Iud Question - Copperas Cove,TX

Hi K.! I got the Mirena a year ago this month and it has worked excellent for me. I was told that there may be some cramping and a little pain after the procedure but i experienced no pain. I had a friend that had mild pain the day of and that was it. It is a painless precedure. You may feel a little pinch but nothing major. It has actually made my periods lighter too. I can only wear tampons for lite flow now too but the majority of the time i just wear pantyliners. Hope your results are as good as mine.

i have the paraguard and absolutely love it. I had lots of migraines when I was on the pill before pregnancy so I didn't want anything hormonal. I love that paraguard is no hormones or anything to mess with body or weight gain. I haven't had any problems at all and it's been in for almost 4 years. I can take it out any time if I want to become pregnant again, and since it's non hormonal, I could get prego right away if wanted. :) Good luck! Hope it works!

I had the paragaurd because it was hormone free. It made my periods heavier and my cramping worse, but I think thats true for the mirena, the cramping anyway. The mirena will eventually slow your period to little or nothing. I would say that it hurt quite a bit and I was crampy for a few hours afterward. I suggest taking ibuprofen up to 800mg before having it put in. First they insert a rod to sound for the back of your uterus, then they pull that rod out and put another one in that contains the IUD. Though I did love the protection it offered. And the paragaurd is good for 10 years where the mirena is only good for 5. Good luck.

I have the mirena and love it.. It will be a year next month.

I did lots of research and decided on the Mirena...

I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! I have been on it for over 2 years. I did have bad cramping for a day... make sure you bring some ibuprophin (sp). I have had no complications, but I do know of someone who did have a problem when they went to take it out.

I had the mirena put in back in July. It didnt hurt.. But my periods for the first three months were a little off any painful. I havent havent had one since September though. Other than that it was a pretty easy in and out procedure and nothing to really worry about. But I dont know anything about the paragard. Hope this helped a small but, I think its probably a little different for every person, but that is my experience so far

I used the paragaurd for over 5 years, just had it removed and had a baby this past year. I LOVED my iud and enjoyed the benefits of not using hormones (health and emotional). Its really your call, but I loved mine. I did have increased cramping initially, but I am a tough cookie and would rather take a tylenol every now and again than have to mess with the nuisance of birth control.

BEST!

I got the Mirena inserted on Feb 3. It felt like cramps when they inserted it. I had some cramping on and off for about a week and a half. The thing I have noticed now is a brown discharge that is normal, just have to wear a panty liner for now. So far so good. I chose the Mirena over the paraguard because I really didn't want copper in my uterus. That was my only thought between the two. Good luck and I hope that I have helped.

i love my PARAGUARD!!!!lol
iv had it 3 years now.and the first 2 periods were really heavy and alot of cramping but after that it was back to normal. iv had no complications at all. and im not sure how much the mirena cost, but if its around the same price as the 10 year paraguard, why pay for five when you can have 10 year protection and with the same advantage to remove at any time.
so0o0o0 worth it. i even lost weight from the no hormones!:) good luck!

p.s. let us know what you choose!

I have an IUD and I hate it. I do have to say, though, that it is nice because I don't have to worry about the bith control pill. But, I have very heavy periods and sometimes very painful periods. In fact, as soon as my insurance kicks in, I'm having mine removed. After that, I have no idea what I'm going to do for birth control. I've had mine for 8 years.
I found it painful when they inserted it. Other than the painful periods, the IUD is not painful. I have no idea it is in there. But, like I said, I am having it removed because I am having problems with it.
I have also heard from a couple of other women that are having the same problems that I'm having also.
I hope I have been of some help to you.

I have the mirena iud. There were complications for the first 6 months(cramping,bleeding) But after that I have been great! I have had mine for 3 years now and no complications so far, and the best part about it is that I have no period! It started out gradual after the first 6 months, then went to spotting, then nothing. I love it! Good luck and try not to stress to much. Listen to your doctors advice on which iud suits you best.

I would go with Mirena because it has horomones, like the pill, that stop you from ovulating. If you go with Paragard then you are relying on the IUD keeping fertilized eggs from successfully implanting and being carried to term. I had personal issues with the idea that I might become pregnant and the copper IUD ONLY keeps the embryo from implanting in the lining of your uterus.

As for pain, it's not horrible. Take a couple of Motrin or Advil when you walk in the door and you should be fine. Within a day I was 'normal' after my Mireana.

Good luck!

I can't say which is better but I did have the Mirena and loved it! It hurt a little when they put it in...felt like a labor pain and then went away. Others experience other symptoms but that was all I ahd. I had NO complications at all and loved having it! When I am done having our baby girl in April I will get another one when I am able.

Hi, K..

I've had both types of IuD. I had a lot of pain during insertion. It felt like a strong contraction. I took some Advil before the appointment and was fine.

