#mirena

I got my Mirena four years ago. Right now the Mirena is approved for five years and they are currently working on approving it for more. I chose to get mine replaced a little early because my periods were starting to come back. It’s relatively common for your periods or spotting to start back up on the four or five year mark. Because I have really bad periods and experience gender dysphoria during my periods I wanted to get a new one in ASAP. 

If you’d like to read my guide to getting an IUD inserted you can read it here.The procedure for getting it taken out is very similar and many of the same recommendations still apply. I’d definitely still recommend having a buddy, although it isn’t necessarily as bad coming out as it is going in. 

At the clinic I went to they didn’t have the Mirena available, only the Liletta and Kyleena. Liletta is approved for 4 years, Kyleena for 5. They are also currently working on approving Liletta for longer so my doctor said that by the time the 4 years are up they’ll probably have it approved for longer. Despite only being recommended for Liletta, and it being a little bigger than Kyleena, is because Liletta has a higher amount of hormones that more closely resemble Mirena. Because I use the IUD to end my periods and I know the Mirena does that I was hoping to get the IUD that most closely matches it. 

Below is a detailed recount of my experience. It can get a bit graphic, if you’d like I put the main steps in bold so you can get the gist by just reading that

Once we got the preliminary pregnancy test and consultation over with I was left to take off my pants and get ready for a pelvic exam. It is important for the doctor to take a look and see if they think you may have a vaginal infection before insertion so let them know if you have had any symptoms! This is because if there is an infection while putting in the IUD there is a chance of the infection to spread to the uterus. Turns out I had a yeast infection. Because it had been so hot and muggy apparently a bunch of people had come in with yeast infections so it wasn’t a big surprise. What that meant though was I had to come back a couple weeks after I took antifungals to get rid of the infection.

A couple weeks later I went back and we were finally ready for the insertion. The doctor asked if I was okay having a student come in to observe the process. I said yes because of course I am all about that learning. Know that you should always let your doctor know if you are uncomfortable. My doctor let me know that she likes using the smaller speculums and trying to be as careful as possible. It’s a good idea to tell your doctor if you experience vaginal pain easily, if you’ve experienced any trauma, or if you’re nervous so that they can help you out. 

One thing I liked about having a student attend is that the doctor detailed everything going on. That was a fun thing for me, but I know that wouldn’t have been fun for a lot of people. The disadvantage to the student is that the doctor wanted her to try some things on me to learn which meant some things happened twice. The actual taking out and putting the IUD in was handled by the doctor though which was very good.

First the doctor and student checked on my uterus and pelvis by inserting two fingers into the vagina and pressing on various points on my belly/pelvic bone to see if there was any tenderness. 

Then the doctor inserted the speculum and located the cervix. On the student’s turn they had trouble finding it which meant they moved the speculum quite a lot and that was not pleasant. Once the doctor helped her find my cervix I breathed again. So far, not much different than a regular pelvic exam. 

After they located my cervix they inserted a device to clamp down on the cervix to hold it in place. This is what felt like a pinch. They put on the stuff to numb the cervix and waited a bit before going on. I was told later that the clamping can cause the cervix to bleed a bit, so this can cause some of the irritation you’ll feel later. 

Using the strings they were able to pull the IUD out. She showed it to me. I am sad I didn’t think to keep it. You could definitely feel the arms of the “T” come down and then the IUD slide out. It’s not exactly painful, but really weird feeling. If you’re just getting the IUD removed this is as far as you go. They unclamp your cervix and you should probably sit back and relax for a minute before standing up and going about your day.

If you’re getting a new one inserted the next step is to put a sound into the cervix. A sound is a tiny cylandrical object that helps dilate the uterus a tiny bit to help insert it. Sometimes they’ll need to use other methods to help dilate you, but sometimes that is enough. Another reason they use this is that it can go through the cervix into the uterus and it helps them measure the uterus to know where to place the IUD. I found out my uterus is 8 cm, which is perfectly average. Not gonna lie, this part was uncomfortable. The actual going in the uterus wasn’t bad, but once it reached the top of my uterus it kind of hurt and the sensation kind of spread like a wave. What sucked for me is I had to go through it twice, first the doctor did it, then the student. The student apparently didn’t go in far enough so the doctor basically told her to shove it in more and that didn’t feel good. Pretty sure I made a little sound at that point.

When they are able to get an accurate measure of the uterus they use the applicator device to put the IUD in.This is really the most painful part in my opinion, it just feels really weird and like something is definitely trying to move around in your uterus. 

After that they cut the strings that hang into the vagina so that they aren’t super long.If you find once you go home the strings are longer than you’d like you can go back and request they trim them a little more. Once you’ve had it for a year or so the strings tend to curl around your cervix out of the way.

