How exactly does the non hormonal coil work?

[Baggypussy]

Hi.

Can anyone help me with a question related to my non hormonal IUD? I have been Googling this, but cannot find the information I am looking for.

Sorry if TMI- but my periods have been much, much heavier since having this put in (about 2 years ago), which is fine, as I expected it.

But some months, it's much worse than others. This has got me thinking..could it be that those months, it's because there was actually a fertilized egg, which was unable to implant itself?..and if so, does this mean that in a sense I am experiencing a sort of self-induced miscarriage? If this is the case, I'm not sure that this is a method of contraception which I am comfortable with.

If anyone could shed any light on this, it would be much appreciated.

TIA.

I've had 2 copper coils, the last being around 10 years ago.

My understanding was always that the coil made it difficult for a pregnancy to embed itself in the womb - I was very young at the time so didn't give it much thought but have to say it doesn't sit easily with me now.

I don't know if what you're experiencing is the loss of an embryo but, again I didn't give it much thought at the time, now I look back I had similar months to you are having.

I eventually gave up on having a coil mainly due to the horrific periods, they got far far worse when I had a coil in.

An IUD either stops sperm reaching the egg or stops a fertilised egg implanting. Personally, I would class the latter as you describe or a pre-implantation abortion, and that's the main reason I won't consider a coil. The Family Planning Association says they do not cause abortion, so I guess by their definition an abortion means stopping a pregnancy after implantation.

Interestingly when I was reading up on it several years ago, the research on exactly how the contraceptive pill works is not as clearcut as I assumed it must be (and no I was not getting this off bonkes pro-life websites!!). There seems to be some evidence that ovulation still occurs with that too, which I had always assumed it stopped. I must look it all up again and see if there's any new info.

Thank you. General consensus seems to be as I feared. I will check with The Family Planning Association, but I think it's got to go. I really don't like the idea of potentially losing an embryo.

Article on contraceptive pill and post-fertilisation effects. It's not thought to be by any means the main mecahnism of action, but it is at the very least a possibility.