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Para Gard?
Hi, I am considering using the IUD para gard which is hormone free, and I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with it? Thanks for any info!
I had paragaurd insertion done last friday. I am 28 and married with no kids. I have never been on any form of OCPs before. I had mild cramps during the insertion, no pain at all. All through the week I had a lot of cramping and spotting/ discharges reddish in color which was during the day but disappeared when I lay flat on my bed. When i asked the nurse she said it could be due to gravity acting on the cervix causing stagnation of blood. I got my periods yesterday(atleast thats what i think coz I have been having reddish spotting all week). It has been so far a very weird period. Flow being very irregular and less compared to my regular periods. It is also 4 days early. I am now worried that it I dont have a proper regular period I am going to put on weight as well :(. I have no sex drive either.
Please tell me if this is normal?
Please tell me if this is normal?
After the birth of my second child, my father passed and 6 weeks later I got the paragard. It's not hormonal so it wont do any harm right? well wrong if your prone to depression, you just had a baby then no paragard is not good for you or anyone who has ever had depression. Also no one seems to realize putting copper in your body or any type of metal can effect your brain chemestry, apetite, digestive system and memory. So finally after lots of research I got that awful thing removed and havent felt this balanced and at peace since I saw my little one for the first time:) If you want to keep from getting pregnant just tell your partner to get contraception, I mean in all reality, it is the man who has the semen that fertalizes your egg so he should be responsible for preventing pregnancy.
para gard ***** *** i got it in march it gives ur ***** an odor an long *** periods, cramps, lower back pains, weakness, it feels like im pregnant when im not. i have two baby boys, an i got para gard three months ago after i thought it would be awesome but i heard it ***** up your liver an all type of stuff. i going to remove it because that its not worth risking my life just to stop from having another baby ill just use condoms , and the shot, para gard mirena all of them cause weight gain .
im just being real :)
im just being real :)
I have had the Paraguard for about 3 months now and I'm 24 and never had a child. I decided to try the Paraguard because I was having issues with hormones making me unstable in my moods. Let me just say that the insertion was not pleasent at all. I cramped bad for a day and was basically fine the next day. I Have had very little problems other than slight cramping and long periods. With reading this forum I believe I may have and issue with my moods too. I have been popping off at people some and I never do that. I have had some weird thick mucus after my periods but not really any smell to it. It seems like I'm basically having my period for 3 out of the 4 weeks of every month. My period was heavy the first two times after insertion and after that my cycles are heavy for about a day or two and then light/ spotty. I would reccomend the Paraguard if you are a persistant person that can handle the long periods. I just love the fact that I don't have to worry about taking a pill or anything for ten or so years. I'm definitely going to try taking the zinc and vitamin to hopefully lessen my period length and help my moods. I think after I take this out and have a child or two I might try the mirena even though I might risk the hormones messing with me.
I am 27, no kids, monogamous, and just had my first paragard inserted yesterday morning. I can only say what it was like for me, and from what i've read (good and bad) i'd say i'm somewhere in the middle on the experience. My cycles have always been on-the-dot regular, moderate cramping on day 1-2, over and done with usually in 4 days. I tried the pill when I was younger for a couple years, and I despised it. They kept having to change my dosage because I wasn't reacting well to it, nausea, weight gain, psycho mood swings, etc. When I got OFF the pill, I had post-pill amenorrhea, where I didn't have a period again for about ten months.
I wanna start off by saying my doctor is awesome, he's been in practice for 20 years and answered every question I had very well. I went in a month ago for my usual pap and all that jazz, and asked about IUDs, and decided on paragard. We scheduled the insertion on the last day/day after my period the following month, and he suggested I take 800 mg of ibprofen an hour before. He of course warned me that it could be painful especially if I haven't had kids.
I watched several medical videos online on how it's done, so I knew the steps when we started. This was 11am yesterday morning. the speculum is uncomfortable as we all know. He talked me through everything and warned me when i'd feel a pinch from the cervical clamp. That felt akin to maybe like a sharp sting when you get a shot, but its in such an odd place that you have to keep yourself still and breath, because your bodies first reaction is to tense up. For me that only hurt when it was first put on for a couple seconds, then it faded.
