Considering Paragard (copper T IUD)

[angelsgrace16]

I am 25 years old and haven't been in a relationship or even been having sex in over a year until now. So suddenly i'm concerned with birth control methods. Condom's and VCF's dry me out and i'm terrible at remembering to take the pill. I do not have a monthly period, its been maybe 2 years or more sense my last one. Doctor said i'm fine but it may be difficult to get pregnant, that doesn't mean i can't. I've heard bad things about ParaGard IUD and good things. I'm mostly concerned with its effects on me sense i do not have a period normally, and i'm worried about it decreasing my sex drive. These things i will be asking my doctor in due time but i guess i'm interested in more feed back from women that actually use this form of BC. And if anyone is like me who does not have a period usually to begin with and use this.

[S_9aragona]

Has anyone had any issue with bleeding when having sex? The last 2 times this has happened to me now. Sure it was at the end of my period and all but I don't think this is the cause. Just wondering if the device may be causing the problem or if anyone has experienced this. I havent made the time to call the doctor to ask yet. It is rather irritating and upsets the mood, as well as conserning at the same time. The blood appears to be new and not from my period. It scares my boy and I need to try and find an answer.

My reply message is for Phoenix18... I'm having problems too. I was taking the NuvaRing wich was perfect for me the time, but switch to the IUD because the NuvaRing gave me bad chest pains which last for 15 minutes. Then I'd had switched to something else.

Now, I just got my IUD inserted almost 2 weeks now. I got my period the day after they inserted the ParaGard wich was great for me. But after that I was spotting. Even till now I'm spotting & it's almost 2 weeks since they've had inserted inside me. But there's something wierd about the bleeding that makes me feel weird. You mentioned about the bleeding wich questioned me... When you had sex it bled a bit right? Well for me, it has done the same. It would bleed to after my boyfriend & I would have sex. I wonder if sex effects it, hMm??

I'm new to this kind of birth control & is need for some advice for others as well. All I'm reading is not much of a help but is reading alot of beware things & is making me think. I have co-workers who uses the other kind of IUD which is the Mirena but not the kind that I have so there's not much of a help. Can I get any response from anyone about bleeding or spotting? Just anything cuz' I don't know if I should worry or not. I've not had it for that long so I don't know what to think.

[WildChild]

See your doctor or the family planning clinic. I had an IUD for years with no trouble, no extra bleeding or cramping, get checked an make certain it is positioned properly?

[rachmel]

I hope this post helps someone decide to get the Copper T. So, here's my experience...from start to present. I won't say it was all wonderful. You're supposed to take 800 mg of Ibuprofen before the insertion and for good reason! It hurts! Well, a big part of the reason mine hurt so bad was because I only took 400 mg of Ibuprofen then discovered after the fact that it was expired!! So, make sure to take 800mg of non-expired Ibuprofen! I mean- even though it only lasted a few seconds, the pain was excruciating. The first 3-4 months after getting it I had pretty bad cramps and bled more during my periods. I didn't have any cramping or bleeding when I wasn't having my period though. So, on to the great news....I've had the IUD for just over a year now and I have little to no cramps (that's how I've always been) and the bleeding may be a bit heavier, but not that noticable of difference now...especially since I've been exercising regularly. I love this IUD because it has given me great birth control (and I do have sex and am married) with none of the side effects of hormonal birth controls! And it lasts for 12 years!!! I'm 29 now and expect to have it for 3-4 more years before getting pregnant. This IUD has not affected my body negatively in any way, no infections at all. I recommend this method of birth control to all women who do not want to put more hormones into their bodies!!! It's there when u need it and you never know it's there. My husband can never feel the strings during sex and neither can I, by the way. I also got my IUD free at planned parenthood while in graduate school!!

[WildChild]

I didn't have any anethesia with insertion. Went to Planned Parenthood one day and they inserted a bit of special bark which absorbed some of my natural fluids (being on my period certainly helped that. This dialated my cervix a bit. The next day I went back and in a few minutes they removed the bark, slipped in the IUD and it was all done. No muss, no fuss. I had a follow up a few weeks later to make sure it was all in place and no worries or problems for many years after that.

