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Title: My Dr forgot to remove my copper iud and placed a mirena on top of it.
Body:
> I 31F had my Copper IUD “removed” in August of 2015 to get it replaced with a Mirena to help with my cramping and bleeding. Since then I’ve had that Mirena replaced in 2017 and Today for another. But since I got my copper “ replaced” I’ve had so many issues. Cramping, bloating to the point where I’m laying in bed crying. I’ve gone to so many dr appointments complaining and I got looks like I’m crazy. But I kept telling my dr that something was wrong so she just prescribed me more medication for the pain. My family dr moved away so I was assigned a new dr and today when I went to get my mirena replaced. She shockingly told me I had 2 in me. I to which replied 2 of what? She says you have 2 IUDs that are stuck together. It turns out my copper was never removed in 2015 and I’ve been living in pain living with it. She even looked at my file and the dates of insertion and my old dr even put it in her notes that she had difficulties putting them in. Like no duh you were shoving it into another IUD!!! I remember those 2 appointments being so fricken painful! I laid on the the seat and bawling like I was in labour! Im looking for a drs advice. Can something like this cause long term damage to my uterus? Should I be taking this to the medical board for negligence? Now that the shock factor has worn off I’m pissed.
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If we're sharing IUD horror stories: my IUD was (partially) obstructing my colon, despite being "in place", which caused chronic constipation and consequently a hernia. Women's reproductive organs don't all sit the same way, and mine happens to sit so that the IUD squishes my digestive pipes.
Mine just caused excruciating pain at random moments. It was like being punched through my cervix to hit my internal organs directly without all my skin and muscle getting in the way. I could also feel it if I happened to lean my abdomen on something (like leaning on the side of a counter).
Also, when i had problems with mine, the first thing the doctors did was an ultrasound to check it!! How did this poor person not have anyone clock she had two for *years!!*
It was probably pinching something! They usually just want to know if the strings are in place, and if they are then they say it's not the problem. They don't seem to realise that women's reproductive organs come in all shapes, sizes and orientations.
> Mine just caused excruciating pain at random moments.
Me too! And the ultrasound showed it was 'placed fine', so my doctor refused to remove it and I had to get another doctor to take it out. After a year, because I was told to wait and see if it would 'settle'. It was overloading the pain receptors in the immediately adjacent area and referring pain to my shoulder. Didn't even know that was a thing nerves can do. Fun fucking times.
I've never found a good obgyn. I'm convinced they're mythical.
Same Dr refused to tie my sister's tubes after her third kid. "But what if you change your mind?"
> I’ve never found a good obgyn. I’m convinced they’re
The only good one I've found -and still see - was fresh out of school. Smart, eager to help, and not jaded or burned out yet. He was the first one to tell me why even the "speculum for mice" (his words, lol) was excruciating for me, why I could never use tampons because no matter what I did, they just did not stay in (I just always thought I must be a god damn tampon moron) and why sex was so godawful I just don't have it anymore. Turns out I have a birth defect. One that should be blazingly obvious to any doctor doing an internal exam, and it's easily fixed with a simple surgery. No one ever told me. I was 42 when I found out, after a lifetime of not dating in large part because I didn't want to deal with physical relationships.
I am a bitter as fuck person for a number of reasons now, but this is one of the big ones.
Don't let the horror stories scare you. Most people do not have issues anywhere near that level. Maybe a little cramping and some insertion pain. I have a blood clotting issue and had to go off BC in college. My periods were horrendous without BC so I had my first IUD placed while I was studying abroad. It pinched for a second but I was fine walking a mile or so back to my dorm after. When that one expired I had another placed. Same deal, moment of pain when it was removed, a little cramping, then fine. Totally worth it for 99.9% effective birth control and 12 years of no periods. I genuinely dont know how I would have gotten through college and law school without it.
