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  1. #11
    brittone2 is offline Blue Diamond level (20,000+ posts)
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    I have some nickel sensitivity and always wondered if that would be an issue. I like the idea, but I am afraid we'll shell out the $$ and I'll hate it. I have a high deductible plan so would be paying for insertion and removal OOP. And then I'll have to decide how long to ride it out before deciding to remove. If I end up with a few heavy periods, fine. But how long do you wait it out? 6 months of heavy periods? A year? etc. before deciding whether to stick w/ it or remove. I think that part would be frustrating. You give it 6 months and they are still heavy...do you give it more time? 9 months? A year?

    Interesting about the bacterial infections. When I looked into it a while back I read a few anecdotal reports of people having more issues with that with the Paragard.

    I do sometimes wonder if *some* of the side effects are related to women in perimenopause (or approaching it) using it (changes in cycle length and so forth, although I definitely believe it can just be due to the paragard too), or people who previously used the pill and had it mask their symptoms (of something like undiagnosed PCOS). WHen I did some reading there were complaints of hairloss, acne, oily skin and hair...which maybe are related to the IUD, but I wonder if some of those women have undiagnosed hormonal issues like PCOS that were no longer masked by the pill, kwim? (PCOS affects 5-10% of women of childbearing age, so not terribly uncommon). The pill can improve things like acne, hair loss, etc. for some women with PCOS, so if someone has been on BCP or pregnant for years before switching to a paragard, it seems possible the pill was masking their symptoms up until they had the IUD inserted.
    Last edited by brittone2; 06-01-2012 at 10:38 AM.
    Mama to DS-2004
    DD-2006
    and a new addition-ds born march 2010

  2. #12
    daisysmom is offline Sapphire level (2000+ posts)
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    Quote Originally Posted by brittone2 View Post
    I do sometimes wonder if *some* of the side effects are related to women in perimenopause (or approaching it) using it (changes in cycle length and so forth, although I definitely believe it can just be due to the paragard too), or people who previously used the pill and had it mask their symptoms (of something like undiagnosed PCOS). WHen I did some reading there were complaints of hairloss, acne, oily skin and hair...which maybe are related to the IUD, but I wonder if some of those women have undiagnosed hormonal issues like PCOS that were no longer masked by the pill, kwim? (PCOS affects 5-10% of women of childbearing age, so not terribly uncommon). The pill can improve things like acne, hair loss, etc. for some women with PCOS, so if someone has been on BCP or pregnant for years before switching to a paragard, it seems possible the pill was masking their symptoms up until they had the IUD inserted.
    This was the exact reason I kept it in for 4-5 years. I kept thinking that **this** was my new normal. And I think I do have PCOS (undiagnosed) and had been on the pill for so long, the shorter cycle and the MUCH heavier periods just seemed like textbook perimenapause (plus, my age... I am almost 43).

    But I tell ya, like some of the PPs on here, when I had it taken out (3 months ago or so), ALL of those wacky symptoms went away. Now, my cycles are back to normal (28-30 days), I wear a super tampon for 1-2 days and change them about every 4 hours (versus every hour for 3 days) and I don't have any of the horrid cramping. Arguably, my PCOS is in better control now... but that is a pretty big coincidence. And I think I am heavier now than I was a year ago when I first lost a lot of weight, and my periods were far worse with it in then.

    When I looked into getting it 4.5 years ago, I didn't read any negative reviews (not sure if I really researched it that well then, I had a new baby at home and had to do something). But honestly, I can't stay it strongly enough, I was miserable with it in. And now, reading the reviews now, it seems like a LOT of people had the same experience I did. Just something to consider. Funny, it was my DH who ended up really encouraging me to get it out. The morning after I spent a night sleeping on the bathroom floor b/c it was so heavy I was literally up every hour.

  3. #13
    brittone2 is offline Blue Diamond level (20,000+ posts)
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    Quote Originally Posted by daisysmom View Post
    This was the exact reason I kept it in for 4-5 years. I kept thinking that **this** was my new normal. And I think I do have PCOS (undiagnosed) and had been on the pill for so long, the shorter cycle and the MUCH heavier periods just seemed like textbook perimenapause (plus, my age... I am almost 43).

    But I tell ya, like some of the PPs on here, when I had it taken out (3 months ago or so), ALL of those wacky symptoms went away. Now, my cycles are back to normal (28-30 days), I wear a super tampon for 1-2 days and change them about every 4 hours (versus every hour for 3 days) and I don't have any of the horrid cramping. Arguably, my PCOS is in better control now... but that is a pretty big coincidence. And I think I am heavier now than I was a year ago when I first lost a lot of weight, and my periods were far worse with it in then.

    When I looked into getting it 4.5 years ago, I didn't read any negative reviews (not sure if I really researched it that well then, I had a new baby at home and had to do something). But honestly, I can't stay it strongly enough, I was miserable with it in. And now, reading the reviews now, it seems like a LOT of people had the same experience I did. Just something to consider. Funny, it was my DH who ended up really encouraging me to get it out. The morning after I spent a night sleeping on the bathroom floor b/c it was so heavy I was literally up every hour.
    Oh yeah, I totally think it can change cycles and stuff. I just think perhaps a percentage of the women reporting that would have experienced it anyway due to perimenopause (since many IUD users are past the time of wanting to build their family, etc. and many may be a bit older), or had undiagnosed hormonal stuff like PCOS. I do think it can legitimately affect some women's cycle length, how heavy their period is, etc. though, no doubt.

    Thanks for sharing your experience...very helpful.
    Mama to DS-2004
    DD-2006
    and a new addition-ds born march 2010

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