‘All women should be offered pain relief for coil fitting’

[mrsgrealish69]

I’ve just read a news story about a lot of women finding coil fittings painful and traumatic (certainly was the case for me a decade ago) I think naga munchetty said on the radio or in an interview somewhere that it was an excruciating experience for her.
I’ve seen an NHS response that apparently guidelines state women are offered appropriate pain relief for a fitting. Does anyone know what they mean by this?

I was advised to take a paracetamol beforehand, is this what they are referring to?

I can’t remember mine hurting when I got it in but I remember being in agony afterwards.

I’m someone with a high pain threshold generally and definitely felt that I needed more than just 2 paracetamol afterwards

So to answer your question it should be offered before and discussed before.

So if fitting and removal are so horrific why do women not opt for the implant under the skin? That's put in and removed under local.

I didn’t want the side effects associated with that type of hormonal contraception, I had the copper coil so hormone-free and a completely different option to the implant. It worked really well once the actual procedure was done.

Mine didn't bother me, not sure if this is more because I'm used to being in constant horrible pain from a chronic health condition. My doctor was very clear it's usually painful, she does a lot of them. She was surprised it didn't hurt for me. I was advised to take paracetamol and ibuprofen before hand, but my doctor didn't expect this to stop the associated pain. Just felt a bit rummagey to me.

I tried having one fitted and it was the second worst pain I'd ever encountered (after my CS).

No pain relief was offered. No advice was given for pain relief before the appointment.

The doctor said it was probably because my cervix had never been opened. Dunno if this is BS.

I've been on the pill ever since.

Pretty much all contraception is shit for me. I've also had an implant and I bled constantly for 3 months before getting it taken out. I never got pregnant because I was always bleeding and in pain so DH kept a respectful distance. So it worked, in a way.

I'm convinced the boffins who come up with contraception are not female. They can't be.

The implant didn’t suit me, so I went for the coil. Have had two.

I also got given the “lunch hour procedure” cast off about how easy it was. I can’t believe I fell for it TWICE

Fuck me. What a painful bloody procedure. The anaesthetic spray I had on the first one triggered some kind of spasm! The doctor continued to be dismissive, like “this shouldn’t really happen” while I was writhing around like some flapping fish.

I don’t know how I got home (40 minute walk) without chundering.

Second one… reassured Id probably just had a bad experience… no pain relief, sweated and swore my way through it, then nearly passed out at the wheel driving home.

I can’t believe they let you drive away from these things!!

This thread has just reminded me to start a thread about the book I just bought about medicine’s treatment of women.

I would love an out of sync book club in it if anyone cares to join me.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/feminism/4296460-The-Lady-s-Handbook-For-Her-Mysterious-Illness-by-Sarah-Ramey

ON it^

First time it was painful but really nothing I couldn’t cope with or felt the need for assistance with (period pain and like I’d been kicked up the fanny).

Second time I didn’t even realise it’d been put in… I asked when it was going to be inserted & she said it already had.

I feel for people who find the pain levels intolerable but can’t really identify. Maybe it’s because I always had agonising periods and back to back labours- my pain threshold is probably comparatively high as a result.

I found it hugely painful and was offered nothing at all, just told "oh, you've had two births with only gas and air, you'll be fine". I was not, although it wasn't as bad as some people's experiences on here

I’ve had 2 fitted and both were absolute agony - I only had the second fitted because it was after a vaginal birth and I was told it would most likely be much easier. The doctor also gave me Naproxen (I think it was) to take an hour beforehand - it was still worse than labour and I nearly passed out both times.
I really wouldn’t want to put off anyone thinking of having one fitted, but I actually wish I’d been more prepared for how painful it could be as it was traumatic.

It's no worse than a smear though is it? I had to have a uterine biopsy before I could book the coil and that did hurt, but placing the coil was just the usual discomfort from the expandy thing.

She did get the something snagged on my cervix on the way back out and yes, it hurt, but it didn't keep hurting - and judging by the colour of her face I think I got over it way quicker than she did!