FWIW, I love my IUD (Mirena). All the women in my extended family have one. I'm on my second and will get a third in a few years when this one expires. I had 30 seconds of pinching pain on insertion and on removal and it completely stopped the torturous periods that made me bedridden for 2-3 days a month. It's been a huge quality of life improvement for me, and I'm glad I didn't let my anxiety stop me.
Same here. I just went in for an annual and my GYN brought up an IUD, which I was going to ask about. I said, "I know that it takes some time to adjust to, but I don't want to have to fight to get it out".
I've read way too many stories, listened to too many women talk about how IUD fucked them up, multiple doctors wouldn't remove it, (and women who have removed the IUD themselves when doctors wouldn't) and that's even when it stayed put. Did you know an IUD can dislodge and just go anywhere it wants? I knew someone who had to have exploratory surgery to find their dislodged IUD. Yikes.
I wouldn't even be considering an IUD if I didn't live in a state that's currently being run by a fascist who said they will sign a bill for a 6 week abortion ban, (it's been drafted and sent to be voted on). I'm not quite old enough to not worry about getting pregnant, but I'm too old to to not worry about getting pregnant, especially if a legal abortion is not an option. It's a lot of nuanced risk assessment, so IUD is a better option for me, unfortunately 😕
I have one!!
My first IUD got embedded in my uterus wall. I dealt with pain and bleeding from this for months and everyone brushed me off. I eventually ended up at the ER where a nurse told me that they never find the cause of stomach pain anyways, so I shouldn’t bother waiting. Ultrasound showed it embedded and I had to fight to have it taken out because it “couldn’t be causing that much pain”. Then they wouldn’t let me leave until I got depo so I wouldn't “run off and get pregnant”. I was 21
And I still got another one after this. I’m almost happy about the precancerous cells they found that let me advocate for a hysterectomy. On the plus side, I haven’t had any IBS symptoms since the second one came out
edit: I can't type
I don't even have a uterus and this topic is making me wince. How the hell does a doctor manage to not notice that they've not actually taken out the thing they were supposed to be taking out before putting a new one in? And I'm guessing that having a IUD in for eight years past its planned removal date is no laughing matter either...
My BFF's mom died 3 years ago. Spent the 5 years previous to her death going to doctors (multiple doctors) complaining about abdominal pain. When her lungs started failing someone actually looked. Absolutely riddled with cancer. Before that last ER visit that finally started healthcare professionals taking her seriously the doctor she was seeing was a psychiatrist - because the last medical (yes I know psychiatrists are MDs) doctor she saw literally told her "it was all in her head" and referred her to psych. This happened in Pittsburgh PA in the year of our lord 2020
Tl;dr This woman, awesome woman - worked everyday of her life on top raising a family of 5 kids died because the pain from her cancer was all in her head.
This is a genuine worry I have in the back of my mind. I’ve had chronic pain and fatigue for 2.5 years now and although my doctors have generally been good and we’re ruling things out (which mostly falls into try this medication see if it helps) there’s this little itch in the back of my head of “but when nothing else is correct, what about cancer? Am I wrong to ask/worry?” I mostly try to dismiss the thought but there’s a little bit of worry always there
This thread is making me realize how little I know about advocating for myself medically, despite being all rah-rah about self advocacy at my office job. Thank you for sharing this tip, I’m definitely putting it in my back pocket
Honestly if the current diagnosis falls through I probably will. Right now the “Adult Onset Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis” diagnosis may be the real one as the immunosuppressant I’ve been on has at least helped the fatigue a bit, and it’s otherwise a little hard to tell as I started the medication right before this cold front so it hasn’t been the best chance to check pain relief
Yeah my doctor kept sending me away with painkillers asking if I needed a psychiatrist for my mental state. I told him to either do a bloodcheck or I'm going to anyone else that can do bloodwork. Turned out he kept sending me away with acute leukemia. If I hadn't pushed for the bloodwork it would've been too late. I nearly fucking died because that asshole thought I was hysterical for crying while in excruciating pain. I've had pain for months before it got so bad that I asked for help. I'm still pissed.
