u/IKHK

i've been wanting to switch from the pill to a more low-maintenance option for a few months now. i originally thought about the implant but felt more like getting a lower-hormone iud. i chose kyleena over the course of a few appointments with my ob/gyn and decided to rip the bandaid off today.

i chose planned parenthood because they offer pain management. my ob/gyn does not. and based on how my procedure went WITH pain management, i am extremely glad i chose it. i wanted to document my experience because i feel like planned parenthood and other neighborhood clinics face a lot of stigma, but they're still good sources to go for reproductive health topics. i definitely felt weird about going before i went, but they sure know what they're doing.

planned parenthood offers a couple options, and personally my clinic offered cervical blocking (lidocaine injection) and nitrous oxide. i chose the cervical block because i was going to drive myself home afterward.

the procedure itself was quicker than i thought. i thought the lidocaine would pinch or burn like it usually does on my skin for other procedures, but surprisingly it wasn't very painful. slightly crampy, but no burning or anything. from then on i felt nothing crazy, quite a bit of cramping as expected but nothing outrageously painful. when it was over i sat back up, but started feeling nauseous and faint. my doctor noticed and laid me back down with my feet up. she gave me an ice pack for my neck and the nurse brought me a heating pad for my stomach. they were very kind and attentive and let me lay down for a while until i was ready to get back up.

overall it was super quick, it definitely wasn't painless but it wasn't bad. the cramping afterwards is definitely a factor, but if you experience severe periods like i do, personally i've felt much worse. with the ibuprofen they offer, it makes it very manageable. i love to go to specialists for my health concerns but i definitely recommend planned parenthood for procedures since they do them all the time and offer options for the pain. i haven't heard of a lot of ob/gyns that offer anything but ibuprofen. had i not gone with the cervical block, i think it might have been a lot more painful for me. overall it was totally worth it and i feel great now !

for context, i became sexually active approximately one year ago. a few months into being sexually active, i began to get UTIs. those were easily cleared and didn't come back. then my first yeast infection came, which was treated otc. then another, and another, and another. for around six months i dealt with yeast infections that went from once a month to twice a month, to almost weekly. i was running through monistat like crazy and getting fluconazole from my doctor every now and then when it got bad enough. i adjusted my lifestyle (no underwear at bed, not sitting in wet clothes, no douching, scented products, no overcleaning, no wiping back to front, etc) and also ended up becoming abstinent. it continued for two more months before i had enough and scheduled an appointment with my ob/gyn.

my ob/gyn ended up swabbing me and found both bv and a yeast infection, which was likely the source of my massive discomfort. i told her about the frequency of my infections and she kind of gawked at me. apparently you're not supposed to have more than four in a year. oops ! try two per month. she told me it could be a resistant yeast strain and put me on both metrogel for the bv and terconazole. that cleared up my issue fantastically, but only for about a month and a half before my problems returned again.

i started getting yeast infections again despite my incredible carefulness. they would resolve with treatment for about a week and a half before resurfacing again. two or three weeks if i was lucky. about a month later i became sexually active again (with ONE partner) and we were both tested extensively for sti's and infections. we were both cleared for the whole panel (including mgen for me). i also got my glucose and a1c tested for diabetes, both of which came back normal.

i wanted to get an iud during this time to replace the pill because i was getting tired of taking so many oral medications. i went to planned parenthood to get it done and upon putting me in the stirrups, the doctor paused and chose to swab me. she came back telling me i had a lot of white blood cells in my discharge and that i had cervicitis. she obviously didn't proceed with the procedure, but she told me she didn't know why i had it since i tested negative for all std's and was being careful with my lifestyle. she prescribed me doxycycline but i felt unsure and went to a different planned parenthood. that doctor swabbed me and told me i tested positive for yeast, and having already gone through this ordeal before, i told her my frustrations. she put me on weekly fluconazole and told me once the infection fully clears, i can come back for an iud.

that was three weeks ago. two weeks into the fluconazole i didn't feel much relief, which was very concerning to me. my ob/gyn ended up fitting me in for an urgent appointment that week and got me terconazole to use. i used it and while i do feel somewhat normal now, my discharge is still white and milky. my iud appointment is tomorrow, and if i get denied for it one more time im giving up. i honestly don't understand what's wrong with me and it's really wrecking my brain. i don't need reassurance or anything, i guess ill get my answer tomorrow at planned parenthood and if they find abnormalities again ill try my ob/gyn again. it's just so weird, ive never known another woman with the same issue as me. it makes me feel dirty even though im doing everything my doctor could have possibly told me to do.

not looking for advice or anything, i'm just frustrated. i (19F) have bipolar 2 and was previously in a severe depressive episode. two weeks ago i was prescribed latuda (lurasidone) after i hit the 200mg wall for my lamictal. after just a couple days i was feeling better, and a week later i was back to my regular self. it has by far been the most effective med i've taken for my depression. lamictal has always been effective for preventing episodes, but the latuda felt like it actually brought me out of one.

i'm on week 3 and i noticed that last week i started experiencing fatigue. it wasn't like any fatigue i've ever felt before. i take my latuda at around 6pm with my dinner. it would hit me about an hour or two after taking my meds, and i'd be in bed by 9. this fatigue absolutely floors me. once it hits, i feel like i have a short amount of time to clean up for bed before i knock out for the next 12 hours. yes, 12 hours nightly. i've been sleeping from 9:30 to 9:30 pretty much every night for the past week.

it's super frustrating. i'm usually relatively productive after dinnertime leading up to bedtime. i like to get some things done before i go to bed so i can sleep soundly and have less to do in the morning. i'm in college, so sometimes i have to stay up a little to get work done, but not on latuda.. ever since i started it, it genuinely annoys me how tired i'll get so early into the night. it makes showering, changing, cleaning up, and taking my other meds feel like a chore. getting into bed even takes up so much of my energy. i'm really upset because this is the first medication i've felt really good about, and there's a strong chance i'll have to switch. real bummer.

not looking for any advice, just wondering if this is a common experience or not. i've been on latuda (lurasidone) 20mg for about two weeks now following a severe depressive episode. it's been helping significantly, and i've finally leveled out and am back to functioning. the first week was chill, but i noticed during the second week i began to feel some significant fatigue. i thought it wasn't connected to the latuda, but i'm beginning to think it is.

i take my latuda with dinner, which is usually around 6pm. i notice myself becoming horribly exhausted at 8-9pm. it gets to the point where i feel like i need to drop everything just so i can go to sleep. it's a heavy, persistent tiredness that really bothers me because i can't seem to shake it. i've been sleeping for up to 12 hours nightly, and i feel refreshed in the morning but it's a bummer that i know the same cycle will happen again by nighttime. i've heard about akathisia with latuda, but not drowsiness like this. i guess i'm confused because i've been on a handful or two of psych meds and have never experienced side effects like this before, even on meds that are labeled as "sedating". i will speak to my psychiatrist about this, but i'm just wondering if this is a common experience. it would be a bummer if i had to switch because it's been working wonderfully for me.