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Bagleworm posted:I'm pretty sure body size has little to do with the size of your uterus, so I wouldn't worry about this. Eh, I know they "recommend" Mirena for people who have already had 1 kid (as they probably have a bigger uterus) on the Mirena website but the NP said it doesn't really matter whether you've had a kid or not, but she has had people who it just doesn't fit. With my luck, that will probably be me.
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Apr 4, 2012 22:04
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Bagleworm posted:I'm pretty sure body size has little to do with the size of your uterus, so I wouldn't worry about this. For serious. I'm 5'3" and c. 120lbs, no babies, retroverted uterus, and a Mirena fit just fine. You forgot another Mirena pro-- chance of no more period  You have to ask your provider about costs if it won't go in and stuff.
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Apr 4, 2012 22:23
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The paragard is actually larger than the Mirena by a good bit. The "only for women with at least one kid" thing is because they haven't pushed to get FDA approval for nulliparous women (which the makers of the paragard finally did do a couple of years ago). It's a leftover thing from the bad days of IUDs (look up info on the Dalkon shield) and has nothing to do with the size of the IUD or the likelihood of it actually fitting you. As for the size thing, it just doesn't work that way. I'm 5'6", but VERY petite build (I weigh ~110-115lbs), never had a kid, and my vagina is so short I can't use many brands of tampons because the distance from the opening of my vagina and my cervix is shorter than the tampon. Getting a Mirena was no problem, my uterus was plenty big enough. You just can't know until they measure you during the insertion process. Body size is not an indicator. Honestly, the risk of it not fitting is actually not all that high. None of the women I've known who tried to get IUD's wound up not being able to get them because of uterus size, and only a few in this thread have had that issue. You will almost certainly have to pay for it even if it doesn't fit, because they open the package to get the sounding device that they use to measure you. So that IUD is considered used and cannot be used for another patient. I have migraines (non-aura) that are extremely sensitive to hormones (and ultimately a major reason I could not tolerate the pill) and they improved with Mirena. My sister has migraines (with aura) and got a Mirena about 5 years ago. It did not occur to me until just now, but the last time I talked to her she commented about how she doesn't even get them anymore. I can't say for sure it's the Mirena causing that, but it certainly did not make them worse! That said, they will get worse for a few women, but there isn't any way to know for sure before you try it, and the stabilizing effect of the Mirena is more likely to be helpful than harmful. As for the uterus damage fears: I had two Mirenas, over a total of 6.5 years, during which time I've had 2 ultrasounds to check placement (my uterus hides the strings) and gotten confirmation that my uterus is just fine. I had my second one removed 2.5 weeks ago, started a period 2 days later (after ~6 years with no periods at all), and am now halfway through my first cycle of trying to conceive with all indications being that I will ovulate within the next day or so. I also got migraines for 3 out of 5 days of that period. So yea, all signs are that everything is going right back to normal. There are risks of uterine damage from IUDs, primarily during the insertion process, but they are VERY low and are even more unlikely if your care provider is experienced at insertion. Additionally, even if you do have a perforation (IUD poked through your uterus/cervix), the actual risk to your fertility is again extremely low, the uterus typically heals just fine. Very rarely, an IUD will become embedded, and minor surgery will be required to remove it. Again, the damage to your uterus here is quite temporary, and the "surgery" involves dilating your cervix a bit and using a camera to go grab the IUD with special tools while you are knocked out for a few minutes. It's very quick and doesn't typically require any incision. Even more rarely, an IUD will perforate the uterus at some time after insertion and have to be removed via laproscopic surgery (small incisions). Even though these things seem scary, they are in many ways less scary than some complications of the pill, and are MUCH less scary than complications of pregnancy. IUDs are actually the second safest birth control (after the pill, and safer than the pill for older women) you can use. And because of your migraines, they are probably also the safest form for you.
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Apr 4, 2012 22:45
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Azrael Engel posted:Mirena cons: I just got Mirena in in January.  First off, I am also 5'2", and 110 pounds. I have never had kids, and insertion was totally fine. Mirena is seriously really small. I was worried about perforation too, but it's really really rare, and would most likely happen during the insertion itself. So it's not like you'll be walking around and it'll just happen. Tell your boyfriend to stop being so concerned about that stuff. The chance of those bad things happening is really minimal.
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Apr 5, 2012 09:02
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Agreeing with everyone else. If the person performing the insertion is experienced, I wouldn't worry about perforation too much. Just another anecdote about uterus size/body size from the opposite end of the spectrum: I'm 5'11, 180 lbs and my gyno told me I have a very tiny uterus  I got a Mirena inserted just over a year ago with no problems, and I've also never had kids.