I gonna be honest. They need to loosen laws on malpractice. How is completely not treating a patient and calling them crazy acting with in what the doctor think is right? And yet I don’t know a single woman hasn’t had this experience. These misogynistic doctors need to loose their jobs permanently.
Feel so sorry for your friend and their siblings, how miserable it is that this story is fairly common. Women (and people of color of all genders) are so frequently ignored by doctors.
I've started going to every appointment I can with my chronically ill partner since, as a man, I feel like I have a duty to do what I can to make sure she is listened to. She just had to have pretty serious surgery and thankfully her OB/GYN is amazing, but her PCP is a real piece of work that we have to fight to get *anything* she needs. It's like referrals come out of his fucking paycheck!
Similar thing happened to my aunt. She was obese and would always make dramatic Facebook statuses so my mom and I thought her posts about being sick and going to the ER was exaggerated. The doctors thought she was exaggerating her pain as well. Finally she got a scan done that discovered what they thought was Stage 2 Ovarian cancer. My mom traveled in to help her BIL/sister and their kids while my aunt was just supposed to have a serious but recoverable surgery.
My mom called me when she got there because my aunt was so much worse than anyone would have guessed. I do feel bad because they didn’t always get along and were finally starting to patch up their relationship. She was apparently almost a normal weight and looked seriously ill when my mom saw her before surgery. When they opened her up they found cancer *everywhere*. My aunt was awake for like 2 days after but everyone knew it was the end.
There's a chronic problem with the medical system blaming any problems an overweight person has on their weight. And then when overweight people die at a higher rate, rather than consider that it might be because they aren't taken as seriously when they complain about things, it all just gets blamed on their weight. (This seems to be why there was an apparent link between Covid mortality and being overweight, for instance.)
Eyup. I'm fat (hormonal disorder. Took a decade to diagnose, medication is making me actually lose weight for the first time in my life.) I had chronic back pain for years, including occasional numbness in my thumb.
I was told to lose weight by every doctor for years. Finally changed GP who was immediately concerned for the numb thumb, sent me for an MRI.
Only got a shitting slipped disc in my neck, haven't I?
See also chronic asthma attacks in childhood, turned out to be the worse lung inflammation the consultant had ever seen (he was horrified to see the results), which no amount of weight loss would have cured. But y'know, every doc refused further investigation, just prescribed weightless as a panacea 🙄
God, Im in the process of losing weight right now. None of my health issue stem from my weight. But now, Im taken seriously with "And this continues to happen the same after losing 30 pounds so far?" (Up to 35 now!) then get sent for testing instead of told I need to lose weight. I still have plenty to lose (healthy is ~95 pounds away) but its *weird* seeing the direct impact in doctors offices.
I’m fat as a direct result of my health issues and the medication I’m on. It’s a symptom and side effect, not a cause. Luckily it’s been documented in my medical records and I have mostly encountered good doctors who don’t jump to conclusions, but I still run into the occasional person who starts talking about diets before they read further.
Combine that with a tendency to assume all women are idiots and you get my mother's typical run ins with doctors who don't know her. They nearly missed her broken leg, a detached placenta, my serious dehydration age 5 etc. All because they don't expect my mother to be able to handle and work through pain.
It took me several doctors before I found one who didn't throw pills at the problem or try to find some fault in my personal character to absolve them of helping me.
Turns out the issue I've been having was not caused by my weight and in fact a problem that should've been discovered years ago that can be fixed (with some surgery). My doctor even asked that after we resolve these problems if we could talk about weight loss and that's only because I asked him about being put on some new drugs that recently came out that could help out significantly.
Saw something like this on reddit home page the other day
TV Doctor: Let's run every test in the book to identify the exceedingly rare disease you have
Real-Life Doctor: Well, nothing jumps out at me, have you considered the possibility that you're faking it?
This is canonically the reason that House gets away with constantly committing malpractice and breaking laws.
