r/CopperIUD

my partner has a well sized penis and when we have sex it feels like he’s really deep so i’m worried he’ll be able to feel the strings.
so for people who also have this kind of experience w their partners, have they ever felt or noticed the string?
this is very much abt my ego than it is worrying abt if it bothers him or not.

This maybe a weird question but in the first 3 months have any of u experienced like headaches, increased anxiety, brain foggy and a little bit of acne flare? I know the copper iud doesn’t have hormones but my acne has flared up a bit and i’m usually not one to get headaches at all really but lately i have. I have always had anxiety but now it’s a little increased as well as brain fog kinda feel out of it here and there. I was reading that it may be symptoms of our body fighting to inflammation of the foreign object but calms down usually after our body adjust 3-6 months. Was just wondering if this has happened to anyone bc I do think it maybe my body adjusting to the copper. ORR im also not one to be bleed alot and this past month i’ve definitely bleed more then normal and maybe my iron levels are affect it? idk maybe im just crazy lol

Just need to vent - ever since getting IUD I have utis constantly (never had before this in 32 years!), BV 2x, horrific 10-18 day horrifyingly heavy periods that have now decided to be 2 weeks apart everytime, but the worst? horrific joint pain, that jumps joint to joint but is the Worst in my hips. I just can't take the constant pain anymore it's been 10 months 😭 does it ever get better?

Hi I got my IUD a month 1/2 ago and I started my period which was great, but now it's been going for roughly 14 days. I don't have cramping and other period symptoms and I'm not bleeding that much anymore, just enough it's kind of annoying but not bleeding through clothes.

And yeah I know I should talk to my doctor but this is the US and blood letting is not too bad of an alternative to debt sooo, has anyone else experienced this?

To those of you who got pregnant on this iud, what happened? Did it move upwards? Downwards? Was it correctly placed? Did it fall out completely?

On my period lol literally just curious.

Hi everyone, I’m new to this sub and I can imagine these things have been talked about before but like my title states, I’ve had my copper IUD since september 2023. Insertion was hell, it was quick but VERY PAINFUL. Pretty much everyday I had cramps, for MONTHS. It slowly but surely got less but during menstruation I get cramps and during ovulation as well so pretty much cramping 50% of the time :’) Over the counter painkillers help but.. I’d like my organs to survive by the time I’m 40 years so I always try to toughen it out unless I really can’t anymore or if I have something to do I take a painkiller. My iron is horribly low and I’m anemic. I’m chronically fatigued and my long periods don’t help. I’m married although my husband and I don’t do it as much as we used to at all. I’m thinking about removing it but I really don’t want to get pregnant. I also really don’t want to use BC pills or a hormonal IUD bc I’m too afraid I’ll gain weight or get acne. I know it sounds vain but I’d prefer being in pain 50% of the time that I can take painkillers for than get acne and/or gain weight (I know people that this happened to once they started hormonal BC). I used to have acne and I used to be so miserable and I’m so happy finally having stable skin there’s no way I want to lose that. I know everything’s a risk so you don’t know how you’ll body will react until you try it.. I just feel so lost as what to do.

I honestly think that the reason the IUD is such an effective form of birth control is the fact that it causes the most awful smells down there that nobody will want to sleep with you. Anyone have any home remedies to neutralise the odours?

I finally had my copper IUD removed after 10 years, and I honestly feel like I’m closing such a huge chapter of my life.

I got it when I was younger because I wanted something long-term and hormone-free, and for a long time I convinced myself all the side effects were just something I had to live with. Looking back now, I feel like I normalized so many things that probably weren’t normal for me.

For years I dealt with insanely heavy periods, horrible cramping, sharp random pelvic pains, bloating, lower back pain, clotting, Depression, Sore Breasts, Irritability all of the time, Lack of motivation and periods that would completely drain me physically and emotionally. I was constantly checking for strings, constantly worried it had moved, and every tiny cramp would send me into panic mode wondering if something was wrong. I also felt like my anxiety around my body got so much worse over time. Even intimacy sometimes became stressful because I was always hyper-aware of it being there and how much my body changed due to it. I gained 30 pounds and no longer felt attractive to my husband.

