Infants? In MY Vagina? Birth Control Megathread: Now w/ free BC for all! THANKS OBAMA

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Infants? In MY Vagina? Birth Control Megathread: Now w/ free BC for all! THANKS OBAMA

Innovative Salad: Jun 18, 2003; That's President Tandi to you.

Eggplant Wizard: Those opening posts will leave Wikipedia sniffling in a corner. Nice work. :dance:

Not Impressed posted:

After 7 years on the pill, I'm seriously considering the Mirena. I've never had regular periods off the pill, so I'm a little concerned about the spotting that people report for the first months. I don't want to end up having spotting for the entire duration. How have other goonettes found the Mirena to be in the spotting/periods department?

And for a semi-embarassing but important question I can't seem to get an answer to - will my partner feel the strings? Even if he's fingering?

I also use the Diva cup and my doctor didn't seem to think it was such a good idea to keep that up with an IUD because of the risk of pulling the strings out. Is anyone out there using a menstral cup with an IUD successfully? Or best to just let this practice go?

I was on Mirena for 10 years and never really had to deal with spotting between periods, which themselves were maybe 3 days of really light spotting. Obviously it might go totally differently for you, but IIRC over 90% of the women who get Mirenas end up bleeding less in total - but that could still include more spotting, and my understanding is that periods on Mirena do tend to be a bit less regular. I don't think there's really a way to say for sure.

Depending on how you're built, your partner will probably be able to feel the strings with his fingers (you're supposed to check them yourself occasionally too). He may or may not feel them during intercourse, and from my limited experience, that depends less on his size and more on his sensitivity to a particular sort of stimulus. If it does bother you or him, it'll take less than a minute to have the strings trimmed at your follow-up appointment. And they do soften over time as well.

I haven't used a Diva Cup, but I've been using a Lunette (which claims to be safe with IUDs) with my ParaGard with zero problems. You have to make sure to break the suction before you remove the cup, but I imagine not doing that wouldn't be fun under any circumstances anyway. If you do get a Mirena, you may well not bleed enough to need one at all though.

Edit: And as far as I can tell, I have totally average periods on ParaGard. :dance:

The first one was not so fun, but everything since has been totally OK. So I guess it's not guaranteed to make you bleed like a geyser. Yay.

Innovative Salad fucked around with this message at 05:45 on Jan 20, 2011

# ¿ Jan 20, 2011 05:41

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# ¿ Apr 27, 2024 08:01

Innovative Salad: Jun 18, 2003; That's President Tandi to you.

lou reed posted:

I've heard it can kill sex drive, which is counterproductive to say the least. I know progesterone doesn't cause blood clots the way estrogen does, but I still don't love the idea of introducing hormones into my system. From everything I read, Mirena seems pretty solid, though. I do like paragard's longevity in comparison (12 years vs. 5)

I've had both (two Mirenas, then switched to ParaGard last fall), and they're honestly both awesome methods. They each have side effects, like all forms of birth control do; the one downside is that if you do get bad side effects and get rid of the IUD, you're out a bunch of money, but depending on your insurance contribution, an IUD can amortize in less than a year compared to non-generic pills or NuvaRing. Side effects vary so much for everyone, and for me it was also hard to say what was a Mirena side effect and what was a function of being 10 years older than when I started.

They're both exceptionally safe, effective, and zero-effort. For me the pros and cons worked out something like this:

Mirena:
+: Nearly no periods the whole time I had them. This is really, really sweet.
+: Evened out my temper massively compared to the pill, on which I was prone to big mood swings.
-: hosed up my skin (which was actually great before) in ways that I'm still dealing with now.
-: Low-level depression that developed over the years, but got markedly better after I went off Mirena.

ParaGard:
+: Normal human moods.
+: Less hungry all the time.
+/-: Bizarre superhuman sense of smell. Hormonal BC probably just suppressed this a bit, but it's not a blessing through and through.
-: Normal human periods. Like I've said, I don't get the terrifying "oops, I cut an artery" periods some unlucky people have, but not having them is still better than having them.
-: That weird discharge thing people have mentioned. It's not terrible or anything, but what the hell?

# ¿ Jan 28, 2011 06:06

Innovative Salad: Jun 18, 2003; That's President Tandi to you.

untitled posted:

Am I being a big baby? How awful will it be?

It will take about 5, maybe 10 minutes start to finish. Most of that will be like an awkward pap smear. The really sucky part should be less than a minute. If you can handle being pregnant and giving birth, you'll probably do just fine with this.