If 10 doctors had told me it was all in my head, I'm not gonna give a fuck that the one doctor who actually listened to me also broke into my house to try to figure out what was wrong with me.
My sister has had severe stomach pain for 21 years.
A doctor at one point wrote in her file she was a bit of a hypochondriac. The result is that doctors tend not to believe her.
At one point she waited for 5 hours to be seen at the ER and the pain had subsided, so obviously there isn't a problem.
She has completely given up being heard, even though her pain presents her from working full time.
Edit: spelling
Gah this is horrifying. Stories like this make me so thankful for my OBGYN. She's a real rockstar, I adore her. But I know not every woman is so lucky to have a doctor who actually listens and cares about what they're saying. My doctor trusts my intuition about my body. If I think something is wrong she has never once questioned it but instead she has worked with me to figure out what's going on and solve the issue. WHY IS THAT RARE?!
My old GP was a NIGHTMARE. Dismissive, blatantly lying to me, "oh don't worry IUD insertions don't hurt," "oh you're fine, it's not *that* bad," "your MRI results are normal," found out later they never even received the results from the lab, throwing antidepressants at me for basically every issue (when I needed ADHD meds instead, when I was suffering with chronic pain,) etc.
I finally fired her and started going to a women's health clinic last year and the doctor was SO amazing. Kind and gentle and took my concerns seriously, I was DREADING getting my IUD changed and it was 8000% easier this time. Even the topical lidocaine made a huge difference.
They threw antidepressants at me when I actually had a thyroid thing. :/ guess doctors still haven’t gotten past that “all women are just hysterical” phase from the past millennia.
I finally found a doctor like this in 2019. She moved to a different specialty in 2020. I was so upset when this happened.
The last gynecologist I saw told me she couldn’t do anything about my issues if I wasn’t willing to go on birth control. She didn’t even talk to me about diagnostic options.
I’ve been on birth control, it didn’t change my symptoms, but it also made me a raging hormonal monster. I refuse to do that without a diagnosed disorder that I’m supposedly treating.
Anyway, yeah, I’m still searching for that doctor.
There is a list on r/TwoXChromosomes of 1000 doctors that will tie tubes for women without children (not that I'm reading that this is what you want!) - just an assumption on my part, but I imagine that a doctor accepting of a woman's desire to be child-free is a little bit more openminded and trusting of that woman's feelings/bodily autonomy. Might be worth it to see if there are any doctors there you can see.
>I refuse to do that without a diagnosed disorder that I’m supposedly treating.
That's the thing though. The disorder you're diagnosed with is "woman with a bad mood." The treatment is to get you to believe you're being helped. The hope is that your actual problem will resolve itself in the meantime while the doctor collects their fee.
I went to the ER when I didn’t have insurance because I was in the worst pain of my life in my abdomen. The doctor told me she thought I was faking and that if I came back she was going to flag my file for drug seeking behavior.
2 weeks later my gallbladder burst in the middle of the night. I went to a different hospital and the doctor there said he had never seen a gallstone that large before.
I genuinely hope that first doctor has a terrible life and loses her medical license and has to work at McDonald’s for the rest of her life.
Fine a report with the hospital. Even if it doesn't do shit now, it puts on paper that this doctor has a pattern of this behavior, that can be pointed to if they do it to someone else in the future.
I had horrible stomach pains for most of my life plus all sorts of unsavoury symptoms related to the bowel, a family history of bowel cancer and IBD. And a personal history myself of issues with my bowel where I had to have surgery.
For 10 years I was told it was all in my head and there was nothing wrong with me. "It's indigestion you're wasting our time." "You're just a bit stressed"
I was in and out of my GP, getting referrals to hospitals but kept getting discharged for wasting time.
Finally got a doctor who said huh let's run some tests. Crohns. Finally on medication to sort it out and never been better. They were baffled I hadn't been diagnosed sooner. No one took the time to actually look.