I also don’t think I realized how much the constant discomfort affected my everyday life until recently. Planning around periods, carrying extra products everywhere, feeling exhausted during my cycle, random spotting, and just this constant feeling of tension in my body became so normal to me after 10 years that I stopped questioning it.

Why did I Remove it after 10years? I think due to it expiring (My Paragard was scripted to last 10-12 years) I had a 40 day long period 3 times last year that made me physically ill. I knew from that point, This thing has got to go. I became anemic, vitamin D deficient and I sore i was going to have thyroid issues.

To be fair, it did exactly what it was supposed to do. It lasted forever, was hormone-free, and I never had to think about taking a pill every day. But emotionally, I think I stayed attached to it because it represented safety and control during a period of my life when I needed that.

Getting it removed was emotional in a way I didn’t expect. Part relief, part grief, part fear, part excitement. I almost cried afterward because it felt like I was letting go of a version of myself that had existed for over a decade and about how open my body was to my future.

Now I’m in this weird in-between stage where I’m asking myself what I actually want for my future, my body, and maybe even motherhood someday. It feels exciting but honestly terrifying too. I am so scared to become a mom, but also yearn for it.

Would love to hear from anyone else who had a copper IUD long term.

Did you notice changes after removal?

What things can I expect?

Did anyone else feel weirdly emotional taking it out after having it for so long?

Thank you so much 😃

I have called what feels like every OBGYN office in a 40 mile radius looking to swap my paraguard with the Miudella and not a single office was aware of it.

I just got out of my annual pap with the most popular OBGYN clinic in Denver and my doc raised her eyebrows and said she had no idea, then tried to get me to use the Mirena.

IT’S ONLY THE FIRST IUD APPROVED IN THE LAST 40 YEARS! Sorry for ranting, but it’s annoying when you’re more informed than the people that are palm deep in vaginas all day.

Unreal.

I am currently on my second period since switching from the mini pill to the paraguard. I was on the combined then the mini and decided I can’t do the hormones. Even right before insertion it felt like they were trying to talk me out of getting it but I decided to get it. All I’ve experienced symptom wise is really heavy periods and some mild to moderate cramping. Does it get worse? Is this the normal symptoms and it just doesn’t bother me that much? My thought process was if the only side effects were things we already experience from periods then sign me up and it seems to have been the right move so far. I can handle the increased period side effects in exchange for no hormonal side effects which are what really bother me.

Hi! I got my coil 2 weeks ago tomorrow. I opted for the smaller… possibly the Mona Lisa however I can’t quite remember without checking the little sheet they gave me.

I am still spotting on and off (I finished my period 2-3 days ago). I am experiencing some rather bad bloating, I am usually relatively slim. My trousers are even feeling tighter from the bloating!

I know others have also experienced bloating but I was just wondering - without reading every single post, if there was anything I could to do help my bloating? & how long it lasted for people before it began to subside?

Thanks!! X

Hii I made a post friday night on how my iud strings randomly became very long all the way out my vaginal canal. I went and got an ultrasound this morning and it had moved almost all the way out my uterus & i didn’t even feel the hard plastic coming out my cervix. She was able to push it back in ( it hurt so much) like the insertion was a piece of cake for me but this ??? oh god it hurt but now it’s back up where it’s suppose to be! To also note that hasn’t felt any cramps or pain no symptoms at all other then the strings coming o it themselve.

I was on hormonal birth control since I was 15 (I’m 19 now), and have now set up an appointment to get a copper IUD since there’s no hormones and I just want birth control- but every time I look up anything about the paraguard all I see is horror stories and it makes me so nervous 😭 if anyone has a positive experience or any advice about the paraguard I’d appreciate it!!

