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Original poster

Copper Coil paranoia... need some reasurance!

65 replies

Ruby2shoes · 27/11/2008 10:12

Ive just had the coil fitted just over a week ago and what an experience that was! I went into cervical shock and found the whole thing quite painful, despite having had a vaginal delivery. Ive had a loop excision on my cervix which would possibly make it more "temperamental".

Anyway I digress - I chose the copper coil as I have done the pill for years and then after my DD tried Depo jab but it completly killed my libido - and turned me into a suicidal axe murderer!!! So now hormones are out and having been off them for a year I feel like "me" again.

But now Ive read all the posts where everyone seems to get P with the coil in... Ive never met anyone in RL who has ! Hence Im holding DP at arms length and very worried even though my GP said it was one of the most effective forms - like the pill.

Am I being silly...?

OP posts:

beckybye1 · 22/05/2009 13:41

Thought I'd add some info for anyone googling the copper coil...from my experience:

Had a copper coil fitted today and it was a bit sore but not as bad as I'd thought at all! Feel absolutely fine now (4 hours later)

For the record, I'm 21 and no kids. Just FYI.

Illhavethisinsize12 · 03/06/2009 14:48

i am so glad i read this, i had mine fitted last week and have bled and been in some pain since. dr has re checked it but all in place, i was told shouldnt have pain after day one but that is obviously not true. thanks

agentcb · 04/06/2009 09:56

I have had the copper coil for just over two weeks now, i posted my last message on the 22nd may if you read that first.

I have had no pain since the day it was fitted apart from a few twinges here and there, but i havent had any bleeding yet either!!

This is a bit worrying, but the nurses told me to wait it out a bit longer and my period should come along, just shows you how everyone is different!!

I have also been getting clear/cloudy discharge every day, it is odourless, so i know i dont have an infection, i have read on the web and been assured by the nurse that it is quite normal to experience non-smelly discharge... Bit of a pain though!!

Anyway, i will let you know when and if i finally come on!!

I cant be pregnant, that would be the complete opposite effect of what i was trying to achieve !! I dont want children just yet !

Illhavethisinsize12 · 05/06/2009 08:59

It's one week today since fitted. Dr has checked it again but am still bleeding, hoe will I know if it's a period if it carries on like this LOL still got period like pains as well. Just want to feel normal again

sooz28 · 05/06/2009 20:33

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

TheYearOfTheCat · 05/06/2009 23:25

Sooz, I wouldn't consider tampons once a coil is fitted tbh.

I got mine fitted about 6 months ago, and I bled for about a month afterwards, with a lot of pain. At one point, I actually called out of hours Dr as I was bleeding so heavily.

Since I have had it fitted, my periods last approx 15 days, although they are no longer painful. Bleeding for half the month is certainly a very good contraceptive.

AbricotsSecs · 05/06/2009 23:27

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

sooz28 · 07/06/2009 09:41

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MamaMuesli · 07/06/2009 10:07

I used to love mine, and then it came out...reassuring in a way because it only came out with a really heavy period and I did therefore notice. I chose to have another one in, but now I too won't let dp anywhere near me, (haven't had it checked yet since insertion) and am preparing to ask him to have a vasectomy earlier than planned. So I know how you feel.

MamaMuesli · 07/06/2009 10:08

sorry that wasn't reassuring at all

Illhavethisinsize12 · 11/06/2009 10:40

had mine for 3 weeks. bled very heavilly and was in loads of pain. had it removed. still bleeding!!!! am going on pill.

Highlander · 11/06/2009 12:43

I've had my copper coil for a year now. i would say it took a good 10 months for my body to settle down. The clinic quote 3-4 months, but most women I know say 8 months is average.

Periods were very heavy for about 8 months, with bleeding beforehand and spotting inbewteen. I felt as if I was only getting 4-5 days that were blood-free.

If your period is heavy enough, you can use tampons for the first couple of days, but not thereafter just in case the cotton sticks to the coil threads.

