Back in 2013 I went to my local woman’s clinic to get a Mirena IUD. It hurt like crazy (as expected 🙄) but I swear, I don’t think the person who placed it had ever done one before. During the placement I vomited and passed out. I had some of the worst cramps of my life for a week after. After it was placed I bled for SEVEN months, and when I called to ask about that, I was told it was “normal.” I could feel the IUD tugging every time I had sex. I was told that wasn’t possible.
When I got that IUD out (6 years later!!!!) it was excruciatingly painful again. I vomited, I passed out.
At the same appointment I had a new IUD put in. It hurt, but I didn’t vomit or pass out for that part of that appointment. I had bad cramps that Advil only touched, but they only lasted the day.
Once the new IUD sex was much better. (Just like something changed overnight!!!) No tugging. No pain.
When I had the the replacement IUD taken out I had no issues. It was uncomfortable but nothing bad.
Guess who is trying to have kids now and got a saline ultrasound today? Guess who has scar tissue that can lessen my ability to get pregnant by 50%. Guess who had an IUD embed into my fucking uterus?!? Guess who insisted to multiple (female btw) doctors that something was wrong and I was told that was all normal. Guess who gets to have a surgery to have the scar tissue removed?
Me. That’s fucking who. I’m really fucking pissed off.
Comments
Can you complain at the medical board and sue for damages? You might need the financial settlement for treatment costs.
there has to be something you can do about it. if you can sue, it would be reasonable to do so
Jesus, that is fucking awful! I’m so sad and angry that you went through this, especially that no one believed you. It’s weird but sometimes women doctors are the most sexist. I sincerely hope the surgery goes well and you get to have a healthy pregnancy and baby soon.
This is very so similar to my experience. I was told by all care providers that it was normal and everything was fine. It was not fine. Thankfully it took only 1.5 years not like 6 to get it removed. The only reason they agreed to remove it was not the extreme pain I was experiencing but because I said I wanted to get pregnant. I lied because otherwise I could not find a provider to take it out.
Was it a Paraguard? There’s currently a class action suit against them.
Ok. Every time I see a post like this I will continue to say this.
Let me be fking clear. Next time say:
“If you will deny my request for *** please note that denial in my file. Please note why you denied it and the date and time.”
They will ask why you want this done. You will respond with ‘In the future if I need to sue someone for XYZ issue— I know where to start. “
I have been correct too many times. I come to my appts informed to the gill. Possible issue A,B,C. I refuse to be ignored. I refuse to be a victim when I can prevent it with education and persistence.
Got Mirena. Few years later got it removed due to side effects. Things never went back to normal. Felt like my hormones were still fucked. Turns out it gave me an ovarian cyst that kept growing after Mirena removal. Got nerve and back pain, and that is understandable considering there’s a massive ball in my pelvis squashing everything.
WHY DO DOCTORS ACTIVELY DISREGARD WOMEN’S PAIN?!
WHY DO DOCTORS GASLIGHT WOMEN?!
WHY WON’T THEY LISTEN WHEN WE TELL THEM SOMETHING IS WRONG?!!!!!!!!!
Ugh mine was embedded and I’m absolutely terrified that I have scar tissue. I’m so sorry this happened to you!
I had an embedded IUD, they didn’t say anything about it lessening my chances of pregnancy though 😬 I feel like they definitely should have mentioned that to me if that’s a possibility….
My second iud had to be pulled out so hard I thought my organs were coming out with it. The doctor checked to see if the thing broke in half during removal, luckily not. It took me a year and a half to get pregnant after that, but after the miscarriage my other pregnancies happened in a normal amount of time.
And they still don’t do pain relief for iud insertions or removals here because the monkeys in charge of health policies take a decade to copy paste guidelines from other developed nations… So I’m never getting another iud.
My first IUD felt like it was falling out, so I called the midwife and she said it wasn’t possible because I had had a baby. I went in anyway, and guess what? It had fallen out and was lodged outside my cervix. Like a fool, I let them put in another IUD and ended up pregnant with it. It is so hard to trust medical professionals!!
If you want to feel further enraged on the topic of women’s pain being ignored, specifically gynaecological pain, give the podcast “The Retrievals” a listen. S2 is slightly more encouraging but S1, wow.
