IUD Risks
When facing the reality of IUD Risks, there are a few possibilities of an IUD failing. You can read more HERE about IUD 101, or the difference between the Mirena and the Paragard IUD.
I personally have had two IUD’s. I’ve had the Paragard and the Mirena. I have had various side effects, but I have not had to face any of the serious concerns of IUD Risks. At this point, I’m considering myself lucky considering all the Mirena pseudotumor cerebri lawsuits popping up. However, I have a guest speaker who has. She would like to share her story to spread awareness about IUD Risks.
Disclamer – There are a few pictures that might you cringe if you are sensitive to blood.
“After trying hormonal forms of birth control, and really not liking the way they made me feel, I decided to try the Paragard, which is the copper IUD that contains no hormones. I remember getting it placed, and it was much more painful and uncomfortable than I was expecting. After placing it, I was instructed to check that I could feel the strings at least a couple of times a month. By the first month I already couldn’t feel them, so I called the doctor and they scheduled an appointment for me. They did an ultrasound to check the IUD’s placement and said that everything looked good, but the strings must have gone too far for me to check them anymore, and I was sent back home.
At the time my husband had been gone for an extended period on military leave. I had the IUD in for about 4 months by the time he came back. Besides a heavier flow and a bit more cramping than usual for the first month, everything was great. I was glad to not have to remember to take pills or have the awful side effects of the extra hormones.
My husband returned, and after a couple of weeks I started getting sick and quickly realized that I was pregnant. But how could that be?! So I again called my doctor and they told me to come in. I took a pregnancy test and it was positive. The doctor was convinced that my IUD had fallen out and I had not noticed, which apparently can happen.
I continued to be very sick, which is quite normal for my pregnancies. However, around my third month I started feeling extra sick, more like the flu. This happened at least 3 times and each time the doctor diagnosed me with a UTI and would give me medication to clear it up, which would help for a while, but then the symptoms would come back. Finally the fourth time the symptoms came back, and they were worse than ever before, I went in to the doctor (on my birthday even) and told him that something was wrong. I can’t describe how awful I felt. I was super nauseous and tired from the morning sickness, and on top of that it felt like the worst flu symptoms; flu, achy, chills, hot and cold sweats. The doctor decided to do a number of tests to check on everything, one of which was an x-ray. Normally they don’t do x-rays while pregnant, but he felt it was worth the risks.
A couple of days later I get a phone call telling me that my IUD had shown up on the x-ray and it was somewhere in my abdomen. They wanted me in for surgery the next morning. I was 17 weeks along. I was terrified. All of the possibilities of what could happen ran through my mind. I couldn’t imagine having to have surgery while pregnant.
I went in early the next morning and got all prepped for surgery. They preformed a laparoscopic surgery and it took a couple of hours because they didn’t exactly know where in my abdomen it was. Two OBGYN’s were working together to find it and after an hour or so with no luck, they called a general surgeon to come assist. They ended up finding it imbedded in my intestines. Here are a few pictures:
Apparently there was a big abscess where it had been lodged. The doctors were surprised that I wasn’t more sick or had more serious symptoms. I was in the hospital for about a week. I couldn’t eat anything until my digestive system ‘woke back up’, so for three days, I didn’t eat. Which is weird being pregnant and not eating for that long.
The surgery went well and after a long few weeks I fully recovered. And 23 weeks later our 7+lb baby boy was born with no complications. What a miracle. As for me and IUD’s, I will never get one again. What a terrible, awful ordeal to go through. They say the chances of it happening are super slim, I think my doctor said something like one in a million, but the more I read up on it, the more I think that the chances are much greater than that. To each their own, but it’s not for me.
My advice: You do what works best for you and your family. If you do decide to get and IUD, please be sure you can always feel the strings, and get to a doctor if you can’t. Have them remove it and place another one in.”
(The guest speaker’s information has been left anonymous to maintain privacy).
For additional information on IUDs check out these articles:
