Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tried insertion of Paraguard 4 months pp - didn't work. Cervix tightly closed. Now baby (last one) is 18 mo and I'm going to try again bc I'm getting bad PMS symptoms on the pill and don't feel like shopping around for a new one. Lots of friends have good things to say.

I'm surprised your doc suggested it between kids. We used condoms between - annoying but didn't want to mess with hormones/insertion when planning another pregnancy.

NP--My doctor absolutely recommended it even though we were open to more kids. If you want to space them at all, condoms aren't reliable. Just check out other threads about "oops" pregnancies. While I haven't tested it, my doctor said I could get pregnant immediately after removing an IUD.

This is probably true for Mirena (this is PP). My gyno didn't recommend hormonal bc between kids (and I always had regular periods and conceived easily - she just thought it could extend conception time if you mess with your cycles hormonally). YMMV.

Anonymous wrote:OP Here--I was under the impression that you still had periods with an IUD. Is that accurate? And, anyone have one removed? What's that like?

I had a painful insertion and removal was not nearly as bad. If you are breastfeeding and your period has not yet returned, you may not have a period on Mirena.

I'm 8 months in with my second mirena. I love it. No perio this time so far. Had my first mirena placed six weeks post partum with little pain. Removal was not painful. I had reinsertion same time and honestly the "sounding out" of my uterus size pre insertion was more painful then insertion. I took aleve an hour beforehand. I had cramps for a few minutes and then walked back to work for the day. With my first mirena I was nursing and didn't have a period for about two years then light spotting monthly associated with one day of cramping.

The failure rate is about 1 in a 10000/year vs 3-5 with oral pills. Yes, the implant had the lowest failure rate on the market ( better than tubal ligation) however I like the idea of five years of protection and the better chance of no periods. I'm an MD and have more colleagues with mirena IUDs than any other form of contraception. I always counsel patients though that almost any option can fail (except abstinence!) and if you aren't prepared for possibility of pregnancy you should also use condoms.

I know it's rare, but I got pregnant on Minera. Because it screwed with my period and I had some cramping as a side effect, I didn't know until I was 12 weeks. Turns out, the pregnancy was ectopic and it ruptured. So it can fail..

Anonymous wrote:OP Here--I was under the impression that you still had periods with an IUD. Is that accurate? And, anyone have one removed? What's that like?

Periods with paraguard, typically not with mirena. I haven't had one since before I was pregnant over 4 years ago

Anonymous wrote:Ask your doc why he or she recommends it over Nexplanon. The implant has a lower failure rate, 3 years protection but immediate return of fertility, can be used while breaatfeeding, and my take on it is - if something goes wrong, it isn't in your uterus where it can do some real damage.

Mirena is also breastfeeding compatible and offers immediate return to fertility

I just googled and it looks like (in one study only, couldn't find overall stats) about 12% of women had Mirena removed in the first year. Pretty similar to Nexplanon.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/21/should-you-get-an-iud_n_6511192.html

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ask your doc why he or she recommends it over Nexplanon. The implant has a lower failure rate, 3 years protection but immediate return of fertility, can be used while breaatfeeding, and my take on it is - if something goes wrong, it isn't in your uterus where it can do some real damage.

Nexplanon is a great option, but so many people have it removed for continuous spotting/bleeding.

Yeah, fair enough. It is about 11% of women that have it removed (I just had my second one put in and was reading stats recently). Supposedly if you have it put in during the first 5 days of your cycle, it can reduce the chances of that irregular bleeding. Not a guarantee though. I was really lucky, no period for the first year, about every 3 months for the second year, and then was getting more regular in the third year (like down to every 2 months) when I had it removed to TTC.

I'm a huge Nexplanon fan! I hope I don't get proven wrong and have tons of bleeding issues with this round!! I thought about an IUD but figured if I was going to have hormones anyway, I'd rather the more effective and less risky (in my mind - I had a close friend with a perforation though so I'm sure I overestimate the risks) implant. And the heavier periods of the Paragard were unappealing.

I love my Mirena. My insertion didnt hurt and its the best thing ever!

Anonymous wrote:Ask your doc why he or she recommends it over Nexplanon. The implant has a lower failure rate, 3 years protection but immediate return of fertility, can be used while breaatfeeding, and my take on it is - if something goes wrong, it isn't in your uterus where it can do some real damage.

Nexplanon is a great option, but so many people have it removed for continuous spotting/bleeding.

very satisfied Paraguard user for 14 years, pre and post baby. Things were...in different places...after baby, and I could feel the strings more easily, which was strange. I may consider the implant but I hate hormonal methods.