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Apr 5, 2012 13:29
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I had my Mirena put in yesterday. I was really, REALLY nervous, reading this thread and a bunch of other stuff had my pain expectations WAY out there. Even with not having had kids, using the Misoprostol (cervix softener), a retroverted uterus and two different doctors trying three times to get the bloody thing in there it wasn't that bad! The worst I felt was cramps and a bit of a dizzy spell (vasovagal response apparently). I was legs open for close to half an hour but I was still able to hop off the table, go to class that night with a heating pack jammed in my knickers and do a good job. Ibuprofen helps wonderfully. The bleeding has slacked off considerably, I'm just spotting and having very slight cramps. I realise this is a YMMV situation, but I thought I'd offer up a "difficult" trip report that is still mostly positive. The best part was picking up the Mirena from the pharmacy and taking it to the doctor's office. That box is huge, and it wouldn't fit in my bag so I had to have it across my lap while I waited. I got some stares. My question now is - if Mirena takes away my period, how will I know if I'm knocked up and growing a mutant baby in my fallopian tubes? The doctors didn't have a very good answer.
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Apr 6, 2012 14:19
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Christabel posted:I had my Mirena put in yesterday. I was really, REALLY nervous, reading this thread and a bunch of other stuff had my pain expectations WAY out there. I'm glad it went well for you  ! I was under the impression you'd know you were knocked up because it'd probably be incredibly painful and/or ectopic, and you'd have some serious PMS symptoms. It's like 98% effective or something, probably more with the hormones, so you should be safe, really.
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Apr 6, 2012 15:58
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For most people, checking/feeling where the strings are is what doctors recommend. Obviously that changes when you have short strings or if they got hoovered up in there, but that's a good way to physically assure the iud is keeping you baby free. Also IUD is the second best thing to complete sterilization if I'm recalling my data correctly. So, basically you don't need to worry unless you feel something go horribly wrong.
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Apr 6, 2012 18:50
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I'm currently having a fun time locating the strings. I think they might have curled back up already, I can feel a "something" but the area is still a little sore (and remarkably far away, the first doctor couldn't reach it with her tiny Asian hands) to go jabbing around crazily. I'm sure it's fine, and I'd notice if it went one way or another. Maybe if I see some pregnancy tests for cheap I'll grab a few to reassure myself until I relax a bit.
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Apr 6, 2012 19:29
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Christabel posted:My question now is - if Mirena takes away my period, how will I know if I'm knocked up and growing a mutant baby in my fallopian tubes? The doctors didn't have a very good answer. My mom had a Cu-7 IUD in the 70's and ended up having an ectopic pregancy years after it was removed. She was in SERIOUS pain, and at one point started bleeding. Not like period bleeding--she ended up going to the hospital and the doctor told her later that if she had waited much longer to go in, she would have bled to death. So what I'm saying is, if something were to go wrong (not at all likely since you don't have a scary 70's IUD) you will know. So kick back, and enjoy lots of worry-free sex! You'll be fine
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Apr 6, 2012 20:35
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Christabel posted:My question now is - if Mirena takes away my period, how will I know if I'm knocked up and growing a mutant baby in my fallopian tubes? The doctors didn't have a very good answer. Not everyone loses their periods entirely. You may well still get some spotting. If you're seriously worried, I would buy pregnancy tests in bulk and take one a month. Done. As others have pointed out, though, Mirena is more effective (99.8% - all numbers from Wikipedia) than tubal ligation (99.5%), nearly as effective as vasectomy (99.85%), and massively more effective than any method you might have used before except Implanon. The accuracy of pregnancy tests, apparently, ranges between 97.4% and 75%. You're more likely to get a false positive from a pregnancy test than you are to get pregnant with an IUD in place.
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Apr 7, 2012 08:50
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That's so crazy to me! (I'm certainly not calling the figures into question but) how in the gently caress is there a method of hormonal birth control which is MORE effective than tubal ligation!?  That's not the first time I've read that, but I just don't get it. Just the rate at which the surgery is performed incorrectly?
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Apr 7, 2012 22:52
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Hello thread! I had a condom break last night, and took the emergency pill like an hour later, then the second dose 12 hours later. So I'm not worried about babies, but about the pill's effects. What should I expect? My period doesn't come until the 20th, or it would normally. I didn't feel any nausea or discomfort when I took the pill, as a friend told me I could. My period is usually really painful on the first and second day, and lasts up to 4 days. Should I expect even more pain? I'm also going tomorrow to my gynecologist to get oral birth control, I can't have this happen again while I'm on an exclusive relationship. Sweet As Sin fucked around with this message at 19:50 on Apr 8, 2012 |
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Apr 8, 2012 19:47
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Don't be surprised if you start late, but since you didn't experience any side effects while taking it, you may not get any when your period starts either. There's no way to know what to expect. The only thing I can really say is your period may not be normal this cycle, but afterward it should be.