Propaganda I’m not falling for: that an IUD is ever worth getting
I had one too. I had on and off pain extreme pain and doctors would not take me seriously. They insisted it would go away but once a year passed I told my doctor I was done. It’s unfortunate they don’t believe us.
I had mine placed after giving birth because they forgot to put it in when they did my c section. It hurt. More than any of the other 3 I had prior. Painful sex, cramping. Ultrasound confirmed it was a little out of place but not enough to affect efficacy. Finally started having spotting and worsening pain. They replaced it. No pain, partner can’t feel it. No post intercourse pain and bleeding. So it was the IUD the whole time. Gee thanks everyone.
I’m so sorry. That’s really awful. They really should be doing an ultrasound to check placement on every patient they place an IUD in.
Damn 😡🤬😤. Disappointing, but not surprising that you were ignored and gaslit. ❤️🫂I’m so sorry to u.
I’d try and sue for some kind of settlement, at the very least file an official complaint. This may get expensive long term depending on where you live. Aside from having to experience the frustration of having literally told them so.
I called a law firm last week that’s sued on behalf of women that were injured by the Mirena.
You should speak to a lawyer about suing too . Mine also caused me extreme pain and got embedded. I don’t even have a uterus anymore but when I think about that removal I still get phantom cramps.
Sue sue sue sue
Can you sue the doctor who placed it and then didn’t do any follow up?
I don’t trust those IUDs, I have heard nothing but bad things about them.
OH MY GOD! ME TOO! and the doctors all gaslit me. all female too.
it was mirena too, and it wasn’t even the IUD i asked for. but i was 21 and nervous and uninformed, so i let them just shove the consent form in my face and signed it anyway. they didn’t even tell me that i might want to take ibuprofen.
and listen, i have a really good pain tolerance. i could give you a paragraph of examples, but- i just had an abdominal surgery 2 months ago. 4 incisions in my abdominal wall. it was maybe 5% of the pain of the IUD. the only thing ive experienced that comes close to the IUD insertion is migraine pain, and that’s only because that’s the only kind of pain that makes me throw up at all. but that’s nothing compared to the IUD. it does not make me black out. i have never, before or since, lost fucking consciousness solely from pain like that.
not only did i lose consciousness for several seconds and start vomiting, I couldn’t fucking stop. when they left the room after they were done and told me to “take a moment to calm down,” i had to run to the bathroom, where i proceeded to- sorry for the tmi, i just need to stress how fucked it was- lose control of my bowels, vomit some more, and i bled so, so, so much. like 2-3 periods worth of blood all at once. i was not menstruating at the time. the pain-induced vomiting was so bad that I couldn’t keep anything down, not water, not tylenol or ibuprofen, for 4-6 hours. zofran did not touch it.
and then, like you, i bled and cramped for months, but on top of that, the infections. first i got a UTI. then i got that treated. then i got a yeast infection. then i got that treated. then i got another yeast infection. and i got that treated. then i got BV. and i got that treated. then i got another UTI. and another yeast infection. at one point, i fucking had all 3 at once. there was no reason for it. my hygiene is and was great and didn’t change. I wasn’t even having sex because i was in so much constant pain and discomfort, I wasn’t in the mood. i had NEVER had a UTI or BV before in my life, not until the IUD, and id never had yeast infections as bad or frequent as these ones, usually id just get them occasionally after swimming, especially as a kid. nothing like this at all.
it was at that point- 6 months, 2 UTIs, BV, nonstop bleeding and cramping, and countless yeast infections later- that i finally put my foot down and went to the OB that inserted it and said that something was very wrong, it was almost certainly causing the infections, and i wanted it out NOW.
she fucking insinuated that it was a personal hygiene issue or my partner’s hygiene (again, wasn’t even having sex, didn’t even want to be touched, but she didn’t believe me), insisted that none of it was because of the IUD, and argued with me back and forth for a bit, before she finally agreed to remove it. and the second it was removed- it all stopped. no more pain, no more bleeding, no more infections. I haven’t had any infections since. it’s been years.
god, your post just opened my eyes. i need to go get checked for scar tissue now. i think the same thing must’ve happened to me.