Cramping etc exactly same as it was before.

Remember, a lot of women who get down about the hevay flow and cramping will have been on the pill for many yerars and won't remember what it's like to be in a natural cycle.

tb · 11/06/2009 16:35

Just seen this so thought I'd add a few words. We'd always decided that when I was 30 DH would have the snip so I could stop the pill. So, there was a pill scare when I was 29 so I had a copper coil fitted. Very little problems, periods not much heavier than when I was on the pill, and in those days I was training 4 times a week finishing a workout with 100 situps - I wasn't mad, just wanted to be in shape before I was 30.

Then some man, it had to be really, decided that the good old copper 7 made it difficult to conceive and my lovely coil was replaced by a gravigard T which I hated. Whenever I did so much as a single situp I had heavy spotting the next day, and had really heavy periods. The practice manager and I decided that we would like to fit the gentleman with a gravigard T sideways, complete with launching mechanism, coated with chilli powder etc.

So, I went back on the pill again. Along came 40, and it sort of hit me that 'if' I had better get a move on. So, stopped taking the pill, was about 5st overweight (undiagnosed underactive thyroid), convinced myself I couldn't get pregnant, and would give it 6 months........had unprotected sex only twice, got pregnant twice, first didn't take properly, and had DD less than 12 months after stopping pill. Scared me witless when I thought of risks taken in an earlier existence.

Stopped bf, tried mini pill which didn't suit, then had Mirena fitted, had a period that lasted nearly a year, it just doesn't suit some people . Then decided that I'd had enough and went back saying I was completely knackered, and threatening to take it out myself if need be, cos my GP protested that they were expensive.....

So, I'd say that the original copper 7 that I had was the best of the lot, might try one again if I can pluck up the courage to ask for one in french!

elaineriddell · 30/06/2009 21:24

hi there just was reading this and i would like to add that i had been on the injection for years and years and then noticed a mood change and very bad weight that i could not shift.

went to see doctor and we both agreed to come off the depo injection and go on the coil as there was no hormonal in it.

I have had the copper coil since October 2009 and i tell you it is the best thing ever i weighed 13 and a half stone and i weighed myself beginning of June and was down to 11 bang on. I have my sex drive back and my mood swings/depression are gone and i am very happy.

yes it was very very uncomfy getting it done but i would say very much worth it.

I had my first proper period this month with the depo i didn't have any so that's the only down side is having a period again

sooz28 · 07/07/2009 13:46

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Ninjacat · 07/07/2009 18:38

I used a copper coil for 12 years and loved it. Never fell pg with it then when I did ttc had it removed and was pg within 3 weeks. I'm sure it was because my body had no chemicals to process or get rid of.

pop17 · 22/07/2009 18:47

Hello i have had the copper coil for 4 weeks getting it put in was very painful as i have not had child i had the pain for about 1 week i was bleeding for the first 2 weeks. I still get pain time to time and have lower back pains which i never had before. some days i feel dizzy but that might be because i have low blood pressure. For about a week now i feel sick when thinking of food and when finishing a meal . i am not pregant as i have done a test. I was on depo before the copper coil for a year come off because put lots of weight on it has been 4 week with copper coil i have lost 2 lbs. I am very worry that some thing is not right please could you help me put my mind a rest.

Elizad · 25/09/2009 19:15

i had coil fitted a month ago and afterwards go bad tummy pain, not abdominal but higher up. Thought nothing of it and actually thought it was a minor tummy bug. But yetserday almost a month to the day I have the tummy pain again. Nothing like a period pain, feels like a sore tender stomach discomfort.Anyone else get stomach apins as well as period pain?