Also, if you're still kind of traumatized from giving birth, there's nothing saying you can't put this off by a year or two. As far as I'm aware (and your doc or pharmacist should be able to confirm), there's no reason why a Paragard shouldn't keep in clean, dry storage in its original packaging. If you mean you paid for the appointment, you can probably get them to work with you too - no harm in asking.

# ¿ Feb 19, 2011 05:36

Innovative Salad: Jun 18, 2003; That's President Tandi to you.

Spiffy! posted:

This might be a long shot since I guess it's pretty rare & they don't even list it on the side effects on my pills, but does anyone have any experience or know anyone that has had Erythema Nodosum (swelling bumps on the fatty tissue around the shins) from taking birth control pills? The two seem to be linked according to some websites I have read, but my doctors haven't shown any concern at all.

Yes! I have a friend who had this for a long while and her doctor never showed any concern. This was many years ago, but I think she finally switched doctors and had the biggest "well there's your problem" moment. The EN resolved almost immediately after she went off the pill. I don't think she ever went back on hormonal BC though.

# ¿ Mar 27, 2011 17:07

Innovative Salad: Jun 18, 2003; That's President Tandi to you.

Weird, non-standard bleeding during your first month(s) on the pill is 100% normal. It doesn't mean the pill isn't working; it's a byproduct of your body adjusting to new hormone levels it doesn't know how to deal with, basically. Most likely what she was experiencing for those 17 days wasn't medically a period so much as egregious breakthrough bleeding, although the two can look similar enough.

If she took her pill on schedule, she shouldn't need Plan B, and taking it may add to the irregular bleeding as she'd be throwing additional odd hormone doses into the mix. If the breakthrough bleeding and prolonged periods don't clear up within the next two months, she should talk to her doc about trying something different, but for now, it's totally normal.

# ¿ May 8, 2011 17:19

Innovative Salad: Jun 18, 2003; That's President Tandi to you.

Lixer posted:

Many people on the web seem to have experienced a pretty sizable weight gain (7-15lbs) with paragard, centering on the stomach area. I'm sure it's mostly water weight, but I was looking forward to losing some weight! Has anyone had this experience?

I had the opposite experience going from Mirena to Paragard last year. I tend to feel less hungry, different people keep telling me I look skinnier all of a sudden, and my clothes do fit differently. Like Bagleworm said, a nonhormonal IUD has no direct way of causing weight gain that we know of, but I imagine there could be all sorts of factors at work here - for example, some women who get serious cramping and periods may exercise less and/or eat differently because of it.

Lixer posted:

Also, I'm debating whether or not to have my boyfriend drive me. I deal with pain pretty well and am only a few miles away so I think I can handle it. Worse case, he can come pick me up and I guess I'll get my car later.

If you have a willing and available ride, do make use of it. You'll probably be absolutely fine very quickly - after getting my various IUDs, I took public transport home twice and drove myself back to work once, none the worse for wear - but that way you don't have to worry about it. And having someone around for hugs and reassurance isn't the worst thing in the world after a medical procedure.

# ¿ Jun 19, 2011 00:35

Innovative Salad: Jun 18, 2003; That's President Tandi to you.

twee_fangs posted:

I've only had the pre-insertion exam; they are ordering the IUD now, and she said she'll have to measure my uterus to make sure it's at least 6 cm or she won't try to insert it. Just wondering how common a problem this might be... Has anyone here had a too-small uterus?

I think this is really, really uncommon in grown women. I'm not sure I've ever read of anyone who couldn't get it for that reason. Obviously it can happen or they wouldn't bother checking, but I wouldn't worry about it terribly.

# ¿ Jul 10, 2011 06:14

Innovative Salad: Jun 18, 2003; That's President Tandi to you.

Bloody Mayhem posted:

Fortunately, I already have a prescription for it. My last OB/Gyn just gave me a prescription for every option under the sun so I could make up my mind in peace. She was awesome, why did she have to move .

Can I have your ob/gyn? She sounds almost disturbingly cool.

Bloody Mayhem posted:

I was on Alesse/Aviane for 6 of the last 7 years, a pill with 100 �g levonorgestrel and 20 �g ethinyl estradiol. I'm happy to see that Mirena uses the same progestogen, meaning that I shouldn't react adversely to it. But what is the effect of losing the estrogen? Why is it even marketed if you don't need it?

In a nutshell, estrogen buys you a lot of error tolerance, higher effectiveness, and sometimes fewer side effects in oral contraception. Most of these things you don't need in an IUD, since you're physically incapable of skipping a dose or puking it up. Progestin-only methods also seem to be better at suppressing periods, or at least Mirena is.

