nearly 7 years before conceiving my first child (2 mth little girl) and experienced some similar symptoms. I am scheduled to get my second copper IUD in a couple of weeks. My side effects were limited to mostly heavy bleeding and cramping for the first few days and an elongated period (7 days vs. 3 when I was taking the Pill). I agree w/ the other post regarding the Aleve. My OB recommended the same thing and it was a huge help. The other side effects that you are mentioning don't sound like fun at all. If you are like me and can't take hormones (they make me crazy) then this and other "barrier" methods are the only contraception option. However, if you don't have a problem with hormones, perhaps another method (Mirena IUD, the Pill, etc) might be a better solution for you. Good luck!