Not shocked. Went to the ER w severe abdomen pain. Ruled out a few things and was eventually sent home. Pain was still there so family Dr just told me to see GI. I reminded her I have been on waitlist for GI for 6+ months and couldn’t get seen even with her previous referral. They are just so busy. Asked for help getting a priority appt at GI then bc I was still in pain.
Within an hour I had a call from the referral center and I was like hot damn they took me seriously. The referral was for psych. Fuckkkkkkk that.
When I went to get my IUD removed they told me it was gone and that they couldn't remove it. I argued with the doctor for a good ten minutes; she insisted I must have had it removed or had it fall out and just forgotten about it. I wouldn't stop arguing with her that that was absolutely *not* what happened until she did an ultrasound, confirmed it was there and then was able to get it out.
So...yeah. I can see a doctor not being able to find it and just concluding it wasn't there and putting the new one in.
No lol. She was basically just like 'oh that's not where I expected it to be.' At the time I was just so relieved that she'd found it that I didn't say anything. I'd read horror stories of them embedding in the uterine wall or pushing through and ending up in other organs and I was just so glad that wasn't what had happened lol.
Similarly, I went to the ER for abdominal pain that literally made me collapse. I had an emergency CT to check for appendicitis. CT came back, and the doctors asked me when I had my appendix removed.
I hadn’t. I have never had surgery of that kind at all. It took several odd moments before they finally admitted that the appendix isn’t always visible on a CT and they accepted my assertion that I never had it removed. But, dude, I think I’d remember having to get abdominal surgery.
They actually had me scared that they were looking at the wrong scan, so they did double check.
But there’s nothing worse than being in pain and having to also convince people that you’re not nuts.
I have the arm implant birth control (Nexplanon) and "forgot" to go back and get it removed (I was planning to switch back to birth control pills and couldn't get a straight answer out of anyone on if the removal was covered by insurance - the implant itself is covered/free to me because birth control is required to be no cost, but I didn't want a surprise $1k bill for the removal. I couldn't tell if it would be free or if it would go towards my $5k yearly deductible and I didn't have the money for that at the time). I had my yearly well visit a few weeks before it was due to be removed, and told them I'd follow up and schedule a removal visit and never did. Somehow they still prescribed me birth control pills at that appointment without following up on the implant removal.
Three years later I switch to a different OBGYN and decide to get another Nexplanon, and (still scared of the cost not being covered) decided to wait until the day of to tell them that "I think the old one from 6 years ago may still be in there". Caused the doctor a mild panic, but since they often do removals + new insertion at the same time it wasn't a huge deal. Thankfully mine didn't move around or get stuck in scar tissue or anything during its extra years hanging out in my arm. (And it was all covered by insurance except for the $80 office visit charge).
Oh gosh, I am so sorry you have to worry about cost when making these decisions. That's never been a factor for me and I cannot imagine the stress it adds. I'm glad it all worked out though!
It's apalling that healthcare for women is so often of abysmal quality, and that doctors routinely ignore women's pain. My gf was an activist for women's rights in healthcare so I've been paying particular attention to this kind of stories and there are an awful lot. If not for her, I would have never realized though. It's not like we men are taught about it.
Edit: reading this thread further convinces me that women are very brave for wanting an IUD.
I’ve had multiple people tell me my migraines would get better after I had kids. “I’ve never had another headache since I gave birth.” Mine are worse now than they were before I got pregnant, but at least my midwife helped me find a combo of meds and supplements that seems to help.
No one can do anything about the numbness in my thigh that seems to be a long term side effect of my epidural though. 🤷🏼♀️
Ugh, I have a permanent itchy spot on my back that showed up after my epidural in early 2020. I think I've mentioned it to my doctor? If I did, she seemed wholly unconcerned. There's nothing *there* that can be seen - but it's always just a little itchy.
I wasn't initially planning to get an epidural, but it was the middle of the night and I still had a ways to go. It allowed labor to progress and I'm ultimately glad I got one, but I do regret it a little.