As far as I can tell, the one negative side effect you get from dropping the estrogen is the higher probability of bad effects on your skin.

Bloody Mayhem posted:

Speaking of hormones, is there a consensus as to their effect on skin? A dermatologist once told me that they can worsen skin conditions, but I know they're sometimes used to treat acne? I don't have acne, but pretty bad keratosis pilaris. I don't know if hormones have the same effect on these conditions, though....

Combined methods are often used to treat acne. The estrogen helps, as does counteracting hormone fluctuations that make some women prone to acne outbreaks.

I've never heard of Mirena doing anything either way for keratosis pilaris. The package insert does suggest that it will give quite a few people (a good 30%, IIRC) worse acne.

Bloody Mayhem posted:

In a similar vein, is Mirena known to decrease sex drive? What about weight gain?

Both of those can obviously happen, although they're less likely than with most hormonal methods simply because the dosage is so much lower. Anecdotally, I did lose a bit of weight and experience a small increase in libido after I went off Mirena, although it was nothing at all compared to going off the pill.

Bloody Mayhem posted:

Can you still wear a menstrual cup with an IUD?

Yes, although if you get a Mirena, you're not likely to need one. I think most women experience a marked decrease in bleeding, and 20 or 30% (again, IIRC) stop having periods at all. I've been using a Lunette since I switched to ParaGard, and it works perfectly - you just have to make sure to break the seal properly before you pull it out. (Not doing this sounds incredibly uncomfortable whether you have an IUD or not, so this doesn't seem like a big sacrifice.) The menstrual cup thread talks about this topic pretty regularly too.

# ¿ Jul 15, 2011 05:09

Innovative Salad: Jun 18, 2003; That's President Tandi to you.

The Peacock posted:

I was also considering the Paragard IUD as I'm tired of hormonal BC methods, but now I'm apprehensive as I've heard it can really make cramping hellish for a few months to a year. And input on that would be appreciated.

The hell periods definitely don't happen to everyone, although they seem to be pretty common. I've had my Paragard for almost a year, and I only had one bad period right after insertion. Now my periods involve about a day and a half of real bleeding, which is less than I had on the pill and definitely less than I ever got pre-BC.

The cramping can occasionally suck, but again, I'm not sure how it compares to not being on BC. (I had Mirenas for ten years before this thing, so it's been a long time.) If you're worried about bad periods, though, I'd consider Mirena over Paragard. For nearly everyone, Mirena will fix that poo poo, and the dosage (and thus the hormonal side effects) are nothing like Depo.

# ¿ Aug 24, 2011 06:09

Innovative Salad: Jun 18, 2003; That's President Tandi to you.

I had the evening off after my first IUD insertion, and I went home and stayed in bed after running a quick errand. I was totally fine the next day. After the second one, I went out shopping, and after the most recent, I went back to work for the rest of the day. There's no predicting how any one person is going to react, but it seems like most people don't need days off work or weeks off from the gym.

MsJoelBoxer posted:

The options that they said were most ideal for my situation were either Implanon or an IUD. I am hesitant to move forward with an IUD for what might be a silly reason. I tense up so much at the gynecologist during regular exams and worry that it would make insertion difficult. On the other hand, the idea of not worrying about pregnancy for the next five years would be nice. Take a deep breath and deal with it or go for the less invasive Implanon?

Less invasive is iffy - IUDs do go in a natural body cavity, and while the thought can be skeezy, it shouldn't be more physically traumatic than having a hole put in your arm. It seems like removal is usually easier, too. So really, it's probably a wash from that end, and you should go with whatever makes the most sense for your lifestyle and future plans.

# ¿ Oct 12, 2011 02:02

Innovative Salad: Jun 18, 2003; That's President Tandi to you.

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.

# ¿ Apr 7, 2012 08:50

Innovative Salad: Jun 18, 2003; That's President Tandi to you.

radioaktivitat posted:

My IUD exchange is scheduled for May 11th.

I'm a bit nervous about this despite my original insertion being fine and generally being fairly relaxed about doctors prodding my ladyparts. Is it likely to be much different to the original insertion? The strings are right there so I don't think the doc is going to have to go hunting for them.

Like Ceridwen said, if your strings are easily accessible, it likely won't be a big deal. Removal is super quick - you'll find some hardcore people on the internet who've done it themselves - and inserting the new IUD is typically less of a big deal than the first, maybe because your body is already used to having one. I'm on my third now, and this has been true for both of my replacement procedures. Good luck.

