‘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?

@PiccalilliChilli re being told it was because of your cervix - this is what they told me. She used the same voice as you'd use to a 5-year old to say 'it's because you've never had a baby!' And I managed to say through mooing 'yes and that's why I'm here, I don't bloody want one'

The reason I got bullied (yes, I will use the term bullied) was because at age 29 I had a pulmonary embolism caused by the contraceptive pill. I can’t go back on the pill nor use the implant, so it was sold to me as a bright and breezy-no-fuss-you-won’t even-feel-it procedure. I was literally a week out of hospital at a GP follow up appointment when they started pushing it.

I also think the argument between those who were in agony and those who found it a walk in the park, to be moot.

Who gives a shit about apparent pain thresholds? The point is, we should be offered anaesthetic. Whether you choose to have it or not is up to you.

@DameFanny with all gentleness, I think what women are saying on here is that it is worse than a smear. I've had 5+ smears and they were incomparable. Coincidentally, the doctor who failed to fit my coil also performed a smear at the same time. She took an age and failed to collect enough cells, which had never happened before or since.

Completely respectful of your own experience but saying that something should be the case isn't it the same as it actually being so.

Agree with PPs , if men had to have coils or smears, this wouldn't even be questioned. They'd get pain relief.

It also pisses me off when some heroes pipe up with "It only takes a second, it doesn't hurt". Just makes them twats for generalising something that is a completely individual experience.

Smears used to be pain free for me. Post kids, they hurt.

It also depends on the position of your uterus. The kindly lady GP fitting mine didn't check mine properly and jammed the coil through the wall of my uterus putting me into shock. It was fucking agony. Yes I know that wasn't how it was supposed to go but I might not have been in so much pain if I'd been offered pain relief beforehand.

When I had my shitty coil removed from my body under GA in hospital, I politely declined the consultants offer to out one in for me under GA at a later date. I'm utterly fed up of being prodded and poked down there now. Dignity is gone.

It's utterly shit what women have to put up with.

I was told it might be uncomfortable. Like many women, it was actually agony and I was close to passing out. I was sent on my merry way and luckily hadn't driven myself there as I would have been a total liability on the road in the state of shock I was in.

It makes me really angry that women are expected to endure medically induced pain, when it should be possible in most cases to avoid it.

I've been putting off changing mine and will probably just have it removed and not replaced as I won't go through that again.

I've never given birth and I had a coil fitted about 7 weeks ago.

I was given something to insert (softens the cervix?) and a Xanax. I found the procedure agonising, to be honest. I've never felt pain like it before. The doctor said it would be like "bad period cramps" which I doubt okay, I can handle that, but it wasn't anything like that - it was a much sharper, deeper pain. I passed out immediately afterwards because my blood pressure dropped so low. I lay in bed curled up in pain for two days after.

I wouldn't have gotten it done if I knew how much it would hurt, it really was kind of traumatizing for me.

Oh and I've given birth three times with gas and air. I'd rather give birth again than have a coil fitted!

Zealois, are you still in pain now? That sounds awful, very similar to my experience.

I found it MUCH worse than a smear! I was in pain for days. Taking painkillers beforehand wasn't enough to stop the pain of having it put in.

I can't see any good reason for not offering women something stronger. Some people not finding it that painful is irrelevant. What's the downside of offering? That some people who wouldn't have needed it are given some extra pain relief? Surely that is massively outweighed by the advantage of women who would otherwise have been in horrible pain being spared it.

Looking at the smear test example - I don't find them particularly bad, but if lots of women did and there was a question about potentially offering pain relief routinely, of course I'd say yes. Why wouldn't you?

It doesn't matter if it's down to the skill of the person doing it if lots of women find it painful - that implies that even if it is because of lack of skill (which I don't agree with, based on the nature of the procedure), then enough practitioners are sufficiently unskilled that pain relief should be offered as standard.

I can't see any point in arguing that because you didn't find it painful, other people shouldn't be offered pain relief. It actually seems like an unkind and potentially harmful argument to make.

Mine got lost and so I had to go to the sexual health clinic to get it removed. I was offered a local anaesthetic, which I took as the first time was so awful. Sadly, the anaesthetic only worked for the cervix and not for the uterus, which took a bit of a bashing when the coil got stuck and had to be hauled out. It was really painful and traumatic.

There are examples of minimising on here from women suggesting those who found it painful had a lower pain threshold than themselves - is just like to point out that I live with a chronic pain condition and am well used to pain and coping with it. But the coil fitting and removal was horrific.