This time around I knew what to expect and I stayed laying down.The doctors let me be for a while to let me lay down a bit then with their help sit up. I sat for a while before eventually cleaning up, getting dressed, and sitting back down again. I wore loose pants but where it lay against my belly still hurt. Definitely if you can, wear a dress. Had to hold the seat belt away from my belly while riding home too. Just take it easy and don’t plan to do anything strenuous for a day after. I spotted a bit for a day and I’m still a little sore but it is definitely worth it!

My Endometriosis pain was increasing and spreading, I was so desperate for help, so I told my primary I was ready for her to renew my referral to go see my OBGYN. while that was happening I had some concerns that I talked to her about, for one it was the increasing pelvic pain, kidney pain, and a vaginal discharge that I have never seen before. She told me the discharge was normal, that the kidney pain was not kidney pain and it was just probably something else, and that it was just my Endo to not worry. 

Three days later I call her because I feel like I have a gallon of water and worms in me, I was in so much pain that I could not move. She did a urine test (yes that is all) and she said I had a UTI, which she gave antibiotics for, she told me to just go back in a couple of days for a pap smear as well, which I did, that day she says I also have a vaginal infection and gave me more antibiotics. I was actually pretty fucking sick, and I called because I felt like maybe the infection was spreading or something! She asked me to go back and she did another urine test, then her office called with the results, no infection to stop the antibiotics that I had left because it was them doing a reaction. 

I was happy I was ok in that front, then I went to my OBGYN and we decided to try the IUD before another surgery, he scheduled the appointment and when I went in to get the IUD he asked if I had any infection because he saw some discharged, and I explained that I had but I had antibiotics for it, that my primary had said I was already good to go. He puts the IUD in me and the son of a bitch hurt! Still I was hopefully that THIS will finally help me! 

The very next day I have the follow up with my primary and I let her know that I had an IUD place the day before, that I was hoping that will minimize the pain. I mentioned to her that I did have that kidney pain still, which she wanted me to go to physical therapy for, but I was not convince and told her that I did not want to until she did a scan of my kidneys because I had kidney stones in the past and the pain felt similar to that. She was upset, but still sent me to do another urine test and a CT. Later that same day I get a call from their office saying that I had another UTI, I was speechless and told them that it could not be because I was cured from it a couple of days ago! Still they did not seem concern, and I decided to call the OBGYN to let them know I had a UTI and asked if that would affect the IUD and increase of infection, they also ignored me and said just to take my antibiotics and I would be fine to not call unless I had a discharge.

When I went to pick up my meds I saw they were the same ones she gave me last time that she made me stop, I told the pharmacist, they said to just take them. I took them… later that week I felt BAD and had some discharged so I called the OBGYN, they told me to come in. He told me my cervix was swollen, that he did not know why, that I probably had an STD or something because that is the only reason that happens, he took a swab and asked me if: 

1. I wanted to wait to see what happened until I saw him in a couple of weeks

2. remove the IUD, which he did not recommend

3. Give me stronger antibiotics to nip it in the butt and not affect the IUD. 

I agreed to his suggestion, which was the antibiotics. 

The very next day I felt like I was DYING I had NEVER felt anything of the sort before. I was dizzy, fatigued, the vaginal smell was HORRIBLE, discharge, and just an overall sick feeling, pain that I could not move. I went to the ER and they gave me so much morphine because I could not stand the vaginal examinations, they had to try and numb me as much as they could. 

The ER doctor asked me for the name of my OBGYN and I told him, he looked like he was in a hurry, then he came in and I see the nurse give me IV fluids and medications, and he tells me that I have to stay in the hospital because my infection was getting worse, that he saw puss in my vagina and that it just did not look good. Later he then came back and said my OBGYN and the OBGYN in the hospital wanted to take the IUD out. 

Later I learned the the IUD did make my infection worse… I was advice by the nurses in the hospital to never go back to those doctors, because they also found out that the reason I got a bad infection wasn’t only the IUD but the fact that it was placed in without proper sterile instruments. I was honestly super upset! Still I am… That kidney pain by the way was because the infection was already in the kidney, so yeah it was not kidney stones, but I was right that it was my kidney… If I had not gone to the ER and would have waited as they wanted me to I would have ended up with severe damage or even death. 

So if you want to get an IUD make sure that the doctor and nurse wash their hands before putting gloves on, because mine did not, and for them to not only test you for pregnancy before but also for any infections you might have, only you know your body! 

me when my doctor suggested I get an IUD for pain control:

me when she immediately followed with ‘and we can totally knock you out for that: