After President Trump’s threats to repeal the Affordable Care Act, many women are nervous about how they could afford their current birth control when, or if, they lose coverage. Many women are fearful they will not be able to afford contraception, especially with the pro-lifers constant push to defund and close Planned Parenthood locations. Women who do not have access to birth control and become pregnant may have no other options than to carry the baby to term or participate in dangerous under-the-table procedures.
According to Time, “The number of women who visited their doctor to discuss intrauterine devices (IUDs), a form of long-acting reversible contraception, rose nearly 19 percent after Donald Trump was elected as President of the United States.”
Though I have been fortunate enough to access affordable birth control pills since the moment I needed them, I too considered an IUD at one point. In fact, I actually had an IUD for about five months. My experience with an IUD was awful, but that’s not to say that yours would be too. For many women, an IUD is the best option and works well with their bodies. Me? Not so much.
When I first had my IUD inserted last summer, I was in serious pain for the entire day afterward. I had cramps worse than any before, and the process itself was a lot like shoving a hook of stinging acid into my lady bits. Too much information, maybe, but I want women to know what I didn’t when I made my decision.
The IUD I had was Paragard. It lasts 10 years and can be removed by a healthcare professional at any time. According to its website, “Paragard is a “T” shaped device made of soft, flexible plastic and copper… [it] is over 99 percent effective and completely hormone free.”
The hormone free aspect originally attracted me to Paragard. In case you missed my article about reusable menstrual products (RUMPs), I’m really picky when it comes to putting chemicals up in my business. Plus, Paragard, unlike other IUD options, allowed me to keep my period every month.
A classmate once told me that she loves getting her period because it is when she feels most connected to her body. I thought she was crazy at the time, but after I switched to RUMPs, I can see the appeal.
As much as RUMPs allowed me to appreciate my period, switching from pills to Paragard made me want to rip out my own uterus and hurl it off an interstate bridge. The cramps were excruciating. I’ve never been a cramper, and the shock of the stabs and blows to my loins pushed me often to the point of staying in bed for hours on end.
At my lowest point, I needed my boyfriend to help me change my clothes and wait on standby to take me to the ER in case it came to that.
I can almost feel some people rolling their eyes as they read my account of cramping, but I’m a relatively tough person and this was easily the worst pain I have ever felt in my life (much worse than the process of inserting the IUD). Enough about the pain, though, how about the shed uterus lining itself? It was heavy, so so heavy.
According to the Centre for Menstrual Cycle and Ovulation Research, an average cycle is six days and, “The usual amount of blood loss per period is 10 to 35 ml.”
To put that in simpler terms, one soaked tampon or pads holds about 5 ml. My period has always been on the heavy side, but my IUD pushed me out of being on the heavy side into a new realm of bloody obesity.
With the IUD, my period easily hit 75 ml in just one day. Again, probably too much information, but this is a natural part of life and women need to know what they’re getting into with birth control.
Aside from cramping and a heavy flow, the IUD did what it was meant to do, but I could never quite shake the eerie feeling of having a hook with strings attached to it dangling through my reproductive hallway. You’re going to need to do a monthly check for your strings by the way, so I’d recommend getting really comfortable with the idea of that process.
Basically, the IUD wasn’t right for me. This is another horror story to add to the list of forums you’ve found reproductive health information on, but honestly, just talk to your doctor. They’ll know what will and won’t work for you.
I wanted so badly to love my IUD; I saw it as a freeing device and a step toward independence from medication and daily pills. However, the fact of the matter is I got it removed because it didn’t work for me. But it didn’t have to.
I am blessed with the insurance to pay for an option that works for me, but many women are not that lucky. I would hate to be stuck in the position of either suffering through an IUD or risking potential pregnancy. It’s not a fair choice and, as women, we shouldn’t have to make it.
Planned Parenthood and the Affordable Care Act are crucial for so many women when it comes to reproductive and sexual health, not to mention other basic women’s health procedures and screenings. I urge you to consider speaking up for the people whose voices have been overlooked in the attacks for and against Planned Parenthood, regarding only one part of the many services it provides.
