Great questions about this type of IUD. I am a 38 year old mother of a 9 year old daughter and a 5 year old son. My husband is 47, so after my son was born, we were thinking of having no more children due to our ages. I used the Nuvaring for a while because I had tried 9 different birth control pills over the course of 10 years only to have each kind make me very nauseated, and I did not want to use the Depo shot again that I had used after having my daughter because it made me hungry all the time (moreso than with breast feeding) and I had gained a lot of weight on it. The only thing I liked about the Depo shot was that I only had to get it 4 times a year and I had no period at all, even for about 9 months after going off of it. The Nuvaring was a once a week thing, but it did come out once during intercourse. I did not realize it had been out for 2 or 3 days until I found it under the bed. You can relate to how scary that was from your broken condom incident! I read about Mirena (IUD with hormones) and wanted to avoid hormones as well (adult acne -- yuck!) so I went with the Paragard IUD. It seemed like it would be a great thing for me (us), but when I went to have it inserted, I was not told that someone should come with me to drive me home or that it would really hurt when it was inserted. I was okay until the doctor inserted the cervical clamp (with no anesthesia) and it made me immediately feel like I was in very intense labor. He then inserted the Paragard and removed the clamp. I lay there for another 10-15 minutes, got dressed and left. When I got into the parking lot, I felt strange, almost like I would faint. I got into my car and started to drive home. The original plan was to go back to work for the afternoon as they had told me it would not be a bad procedure. Was I ever naive! About half way home (20 minute drive total) I felt like I was going to throw up from the pain, so I pulled over and threw up on the shoulder of the road. I managed to get back in the car and drive the rest of the way home, hurting very badly the whole time. I got home, took some Advil or Tylenol and went to bed with chills like when you have a fever or something. My husband could not believe what I was going through and asked if I should go back to the doctor. I told him I would feel better if I could just lie down for a while. Four hours later, I was still hurting. It felt like having one labor pain that never stopped. Then after the pain eased off a bit, I slowly returned to feeling a little more like myself. I took pain meds for a few days and had some cramping and heavy bleeding for the next several days as it was inserted during my period (as recommended). My periods were never light, but my bleeding was very heavy every time I had it after the Paragard was inserted. I had frequent periods -- every 2 to 3 weeks -- and they were always very heavy, lasting for 7 days and filled with cramps and clotting. I thought that after 6 months of this my periods would go back to normal, but they were still just as heavy but were a little more on the proper schedule 21-25 days between each one. Also, I noticed my hair began to thin, my teeth became weaker, and my energy level was very low (borderline anemia). Finally after a little over a year, I had the Paragard removed and my tubes tied. My periods are still pretty heavy, but they are spaced out normally and the cramping is not nearly as bad. I do still have discomfort during intercourse in certain positions, possibly due to the way the cervical clamp was used when the Paragard was inserted. I don't want to completely discourage you from this form of birth control as it may be a good solution for you, but I would encourage you to ask about the symptoms I experienced and make sure you have someone else drive you to the procedure if you go through with it. You may want to take some Advil or Tylenol (or something stronger if you have it) prior to having the procedure done or ask your doctor if it is possible to have some form of anesthesia, maybe laughing gas if it is available. I wish you well and understand your dilemma. Children are definitely a blessing from God, but when you get to the point of exhaustion, you need to make sure you have enough of you left to take care of their needs and yours too. Take care of yourself and enjoy those little ones. I miss my kids being babies, but I am enjoying the fun stuff they are doing in school and seeing their minds grow as they learn new things every day. Best wishes with your birth control decision.