I've seen comments above with 'you're part of the problem if you say it didn't hurt much' and I absolutely reject that opinion. My experience is absolutely as valid as yours.

What matters is recognition that different people have different experiences, and making space for that. So if you find smear tests unbearable, take painkillers before you have a coil fitted.

@MuckyPlucky

First time it was painful but really nothing I couldn’t cope with or felt the need for assistance with (period pain and like I’d been kicked up the fanny).

Second time I didn’t even realise it’d been put in… I asked when it was going to be inserted & she said it already had.

I feel for people who find the pain levels intolerable but can’t really identify. Maybe it’s because I always had agonising periods and back to back labours- my pain threshold is probably comparatively high as a result.

That or sometimes for whatever reason other people just experience more pain when getting it done

It's no worse than a smear though is it?

Smears vary too, though, don’t they? I’ve had one that was agony.

Ok, reading more experiences I guess I'm on the edge of the experience curve. I walked away from an ablation under local and nurses seemed impressed by that...

It's no worse than a smear though is it? Hahaha it was for me. Like 20x worse.

I had my first one pre-children and the doctor was wonderful, went really slowly and explained everything. It took about 20-30 minutes and although uncomfortable on some occasions it didn’t hurt.

With my second one (post having a baby but I’d had a c-section) it hurt so much that I was actually crying. It took about 30 seconds so it was obviously just shoved up there and it was truly horrific.

My GP now wants me to have another one because of my horrendous periods but not one single part of me wants to have it based on the experience of having my second one inserted.

@MuckyPlucky please don’t imply it’s women with a different or lower pain threshold than yourself that find it painful. That’s incredibly condescending. There’s nothing wrong with my pain threshold, but I wasn’t made aware at all that it could be a painful procedure and I can assure you my cervix going into spasm was not anything to do with my pain tolerance.

We should be offered anaesthetic to the cervix in my opinion (either gel or injected or both) for both fitting and removal, just as I was before a huge portion of my cervix was cut away when I had CIN3. It can be absolutely excruciating having them fitted and it is not a pain you can brace against.

The problem is that old male doctors are teaching young male doctors that it ‘shouldn’t’ hurt (thus perpetuating the ludicrous idea that women who can’t cope are being dramatic, weak or hysterical) and probably also that pain relief costs the NHS time and money in supplies and longer appointments.

I’ll never get over reading on Caitlin Moran’s thread how a woman having a hysteroscopy, an incredibly painful (not uncomfortable as medical literature insists upon referring to it as) procedure, was given a lemon scented tissue to smell, in lieu of pain relief. WTAF.

To whip out the old belief, if men had to produce children and endure these procedures, you can bet your left ovary they’d be done in utmost comfort, either asleep or numb from the neck down…

I've always had local anaesthetic applied then checked before anything happens, and when I had one done at the local hospital (the joy of a referral to the complicated coil clinic), they were marvellous and it was in before I realised that they were doing anything.

@chocolateorangeinhaler

I had my implant taken out because it gave me acne for the first time in my life and I basically had bleeding/spotting all the time. Around 40 days was the longest continuous period of consecutive days' bleeding.

Mini-pill (I can't have combined pill) made me gain weight and lose my libido, but at least then I didn't have debilitating periods.

I'm now off the pill as will be ttc in the next few months so am looking forward to dreadful periods and more acne. Hooray!

I’ve seen comparisons to how everyone is sedated for a colonoscopy.

I’ve had a colonoscopy without pain relief or sedation, and it was far more bearable than my second coil fitting.

I say that, incidentally, as someone who didn’t mind the fitting too much but had to be referred to a gynae to have it removed as it went missing. (A male surgeon had cut the strings too short. Yeah, thanks mate 🙄)

The consultant found the strings without telling me and wrenched it out without warning. I nearly hit the ceiling. They said it was the ‘kindest’ thing to do. The pain was insane.

To whip out the old belief, if men had to produce children and endure these procedures, you can bet your left ovary they’d be done in utmost comfort, either asleep or numb from the neck down…

So very true.