Thanks for your responses, guys.
AHP84-- I wonder why Paragard would hurt more than Mirena, that seems odd to me. I've been on hormonal birth control before, but I felt like a completely different person. My sex drive went from awesome to nothing, I felt mopey and needy all the time, I gained plenty of weight--basically, I just didn't feel like myself. I feel like there just aren't any perfect or even great birth control options out there. I did read about a birth control shot for men that's being tested around the world right now *fingers crossed* :D
Alaysha, thanks for sharing. I hope that you're right about the first month being the worst and then improving from there cuz I'm trying to tough it out.
I went back to my doctor after posting my question, and he checked the placement of my IUD. He said it was in a good place, and said it was odd that I was having such pain. He said that if the pain didn't stop after my next period, then I should come in again. I got my period, and it was way heavier than normal, but I don't mind that. The pain actually decreased while I was on my period, and now that my period is waning, it's starting to come back.
I'm thinking they might have inserted yours wrong. The increased bleeding and pain is supposed to be during your menstrual cycle not all the time. I got mine inserted a couple months ago and the pain stopped maybe an hour after getting it in. Got my period 4 weeks later and it was the heaviest period I have ever had. Got my next period the following month and it had calmed down a lot. I read online that the first month is the worst but by the 3rd month its supposed to be almost normal. I have had no intense cramping or pain other than menstrual cramps at the time of my period. I would go back if I was you and check to make sure its inserted properly.
I don't have the Paragard, but I do have the Mirena. I wanted to get the Paragard, but my OB strongly advised against it, telling me that about ¾ of her patients who get the Paragard are back in three to six months wanting it removed because it is known to cause such intense pain and heavy bleeding.
I had also found out from my mom that she'd had the Paragard at one time--I can't remember if she said it was before or after I was born--but she said it was awful because the pain was so severe, and she had it removed a month later because she just couldn't function. So, after hearing her experience and my doctor not recommending it for the same reasons, I was talked into the Mirena.
The Mirena is a hormonal birth control, but unlike many of the pills and Nuvaring, it's not a combination of the hormones progesterone and estrogen; it's just progesterone. But, like with *any* birth control you use besides abstinence, it comes with its side effects. Some women handle the Mirena really well, and others hate it.
I can't say I hate it or love it, but I'd rather have it than any other type of bc because I don't want a hormone combination bc and I can't remember to take a pill the same time every day. Plus, I'm a wimp about long-term pain and I don't want to risk the symptoms you describe with the Paragard, only to have a $600 form of bc removed in a painful fashion less than three months later, lol.
The Mirena isn't so bad, if you want to continue with the IUD form of bc but need to get your Paragard removed. From what my OB told me, the Mirena supposedly isn't as painful to insert (but I wouldn't know as I have nothing to compare it to besides childbirth, which was obviously far worse pain, lol) as the Paragard either. Mirena side effects can include: mood swings, weight gain, acne, headaches, light cramping from time to time, and lighter or eliminated periods. The side effects for me have been fairly mild--nothing I can't handle but they can be annoying, especially the mood swings.
If you don't want to have any type of hormonal birth control, and find that you need to remove your Paragard due to its painful side effects, the only types of bc that are free of hormones are tracking your cycles, condoms, foams, diaphragms and sponges, or abstinence.