5 weeks pregnant. Can I have sex while on pessaries?

[RoseWinter]

Hey all,

This question is a bit TMI and embarrassing but asking it anyway 😳 I'm in early pregnancy, 5 weeks and 3 days today. Concieved through IVF and I'm currently taking cyclogest pessaries twice a day (morning and night).

I just wanted to know if it's safe to have sex with my partner this early in pregnancy and while still taking pessaries. Did anyone else have this situation? I find the pessaries leave a residue, even after they've been absorbed, which isn't the most pleasant thing when you're trying to get it on either, so just wanted to check it's safe for us to go ahead as we've not since I had my transfer in mid January and it feels like an absolute age ago now.

TIA for any responses x

Double check with your clinic but I've done them rectally before and the clinic said they're actually better absorbed that way. I wasn't keen on the idea of doing that but it ended up not being anywhere near as bad as I imagined. Just as an alternative, I found it a lot less messy 😊

Thanks @strawberrylaces12 I have my reassurance scan next week with the clinic so will check with them then, if the poor fella can hold out until then 🤣

Not keen on them going rectally because I feel like what if I need to go to the loo or something. But vaginally, they're making a mess of my pants, even with a liner on. x

I’m currently 14 weeks and have been doing pessaries rectally since transfer. I find it sooooooooo much better than vag, you feel it for all of about 5 seconds afterwards and then nothing! None of this lying down or ruining all my knickers business. I’ve never needed to poo afterwards but if I did I would just put another one in, I’ve got loads. I think they say you shouldn’t poo for an hour afterwards? In summary im all for the bum which I never thought I’d say!!!

Yeah I worried about the same but I think I just learnt to time them around that. Double check with the clinic but I think if you have a bowel movement within 30 or maybe 60 mins it might be worth putting in another one as it might not have been absorbed. Thankfully I didn't have that issue. Also I had no mess from them rectally, it seemed to be held in (sorry gross) a lot better. Best of luck with it all 🥰

LOL! Amazing! Thanks for sharing your experience! You've made it seem much less daunting than it is haha thank you!

Just to add that initially I was so grossed out by the idea of rectally that I used disposable gloves for the first few times and then just got used to it and just made sure I gave me hands a good wash (like I would if done vaginally)!

I was on progesterone pesseries until 16 weeks and definitely did have sex! My midwife said it was safe to :) I'd usually time the pesseries around if we were feeling frisky hahaha. Usually if we were
going to have sex it would be at bed time so if we had the vibes I'd wait and take the pessery after. Kind of takes some of the spontaneity out of it but it's not forever!

To be fair, the cyclogest is constipating me so much, I don't think pooping after inserting is going to be an issue now that I think about it 😂

Gloves sounds like a good shout. Did you need to use any lube or anything?

@Shahhhh did you have sex from early pregnancy or wait a little bit? Yeah I'm going to figure out what to do with the pessaries. I suppose if I can't bring myself to inserting them rectally (if clinic allows) then I can just try and have sex a couple of hours later after vaginally inserting.

No lube I just made sure they were room temperature rather than in the fridge ideally. Just bent over and hoped for the best 😅 always seemed to work okay thankfully!

Another vote for rectal! I was quite against so dealt with the car crash mess of doing them vaginally, until it cropped up with a girl in my office who instantly was like ‘do you do bum or vag’ (which really shocked me haha) so it sparked the convo and she had been on them for a long time with 3 pregnancies so I was happy to take her advice which turned out to be much better!

Morning I've been on pessaries about a week. Last week I asked the consultant about sex and she said to avoid due to the risk of infection

If I'm honest we avoided anything "internal" for the first 12 weeks, we were told it was safe by EPAU to have sex but after previous losses we just wanted to be cautious. After that 12 week mark though we certainly didn't avoid it ha! I was on progesterone vaginally until 16 weeks :)

"If the poor fella can hold out til then" - Jesus, I can't believe he is spinning you this yarn! What do you think is going to happen to him if he can't have sex with you for X weeks/ months? Precisely nothing.

I'll double check with my clinic as the cyclogest leaflet specifically states for IVF they need to be interested vaginally. I don't really know why if they're being absorbed either way but will check with my clinic. Thanks so much for sharing your experience with me

Yeah definitely double check! I had IVF too and was told I can do either but that most people find rectal better (which I completely disregarded initially and learnt the hard chalky way lol)

He's not, it just my thoughts because we both get quite hit and heavy in bed and then I stop because I've been so unsure of whether I can or not while on pessaries and at this early stage of pregnancy. We both love being intimate with each other and my god did we try a lot naturally to concieve so coming to a full on stop for our relationship personally is annoying, on both parts because I obviously want it as muchbas he does. So, as soon as we're given the green light to do so, I'm sure we'll be pouncing on each other 😊

Always did mine bum style. That way no leakage or waiting around. Under guidance from the recurring misscarrige clinic. I got told to avoid any intercourse as risk of infection, spotting and bleeding etc. But tbh after so many losses anxiety and HG sorted out that so no sex drive at all 😂.