Edit for disclaimer: Don't try to yank out your own internal hardware. You're on your own if you do.

# ¿ Apr 27, 2012 14:39

Innovative Salad: Jun 18, 2003; That's President Tandi to you.

Missa posted:

I did have a question: Any of you ladies with an IUD use menstrual cups? I was reading the thread and there wasn't a definite answer if it was okay or not. I'm going to ask my doctor, but I was hoping for personal experience. (My doctor is a dude, and he is awesome, he just doesn't have a vagina.)

Late response to this, but I've been using cups ever since I switched to Paragard. Lunette works fine, and they advertise IUD compatibility. I recently tried Softcups, though, and I'm liking them much better: They don't create a vacuum seal like solid cups do, so there's no suction on your uterus and (I would imagine) even less/no risk of accidentally yanking out your IUD. That said, if you're careful about not pulling on your strings and always breaking the seal before you pull out the cup, you should be just fine. Like radioaktivitat said, I wouldn't use one for at least a few days after insertion (and I'd wait until the next period) to give everything time to settle down.

# ¿ May 7, 2012 05:48

Innovative Salad: Jun 18, 2003; That's President Tandi to you.

Phisty posted:

I'm up on the five year mark on my Mirena and need it replaced. The first time I had it in the pain was horrendous. Anyone have experiences getting an IUD replaced? Is it going to hurt just as bad? I'm kinda terrified

I've had mine replaced twice, and it's been way, way easier than the initial insertion each time. If the strings are easily accessible, pulling the old one out should only take a few seconds. One (brilliant) Planned Parenthood doc had me cough and yanked it out - it's that fast, and I basically didn't feel a thing. Both follow-up insertions were faster, less uncomfortable, and I had far less cramping afterwards than the first time. So here's an optimistic vote for you. Good luck!

Shnooks posted:

Anyone have experience with frequent yeast infections and BV from their IUD?

I can't speak for BV, but if you get a lot of yeast infections, make sure to get (a) your partner(s) treated and (b) your blood glucose checked. Elevated BG can cause problems in that area even below levels that would give you other obvious symptoms.

While I'm sure this varies a lot between people, switching all products that go near my junk to unscented (including laundry detergent) got rid of YIs and general irritation in the area entirely for me. Weeeee.

# ¿ May 18, 2012 17:20

Innovative Salad: Jun 18, 2003; That's President Tandi to you.

NaturalLow posted:

Also although it's fine to use a cup with an IUD in general, from what I understand it's not really recommended that first month after insertion, until everything kind of "settles" and the risk of expulsion goes down.

Totally true. If you do want to try it after that, though, Softcups are great in my experience. They don't create a vacuum seal at all, so I assume (although I have no proof for this) that there's less risk of yanking your IUD out. It certainly feels better.

# ¿ Jun 12, 2012 04:29

Innovative Salad: Jun 18, 2003; That's President Tandi to you.

Bagleworm posted:

As far as I know, the problem with menstrual cups and IUDs isn't the suction, but the strings getting caught by the rim of the cup, or pulled when removing the cup. I don't think a soft cup would make much of a difference in that case.

That's probably true. I don't know that you can yank it out with the vacuum a regular cup creates. Said vacuum can feel like absolute rear end as a cup settles into place with an IUD, though, and I like not having that.

# ¿ Jun 17, 2012 06:48

Innovative Salad: Jun 18, 2003; That's President Tandi to you.

elise the great posted:

but if nobody's making GBS threads blood and everybody's heart is beating okay, I get really confused and anxious.

I used to work with a lot of nurses (best bunch of people I've ever met, incidentally), and I think that's the most awesome summary of their unflappable mindset I've ever seen. Thank you. I hope you have a speedy and pleasant-as-can-be recovery from this thing.

elise the great posted:

I'd be like "whoa, I just ovulated," and then I'd carry on with my business, super glad that I was on the Pill. Cramps were way worse.

Why were you ovulating on the pill? That's a drat failure in the system.

# ¿ Aug 4, 2012 03:21

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# ¿ Apr 27, 2024 08:01

Innovative Salad: Jun 18, 2003; That's President Tandi to you.

BigGayLogan posted:

Please don't let this be the norm when someone gets an IUD removed/replaced

I've had IUDs replaced twice and can confirm zero scraping or uterus flushing took place. That sounds horrible.

# ¿ Feb 7, 2013 11:21

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