I don't think mine was copper, I think it was a sort of nylon but I'm not certain of that. I certainly did not have any added hormones or drugs. I really shy from messing with my natural cycle.

[Brande]

I'm going on thur. to get a copper IUD. I can't do hormones so this is really my only option. My husband won't get "fixed" and condoms suck when your married. So I hope my body takes to it.

[rachmel]

The IUD itself is not made of copper...it is nylon or something like that. However, there is a copper coil around the longest part of the IUD (my doctor let me look at one before I got mine). I'm talking about the Paraguard, not Mirena (which has progesterone hormones). I was also on the last 2 days of my period, so cervix wasn't that dialated I don't think. Also, I've never had children, which probably made insertion more painful. But it was so quick. I'm really glad I did it! I think if more women were open to getting the IUD pharmaceutical companies would lose lots of money...but, in my opinion, no one should be profiting off of protecting women's bodies and health. Good luck to all

[dreamcatcher]

Here’s my story: I have got ParaGard in about 4 months ago. Next week it is coming out. Prior to the IUD – I’ve been on the patch for about 7 years. The reason why I got off the patch was because it really dried me out. Then, I started to get infections which the doc told me it was Bacterial Vaginosis. So after a constant 2 years dealing with dryness and BV I did not want any birth control hormones in my body anymore. I was birth control free for 2 months. However, I did not want to get pregnant and condoms with a long-term partner suck. Especially because the last time we used one was when we first met 5 years ago. So I looked into ParaGard – and planned to have it for a year or so. Insertion hurts really badly but it only last a little while. I had some spotting after but it stopped in a few days. I did not experience any more than the normal for cramps. My flow did last for 2 more days but not get heavier. I did have a HUGE increase in sex drive. That first 3 weeks I always wanted to have sex, 2 times a day if I could and did not experience any dryness. This made my BF extremely happy. Here are the pits of it all: my BV is way more frequent and worse than before. I would get treated and it would come back a week later. I would get treated – the BF gets treated, it comes back. I get double treated it comes back within 2 weeks even if we don’t have sex at all. I experienced more acne with this and my face is more oiler (I am aware that BC pills and patch do help with clearing of acne). My mood swings were a little more on the irritable side than normal and would last for weeks. I did gain a few pounds. Also the BF said that he can sometimes feel it depending on the position but it did not hurt him. I am still wet and sex drive went down some but still more than when I was on the patch. So I am taking it out next week, I am also seeing a new doc that was recommended to me with more credentials than my last one. All in all this wasn’t for me.

[jmnsm1984]

i know this is old but i figure i would chime in. i had my second child in march of this year. i don't do good in the pill, i mean i don't have any problems with it or anything but i just am not very good at taking them everyday. so after my second son i decided an iud was the best for me after a few friends recommended it. i was on medicaid and where i live the dr. that put mine in said the copper t is the only one medicaid would pay for. that was fine with me. i have not had a period since it was put in but i am breatfeeding. kinda nice to go through nine months without it and have the bleeding after he was born and then not again since. it did kinda freak me out at one point so i took a hpt but it came back neg. it has been like 4 months since i had mine put in and so far i love it! every once in a while i do get a little heavy discharge but the timing it should just be my ovulating time. i know i haven't had it as long as a couple of women that replied but everyone is different i do well with any other kinda of bc so i expect to have a good result with this. hope i could help anyone looking for it.
janet

[mommy2kab&jtb]

I had my IUD inserted today. I thought that it was going to be painful because everyone had said so. Even the nurse said that it was going to hurt. I was not advised to take an medication before having it inserted, however, the dr said that i needed to be on my period before it was inserted. The dr said I would feel a slight pinch ( which I didn't) and the next thing I knew I was done. No pain whatsoever. I did feel some slight cramping but once I took some motrin the cramps disappeared. I am looking forward to the benefits of this birth control. I haven't had a period since Nov. 2008 and have been experiencing heavy bleeding since my son was born July 15th, but the bleeding is finally easing up....hopefully stopping soon. So I am not looking forward to experiencing heavier periods like 95 percent of the ladies on here seem to experience. But with the boys under the age of of 2 ( 19 months and 1 month) this is the BEST birth control for me.