IUD birth control and being called "dramatic"

[FlowerTomb]

I’ve seen yet more posts (mainly on Tiktok, Twitter etc) about the pain involved in having IUD birth control coils fitted. I don’t have one and don’t plan on ever getting one, but I’m just absolutely gobsmacked that not that many doctors seem to be taking this seriously. I’ve seen time and time again that no pain medication is offered, that it’s being sold as “painless” and when spoken about with the doctor, the result is that you’re called “dramatic”.

I don’t actually know anyone (to my knowledge) that has one, so I’m just wondering about others’ opinions really. Is anyone else very shocked (and pissed off!) about this, or is this just part and parcel with women’s health not being taken seriously and this whole situation is very unsurprising to the majority?

[JaninaDuszejko]

When nitrous oxide was first discovered it was used as a recreational drug for nearly 50 years before it was used as an analgesic even though it's pain relieving qualities were known about. We can blame Plato, fortitude is a cardinal virtue and that idea of suffering pain being virtuous is found throughout European history. Every doctor I know socially is quite hard-hearted about pain and I suspect it's partly training and partly a way of dealing with their job. Female pain is particularly dismissed I think because of the link with mental heath in some female dominated disease, we're all considered hysterical.

[Myrrhine46]

I actually did taken Valium before getting my coil fitted.

I had a dentist appointment just before my coil fitting and have a dentist phobia so was prescribed Valium by my GP.

I’d read up on the coil and the “mild discomfort” it could cause. I’ve never had an issue with pain in smears so I wasn’t worried at all. I went into the coil appointment feeling very floaty and relaxed from the valium…. But the pain took my breath away. It was horrific and so unexpected.

[mmmmmmghturep]

Ive never had an IUD fitted but my last smear eight years ago.....i nearly hit the ceiling with the pain. I was 41 at the time. There is no way i can have another one without a local anasthetic

[LadyMonicaBaddingham]

I'm on my third Mirena now and, apart from a bit of menstrual pain-like cramping the day after fitting, I've never had any troubles. Certainly not this 'worse than childbirth 'pain people have told me about. I'm quite relaxed about the process though (had so many internal examinations with DC1 that I began to feel like a glove puppet) so I wonder if this discomfort is possibly to do with anxiety/tension. In any case, it needs to be managed better by HCPs and women should be left to suffer as they apparently are.

[MrOllivander]

@LadyMonicaBaddingham

I'm on my third Mirena now and, apart from a bit of menstrual pain-like cramping the day after fitting, I've never had any troubles. Certainly not this 'worse than childbirth 'pain people have told me about. I'm quite relaxed about the process though (had so many internal examinations with DC1 that I began to feel like a glove puppet) so I wonder if this discomfort is possibly to do with anxiety/tension. In any case, it needs to be managed better by HCPs and women should be left to suffer as they apparently are.

It's nothing to do with being anxious for me, I've had 4 coils fitted. It hurts me to have them done (no DC)
It's very brief but it is actual pain, and I'm comparing that to dry socket (not painful for me), sciatica resulting in surgery and broken ankles and feet
The pain for me is the equivalent of breaking my ankle - instant and sharp but then vanishes

[iklboo]

I didn't have much pain with mine and the female gynaecologist was fabulous. Having a hysteroscopy (male gynae) was the worst pain I've felt in my entire life.

[cottagegardenflower]

Prior to having children I had one and it was horribly painful.

[Candleabra]

I found it incredibly painful . No pain relief offered.

[KangarooKenny]

I actually laughed when it had been put in, I was expecting to be painful. It wasn’t painful and I’ve had far worse smears.

[Soubriquet]

I found it incredibly painful

The nurse gripped my hand as the doctor said “sharp pinch” and I wondered why. Then holy fuck…it was agonising.

Then I had awful cramps because my body was not happy having this strange thing inserted.

I had to have it out again a few months later because I just wanted reacting well to it.

The doctor didn’t dismiss my pain exactly but I’ve seen many people told they could have had painkillers before the procedure, or even offered a local anaesthetic, which my doctor didn’t do

[Sealwright]

I've been thinking about getting one fitted. I had no idea they use a cervical clamp. I feel so ignorant about this. Why aren't we as women better informed about this, so we can make informed choices?

[MrOllivander]

@Sealwright

I've been thinking about getting one fitted. I had no idea they use a cervical clamp. I feel so ignorant about this. Why aren't we as women better informed about this, so we can make informed choices?

It's called a tenaculum, they use it to stabilise the cervix basically (I googled a LOT before I had mine!)
Basically they insert a speculum like a smear test, hold the cervix still, measure/sound your uterus and then insert the IUD
For me the sounding is the worse which was one big period cramp. I've had 4 now, yes it's been sore to insert but I go back for another
I now book with the "awkward patient" clinic (probably has another name like complex insertion) as they're the best, can use more anaesthetic stuff and you get a double appointment

[Badlifeday]

@hellrabbitishere

i was in my twenties when i had mine fitted , childless , i was warned it would possibly be painful and the clinic gave me painkillers to take beforehand , it was painful , but i certainly would never say its on a par or worse than childbirth at all and i dont have a high pain threshold , had bad cramping for a few hours after before it settled down . and after that never had any probs at all , i had another fitted after i had my child and i felt hardly any pain this time , its not a procedure id say warrents a GA maybe a local but no more than that , lets face no one expects to get a GA to have teeth extracted so why for an iud insertion

In olden days, I was given gas (the knock out type) at the dentist to have an extraction.
I think this pain is so variable because so are cervixes. And what your cervix has done in life varies too. I noticed the nurse about to give me a smear would ask if I had children, but two children both born via c section has had no loosening effect on my cervix!
I wouldn't have a coil, since I can barely manage a smear test.

[mmmmmmghturep]

www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-10080407/Wirral-mother-tried-kill-doctor-laughed-birth-injuries.html

[Badlifeday]

That link looks like it's going to be about a woman who tried to kill her doctor - in fact it is about a woman who tries to kill herself.

[readingallthebooks]

@Potatoesdonthavefaces

Maybe it depends on the individual woman's cervix. I had a really painful gynae procedure and the obstetrician told me afterwards that I had a very muscular cervix for a woman of my age. Having given birth since I can confirm that the pain of having my cervix forced open during a procedure was worse than the pain of birth for me.

You might have a point. I felt no pain at all during insertion (when I was 35 after 2 kids) and was told I had a very floppy cervix.

[dottiedodah]

I seem to remember Naga Munchatty ,the BBC presenter speaking out about this.Should be some sort of stronger pain relief offered surely?

[Rubyroseyposey]

I had one nearly 5 years ago, found it no different to a smear. I know all bodies are different but I wonder if the pain comes due to lack of care re inserting it?

[Sweetmotherofallthatisholyabov]

I had it a few weeks ago. I was so nervous because two gp's had talked me through it and I was dreading the pain and thank god it was fine. I have 3dc though.... I think it's luck of the draw though. But it definitely helped that the gp was so upfront and kind. And paracetamol in advance.