To think I should be able to get a coil before January?

[CrackersDontMatter]

I’ve recently had a baby. She’s definitely our last. DH has decided to get a vasectomy but in the meantime and also as a back up I have opted for a copper coil. I know that they are a marmite thing but I’m willing to give it a go. The GP advised me to self refer to our local sexual health clinic (there are 3 locally, all operating under the same service). I have called several times and not been able to get through. I finally got to speak to someone and was told that they had no current appointments but the next batch were due to be released that afternoon.

I asked what time to call back and was told “after 1pm or you can book online”. Having not been able to get back through I tried to book online and the next appointment it was offering was 13th January! Is this normal? A four month wait? The GP was unwilling to prescribe anything hormonal.

Obviously I’ll keep trying to actually talk to someone but wtf? Four months??

I was quoted a similar wait time at my local clinic. Went to a walk in clinic (at the same place) the next morning and got it fitted then and there. Could be worth a try?

Ex had his vasectomy a week after calling his GP, didn't even go in for an appointment. Try that too?

I've had three coils now and the only wait has been finding an appropriate date between periods, having the STD and pregnancy tests, waiting for the results etc. It's a bit of a logistical nightmare but never had to wait very long.

My GP won’t fit one until 6 months post partum even though the leaflet she gave me says they can be fitted within weeks of giving birth. Would January be 6 months pp for you?

Try other places. Also see if they have walk in appointments. I got an appointment for my copper coil in about 3 weeks at my local clinic.

I work in sexual health though and the clinic where I work is very busy. There is a similar appointment booking system and it’s a nightmare. Blame all the cuts in sexual health funding!

My OH didn't have a long wait for a vasectomy, so maybe do down that route rather than the coil route and use condoms in the meantime

I think I had a 3 week wait from consultation, so 4 months does sound like an extraordinary wait! Consultation was done and appointment was booked at the local hospital GUM clinic. I would definitely call again and query!

I had a 6 week wait for the initial appointment then another 6 week wait for the fitting appointment, we live in an area where it is not difficult to get doctors appointments but the sexual health clinics staff are spread over a wide area and cover many places each week so can take a while to have an appointment.

As the clinic is only held for one evening a week for 3 hours in my home town to get the original appointment in my home town would have been a twelve week wait so I went to a town about 15 miles away and only had to wait 6 weeks. Another 6 week wait for fitting but the very good staff at the clinic said to phone up on the day of the clinic in my home town to ask if anyone had cancelled. They are on a Monday so I waited until after the bank holiday as they were closed then and got an appointment the first week I tried for a cancellation.

To get it done in my home town would have taken about 24 weeks, so nearly 6 months, but by using the clinic in a nearby town and getting a cancellation in my home town it only took 8 weeks.

Can you try to get a cancellation or try a different clinic? There might be other options. (Oh, and the pill wasn't good for me but my doctor agreed to prescribe it for me until I got the coil fitted as she was happy I was able to deal with it until I got my appointment and I was happy to take it for a short while as I knew there was an end to taking it in sight, helped me cope until I didn't need it anymore. Would that be an option for you?)

I had to wait 12 weeks after giving birth, but that was because one of the nurses at the GP surgery was trained in doing them. Don't know what wait times would be like elsewhere but do call them to see if there are any sooner appts.

I was able to get mine fitted the same day at a walk in at a clinic that also did regular appointments (which were very hard to get). In and out fairly quickly apart from urine sample for pregnancy test (I can’t for the life of me pee on command no matter how much I’ve drunk)

Thank you for replying everyone, it does seem hit and miss. January would take me to 6 months pp but entirely coincidentally as the online form didn't ask anything about that. There are clinics over five sites, three of them fit coils. Of those three, one is open every day and the other two open one day each.

It just seems bonkers that the GP is pushing the coil but then access to it is poor. I'd be happy to use a hormonal method while I wait but the GP won't prescribe me one due to my age and weight. In the past I've used the patch and got on great with it.

We are using condoms at the moment but in all honesty, it's making us miserable. I absolutely do not want to be pregnant again, my last pregnancy took a massive toll on my body and I was then very unwell during and after the birth. A condom came off inside me last week and I just can't relax now worrying that I'll get pregnant. If I did, I'd absolutely want to keep the baby but I genuinely believe that doing so might kill me.

An unplanned pregnancy would mean either putting myself through an unwanted abortion or a very high risk pregnancy and then c-section. I've had the same very rare complication twice - in my first and then last births. I've also had four miscarriages and I'd never want to go through that again either. I'm genuinely too scared to enjoy PIV sex at all at the moment. There's no pressure from DH, he feels the same as I do and we have fallen into a sort of unspoken agreement that PIV is off the table for now. I just had hoped that a coil would put an end to that and we could get back to normal.

Sorry for waffling, I just wanted to share why I was so disappointed that the wait would be so long. Hopefully the wait for the snip will be shorter and until one of us is sorted we'll just keep doing what we're doing. Thank you all so much for sharing your experiences, I really appreciate it.