Anonymous wrote:OP here again, thanks to everyone for their insight. Except the pissy PP who said I should do research beforehand. Of course I did, and I discussed it in detail with my midwife but the information I received was not definitive and it was not clear how it might impact me.

I've had the IUD for six months now. My last period finally finished. It was 11 days long. I haven't had much cramping and I haven't had any spotting beyond the first month. But this is crazy so I'll be asking my doctor. 11 days of heavy bleeding is just too much. I can't switch to Mirena because I don't want to take hormones, particularly while breastfeeding.

I started the Mirena when DD was 3 mos old and BF'd another year without any trouble.

My dr. said heavier periods were to be expected with the Paraguard. Since my normal periods were very heavy that didn't sound good to me! With Mirena I barely have any period. I'm on my 2nd one now.

I had my Paraguard inserted in April of 2013, I used to have very light periods but with painful cramps the first day. They lasted 3-4 days- 3 days of regular tampons and 1 of light. Discussing it with my doctor prior to insertion I knew my period might get slightly heavier- which was not an issue because they were so light to begin with.Post insertion I had spotting for a week or so that eventually went away. My periods were irregular and unpredictable for about six months. The last six months, however, have been nothing but extremely heavy bleeding. My periods now last 7 days but are super predictable- reliably I have 3 days of spotting and painful cramps prior then, several days of soaking through super plus tampons and panty liners but no cramps.

Its been very uncomfortable to say the least and I have an appointment with gynecology tomorrow to make sure everything is where it should be and to discuss options. Reading your experiences having better periods after a year makes me a bit hopeful. If given the option to remove it or stick with it I will definitely stick with it a while longer and see if my periods get any lighter or shorter. I definitely don't like the idea of switching to a hormone birth control- the reason why I chose paraguard in the first place.

I have had Paraguard for 2.5 years. My cramps are so bad that they will wake me up in the middle of the night and I have to take 4 Ibuprofen to be able to go back to sleep, two won't work. I can go through a super plus tampon in 1-2 hours. I end up having about 13-14 of these nightmares a year because it moves forward every month, so i'm not bleeding for about 2-2.5 weeks and bleeding a week. They have not gotten better over time for me. I recently made the decision to switch to the pill to regulate and lessen my periods. I do not recommend Paraguard.

Give it time. Similar to other posters on here, my periods were really heavy (but manageable) for about a year. Now they have really started to calm down. Still heavier than before the IUD, but only slightly.

I had paraguard inserted in November of 2013 and yes my periods we're heavy and frequent for the first 6 months . I also had a lot of discharge but, I'm happy to report that now the discharge is gone and my periods have become lighter and shorter. I would suggest waiting it out if you can to see if side effects go away. Believe me it was hard, at one point I made an appointment to get it removed but ended up getting my period unexpectedly so I couldn't, were it not for that I might not have lasted this long on it but I am glad that I'm on the other side. Good luck ladies!

How many das I need to wait for .....have ??? Sex. When I have my period. ...

I'm on my first period with the paragard and I'm on day 8. I really hope this changes over time because I want to have sex.

I had paraguard for over 10 years and just recently had it removed and another inserted. Following the suggested 10 frame...anyway I rEally had no issues with it but maybe in my advancing age I forgot the initial periods. However, currently after the new IUD insertion, my periods are LONG!!!! Not loving that at all. I guess my ten year experience tells me that the cycle will settle down and I will adjust to my normal cycle which is usually 6-7 days.

I had crazy heavy and frequent periods with paraguard. And I spotted almost daily hated it!

I had my Paraguard IUD put in Nov 2013. My doctor and her nurse told me they both had the Paraguard and that their periods went right back to be normal after the second cycle from having the device inserted. I am a healthy adult woman with no history of problems with my monthly cycle. They kept telling me that I should not have any problems at all. I did my research, read all the pro's and con's. I had it inserted first couple of months was just as they said it would be. Then the 7 cycles to follow came every 16 days opposed to my regular 28 days prior to the Paraguard and my bleeding went for 9 days. And all 9 days are heavy. I met with my Gyno today, I am having an ultrasound done next week but it looks as though the Paraguard is coming out.

I had my Paraguard IUD put in Nov 2013. My doctor and her nurse told me they both had the Paraguard and that their periods went right back to be normal after the second cycle from having the device inserted. I am a healthy adult woman with no history of problems with my monthly cycle. They kept telling me that I should not have any problems at all. I did my research, read all the pro's and con's. I had it inserted first couple of months was just as they said it would be. Then the 7 cycles to follow came every 16 days opposed to my regular 28 days prior to the Paraguard and my bleeding went for 9 days. And all 9 days are heavy. I met with my Gyno today, I am having an ultrasound done next week but it looks as though the Paraguard is coming out.

For those that are thinking about mirena, my opinion is dont. I had mirena for 5 years then switched to paragard. I got mirena after having my daughter, and i had the normal loosing hair. However year 3 I was still loosing hair. Year 5 it was really bad. I believe it was due to the mirena. Now I am on paragard and I have more energy and I hope my hair grows back because very thin hair is not good.

Mine weren't quite that bad, but I found that eating a lot of spinach (a couple of big handfuls a day in an omelet every morning) made them a lot better.

Then I saw this:
http://www.m.webmd.com/women/news/20130226/iron-rich-diet-might-ease-pms-misery

I had my Paragard inserted 2 months ago right after my period ended. Aside from occasional spotting, I haven't gotten a period at all the first 1 1/2 months.... until 3 weeks ago. I'm on week 3 of my first period post insertion. It started out kind of light, then gradually have gotten tremendously HEAVY!!! I'm soaking through a super tampon AND pad at the same time within 2 hours. It's showing no signs of stopping anytime soon. I really hope this doesn't continue for much longer. I'm really frustrated with this. I'm trying to stick it out since I've seen other experiences get better through time.

I have recently spoken to my ob/gyn he informed me that the heavy periods could be because of your body having a miscarriage. Which completely makes since. I've had Paragaurd for 1 year. And sometimes my periods are great and sometimes there absolutely horrible.