#iud cramps

[shadowinrw]

Okay. I am very excited for my IUD to eventually stop my period. I am, in fact, ecstatic at the thought that I may not need to spend a fifth of my year in excruciating pain.

I would also like to know when my adjustment period (haha) will be over, because right now, it feels like my mirena is a lonely little tie-fighter and my uterus is the sith lord saying deSTROY it.

Ow ow ow ow ow.

[thekitchenywitch]

Alright I’m so sick of the fact that AFAB people don’t understand their own reproductive system. I have several issues with my own so for my fellow young AFABs:

What is and is not normal:

Normal:

Irregular or unexpected periods: when you first start having your period they typically won’t be regular and you may even have spotting (bleeding between periods) sometimes as an adult

Having an increased amount of discharge before periods: you will typically have discharge when ovulating and it may even happen more often and more heavily in the days proceeding your period. This is in fact normal and you can help protect clothes and underwear by using panty liners

Pain or discomfort during your period IN MODERATION (more later): of course you will have cramps during your periods and of course it’s not going to be easy. However you should definitely learn about pressure points to help with abdominal pain as well as using heat packs and learning what works best for YOU.

Not normal(please keep in mind that this is if these things happen consistently):

Excessive pain/soreness: If you have pain all throughout your period that does not stop or you have pain during intercourse when not on your period talk to your ob/gyn and if your doctor tells you that it’s normal/something you need to get used to, or dismisses it that IS NOT the doctor you need or want.

HEAVY periods: if you are changing pads meant for heavy flow every four-six hours I’m begging you to talk to your doctor, it is not normal or safe to be losing that much blood on a regular basis

(There is more I can put here but I can put them on as I remember)

IUDs:

IUDs are intrauterine devices that look like little plastic Ts. These are a form of contraceptive that are also used to treat things like Endometriosis (a disorder when tissues from your uterine lining sits on the outside of your uterus and ovaries, though it can move to other places in the body). If you have an IUD you or your partner may be able to feel string coming from your cervix out into the vaginal canal. This is normal. However if you feel the plastic connected to this string call your doctor, your IUD may be leaving your uterus and that is not a fun experience.(it’s happened to me.) When your doctor puts in your IUD they will open to your cervix (this does actually hurt) to insert it. Once the IUD is in your uterus you may have irregular periods as the IUD takes a while to work. (I had a 208 day cycle when I first got mine)

PLEASE KEEP IN MIND I AM NOT A DOCTOR THIS IS ALL MY RESEARCH AND EXPERIENCE.

tell me if there is more you’d like to know more about, I will help as best as I can

[honeysteaa]

Been experiencing probably the worst cramps I've ever had this past week and a half ish :))

[unopenablebox]

oh ok i finally looked at my surgeon's report and there are at least two different reasons why i would be having unusually slow recovery relative to the generic postop advice for this surgery. i do kind of wish they'd. mentioned that. but the advice isn't actually different in my case it just seems probably normal that im still having pain a week later rather than mysterious

also on actually researching it more i apparently did in fact qualify as ~~~~diagnostically medically requiring~~~~~ this surgery given various facts rather than from just a commonsense human well-being perspective. still havent heard from hospital billing though so :) we'll find out i guess :)

mostly im just sincerely relieved that my current actions (doing lighter work, taking a bunch of precautions to avoid/minimize pain, complaining frequently in order to receive sympathy) make sense rather than either being a sign something is very wrong or that i am a huge baby who sucks

[bisexualalienss]

truly if cis men had cramps i think they would think they were dying

[rowenabean]

oh dudes. dudes. i am vagueposting but today I saw someone say "prescribing birth control for period pains is bad because they might have underlying cause of period pains like endometriosis or fibroids that need treating"

please listen to me. first line treatment for both endometriosis and fibroids is birth control.

you do NOT want pelvic surgery if you have ANY possibility of avoiding it it is fairly notorious for being one of the worst surgeries for CAUSING chronic pain (spinal surgery is the other) (some people DO need pelvic surgery! That's fine and ok! But you really want to exhaust other options first!)

birth control can have side effects for some people (but is usually safe) and it is not a solution for everyone but it is very actively an appropriate place to start

[lokh]

so periods can give u back pain huh.....

[cyanomys]

Holy shit fuck balls IUDs are a torture device. Writhing around with menstrual cramps so bad I see stars and can’t help but scream into a pillow is not fucking normal.

[meatheadmutt]

why am i having to hold a gun to googles head to show me articles on the long term effects of hormonal birth control on the endocrine system in adult patients who began usage as a teenager

[mountainbirb]

It’s kind of wild that they really just yank out and put back in IUDs with no pain management during the process

Like is there really not a numbing cream or something they can do to make it suck less????

[theiliad]

tmi sorry but friends and I were chatting about birth control and I was saying I love my iud even though I almost passed out when I had it inserted and my friend said she got to be UNCONSCIOUS what why did no one tell me you could get put under

[weirdsociology]

There’s a post on my dash right now that I don’t want to reblog because I don’t want to be fighty or mean, but it’s telling people to go to the doctor if they have heavy flow or bad menstrual cramps, and boy HOWDY do I have some bad news about how that’s gonna go.

I’m not gonna say no one ever gets their issues solved, and not every doctor will treat you badly or tell you it’s normal. But we just don’t know very much about uterus-havin’ in allopathic medicine and if you don’t respond to a few different kinds of hormone therapy/birth control and you’re reluctant to have your uterus removed, you’re kind of shit out of luck.

And don’t get me wrong, if you’re bleeding out every month and incapacitated by cramps, absolutely go to a doctor. Try birth control! Try a vitamin screening panel! Try all the low hanging fruit solutions before you give up, for sure!

Just don’t be surprised when there isn’t a solution. It’s not your doctor’s fault - it’s the way the medical and scientific research system has ignored “women’s” health issues for hundreds of years.

It’s a sad thing to say but unless you get lucky, you’re probably gonna do better with trial and error and Reddit than in a doctor’s office.

[crowned-peony]

I did not sign up for 5 days of pre period

[isadora-b-l-e]

oh…. evil…. phantom period.

[chalkythetalkie]

I've been looking at wedding stuff on pinterest all morning and crying, can you tell what moment of the month i'm about to enter rn

[californiaquail]

today was the first day i didn't take 4-800 mg of ibuprofen for the iud pain but only because i forgot and i did regret it when i went out but it was fine mostly