Everyone should watch the documentary ‘The Bleeding Edge’ on Netflix prior to getting any IUDs…
It’s slow at the beginning but watch it until the end. It’s quite informative and eye opening.
It’s all about money ladies, not your health!!!
I get it. I’ve heard so many stories over the years as a woman and a nurse, and I have a few of my own stories as well. Earlier today though, I was wondering… why? Why are our health conditions ignored/ unprioritized/ underfunded? Do we seem less important? As menstruaters and sometime child bearers are we now expected to have pain in All Things? Do we lack credibility? When you think about it, it’s so weirdly pervasive.
OP I am so sorry you went/are going through this. What you endured was utter bullsh*t and you have every right to feel enraged.
Wait, is this another US healthcare thing? You don’t have an ultrasound check up a few weeks after it’s placed? That alone sounds like a bad idea!
Jesus. What kind of crap doctors are you seeing. I’ve have 4 IUDs now, and haven’t had any issue near what you’re describing. My first one I got without having had a baby, back when the recommendation was for only women that had already had a child to use it. My doctor was a geriatric man who was beyond amazing. He did my replacement 5 years later. Then my current doctor (mid-30s female) did my next one, which hurt like crazy but she was really cool about it. A few years later when it wasn’t working out, she took it out with no fuss. A year later when I wanted it back, she gave my good pain meds and put it back. No fuss. I’m just dumbfounded.
Commenting to save.
Complain to the medical board of your state. Seriously, that hurts the provider.
At 39, i got my IUD before work, assuming [stupidly] i’d be able to zip to work right after. My Gyno somehow missed the part in my chart that said “never had kids” and didn’t give me local anaesthesia. I nearly broke the nurse’s hand as they realized my cervix had never opened because, yes, Dr. I’ve-been-going-to -since-I-was- 22, I’ve never been pregnant. The incompetence of doctors with women even when women themselves as my doctor was still astounds me.
Also, long story short, after 1 year of 3 week periods and cramping, I had it removed. 2 years of irregularity lead to an ablation and tubal ligation. While i was mostly childfree by then and fine with it, I was also angry. I feel like the incompetence from the start caused my eventual infertility.
I went to have my second IUD removed and the string was too short, my OBGYN was having trouble removing it. I had to ask for a local anesthetic, but I could still feel it. Mind you, she wasn’t the one who installed it. She was about to send me into surgery (!) to have it removed, but managed to grab it. I never got another one and opted for a bilateral salpingectomy.
Omg 😂 I would lawyer up if I were you.
My IUD gave me peritonitis. It was in the wrong place, scratching up my insides, and gave me a nice infection. Three days spent in agony in the hospital on very heavy antibiotics. I will not have one again. I’m so, so sorry you went through this, this is horrifying 🫂
I am so grateful that my husband had a vasectomy. I can enjoy sex without pain for the first time in 10 years. I had gotten so used to it, I assumed it was a forever thing after giving birth to our youngest. I married a saint.
I also had this experience but for only 🙄 9 months or so… it sucks. We have to keep advocating harder persistently until the system changes because we made it change. 💪
The exact same thing happened to me, except I had to have surgery to have mine removed. It was also followed by fertility issues in my case.
My mom had to have a full hysterectomy in like 1982 because of an IUD. Hence, I have never trusted one. I don’t know why anybody does.
Why won’t these fucking ppl ever listen to us?! I am so pissed off for you too! I hope the surgery ends up being much easier than you expect and has amazing results.
O God. I am so sorry for you. This sucks. I hope your surgery clears out the scar tissue & you can get pregnant.
Sue if you can. This is bullshit.
This is why I will forever stick with my arm implant. These stories. They terrify me.
I hate everything about this. I hate that I can get better care for a dog at the vet (like looking for foreign bodies) that is standard, vs a literal HUMAN WOMAN, who is verbally and explicitly saying shit is fucked up, and still can’t get appropriate help.
WHY is it so hard for them to idk, check things out? Surely appropriate IUD placement can be verified with modern imaging easily.
I honestly think they just don’t care. Sure they don’t listen because they have superiority complexes or something. Sure they say it’s normal because so many other women experience it. Just because it happens a lot, doesn’t mean it’s okay.
At the end of the day, I think it’s simply that they don’t care.
I would be talking to that clinic and then suing their asses