Category: Health and Wellness
this is kind of a weird place to post this question, but here goes. My doctor and I are trying to find a way to regulate my cycle. I don't need birth control as a means of contraception: my tubes are tied, so no babies here. My doctor wants me to try an IUD called the Mirena. Personally, the idea of it makes me nervous. I'm not sure why. Have any of you girls ever used the Mirena, or an IUD in general? If so, what are your experiences? Thanks.
Hi there
My guinicologist recommended the same thing for me for the same reason. Apparentley it's the least intrusive of all the IUDs, and has the best success rate. I didn't go ahead with it so can't tell you how it feels or works.
FM
What made you decide not to go ahead with it? That's what my gut instinct is too, but I figured i'd ask around a bit.
My doctor recommended it to me as well, but not as enthusiastically as she recommended other things like the arm implant or 3 monthly injections. she wasn't so specific, but she did mention that many doctors would not consider it for women who have not given birth.
from my understanding, it does have some sort of long term effect specially for those who might want to think of having children in the long term. most doctors suggest either arm implant or 3 monthly injections as an option. may i ask, whats wrong with the oral contreception? it may benefit your monthly cycle.
if you're not worried about fertility also, I'd suggest the injections. they've given me little side effects, and I get 0 periods.
i have an iud and i have no problems at all with it. have had it for um, seven years maybe. I don't know how they think it's going to make you regular though? if anything it's done the opposite to me. . i like it and am glad i did it. i have the ten year one. but it has made it to where I rarely have periods, and when i do they can get crampy. but yeah, it's ok other than that.. I would do it all over again and am plannin on it when my ten years is up.
Um? No periods? That is part of what got Deppo Pravarra in trouble...I would personally never use anything that stops the natural cycle. This is what my obgyn has told me. If you do not have a cycle every 21/60 days you have a much higher risk of cancer and other utero problems because the period is your body's way of flushing retained blood, tissue and other body fluids from you in a safe way that does not allow the stuff to sit in there and rot or whatever, (the "rot or whatever" is mine, the rest is their's). Anyways, my two cents. Also, there is pills that you can take for 10 days before you should start your period to jump it. I have PCOS, and therefore, I do not have a regular period, (or did not until recently), and the pills would work. Hmm, think it was just progesterone pills. I do not have to use them now because there was another, better option for me...Glucafashe, Metforman, whatever you want to call it. Also, there is the patch, which while it is a birthcontrol method it can be given in low doses just to regulate you. I also used that one for a while. :)
I absolutely hate any birth controls of any kind. It messed up my cycle so bad and I've only just got it to be on track again. It took so long but I cheer every time I get my period. lol haha Good luck though. I think IUDs sound very painful and wouldn't get one myself only because I want a regular period and don't trust doctors anymore. Whatever you choose, good luck. lol Time to buy condoms!
Cattleya, you're absolutely right! They tried Deppo Pravarra on me when I was a teenager. My cycle was irregular then too, and my GYN's solution was just to stop it all together. I got migraines, and she was also worried about the pill effecting those. So I was put on the Deppo, and oh my God was that the most horrible experience of my life! That crap changed me into a completely different person. My mood swings were violent, I was yelling at teachers in school, which was very uncharacteristic for me, then bawling the next minute. I'm telling you, my body knew that having its cycle stopped was very, very wrong, and it rebelled.
So yeah, you guys are confirming what my instincts are already telling me: that an IUD is a bad idea. Think I'll stay away from that one.
I didn't go ahead with it because I'd heard that it was pretty hard on women who hadn't given birth yet. I heard there was a slight risk of it tearing the uterus, and also that it could become dislodged and moved. It does make the cycle much lighter, but for the first few months, it's usually much more painful. As I was having mine fitted to combat extraordinarily painful cycles, more pain is the last thing I want.
The way I understand it though, the IUD, or this one specifically, doesn't stop the cycles altogether. It just makes them lighter and less frequent.
FM
yep it don't stop mine all together. it is less and my cramping isn't bad either. iud isn't bad at all. i just don't know why they would put you on it for regulating you? Michelle it's not painful at all. i have never heard people that have not given birth have issues with it. I've for dam sure never given birth. lmao and it's been just fine for me. I can't have hormones and this is a great hormone free method for me! I don't even notice mine is there!
Thanks, all. I guess each person is different. Yes, Mirena does stop the cycle for some. Their own website says that one in every five women who use it have their periods stop altogether within the first year.
I've had such a device for almost four years, and absolutely love it. Every woman is different of course,but, for me, it was the best choice.
marena has hormones inside of it. i'm not sure which ones. they are gradually released in to the blood stream. this is why it must be replaced every five years. it's good if you have trouble getting to the doc for the injections or whatever.