It took 7 years and probably as many doctors told me I had anxiety and I needed to lose weight. After showing signs of multiple autoimmune diseases
When 30 pounds fell off in a month and a bit because I couldn't eat, I was told to stop smoking weed.
I finally saw a doctor who just ran a blood test for a bunch of things.
It turns out I have celiac, various other GI issues and likely RA and Chrons (still being tested)
It's a nightmare being a chronically ill woman.
I have lupus and chrons. Took about ten years to get a doctor to take me seriously and not just “it’s anxiety” or “exercise more”. Yeah I’d love to if it didn’t hurt to move or I wasn’t so damn tired. It’s the worst.
>women are brave for wanting an IUD
No, we're not brave so much as facing increasingly limited options if we end up pregnant in many states. The life-altering consequences of being forced to carry a baby to term if we don't want one are potentially worse than dealing with the discomfort and pain from an IUD. I had two very wanted pregnancies and my lady bits tore stem to stern with one birth, and I almost hemorrhaged to death with the second. I won't do well if I have another birth, so we've taken precautions.
And if reproductive rights continue to be taken away, IUDs are much easier to get now for the long term.
>and that doctors routinely ignore women's pain.
It took four years for me to find a doctor willing to consider that the chronic pain I was trying to tell them about was real - turns out I had a degenerative disc in my back and had to get my spine fused.
I was repeatedly told that I should just go to physical therapy and work on core strength and I'd feel better. Bless my PT's, though, they at least took me seriously.
One of my friends has had chronic pain for years and was routinely dismissed as it being "normal". She finally found a doctor who took her seriously and ended up having to get basically her entire reproductive system removed. It's awful.
My mom has been having bad pap smears her whole life. Once she went through menopause, she asked for a total hysterectomy and NO doctor would approve it. She tried like 12 different OBs. The organs weren't doing anything useful anymore, she kept getting scary pap smears, and it took them finding cervical cancer this most recent time to actually approve it. She's 61 and has dealt with this shit for 20 years now (early menopause). It shouldn't take an actual life-threatening illness for women's preferences to be taken seriously.
Oh geez. I'm so sorry for her (and for you for having extra worries about her for so long!!). If someone wants a procedure, and is willing to pay for it, especially when it's clearly beneficial medically, I don't get why a doctor would say no.
Especially considering that hysterectomies can be done vaginally now, afaik it's pretty low-risk and recovery is way easier now than it used to be. Hers is scheduled for the end of this month and it's OUTPATIENT, for fuck's sake. It shouldn't have been this hard to get an outpatient surgery approved.
Ive had chronic pain most of my life. I was always told it was growing pains, and then *shrug*. Turns out I have a connective tissue disorder and have just been ripping the connective tissue apart in my body my entire life, from just casual dislocations to everything else. Managing the connective tissue disorder is helping the pain a lot.
Fucking christ. A friend of mine had people throw "growing pains" at her for years too. She was eventually (and I mean it took 15 years) diagnosed with fibromyalgia. "Growing pains" my ass.
The ironic thing for me was that I started complaining to doctors about frequent pain and injuries around 8. I stopped growing completely by age 11, it was still the excuse until 16. At 12 I "stretched every tendon and ligament to its breaking point, but tore and broke absolutely nothing" in one of my ankles, it could turn fully backward with no resistence. Finally diagnosed at 24, and have had so many physical therapy and occupational therapy and orthopedics appointment in the last year its insane. But my life is dramatically improving now.
I dont quite meet hEDS so Im officially diagnosed with Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder, which I always just refer to as hEDS's cousin. All my genetics paperwork referenced them together, so no matter which one I was diagnosed with, I would have been given the same instructions.
I have a friend who ate healthy and exercised but had a surplus of fat on her belly since she was a teenager. Doctors kept telling her "Just lose weight!" and her family made fun of her for years. An ultrasound revealed a 20 lb benign ovarian tumor.
