R.J.
The "search" capabilities of this board are awful, but if you poke around, you'll find a bunch of us chiming in on IUD's. I can give you some basics, as non-biased as possible.
Mirena:
- Hormone based
- Lasts for 5 years
- Most women's periods decrease in length, & most have less cramping than before. Some have the opposite reaction and will bleed off and on all month, every month or have terrible cramping.
- Some women lose, some gain, some stay the same weight. Split about evenly.
- As it's hormone based any mood issues a person has with birth control USUALLY will still exist. For some it's less because the hormones are more localised, for some their mod problems stay the same.
- As it's hormone based it takes awhile to become effective, and is NOT effective if you're on antibiotics, just like the pill/patch/ring.
- As it's hormone based it usually takes awhile to become pregnant after removal.
- As it's hormone based a woman with a history of abnormal Paps, dysplasia, or cervical cancer should NOT use it (or the pill/ring/patch/etc)
- Strings are longer than the Paraguard and are more likely to be noticed/felt during sex
- Can be removed at any time, but most doc's won't in the first year...because it can take your body that long to get "used" to it.
Paraguard
- Lasts for 10 years
- Is copper based
- First couple periods are gnarly painful (cramping), then *poof* back to normal (tylenol+ibuprofen+mild muscle relaxer+heat to get through those three)
- Periods stay the same for most people. A small percentage will go lighter, a small percentage heaver
- Is immediately effective (day of insertion), and is not afftected by taking antibiotics
- Should NOT be used by any woman who is allergic to copper
- Can be removed at any time
I personally have had the Paraguard for the past 7 years with no ill effect :). That said, a small percentage of women will get an IUD imbedded (paraguard or mirena). A dead giveaway is pain. You shouldn't be able to feel it, ever, or it wasn't inserted correctly and is poking into you. The strings soften during the first month, but are stiff enough to be felt by your partner for that first month. After that, they're soft enough that (at least according to my partner) they aren't felt at all. A slightly longer sting (about an inch long) will soften better than a short string...which have a tendancy to be pokey. Make sure for the first couple months that you feel up to make sure you can feel the strings. If you can't feel the strings, go in for an appt. They'll ultrasound you to see if it's still there and got pulled up, or if it fell out (rare). If it got pulled up it's still effective, & they can take it out still, they just have to take it out the way they put it in, instead of just tugging gently on the strings. Anyhow that's rare.
Love love love having an IUD though. :) No worries, no fuss, no muss.