Yeah, I've read a ton about how Mirena works, most of it from their own site. Makes me all the more uncomfortable with it. I plan to tell my doctor it's not an option I'm willing to go with when I see her in a couple weeks.
I'm wondering the same thing.. I just gave birth three weeks ago and my doctor just asked me what method of birth control I'd thought of. I told him I had been considering the IUD because I didn't want to worry with pills every day and I had heard negative experiences from people about the shot. He said it was fine and that he could order it that same day, but after I went home and read up on it it made me more and more nervous. I wouldn't want to risk having my periods stop or anything permanent happening to my uterus, and even though I don't plan on any more kids for quite some time I don't want to risk losing my fertility to anything. I guess any method of birth control is risky so I'm kind of at a loss as to what to go for now.
like i said i'm on the ten year one, and it don't have any hormones in it what so ever! i haven't had any issues with it. i would recommend it. and you can have it taken out and don't take as long to get prego as they say it does with the pill or shot. i'm not going to find out though. lol! no kids for me.
You are right, MusicGirl, any method of birth control is going to have it's risks. You just have to look at both the potential benefits and risks for each one, and see what would fit best with your current health, and your lifestyle. I've decided that the Mirena, or any IUD, for that matter, is something I'm just not comfortable with. the shot is not an option. But the pill has always seemed to work well. and I don't have trouble remembering to take it.
I am about to get an IUD myself. I'm getting the paraguard 10 year one which has no hormones. My birth control is kind of limited because as a breastfeeding mother I can't have birth control pills that have estrogen in it. For that reason the IUD was one of the better options for me as well as the injection but I really did not feel like getting the injection. I could have also taken the minipill but I want to take something that I know is longterm and I don't have to keep remembering to take something so that it stays effective. I have heard some stuff about the IUD as well but like every other form of birth control it has its own risks.
back in the late 80s I had the paraguard. I was nursing too. Guess what? I got pregnant. My 20 year old daughter was born 15 months after my son. The doctor said he had been practicing for 25 years and had never heard of this happening except in literature. my sister in law who at that time was a labor nurse and lactation consultant said that my baby would be a feisty girl. this was because girl babes are stronger and in order to have come along in that hostile of an environment she had to be super resilient. guess what? she was exactly right.
LOL, Turricane. You gotta love it when the one thing that isn't supposed to happen, does. I'm not saying in this case it's a bad thing. It just goes to show that in addition to any birth control method having risks, none are 100% effective, either. However, as i stated earlier, in my case this is about regulating my cycle, not protection against pregnancy.
I had an IUD back in the 70s for contraception. It was the Delcon Shield and it made my periods heavier and I had lots of cramping so later had it removed. Got pregnant afterwords and had no problems with the pregnancy.
I have the IUD that you mentioned. I wouldn't get it if I wher you. It's meant for women who have given birth. I'd get the depo shot or something like that. I love the IUD and I'm glad I got it.
What does IUD stand for?
intrauterine device. (not sure if I got the first word exactly right, but it's something similar to that)
Ah, ok. Thanks.
um, it's not only ment for people that have given birth. I sure havne't and I have it. lol!
It's recommended that you have given birth, but it's not a necessity. Besides, she's stated what she wants to do, is comfortable with it, s...
Certain kinds of IUD's are recommended for women who have already had children. The Mirena is one of those. It says so in their material. From the sounds of things, I'm guessing that maybe with other IUD's, it does not matter so much.
Wow. I was just thinking about getting an IUD recently, since I had my son two years ago, my periods are extremely heavy and very painful and make me fell very nautious. I've never really had issues with my periods before I gave birth. So I've been trying to get some research done on other birth control methods besides the pill, and reading this is kind of making me nervous. So if you guys would please keep posting your experiences and opinions, on top of the research I've already started, it'd help a lot. Thanks.
Yvonne
Just a thought, but what about herbal options to regulate cycles?
Vitex has worked well for me. It comes in capsule or tablet form, and can be taken until it works--in my case, about 4 months.
There are other herbs that support this, probably some work best for particular phases of life, but I haven't tried any but Vitex.
And for non-hormonal birth control, there's always the diaphragm, as an alternative to condoms.
There's a Yahoo list, DiaphragmsandCaps,and it's active, and there are helpful suggestions and such, there.
I wouldn't touch an IUD, personally, or any hormonal option, and Mirena does contain hormones, as someone said, above. Paraguard would be the one to go for, although I've read that it does make one's period heavier.