Front and back warmth is a good call, I just shuffled the laptop/cat/wheat bag arrangement and it helped! Good call about managing the pain meds, I had chronic back pain for years and know that stuff for other people but forget it for me IYKWIM?
I could do with losing two stone but depo didn't do that to me, I just felt violent- I remember talking to now DH in the kitchen the day I'd had it and telling him to leave the room as all I could think about was plunging the knife I was holding into him! Thankfully I didn't!
Insertion-my GP is someone I trust and she's caring and pragmatic. It went a bit like this:
Bottoms off and onto the couch.
Big light (I think that's almost the thing I hate most about gynae things)
She then used a plastic speculum (which I appreciated, less shocking than metal) and did an manual exam to see which way I tilted/find my cervix. Uncomfortable but didn't take long. I then had to use one of my hands to keep the speculum in place while she assessed the depth and did a little clip to guide the coil in. She didn't spray or swab me with antiseptic as I'd read online (she was gloved and it was all sterile!). She then got the coil out of its pack, inserted it, the arms opened (that was when I felt it) and trimmed the strings. Speculum out knees down. She kept me lying down for a few minutes then sitting up/standing up slowly as it's not unusual to feel faint. I only felt it a bit and wanted to get dressed. She told me to take it easy for the rest of the day, take ibuprofen and reminded me what to watch out for (any odorous discharge, unbearable pain, lost strings and the like) and who to contact at the practice if she's not available so I knew who to talk to who has the most up to date knowledge.
All in all-initial chat, insertion and debrief was 25 mins. And not as horrid as I'd feared.
Hope that's not too much detail.