My first one (post birth) didn't hurt much at all but the second one...a different story. I am so glad this has come to light as I was offered no pain relief (done at the doctors surgery) and the female GP fitting it made a comment to me about being too tense - that's because I was in a lot of pain but that made me feel like I was being a bit ridiculous so I didn't say anything

It should be offered. The problem is unless you've had it done before how do you know whether it's going to hurt you or not? I had mine done without any pain relief ( I didn't know that it was something that could hurt, I expected it to be similar to a smear test and for me it was). Since then friends have said they had a horrendous time so it is very individual

@DeathByMascara

Mine got lost and so I had to go to the sexual health clinic to get it removed. I was offered a local anaesthetic, which I took as the first time was so awful. Sadly, the anaesthetic only worked for the cervix and not for the uterus, which took a bit of a bashing when the coil got stuck and had to be hauled out. It was really painful and traumatic.

There are examples of minimising on here from women suggesting those who found it painful had a lower pain threshold than themselves - is just like to point out that I live with a chronic pain condition and am well used to pain and coping with it. But the coil fitting and removal was horrific.

My experience was similar, everything felt pulled and wrenched for ages afterwards. Only I wasn’t offered any local anaesthetic for my cervix. It was absolutely horrific. So much so, the consultant was convinced that from how brutal she’d had to be to get it out, that I was going to pass out and she wouldn’t let me leave. I didn’t pass out, but I was very shocked.

My first - before I had kids was very painful. I’ve since had around three more, I don’t find it painful personally since birth. However, some of what you are reporting sounds horrendous. I’m so sorry you’ve been through that and I hope more relief is offered in future.

Re a colonoscopy - I also didn’t have sedation for this (though it is routinely offered). It was far less invasive in my opinion than a coil going in, it was more like an internal pregnancy scan, and certainly far less traumatic than my ex-husband’s attempts at encouraging me to take it up the you know what.

I was advised to take paracetamol prior to my appointment which unsurprisingly did absolutely nothing. I was in agony throughout the procedure and passed out later in the day. There’s no way on Earth a man would be expected to undergo anything like this without pain relief!

I believe I was advised to take a paracetamol just before. I didn't because I'm fine with pain. Both fitting it and taking it out were no big deal to me. But I agree that more pain relief options should be available to those that request them.

That said, from a practical perspective, I suspect that gas and air may be tricky for a GP or a standalone sexual health service to administer (particularly if it's one that doesn't do terminations).

@flutteredby

Zealois, are you still in pain now? That sounds awful, very similar to my experience.

I'm sorry you had a bad experience too.

I had sharp cramps (again very different to period cramps) for about 3 weeks after, and now 2 months later, I get the pains randomly but thankfully they don't last as long now. I'm trying to work up the courage to go back and get it checked to make sure it's all okay.

After I literally passed out from the shock, the doctor said "it's nothing compared to labour at least!" which I found completely unhelpful...

Anecdotally, I’ve noticed more women are getting the coil than ten years ago.

Have the numbers actually gone up?

Is there a reason coils are chosen over the implant? They’re completely pain free. They give a local anaesthetic

I had a mirena fitted at a sexual health clinic and it was uncomfortable going in but not agony i was advised to take ibuprofen prior. I guess it varies person up person but absolutely agree women's experiences are minimised.

I'm one of the lucky ones who didn't find it more than a bit uncomfortable.

But they shouldn't be working with my experience as the norm, because that will mean women suffering during coil fittings - if they assume everyone will need pain relief, and give it to them all, then the women who wouldn't have found it painful will have had a bit of pain relief they didn't need - which is way better than women being in pain that could have been avoided.

@sandgrown

I don’t remember it hurting much . Maybe it depends on the skill of the fitter ?

No it depends on your cervix and reproductive organ anatomy. If you have given birth vaginally it may be slightly easier/less painful . But there again it might not. Everyone has a different anatomy and everyone will have a different experience around pain and which part of the procedure they feel pain.

It wasn't great but taking it out was much worse than childbirth

Dr did mine at a sexual health clinic. I was about 20/21. It really, really hurt. I wasn't offered anything for the pain or advised to take anything beforehand.

I breathed through it, she said well done at the end and that she was surprised I hadn't screamed?

Odd comment from her I thought, I was too embarrassed to make a sound. Never mind scream!

And getting it out was another story. 3 different nurses had a go, couldn't get it, they then let 2 drs in for a few goes each. It was horrendously painful and traumatic. Never again.