I had the most emotional day today, I cried so bad, my period is due in 4 days and my emotions are heavy my joints feel weak and I am cold as hell, I even have stomach issues. It has progressively gotten worse since I've got my iud 10 months ago. I've never had acne problems in my life and since getting my iud my face hurts because of bumps. 4 months into having it like 2 days before my period I'd have the strongest sense of dizziness and wanting to vomit it went away after happening 3 times in my luteal phase but now it's so bad that it feels like my body is breaking down before my period is here. I try to get my iron and vitamin intake up but tbh idk if I should ride out the storm hoping it gets better or just getting my iud removed idk wtf to do😭😭

I spot 4 days before my 5 day period and 7-9 days after I end my period. And then around what I’d assume is ovulation, I bleed 2 days. Bleeding sometimes 20 days a month😵‍💫 I know/hope it will get better with time though. I have only had the IUD for a few months

Hi like title says! Have had my iud for approx two years and it’s been fine. Insertion was fine no crazy symptoms except for heavier periods.

EXCEPT
I’ve been having recurring BV/UTI/Yeast Infections since December. If it’s not one, it’s the other, or three, and it’s ruining my peace. Prior to this time I didn’t have any issues except for right after my insertion- I had two back to back UTI’s for the first time in my life, and that was all, or so I thought.

I’m genuinely so sick of having something wrong with me. I do everything recommended. Cotton underwear, pee after sex, one sexual partner, he doesn’t even finish in me, shower after sex, I don’t sit in sweaty clothes, etc.

This is like the last thing I can think of. I think my first year of the IUD was peaceful because I didn’t have a period (unrelated to birth control or IUD) for a year. I’m wondering if having a regular period created more bacteria for the iud to cling onto, and that’s why it has become an issue now?

I hate this and am thinking of getting it removed solely in the hope I’ll stop getting BV. Has anyone experienced anything similar? Advice? My doctor doesn’t seem to think it’s the reason but I don’t know what else to do.

I got my copper IUD inserted just over 5 weeks ago but still haven’t had a real period- before this I had Nexplanon for 3 years, progesterone only pill for 2 years before that and combined pill for 5 years before that, so I haven’t really had a real period for 10 years and have had lots of spotting/irregular bleeding ever since the POP/Nexplanon.

I’ve had some spotting and bleeding on and off since I’ve had my CIUD but thats it and no pain- I was just wondering if anyone has been through the same thing and how long it took for your cycle to regulate again?

ETA: I had a very regular period prior to going on the pill and I take a pregnancy test every month because i have an absolute horror of cryptic pregnancy so its not that lol

Hi everyone I wanted to share my experience and see if anyone has also experienced the same symptoms. 1-2 months after getting my IUD, I began feeling severe brain fog and memory loss. Prior to the copper iud I was extremely outgoing/social, intelligent and witty, now I have to think really hard to try and come up with a response in a normal conversation. It’s absolutely ridiculous and I don’t know if I can attribute it to this damn iud but it has been so extremely difficult to function in this state. I also have constant and intense anxiety now which is something I never suffered from before. Its like i forgot how to be a human. My hair texture also completely changed to dry and brittle and just horrendous. I had the most beautiful long hair before and no even after cutting it it is still unmanageable because of how dry it is

So I have a copper IUD insertion scheduled for tomorrow. A few months back I actually had a failed insertion due to my cervix not being able to fully open up for the doctor to put the tool in to measure my uterus. I’m going to a different doctor and she prescribed me meds to help soften my cervix.

I know this subreddit is full of people sharing their negative experiences (which are totally valid), but I’d be lying if I wasn’t a little spooked by the negative ones lol. I’d love to hear about anyone’s positive experiences!

UPDATE: Unfortunately, I had a second failed attempt. There’s something with the back of my cervix that just won’t allow the measuring tool inside. The NP said it almost felt like a wall. It’s really frustrating but we’re going to try a combination of being on my period and the use of misoprostol. Hopefully I’ll have a better result then :(