Scarleteen

I got the paragard iud 2 weeks and a day ago .

I got terrible terrible cramps the days to come however I now have a terrible cramp that dont let me sit down. It takes up my whole left side. I have to stand up in class and its just discomfort and pain the whole day and I had sex yesterday and the sex was painful!!

I did go to the GYN for this and they checked by doing a transvaginal sonogram but said it was in place . I went for the pain and figured it was just cramps and left it but now sex hurts and my drive it gone.


Im on the verge of tears. Everytime I go tot the doctor for pain they just open me up and look maybe put a finger in and send me home. I had gone once to the ER last week to try and get it removed and they wouldnt. I cant get an appointment to my GYN unless its months down the line. The ER wont help me. I want to call planned parent hood and get it out but because I had unprotected sex yesterday i do not know when its safe to remove.



I dont know what to do. The pain is so bad and im so lost.No one will help me and im in constant pain and discomfort all the time expect when im sleeping.

Can you fill me in on why you cannot get care at the ER? I want to make sure I have all the information so I can do my best to suggest possible solutions that are likely to be useful.

Were you denied care when you went to the ER? If so, can you let me know on what basis they said they were denying you care?

While we work this out, are you able to take any kind of painkiller - be it prescription or over the counter - and hold off on any kind of sex?

Heather wrote:Can you fill me in on why you cannot get care at the ER? I want to make sure I have all the information so I can do my best to suggest possible solutions that are likely to be useful.

Were you denied care when you went to the ER? If so, can you let me know on what basis they said they were denying you care?

While we work this out, are you able to take any kind of painkiller - be it prescription or over the counter - and hold off on any kind of sex?

They refused to remove the IUD even though I was in tears almost begging them and even threaten to remove it myself.

They checked me down there, put a finger in and did a urine test. They found a UTI and gave me medication which I finished up.

It is possible this is not about the IUD, but it still sounds like the care you got at the ER you went to was not good: I am so sorry. The UTI may also be responsible: did they give you any follow-up instructions for after you finished the antibiotic, were you still experiencing pain?

Have you called your GYN and asked for an emergency appointment with them, by any chance? And are any painkillers reducing your level of pain at all while you try and find medical care?

Heather wrote:It is possible this is not about the IUD, but it still sounds like the care you got at the ER you went to was not good: I am so sorry. The UTI may also be responsible: did they give you any follow-up instructions for after you finished the antibiotic, were you still experiencing pain?

Have you called your GYN and asked for an emergency appointment with them, by any chance? And are any painkillers reducing your level of pain at all while you try and find medical care?

I already finished up the antibotics I can call then for a emergency appointment but honestly theyll just tell me to wait and that alot of other woman need care too as Ive been told this before . The pain got much worse after the IUD and they done sonograms and found nothing so it has to be the IUD

Can you try with that call? I know how much it sucks to keep asking for help when you have been denied, but want to make sure you don't write off any options that may be open to you.

If you will try, I would report you are still in great pain, went to the ER and was treated for a UTI, done with that treatment, and that - if you have been and this is the case - that no other way of trying to manage this pain is working for you. I would then ask for an emergency appointment OR ask for a referral to an emergency healthcare service they recommend.

Also, I would not advise you talk to any healthcare providers about your idea of what this must be. It may be the IUD, it may not, but even if it is, healthcare providers simply don't tend to respond well to patients telling them their own self-diagnosis. You don't want to create any more obstacles to getting care than you're already facing.

Heather wrote:Can you try with that call? I know how much it sucks to keep asking for help when you have been denied, but want to make sure you don't write off any options that may be open to you.

If you will try, I would report you are still in great pain, went to the ER and was treated for a UTI, done with that treatment, and that - if you have been and this is the case - that no other way of trying to manage this pain is working for you. I would then ask for an emergency appointment OR ask for a referral to an emergency healthcare service they recommend.

Ive done this before and have been denied tine and time again. I guess its because I have what I call " health insurance for poor people"

Im going to a walk in doctor today but they dont have a GYN there so I dont think theyll do much but maybe they can check for the UTI but I was told that UTI cannot cause this much pain.

I hear you (only just got that insurance myself last year after over 29 years of having none).

Again, I would try with that call first, and not go anywhere you know lacks the kind of provider you need, IMO. But if you feel better doing that than trying another call, just go with someone due to how you are feeling (for safety) and to have someone to back you up if needed?

The IUD or UTI are not the only possibilities here by any means, but when UTIs spread, they can be tremendously painful, just FYI.

Heather wrote:I hear you (only just got that insurance myself last year after over 29 years of having none).