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Apr 8, 2012 19:53
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I've taken the emergency pill twice, the first time I felt really poo poo and nauseous for most of the day, but the second time I didn't feel anything. I did get my period like a week early though, but don't remember it being more painful than usual. Like Reformed Tomboy said, the only thing you can "know" is that your period may not be normal this cycle, but it's also possible it will be
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Apr 8, 2012 20:01
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Can the copper IUD mess with my hormones? I'm not really bothered by this, but I swear since I got it in February I've had more "I want to cry and watch Disney and CUDDLE BABIES  " episodes than I have before.
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Apr 8, 2012 20:10
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DeADHeaD posted:That's so crazy to me! (I'm certainly not calling the figures into question but) how in the gently caress is there a method of hormonal birth control which is MORE effective than tubal ligation!? 
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Apr 8, 2012 20:19
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i like nice words
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What are peoples opinions on implanon? I’ve been thinking about it recently simply so I don’t have to remember to take the pill anymore (I am on Cerazette). However, when researching this I found an article saying that 600 women got pregnant on it because it wasn’t inserted correctly, so many in fact that the NHS has been paying out compensation. Though I understand that implanon has been replaced by nexplanon, this still makes me nervous... I’d like to hear from anyone that has any experience with it. For the record I cannot have anything containing oestrogen. Last year I had a migraine during which I had no pain but lost my vision and had paralysis down one side of my body. This is the only one I’ve ever had, but my doctor freaked out and said I was never to have any combined pill again. This obviously limits my contraception choices quite a bit, I am not prepared to have an IUD and as far as I can tell, this leaves my main option as implanon.
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Apr 8, 2012 20:40
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There are a number of other progesterone-only methods of birth control besides Implanon. That said, I have Implanon and I love it; click the ? under my name for my other posts itt. As long as you can feel that it's in your arm after insertion, you're fine. Iirc, the trouble was that sometimes it would fall on the floor and nobody would realize As long as it's in there, you should be very well protected.
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Apr 8, 2012 21:13
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Apidae posted:Can the copper IUD mess with my hormones? I'm not really bothered by this, but I swear since I got it in February I've had more "I want to cry and watch Disney and CUDDLE BABIES I'm pretty sure the copper IUD doesn't affect hormones, but if you were on a hormonal BC before the IUD, that might explain it. Hormonal BC can smooth out your hormone levels and reduce mood swings. Other explanations could be life changes, stress, age, or stellar alignment. Hormones are fickle.
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Apr 8, 2012 22:20
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Anne Whateley posted:There are a number of other progesterone-only methods of birth control besides Implanon. That said, I have Implanon and I love it; click the ? under my name for my other posts itt. As long as you can feel that it's in your arm after insertion, you're fine. Iirc, the trouble was that sometimes it would fall on the floor and nobody would realize Same here, pretty sure almost all my posts in this thread are about Implanon. I also heard it was just that it wasn't inserted into the needle properly and never unwrapped/inserted at all.
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Apr 9, 2012 00:08
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Thanks girls, I'm going to the doctor tomorrow so I can get some pills and not have this happen again.
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Apr 9, 2012 04:29
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Mirena ladies, I have a question. I got my Mirena IUD placed 14 months ago, and had light/spotting periods for a few months, but haven't had a period at all since June/July of last year, no normal PMS symptoms either. Last week I got some of the normal PMS signs and this week I am getting cramping and what I would consider a "normal flow" pre-IUD period. Have any of you lost your period and then got it back this soon after insertion? I am going to contact my gyno about it but I was wondering if this was common or not. I really hope this is a one-off thing because I was really enjoying not having a period 
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Apr 9, 2012 19:51
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Pip pip pip posted:Mirena ladies, I have a question. I got my Mirena IUD placed 14 months ago, and had light/spotting periods for a few months, but haven't had a period at all since June/July of last year, no normal PMS symptoms either. I had 2 Mirenas. Stopped getting my period about 3 months into the first one, did not get another one the entire time I had it (4 years 10 months), but would sometimes still get cramping for a day or so. After the second one went in my period stayed away but I did randomly get very heavy spotting and some cramping out of nowhere 17 months after I got it. Since my strings were missing (common for me) I went and had it checked out by the doc, ultimately getting an ultrasound that showed it was still perfectly in place. So I would say it can happen and be normal. I got the IUD out a month later though to try to conceive, so I can't say if I would have kept getting spotting/periods after that. I am inclined to think it was just a random episode and I would have continued to not get periods.