I was chatting with my nurse (can't for the life of me remember about what), and my doctor told me "ok some slight cramping here..." that was the sounding tube. And he was absolutely right, i felt cramping, nothing horrific. The worst part about the sounding tube was that it was TOTALLY bizarre to feel cramping instantly like that. It wasn't horrible terrible pain, but it was like "whoa wtf is that??" pain.
Some women have said that the sounding is the worst part, or that the clamp is the worst part, etc. For me, the worst part was actual insertion of the device when its little T arms open up. All I can say is holy crap! Again, he warned me and said "ok putting the IUD in now, you're may feel some more intense cramping here". Its just.... its just WEIRD feeling. I tried to explain it to a friend yesterday like this... You all know how a normal menstrual cramp generally starts small, grows in intensity, then fades? This was like being punched in the stomach with a menstrual cramp. It was immediate and intense. Its the kind of menstrual cramp where your entire body wants to curl into a fetal position. I gasped and jerked a little bit, and breathed through it. I think I said "WOW that *****" at some point.
There was no crying or screaming or vomiting or passing out on my part.
I had TWO very very strong cramping sensations, breathed slowly through them, and they faded. That part lasted MAYBE ten seconds. My doc trimmed the strings and by the time he said "all done!" everything had faded to a very faint soreness. I sat up and we chatted a bit about coming in next month for an ultrasound to make sure it was positioned correctly, and I got an RX for a 3 day course of antibiotics that he gives just in case. Thats one thing I haven't read about anyone else's experience that I got. My doc gives antibiotics for a few days after just on the off chance there is any infection, because as my nurse put it "the paragard is sterile, the environment in a vagina is not, its just a precaution."
Afterward I got up, got changed and left the office and felt 99% totally normal.... for a while.
Some of you will cringe when you hear this next part, and think i'm a moron :)
I actually went to work about 2 hours after the insertion. I work as a massage therapist, and I do a lot of physical, deep tissue stuff. I was feeling pretty fine up until about 5 minutes before I went to work. Then the aftershock cramps started, as I call them. HOLY CRAP. Ok, I think I generally have pretty mild period cramps. I hurt, but its nothing like i hear from some women, who have to stay home or feel sick from them, etc. These cramps, damn. I feel for you guys who get them as a matter of course. Sharp, intense, all the way into my back and the top of my legs, and I few times I did feel a little nauseous from it. (I do want to reiterate though that I was by no means forced to roll around in bed and cry from them, but I really didn't want to do anything physical at all)
By the time I got to work, i'd already popped 3 more ibprofen and was very uncomfortable. Thank god it was a slow day and I only had 2 appointments scheduled during my 7 hour shift, and my last one canceled. I was surprisingly ok during the massage I did around 4pm, but I was bordering on useless by the time 5:30pm rolled around. As i've read from a few other experiences, sitting down seemed to make it worse. I had a coworker come and try to work on my shoulders for me while I was sitting in a hard chair, and when he pushed down on me, my cramping immediately intensified. The best position I found was to sit on the couch in the lobby of my work, leaning to the side, curled up with a pillow. Since my last appointment canceled, I left early.
I was spotting very slightly through the day, but for all I know thats b/c I was technically on the last day of my period still.
The drive home and the 3 story walk up to my apartment were probably the worst time of my day. By that time my ibprofen had worn off, and I freely admit I was effing miserable. I walked in the door and took a flexiril (a mild muscle relaxer) that I had left over from an injury. It didn't do squat except make me sleepy, so I took a couple more ibprofen and took a very hot bath with eucalyptus/spearmint bath salt. That helped a LOT.
As of this morning, if yesterdays cramps were the worst i'll feel, today they're about a 3/4. This morning i've drunk a bunch of water, took 2 ibprofen, had breakfast and have been just laying in bed for the most part. I'm still spotting, a mix of that brownish old blood spotting and mucus looking stuff, no fresh or bright red blood. Its just annoying and not heavy or scary.