Again, I would try with that call first, and not go anywhere you know lacks the kind of provider you need, IMO. But if you feel better doing that than trying another call, just go with someone due to how you are feeling (for safety) and to have someone to back you up if needed?

The IUD or UTI are not the only possibilities here by any means, but when UTIs spread, they can be tremendously painful, just FYI.

If I call ill go back to the same GYN and shell do nothing She gave me an appointment for a sonogram in late JAN. Yup. They didnt even wanna give me a folllow up until late jan. I managed to snag a appointment on the 20 something ( I forgot the exact date) just in case the pain continued and I wanted to IUD out .

Im literally ar a loss right now and the best I can do is go to the waln in doctor Im assuming theyll be able to test for UTI

Is there an urgent care near you by any chance? Or a different ER than the last one you went to?

Heather wrote:Is there an urgent care near you by any chance? Or a different ER than the last one you went to?

Ive been to two ERs.

They check or do a ultrasound and thats it. Im sick of going and having them hurt me down there and send me home in pain

I completely understand.(I have a pain condition that involved many years of that kind of situation: I know how debilitating and rough it can be to get poked and prodded with no results. It sucks beyond compare.)

Can you answer me about if any pain medications are making any difference? Just want to do my best for you until you can get more care.

Heather wrote:I completely understand.(I have a pain condition that involved many years of that kind of situation: I know how debilitating and rough it can be to get poked and prodded with no results. It sucks beyond compare.)

Can you answer me about if any pain medications are making any difference? Just want to do my best for you until you can get more care.

Ibuprofen will knock off the pain for a few hours.

Im wondering if I have a pelvic infection. It has to be something

By all means, it is something. Pain, if any kind, is always a response to something. But only a healthcare provider who can see you in person can figure out what that something is and then suggest and provide appropriate and sound treatment. We can't and neither can you, alas.

If the ibuprofen is helping, keep with that at a dosing schedule that is within the max dose per day. 200 to 400 milligrams every 4 - 6 hours is the general dosing guideline, so I would do that 400 every four if that is what you need to manage your pain as well as you can, and you have never been advised not to use ibuprofen as directed like that. I would also not engage in any genital sex (in the event your life circumstances don't make that fully optional for you, at least not unprotected, which generally isn't advised in the first three weeks after an IUD insertion anyway), before you get some answers with this, and would get as much rest as you can (especially since the pain is not waking you up, which also means you can have more time without suffering when sleeping!). In the event you douche, stop.

Also, in the event that you don't get the care you need today, if you want help, and are okay leaving a postal code and your basic health insurance info, I'd be glad to look into what might be within reach near you.

Just checking in to see how you are doing, and how yesterday went for you.

Heather wrote:Just checking in to see how you are doing, and how yesterday went for you.

Hello and thank you


I ended up going to my doctor. She was pretty upset I got an IUD since im only 23

She said the pain was most likely from my irritable bowel syndrome. She couldn't give me any other diagnosis.

Im cramping today again but the pain isnt on my left side anymore.

I had sex yesterday since I figured it was the IBS but it was still painful, just not as much.

My sex drive is gone and I dont even enjoy it.

Im getting the IUD removed next week snd dont really know what in going to do about birth control. I dont want to poison my body so Ill prob go back to just condoms.

If your doctor was concerned about you getting an IUD because of your age, she must be working with outdated information on IUDs. Previously, it was thought that younger people and/or people who'd never been pregnant weren't the best candidates for IUDs, but for some time now the medical information has been that those groups of people are absolutely fine candidates for IUDs. Of course, when considering any contraceptive method, it's important for the doctor and you to consider all aspects of your health and any other medical conditions when deciding on a suitable method.

Did the doctor give you any advice or treatment for managing your irritable bowel syndrome or the pain?

There are lots of different options for contraception, and none of them "poison" the body (of course, a small number of people are medically unsuitable for certain methods or don't respond well to some hormonal methods). Most people who you hear talking about hormonal contraception being "poison" are either very misinformed or are choosing to use that kind of language because of their own personal moral beliefs against it. Do you need any medical, factual information about hormonal contraception? If you want to investigate what other methods you might be interested in, you can have a look through Birth Control Bingo!

Being in pain in general can really diminish or completely take away sex drive. Like Heather said, if having some kinds of sex causes you more pain and you're not enjoying it, I'd really suggest opting out of those kinds of sex.

Redskies wrote:If your doctor was concerned about you getting an IUD because of your age, she must be working with outdated information on IUDs. Previously, it was thought that younger people and/or people who'd never been pregnant weren't the best candidates for IUDs, but for some time now the medical information has been that those groups of people are absolutely fine candidates for IUDs. Of course, when considering any contraceptive method, it's important for the doctor and you to consider all aspects of your health and any other medical conditions when deciding on a suitable method.

