@ ade - yes, i was on my period when i had it inserted.
and i guess we are all entitled to our opinions. i am glad others had more positive experiences than i did with the IUD. it is the internet & I can go find articles & resources saying why IUD is bad/good for women without children, just the same as i can find websites "proving" aliens exist, the world is going to end tomorrow, etc. i stand by what i said. but to each their own.
There is plenty of respectable medical research showing that IUDs are perfectly safe to insert in women who have not been pregnant before. Indeed, I've read studies about IUD use in teenagers. The important thing is to get a doctor who is very practised in IUD insertion, someone who inserts them several days a week rather than someone who inserts two a year, and request cervical anaesthetic as well. A good IUD insertion is no worse than a smear test, and indeed for two of my IUDs I've lain there wondering when they were going to get on with it when they told me that they were already finished.
I'm on my third copper IUD and love them to bits. I can't tolerate hormonal contraception at all, and I cannot afford to take the relatively high risk of pregnancy of barrier methods.
Pros: even more effective (over 99%) than sterilisation in typical use (bear in mind that the high stats you hear for most contraceptives are the idealised "perfect use" ones, the typical use stats are 85% for condoms and 95% for the combined pill, for instance), cost-effective if you have to pay for your contraception, long-lasting (5 or 10 years depending on model), doesn't interfere with sex, doesn't interfere with hormones, doesn't interfere with meds, doesn't affect fertility after removal, you don't need to remember to do anything other than checking the strings once a month, you can take absolutely any medication you like while on it including hormonal meds if needed, suitable for most women.
Cons: not common in the US (though the most common method used worldwide) which means that doctors can be difficult, not suitable for anyone who currently has an STI or pelvic infection (which isn't many people), will generally make your periods a bit heavier and crampier, you have to wade through quite a lot of myths when finding out about them.
My periods doubled in length for the first few months on an IUD, but after that I started taking starflower oil (stronger version of evening primrose oil) and they went back to normal, or perhaps 10% longer than normal. Using evening primrose or fish oils to make periods less heavy seems to be fairly common, so it's very much worth trying if that's an issue for you. If your periods are already hideously painful and/or heavy, however (and I mean your periods now, if you haven't seen your natural cycle in fifteen years then it may have changed), then a copper IUD is probably not a good move.
I've been on Yasmin for about 9 months now. My reasons for going on BC was for really really bad monthly pain and also fairly bad hormonal spots.
It helped to make the pain more tolerable, but not perfect, within a month. It wasn't until about 3-4 months that I noticed my spots stopped and clearing up. It has improved ever since then, I don't remember the last time I had a spot
I guess the main con was it made me absolutely starving for a good few weeks, also a couple of headaches I'd probably attribute to it. But that all passed and I'm happy to be on it now.
So I'd totally recommend Yasmin for clearing up skin, I've seen it do the same to a few of my friends too. But you do need to give it at least 3 months+.
For period cramps it's okay, some months it seems to work a lot better, other times I still need a lot of HWBs and pain killers. Still it's much better than spending every month in unbearable agony.
I can't really comment on it's use as a contraceptive method x) It's quite a new pill afaik, so perhaps it would be better to use a more thoroughly tested one.
im on gianvi which is generic of Yazmin. its pretty good i think. the first three months i was really moody and cried alot. after that it mellowed out. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD PLEASE DO NOT USE DEPO PROVERA! that stuff is terrible! i gained like 60 lbs and its taken forever for my body to recover. i only took it for 9 months in high school and im 26 now =(
kimicat: I also had a friend on Depo Provera. She lost so much weight after going off it that I didn't even recognize her the first time I saw her. I'm sure it's not true for everyone but ...
I have had a Mirena IUD for almost 4 years and I love it! I have never given birth and I had none of the problems mentioned above due to that. I no longer have a period aside from some spotting maybe every 6 or so months. This was definitely the best option for me because I was horrible at remembering to take the pill!
I guess I'm lucky because I'm one of the seemingly few people who did not gain weight on Depo. I was already overweight at the time though so who knows. I stopped Depo after some studies came out a few years ago indicating that it affected your bone density. I never followed up on it, but just decided to switch to something else. Since pills are inconvenient and can be unreliable, I decided to get a Mirena IUD and had a great experience with that. Although I haven't had any kids, I didn't have any problems with it and kept the Mirena in for the full 5 years, but I would suggest that you get it inserted by someone who does it regularly rather than a PCP that might insert one a couple of times/year.
I get migraines with aura, so I cannot have any birth control with estrogen which essentially eliminates everything except the IUD, depo, mini-pill, and the implant. I had heard great things about the implanon implant and decided to try that this spring. It's been great so far. It lasts 3 years, is easily inserted under the skin in your arm, is progesterone-only, has very few side effects, and is remarkably effective. I would look into it if you're still surveying your options.
