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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Not to want to "beg" a doctor for my choice of contraception?

46 replies

WelshMaenad · 02/08/2012 20:43

went to the FPC tonight - so glam. We've been using condoms since smallest dc was born and I'm fed up with them. Did my research before I went to have done idea of the best option for me. Have had a copper coil before, which was alright, but made me bleED like a stuck pig. Can't take the combined pill got medical reasons. Don't want POP, I'm too scatty to remember to take it. Didn't really want depo because I'm fat enough already. Not really wanting my arm sliced up.

So, I thought the nuvaring or mirena would be good, so I asked. Was told they can't prescribe the nuvaring, only my doctor can. Doctors receptionist sent me to FPC, so that all seems like a massive waste of tine. Asked about mirena. Was told they font really give it any more, and I can have a copper coil instead. Explained haemorrhaging issues. Was told I could be swabbed for coil insertion, and would have to come back during my period, see the doctor and "plead my case" for the mirena, but as they're do expensive she might refuse me one and insist on putting in s copper one instead.

Wtf? If it's the best choice for me, why do I have to put my case forward like I'm facing a parole board? Why should I be fobbed off with a method that doesn't suit me? Am I being a princess to be a bit narked here? I just want to be able to shag my husband without fucking around with rubbers, fgs

OP posts:

VolAuVent · 02/08/2012 21:29

YANBU. Why on earth should you have to "plead your case"? You're an adult, entitled to make your own choices about contraception. How ridiculous of them.

hettiebull · 02/08/2012 22:05

How odd - they are falling over themselves dishing them out here. But before you do, have a search for the Mirena "Bastard" thread on AIBU and you might change your mind...

tinkertitonk · 02/08/2012 22:38

Choose what you want. And pay for it yourself.

HmmThinkingAboutIt · 02/08/2012 22:58

Just so you know, not all POP pills have to be taken in the small 2hr time window. Cerazette is the same as the combined pill in the fact you have a 12hr margin of error, which makes it a lot easier to take.

I can't take the combined pill for medical reasons, and I found I was hopeless with other POP pills - it was a total nightmare to get right, especially if I went on holiday. But Cerazette suits me.

Maybe that gives you another option you might consider...

Original poster

WelshMaenad · 02/08/2012 23:10

Hmmm I would still forget it! I'm a nightmare. But a self aware one.

I'm not sure why I should be expected to pay for an established method if contraception that thousands if other women are offered free of charge, either.

OP posts:

lastnerve · 02/08/2012 23:15

God I bled to the point of developing anaemia with the implant and got pg on the pill so I'm looking at the coil argh! who'd be a woman.

CelstialNavigation · 02/08/2012 23:42

"Every other hormonal contraception has worked by turning me into such a psycho that no one would ever get close enough to sleep with me"

that would be me too, PickleSarnie, sounds foolproof!

oldraver · 03/08/2012 00:18

They are not 'so expensive'...ok compared to a coper coil of £10-20 they are but I think its a very cheap price to pay for 5 years contraceptive. Mirena isnt for me, but its not like it costs £1000's

ibizagirl · 03/08/2012 08:08

OP stand your ground! It should be your choice seeing as its your body!! Reminds me a bit of my gp i used to see. Saw him about contraception and i was asking about different things so i chose injection in bum. He was very reluctant to let me have anything at all. He is Egyptian and said to me "well my beliefs are probably different to yours so you know how i feel about it". What?? "and the best way to not get pregnant is to not have sex". Great. Lovely. I did have the injection and it was fine but never saw that gp again. I prefer a lady gp now if i need to go.

Freshletticialongjump · 03/08/2012 09:14

Strange. I'm in west Wales and our doctors use Mirena as first choice here. Best thing ever invented as far as I'm concerned.

RevoltingPeasant · 03/08/2012 09:38

ibizagirl !!!! I hope you complained! Why the effety-eff should you have to listen to his 'beliefs' in a professional consultation???

OP can you go to a different GP? Like, a different practice? Or it might be worth going private. Personally I would never in a bazillion years have hormonal contraception but if you want it to help with periods and you want a specific kind, you should have it. I really hate the weird 'gratitude' relationship some HCPs encourage, where you are supposed to be deferential just to get them to do their job.

anyadvice01 · 03/08/2012 15:43

I would nto beg, I would demand a mirena if thta is what you want. they cannot force you to have medication that does nto work for you. make a formal complaint and involve PALs if need be.

MarysBeard · 03/08/2012 15:58

Surely it's cheaper than five year's supply of the Pill?

I had to talk my doctor round to me having copper coil instead of Mirena, she wanted me to have Mirena, but I did some research and found that the same synthetic hormones are used as in Microgynon, which I had a massive problem with in my 20s. And anyway the whole point of the coil for me was to stop messing with my hormones as I think 20 years of the Pill is enough really.

Itchywoolyjumper · 03/08/2012 20:49

Who did you talk to at the FPC? They don't sound very professional or all that well trained.
No one should insist that you have a coil fitted that you don't want to have, at worst, without proper consent it could constitute assault.
You've considered the options and the best one for you is the Mirena, it would be really bad practice to deny you this, especially if there are no medical contraindications.

Some one up thread suggested going straight to the doctor to discuss this. I think that's probably the best way forward.
If your not getting what you need from them, though, you can try the Family Planning Association website, they've got a find a clinic tool on the home page which might be helpful.

silverdollarqueen · 03/08/2012 21:13

I think you have it the wrong way round, it's copper coils they are trying to phase out because of ectopic pregnancy risks. Someone may have already said this but I didn't read replies.
Mirena is the hormonal one. Dr's get paid for every one they insert so they are quite enthusiastic about them.

Original poster

WelshMaenad · 03/08/2012 21:19

Nope, I definitely don't have it wrong. Nurse kept pressing me towards copper coil and I kept explaining that I have HAD one, and it made my periods awful. She then suggested I 'ham it up' when telling the de about the awful periods, to 'sway' her.

OP posts:

2rebecca · 03/08/2012 21:35

Family planning doctors get paid per session as they are salaried so don't get any financial incentive to prescribe particular methods.
GPs do get paid for coil insertion but that is to compensate for the time taken to insert a coil (longer than a pill consultation usually) and the sterilisation and purchasing of the instruments to insert it. Inserting coils also requires more training than prescribing pills.
There is no financial incentive to insert a mirena over a copper coil. Mirenas are more expensive but compared to a GPs drug budget the amount is peanuts.

RancerDoo · 03/08/2012 22:35

Silver dollar,am pretty sure it's Mirena has the ectopic risk ( tis why I won't have one)

wankpants · 03/08/2012 22:40

I am terrified of coils with all the painful stories on here and in RL.

When will they hurry up and invent shit for men that involves implants / injections / hormone pills / foreign bodies shoved up their wangs etc etc?

TapirBackRider · 04/08/2012 04:53

Yasmin is not recommended for use by the NHS in Scotland because of cost, but can still be prescribed in certain circumstances.

PickleSarnie · 04/08/2012 09:14

I wish doctors would remain impartial and focus on the needs of their patients instead of any believes they might hold.

When I asked mine ( I was there for a different reason) about what DH would need to do to get a vasectomy arranged, he said that he wouldn't recommend it because, although he wants one now, things might change. I might die for example and he would want children with someone else and that he would " just put me on the coil". This all said to his pregnant, non-dead wife. And with such a flippant assumption that I would just go on the coil as he said without me having any say in it. I'm 36 and DH is 39 so I'm.not sure at what point we are considered responsible enough to make our own decisions about our bodies.

This thread has at least made me feel that at least its not just my gp that's an idiot!

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