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Apr 9, 2012 20:06
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I just wanted to follow this up with my doctor's reply, in case other ladies have the same experience. She confirmed that what I am experiencing is a normal occurrence, and may indeed just be heavy spotting like you mentioned, Ceridwen.
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Apr 9, 2012 23:11
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I'm just here to brag that my ring schedule has managed to PERFECTLY line up with my vacation overseas so I don't have to worry about it at all. Life is good.
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Apr 9, 2012 23:15
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Don't know if this belongs here, but it turns out that RISUG uses DMSO, which is known to demyelinate nerves, which is a really bad thing. I guess it was used as a treatment for arthritis for a while until its mechanism was discovered. It cures the arthritis because it basically cuts off communication from those nerves to your brain. So it's still supposed to go to clinical trials, but knowing that it has DMSO makes me pessimistic. Sigh  When will there be a reliable, reversible male birth control other than condoms?
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Apr 9, 2012 23:33
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Bleh, advice please - I was on Aviane for a year but switched to Altavera last summer because I was getting spotting in the middle of my cycle a lot. It worked, but recently I have noticed that I'm bleeding again at the beginning of new packs, really sparsely and with some cramping. I haven't been tracking it enough to tell if it is worse after sex or if it's something hormonal from my birth control. Is this nothing? Or should I go to my doctor, who I need to change because I hate her.
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Apr 11, 2012 04:52
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Alright I'm two weeks into my Implanon and my period is here. It's pretty heavy and I have to empty my menstrual cup more than usual, so hopefully it won't last long. I would like to hear some experiences with bleeding and the beginning stages of using Implanon! Honestly my sex drive has been much higher as well since getting off of the pill. But this is a problem with the period being so heavy (even with a towel). Any goonettes have secrets to getting blood off of sheets?
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Apr 11, 2012 20:35
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Candygram posted:Any goonettes have secrets to getting blood off of sheets? Apparently, Hydrogen Peroxide is good for removing blood, or so my sister claims. Give that a shot.
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Apr 11, 2012 20:37
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Candygram posted:Any goonettes have secrets to getting blood off of sheets? Wash immediately with cold water. Shout helps, as well.
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Apr 11, 2012 20:45
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For small spots, one of the most effective removers is actually saliva. Spit on the stain and scrub it. It's weird, but it works really well. Supposedly it's because there are enzymes in saliva that dissolves protein chains in blood, or something.
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Apr 11, 2012 20:48
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Rinse it in cold water, and then what I do is use some Spray n' Wash. Just spray it on, soaking the stain, let it sit for a couple minutes, and then wash it in cold with your normal laundry detergent. Only time this hasn't worked for me is if the stain is like a week old.
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Apr 11, 2012 22:40
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I swear by hydrogen peroxide. Maybe dog blood is different then human, but it works perfectly when I use it on my sheets. Just douse the section in peroxide (well, not sopping wet but wet enough) and dab at the stain with a paper towel. It's also worked for dog slobber stains as well. I wish I had known about peroxide's use for blood stains when I first got my period, it would have saved a lot of little girl heartache.
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Apr 11, 2012 23:59
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RazorBunny posted:For small spots, one of the most effective removers is actually saliva. Spit on the stain and scrub it. It's weird, but it works really well. Supposedly it's because there are enzymes in saliva that dissolves protein chains in blood, or something. This is the same reason you shouldn't lick a finger and try to clean the blood off a cut with it. Saliva is an anticoagulant.
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Apr 12, 2012 00:58
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DeADHeaD posted:This is the same reason you shouldn't lick a finger and try to clean the blood off a cut with it. Saliva is an anticoagulant. Well, and your mouth is filthy. Human saliva is full of bacteria that can infect a wound, which is why human bites are taken very seriously in emergency rooms.
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Apr 12, 2012 01:26
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So you're telling me I shouldn't suck the infection out?
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Apr 12, 2012 01:35
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So I'm on my second period since getting my IUD and I noticed this morning my IUD strings felt not only a bit longer, but a lot softer than usual, too. I felt around my cervix and didn't geeky anything hard, just the opening and the strings. I started using a Fleurcup brand menstrual cup but I don't feel anything when I'm pulling it out and I always break the suction as best as I can before I take it out. Doubly so, it has fairly weak suction. I'm just not sure if I should rush to the doctor yet or if my string length is shifting a bit because of my cycle. I haven't been able to get my 1 month checkup because I can't afford it and we don't have the car to go out of state again.
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Apr 12, 2012 05:11
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Does anyone actually leave the Nuvaring in during sex? It's too loving weird/uncomfortable and we have to take it out every time. I assume most people do the same?
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Apr 12, 2012 06:08
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Could use it as an in vivo cock ring.
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Apr 12, 2012 06:41
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