Monkeygirl69 · 25/09/2009 19:34

I've heard that it's less painful to get the coil fitted while your having your period.Is this true as I'm waiting for my period to start post baby (16 weeks)? Shall I bother waiting or is it painful whenever it's done?

kirstytreva · 08/10/2009 09:21

Hi, i had the copper coil fitted on the 1st september and now it is 8th october and still no sign of my period, i bled for about a week or so when it was put it, which was my worst period i had had for a while, but i coped. i have been on several different pills and even had the implant in my arm which was terrible as i gained 2 stone in 2 months! i used condoms for a while which wasnt to bad but if i went out for a drink with the other half and came home for some .. we had trouble remembering if in a drunken state!
i have my 6 week check up next week but im still worried the fact i might be pregnant as im the most unlucky person ever and knowing me id be in the percentage of people who it doesnt work for.

Polly4 · 09/10/2009 13:16

Hi all,

I had my copper coil fitted yesterday (I took 2 paracetamol before appointment) and the doctor administered a local anaesthetic in the form of a gel before insertion. The procedure wasn't pleasant but was much quicker than I thought it would be thankfully!

I was totally fine for 8 hours and feeling rather smug (I think the local anaesthetic was still working) and then OMG! I was in agony and had to go to bed with more paracetamol and ibruprofen and a hot water bottle.

It's now over 24 hours after insertion and I've still got cramps (even my hips and back don't feel 'right'). I'm really hoping things settle down!!

Polly4 · 15/10/2009 18:51

Hi,

It's now a week since I had it fitted and am relieved to say that most of the pain has gone but now and then I still get period type pains if I do lots of bending etc. I'll keep you posted!...............

ruthosaurus · 15/10/2009 23:47

Hi all,

I got my copper coil fitted in March as emergency contraception when DS was 11 weeks old and I was okay til my periods started again in June. Since then every period and the week after it has been incredibly painful and I take paracetamol at least once a day for half the month, easily. I didn't want to go on the pill because of bfing but as DS is now 11.5mo and largely self-weaned I am less concerned about the effects on him and more worried about weight gain, mood swings and loss of libido on the mini-pill. Mind you, as I am in fairly regular bad pain for a lot of the time my libido and mood are lousy anyway.

So it's really just the worry about getting chubby again. How v shallow of me.

Can anyone recommend a nice, low-impact form of contraception that doesn't involve pieces of wire, hormone wobbles, surgery, diaphragms (eww - squeamish, don't ask) or trusting DH to remember to buy condoms?

lola1978 · 19/10/2009 12:52

just wondered if anybody has had any of the following side effects with the COPPER COIL: depression, mood swings, worse pmt, tiredness? heavy periods are well known with this type of coil but i did'nt realise i would end up feeling so terrible with it, i had this coil fitted because it did,nt contain any hormones and i cant take the pill either so i thought it would suit me!! i then did a bit of research after putting up with it for 10 months and generally thinking i was going mad, i looked up 'copper toxicity' and to my horror i found a list of side effects that it can cause!! i had the coil removed a few days ago and the bloated feeling has totally gone which was another side effect! so hopefully i should get back to feeling myself again-i'll keep you posted. Ive heard that some people have no problem with the coil and it really suits them - everybodys different, but i just wanted to warn others of the possible side effects and to not suffer like i did for 10 months - i wish i had researched this sooner!

kentflower · 17/10/2010 11:38

I have had the copper coil fitted,and omg the problems that i am having,i am having very heavy periods,sickly headaches,lower backache and when i go the loo i feel as if my insides are falling out ,its very uncomfy also very moody.
I went to see the nurse and she said give it time to settle down my body has to adjust to it i lefted her surgry unhappy and very tearful So i went to the doctor a few weeks later and he said the same thing to me let my body adjust and give it some time And also kepted going on about cost.

So after a year and 3 months i am still going thou mountains of sanitry towels and still going thou the sicky headaches etc dont think my body is liking this very much, So going to get it removed ASAP.Its not for every one and I dont want to put you girls off i would suggest reading the leaflet before having it fitted,cos the doctors or nurse dont always tell you the real side effects.Best of luck ladies

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