Some of my most loyal readers know I use the Mirena IUD for birth control and wrote about it when I had it inserted in September 2008. Once I got over my fear of having something placed in my uterus (in an exam room, no pain medication, nada) and had it inserted, it was time to see if this thing lived up to the hype.
There’s only two camps when it comes to the Mirena. You love it or you hate it.
I love it.
I’ve had it about what, nine months? (Too lazy to count.) And I haven’t gotten pregnant so there you go. All the commercials say you’ll have shorter, lighter periods and a large percentage of women don’t have periods at all. Let’s just say I haven’t entered the realm of period-free, “OH MY GOD THAT MUST BE FANTASTIC,” no-Always-Playtex-OB-Cotex/CVS brand feminine product way of living. But they are much lighter and I don’t have the debilitating cramps that I used to suffer from so much that each month I was guaranteed to have to stay home curled up in bed for two days no matter how much Advil or Tylenol or Motrin I took.
And I haven’t gotten pregnant. Did I mention that?
All in all, I love it. Because I haven’t gotten pregnant. People say, “Oh, well, I’ve heard horror stories and I wouldn’t want anything up there,” to which I say, “I haven’t gotten pregnant.” Which is the main thing.
Tell me, what do you use? Anyone else use an IUD? Birth control pills? The ring? Implant? Anyone still on the patch?
I had mine 3 years… LOVED it!! Miss it now :/
The only birth control I’ve been on was the ring last year. I liked it at first because its super easy to use. But after a few weeks it made my legs ache and restless all the time. I worried I was going to get a blood clot because it was constantly bothering me, so I quit. Since then, I just haven’t liked the thought of putting extra chemicals in my body. BUT, that means I need to be consistent in other areas to avoid pregnancy for the next few months so we don’t have another “oops” 😉
I had a Mirena for 2 years and LOVED it. We had a little bit of trouble, initially, with the strings. But they “soften” over time and after about a month, maybe two, they stopped bothering us (and by us I mean both of us – husband could feel them during sex, I could feel them randomly throughout the day).
I had a little trouble after I had it removed, which I blogged about here:
http://prettybabies.blogspot.com/2009/04/thing-about-mirena.html
…but I fixed it (read the post) and it was only for a few days, and now that I know how to fix it, I wouldn’t hesitate to have another Mirena when we’re done having kids.
Amy
I’ve pretty much done it all with the exception of those implants under the skin. The pills and patch were a nightmare for me. My body doesn’t react well to them. A few years ago I had an IUD put in. It didn’t work well for me either. I gave it about eight months, and looking back, I’m amazed that I kept it that long. It does work well for a lot of women, but in the end, it really comes down to your body. For me, it seems good old fashion condoms are the only way I can go. Glad to hear your choice is working for you though.
I had the ring for a year. Got pregnant on that one with baby number two… I am going for the Mirena on thursday, so I am hoping for the “not get pregnant” thing. Not ready for #3 yet…
Glad you’re having a good experience with the IUD. And yes… being period free is AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!! Back in my depro days I was period free, but some time ago I traded those days for birth control free ones. Yes. No birth control here. I am not trying for another baby at the moment, but not really against it either. When the time is right, I’ll get to work on my second. I decided to free myself to get my body back on track… it hadn’t been since my pregnancy and the super heavy periods were cramping my style. Happy to report things are all good now that I’ve taken the break.
well right now i’m pregnant… but in the ‘off season’ we use a diaphragm. i personally really like it, but it’s not as reliable as mirena, so it’s probably not up your alley
i can’t use hormonal birth control, so it’s pretty much that or hubby sits on a bag of peas. which i’m TOTALLY not ready for!!!
@MommyNamedApril – “… can’t use hormonal birth control, so it’s pretty much that or hubby sits on a bag of peas.” Haha! I love it!
And a diaphragm, huh? I don’t even do well with tampons so I don’t know how a diaphragm would work for me, but as long as you have a method that you like, isn’t that what counts? Yay for us! And congrats on the baby!!!!
As SOON as my 6 weeks were up, I rushed to the OBGYN for birth control. The Mirena seemed so awesome to me. FIVE years of birth control I don’t have to worry about?! SIGN.ME.UP!
Gave it a couple months and to sum it all up, I hated it. I always felt it, especially at night when I laid on my stomach (something I had missed so much!). I bled for…I don’t even know, the longest it seems. I went into the office about it, got an intra-vaginal ultrasound and the doctor said it looked like my body was rejecting it/pushing it out. She ended up removing it and put me on NuvaRing. Hated that as well. The idea of having to stick something up inside me, then remember to take it out every month just wasn’t working for me. I prefer someone else’s finger up there 😉
After about 3 months of that, I decided to try Implanon. 3 years of worry free birth control vs five was still good enough for me. Day of the procedure I almost chickened out. The idea of something being implanted under my skin while I was awake just wasn’t sitting well with me. However, it was quick and virtually painless. I got the Gardasil injection the same day and that ish burned/hurt more than the Implant! It’s been a few months since I’ve had it. I’ll be glad when the irregular spotting subsides, but other than that, I LOVE it and plan to continue to stick with it for…forever! LOL
@ Courtney – I wanted to try the Implanon but my doc wasn’t as well versed in it. Seems like it was an easy insertion though. The Mirena wasn’t that painful, but still…placing something in my arm is a heck of a lot better than the uterus!
Just got the Mirena inserted yesterday. The insertion was painless — I’ve had pap smears that hurt worse. I cramped for 2-3 hours after the insertion and today I’ve had a few “tinges” of pain and light spotting. I’m praying I love it and of course that I don’t get pregnant again.