First I had paraguard. Paraguard last 10 years, but can give you very heavy periods. Mine were so heavy that I expelled my IUD aft 18months. (Not fun).

Then I tried Mirena. Had a little spotting here and there at first, but now, NO MORE PERIODS! Happy Happy joy joy. t's good for five years, and I've had no problems.

So I recommend the Mirena, and just be aware, some women find the insertion more painful then others. I totally recommend taking an advil before or after the appointment.

Good luck to you!

Hi K.,

I had the paragaurd for about a year until I wanted to get pregnant again. I went with it b/c I really want to avoid hormonal birth control for mood reasons. I really liked it but it did result in heavier periods at times. If you prefer light to no period, i think the Mirena is better. But if you prefer non-hormal, then i think paragaurd is great and you just deal with the periods. Mine were a little longer (6 days as opposed to 5) and sometimes had more cramping than usual. But, I was willing to have monthly discomfort to avoid mood swings.

I've had mirena for 8 months and it's been great. i don't ever really get a period. If i do it's very light spotting for a couple of days. When they put it in the pain felt like just having a really bad cramp and only took like 10 minutes to have it done. Also i've had no complications with it.

I just got the ParaGuard about 3 weeks ago because I liked the idea of going hormone free. I was so nervous- partly due to things I'd read on the internet- be careful. Any form of birth control is going to have some risks and the 1% of people who have bad issues are the only ones who ussually write about it on the web. It was a very simple procedure. It was a little longer and slightly more painful than your annual PAP. I did have minimal cramping afterward and I felt a tiny bit faint/dizzy that day which is normal. The next day I was also a little crampy and since then everything has been normal. I have not had my first period since I've had it but I do hear it's heavier as the other mom's have pointed out. This is worth it to me to have birth control with no hormones that you don't have to think about for 10 years and that you can have removed if you decide you want another little one! It's great. Don't worry.

If you have to pick between the two I would say Mirena. I've had both. I ended up with endometriosis after the paragard from such heavey periods. I heard great things about the Mirena so I decided to give it a try after baby number 3. Well, I was in having emergency surgery 2 weeks later because it perforated my Uterus and ended up in the cavity behind. The odds of this happening are very small. I now have Implanon and love it. I wish I had found it sooner. It is an implant that goes in your arm and slowly releases low doses of hormone. It is good for 3 years.

I was a fan of allowing my gyno to place foreign objects inside of me before I got Mirena. Now I realize it was the most idiotic thing I have ever done to myself... EVER! And I used to smoke ciggarettes!
I wreaked so much havoc on my system. They tell you the hormones will not travel from your uterus, yet studies are out there proving otherwise. I don't want to post all of the things that occured because of this birth control method b/c there are folks that love it and would likely come to it's rescue. BTW... I loved it until it came out and I realized all that had shut down because of it. Anyhow... there are forums with other women's opinions.. just google 'life after mirena' and you'll get quite an earful! If you were my family, I would fall down on my knees begging you to save yourself and not get it, but honestly... to each his own. Good luck!

my doc neglected to tell me about the ibuprofen before insertion idea. Holy COW did it hurt!!! It hurt me so badly I shot it back out. Needless to say, I am on the pill. Will never try again. Moral of the story, take pain pills and learn a relaxtion technique. Good Luck!

I have the mirena our. I've had it for almost a year now. It was just a little uncomfortable when the dr put it in, but really no different than when you get a papsmear. I really don't know the pros and cons of the two because my dr only offered the mirena. I haven't had any side effects. From my point of view it's better than taking a pill every day. I hope this helps a little and everything works out.

I had the Mirena for 3 1/2years following the birth of our son and absolutely loved it!! I didn't use a tampon for the last 2 1/2 years I had it because my flow was so minimal. Now, I'm also a little suspicious of the Mirena's role in my current twin pregnancy due to the fact that I hadn't ovulated for so long I think my body may have gone into overdrive on egg release after having it removed to try to get pregnant agin. But that is not cnfirmed to be the cause, even though there are no twins on my side of the family.
My sister had the Paraguard and had many problems with it. However, she has always had many more female problems than I have had so I don't know if the problems were caused from the Paraguard or just from her body doing its thing. She had it removed after about 3 years when my BIL got snipped. (her problems haven't really cleared up, so I think it was more her body than it was the Paraguard.) Good Luck!!

K. - I got the marena IUD back in August and love it. I will tell you that the implant did hurt, pretty severe cramping, but they gave me pain medicine to take home and it was gone by that evening. I did cramp for a few days after and then about every 2 weeks for the first 3 months. Since then I have only had 1 period, about 2 days long, and mild cramping every other month or so. I had previous problems with hormones, etc, so this has worked out really well for me. Hope this helps and feel free to ask any questions.
S.