Did the doctor give you any advice or treatment for managing your irritable bowel syndrome or the pain?

There are lots of different options for contraception, and none of them "poison" the body (of course, a small number of people are medically unsuitable for certain methods or don't respond well to some hormonal methods). Most people who you hear talking about hormonal contraception being "poison" are either very misinformed or are choosing to use that kind of language because of their own personal moral beliefs against it. Do you need any medical, factual information about hormonal contraception? If you want to investigate what other methods you might be interested in, you can have a look through Birth Control Bingo!

Being in pain in general can really diminish or completely take away sex drive. Like Heather said, if having some kinds of sex causes you more pain and you're not enjoying it, I'd really suggest opting out of those kinds of sex.

I dont want extra hormones in my body. Its not healthy.

Its regular sex that didnt hurt until the IUD and I did enjoy it in the past

It has to be the IUD. I've never had children so i may be having bad reactions because of that. I dont know.

If you feel strongly about not using hormonal methods or know from past experience that your body doesn't get along well with hormonal methods, then sure, you don't want those methods, and we support you in choosing and accessing whatever is most right for you. For people generally, though, there's nothing unhealthy about hormonal contraception. As with any medication, there are positives and negatives of taking it and not taking it to weigh up, and for most people, the overall health positives of any kind of contraception will greatly outweigh any negatives.

I'm sorry if I wasn't clear; I meant at the moment, while you're having pain, if you find that sex causes you more pain, it's best to opt out until your pain is better diagnosed and managed, because otherwise you wind up with more pain and crummy sex to boot.

It sounded like your doctor thought your pain was to do with the irritable bowel syndrome rather than the IUD. I do understand the frustration of having this pain since you've had your IUD. By all means, if you want it removed, you can do that, because what happens to your body is up to you. We'd just want to give you the best information we can, because if the pain isn't to do with the IUD, we wouldn't want you to go through the extra hassle of having it removed and then finding a different contraception method for no reason.

It's highly unlikely that you're having this kind of difficulty because you've never had children. IUD insertion can sometimes be slightly trickier - though that's a problem for the healthcare provider, not so much for you - on someone who's never been pregnant, but IUDs are perfectly suitable for people who've never had children, and there's no reason it would cause issues like the pain you're having.

Again, did the doctor give you any suggestions or treatments?

Redskies wrote:If you feel strongly about not using hormonal methods or know from past experience that your body doesn't get along well with hormonal methods, then sure, you don't want those methods, and we support you in choosing and accessing whatever is most right for you. For people generally, though, there's nothing unhealthy about hormonal contraception. As with any medication, there are positives and negatives of taking it and not taking it to weigh up, and for most people, the overall health positives of any kind of contraception will greatly outweigh any negatives.

I'm sorry if I wasn't clear; I meant at the moment, while you're having pain, if you find that sex causes you more pain, it's best to opt out until your pain is better diagnosed and managed, because otherwise you wind up with more pain and crummy sex to boot.

It sounded like your doctor thought your pain was to do with the irritable bowel syndrome rather than the IUD. I do understand the frustration of having this pain since you've had your IUD. By all means, if you want it removed, you can do that, because what happens to your body is up to you. We'd just want to give you the best information we can, because if the pain isn't to do with the IUD, we wouldn't want you to go through the extra hassle of having it removed and then finding a different contraception method for no reason.

It's highly unlikely that you're having this kind of difficulty because you've never had children. IUD insertion can sometimes be slightly trickier - though that's a problem for the healthcare provider, not so much for you - on someone who's never been pregnant, but IUDs are perfectly suitable for people who've never had children, and there's no reason it would cause issues like the pain you're having.

Again, did the doctor give you any suggestions or treatments?

She suggested that i get the IUD removed if its causing me pain and I already got my appointment. Is it safe to remove since I had sex yesterday? I was told sperm can live up to 7 days. When removed wouldnt they go for the kill?

The way that the IUD works is that it makes it so that sperm can't even move to or through the cervix as they normally would to even have a chance of doing their thing. So, you should let the person removing the IUD know the last time you had intercourse, but I strongly suspect they'll tell you that at this point, it's a non-issue and there isn't cause for concern.

BUT. You could also ask that person for a different method that gives you immediate protection (like a Depo injection or implant) to cover that if needed.

I'm very glad to hear you saw someone who sounds like they gave you the appropriate care and attention.

Just an update

I got it removed and all the pain went along with it. I'm super happy it's out!

Unfortunately the bleeding is making it hard for me to figure out if my period started so I cant start my BC pills!