My doc told me next month may be more intense than i'm used to, or heavier than i'm used to, but because I already had easy to deal with periods I shouldn't have anything so bad I want to die or anything. he said in the many years he's been putting in IUD's hes only had 2 patients ask to have them removed because of horrible periods, and he's never had a patient of his have one come out on its own, though he's heard of it happening from colleagues.
Overall, the experience was pretty much as expected as far as the insertion goes. I knew it would hurt, and it did. It wasn't earth shattering pain, but it was very unpleasant. I was not prepared for the intensity of the cramping I had the rest of the day, but I dealt with it. Today I have mostly just a sore feeling in my lower abdomen and lower back. As a frame of reference, if you've ever had your appendix taken out, you remember that horrible sore muscle feeling afterward when they make you get up for the first time? NOTHING like that. Just a deep, warm, "yep theres something in my uterus" soreness
As far as sex goes, Doc said I'm technically protected from pregnancy immediately, but everyones recovery time varies. He said most women feel up to their usual selves in 3-5 days. I'll be waiting until i've done my antibiotic course at least. My poor uterus is already pissed off at me, Im going to give it some time to forgive me first.
I wanna start off by saying my doctor is awesome, he's been in practice for 20 years and answered every question I had very well. I went in a month ago for my usual pap and all that jazz, and asked about IUDs, and decided on paragard. We scheduled the insertion on the last day/day after my period the following month, and he suggested I take 800 mg of ibprofen an hour before. He of course warned me that it could be painful especially if I haven't had kids.
I watched several medical videos online on how it's done, so I knew the steps when we started. This was 11am yesterday morning. the speculum is uncomfortable as we all know. He talked me through everything and warned me when i'd feel a pinch from the cervical clamp. That felt akin to maybe like a sharp sting when you get a shot, but its in such an odd place that you have to keep yourself still and breath, because your bodies first reaction is to tense up. For me that only hurt when it was first put on for a couple seconds, then it faded.
I was chatting with my nurse (can't for the life of me remember about what), and my doctor told me "ok some slight cramping here..." that was the sounding tube. And he was absolutely right, i felt cramping, nothing horrific. The worst part about the sounding tube was that it was TOTALLY bizarre to feel cramping instantly like that. It wasn't horrible terrible pain, but it was like "whoa wtf is that??" pain.
Some women have said that the sounding is the worst part, or that the clamp is the worst part, etc. For me, the worst part was actual insertion of the device when its little T arms open up. All I can say is holy crap! Again, he warned me and said "ok putting the IUD in now, you're may feel some more intense cramping here". Its just.... its just WEIRD feeling. I tried to explain it to a friend yesterday like this... You all know how a normal menstrual cramp generally starts small, grows in intensity, then fades? This was like being punched in the stomach with a menstrual cramp. It was immediate and intense. Its the kind of menstrual cramp where your entire body wants to curl into a fetal position. I gasped and jerked a little bit, and breathed through it. I think I said "WOW that *****" at some point.
There was no crying or screaming or vomiting or passing out on my part.
I had TWO very very strong cramping sensations, breathed slowly through them, and they faded. That part lasted MAYBE ten seconds. My doc trimmed the strings and by the time he said "all done!" everything had faded to a very faint soreness. I sat up and we chatted a bit about coming in next month for an ultrasound to make sure it was positioned correctly, and I got an RX for a 3 day course of antibiotics that he gives just in case. Thats one thing I haven't read about anyone else's experience that I got. My doc gives antibiotics for a few days after just on the off chance there is any infection, because as my nurse put it "the paragard is sterile, the environment in a vagina is not, its just a precaution."
Afterward I got up, got changed and left the office and felt 99% totally normal.... for a while.
Some of you will cringe when you hear this next part, and think i'm a moron :)
I actually went to work about 2 hours after the insertion. I work as a massage therapist, and I do a lot of physical, deep tissue stuff. I was feeling pretty fine up until about 5 minutes before I went to work. Then the aftershock cramps started, as I call them. HOLY CRAP. Ok, I think I generally have pretty mild period cramps. I hurt, but its nothing like i hear from some women, who have to stay home or feel sick from them, etc. These cramps, damn. I feel for you guys who get them as a matter of course. Sharp, intense, all the way into my back and the top of my legs, and I few times I did feel a little nauseous from it. (I do want to reiterate though that I was by no means forced to roll around in bed and cry from them, but I really didn't want to do anything physical at all)
By the time I got to work, i'd already popped 3 more ibprofen and was very uncomfortable. Thank god it was a slow day and I only had 2 appointments scheduled during my 7 hour shift, and my last one canceled. I was surprisingly ok during the massage I did around 4pm, but I was bordering on useless by the time 5:30pm rolled around. As i've read from a few other experiences, sitting down seemed to make it worse. I had a coworker come and try to work on my shoulders for me while I was sitting in a hard chair, and when he pushed down on me, my cramping immediately intensified. The best position I found was to sit on the couch in the lobby of my work, leaning to the side, curled up with a pillow. Since my last appointment canceled, I left early.
I was spotting very slightly through the day, but for all I know thats b/c I was technically on the last day of my period still.
The drive home and the 3 story walk up to my apartment were probably the worst time of my day. By that time my ibprofen had worn off, and I freely admit I was effing miserable. I walked in the door and took a flexiril (a mild muscle relaxer) that I had left over from an injury. It didn't do squat except make me sleepy, so I took a couple more ibprofen and took a very hot bath with eucalyptus/spearmint bath salt. That helped a LOT.
As of this morning, if yesterdays cramps were the worst i'll feel, today they're about a 3/4. This morning i've drunk a bunch of water, took 2 ibprofen, had breakfast and have been just laying in bed for the most part. I'm still spotting, a mix of that brownish old blood spotting and mucus looking stuff, no fresh or bright red blood. Its just annoying and not heavy or scary.
My doc told me next month may be more intense than i'm used to, or heavier than i'm used to, but because I already had easy to deal with periods I shouldn't have anything so bad I want to die or anything. he said in the many years he's been putting in IUD's hes only had 2 patients ask to have them removed because of horrible periods, and he's never had a patient of his have one come out on its own, though he's heard of it happening from colleagues.
Overall, the experience was pretty much as expected as far as the insertion goes. I knew it would hurt, and it did. It wasn't earth shattering pain, but it was very unpleasant. I was not prepared for the intensity of the cramping I had the rest of the day, but I dealt with it. Today I have mostly just a sore feeling in my lower abdomen and lower back. As a frame of reference, if you've ever had your appendix taken out, you remember that horrible sore muscle feeling afterward when they make you get up for the first time? NOTHING like that. Just a deep, warm, "yep theres something in my uterus" soreness
As far as sex goes, Doc said I'm technically protected from pregnancy immediately, but everyones recovery time varies. He said most women feel up to their usual selves in 3-5 days. I'll be waiting until i've done my antibiotic course at least. My poor uterus is already pissed off at me, Im going to give it some time to forgive me first.
I was told it can fall out. I had a Paragard IUD slip to the bottom of my cervix, and I became pregnant. Healthy, happy baby 9 months later. I should've seen the signs, like menstrual cramping that felt lower than it should've been, feeling chronically bloated, and I wasn't checking on the string.
I'm on my third IUD and I'm happy with it now. I can't do hormones so Paragard is one of few options for me. My first IUD was pre-kids and it was way too painful so I had it removed after 3 periods. The second is mentioned above. The third was after my second child (my "IUD baby"). I've had it for nearly a year. The first few periods were very painful, but they've gotten much better. I thought this one had slipped too when last month's period was real heavy, but it's in place correctly. Now I think I'm just paranoid it'll fall out. ;)
I'm on my third IUD and I'm happy with it now. I can't do hormones so Paragard is one of few options for me. My first IUD was pre-kids and it was way too painful so I had it removed after 3 periods. The second is mentioned above. The third was after my second child (my "IUD baby"). I've had it for nearly a year. The first few periods were very painful, but they've gotten much better. I thought this one had slipped too when last month's period was real heavy, but it's in place correctly. Now I think I'm just paranoid it'll fall out. ;)
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