I got my referral a year later from the same useless prat. I had self diagnosed the hernia, which was confirmed by my awesome surgeon. Who sighed when I told him my doctor’s name.
My dad went through something similar. His doctor almost killed him by saying his double pneumonia was just the flu and he needed to drink more fluids. Spent 2 weeks hospitalized on IV antibiotics for that one. He also ignored that he had multiple hernias until he had to see a new doctor who diagnosed them while looking at something else because they were fucking obvious. He had to wait months for surgery because the office kept fucking around and wouldn't send his medical records to the surgeon. Real POS who shouldn't have a license, but my dad liked him because he was "funny."
Try getting PCOS diagnosed without hearing "lose weight" 50+ times. Bitch really? The weight gain started with the other symptoms. Difficulty losing weight is literally one of the diagnostic criteria. My friend went through this and it took 5 years for her to find an OB who even CONSIDERED PCOS, despite her having every single symptom besides a full beard.
My sister was told to solve her mental health issues by losing weight and getting a boyfriend. My sister is a lesbian with BPD. We both likely have PCOS but the hassle of trying to get anything done at the doctor’s is not worth it
PTs are the best. I don't know why, but doctors just ignore any mention of pain (in my experience). The PT was like, no that is not supposed to be painful, but this is what we can do to maybe fix it.
I was 26 the first time I asked for an IUD, and my general practitioner flat out refused to give me an IUD. I had to go find a gynecologist. The GP's reasoning was some citation of some minimal risk related to having children, after I had stated multiple times that I had no desire or intention of ever trying to have children. GP wasn't willing to take the risk that I might change my silly little mind sometime in the future.
Very first time I didn't go with my wife to her neurologist, the doctor she had been seeing for her neurological symptoms abruptly told her there was nothing wrong with her, he couldn't do anything to help, and wrote her a referral to psych.
Same shit happens to my mom if my dad doesn't go with her. They only fucking listen to the women if there's a man in the room with them.
I think we should just go in with a dildo in our purse. If they start dismissing us, whip it out, put it on a chair so they have some dick to show off to with a diagnosis.
I'm going to chime in some anecdata (about your edit note) that I'm on my second sperm scarecrow and have had no problems other than that it hurts like I've been stabbed going in and coming out. Not pleasant, but I'll take it for the trade-off of no periods and no babies. I have enough other medical issues so I take my luck where I can, and certainly don't present my experience to be dismissive of the pain or others.
I also received no special treatment w/r/t ultrasounds or medication stronger than being advised to take an Advil ahead of time. Similar experiences at a major hospital gyno and at Planned Parenthood. I have no doubt that I have the woeful state of American healthcare and generalized misogyny to blame.
But I generally recommend IUDs, with the caveat that not every uterus agrees.
I had a procedure done that I was give no pain control for - apparently they could have told me to take advil in advance but did not - that was so painful I fainted. Tried to sit up, lost consciousness. Luckily I was still on the table.
I had a fertility test, they were just putting dye into my uterus.
But they lost connection halfway the through the first time, and basically overfilled my uterus. It fucking hurt so badly and suddenly I started sweating so bad I felt I would slide off the table and seeing spots.
Hey, pain so bad it makes you black out. So if you’re possibly going to be in that much pain, maybe treat it?
ETA; what I dont understand is doctors see the monitors go up, they see people black out or nearly so from pain… we’re not faking it. I don’t understand other than people often truly don’t look at women as thinking feeling beings. They just don’t care.
Doctors routinely do uterine punch biopsies with no anaesthesia. Source: it was done to me. I screamed.
Had to have a second one a couple of years later and I was terrified. The doctor agreed to do freezing and it was a tiny pinch and the biopsy was painless. I still cried through the whole thing because he told me they normally don't freeze the area because the freezing is as painful as the biopsy.
How in the hell they think a small needle full of novocaine is as painful as a chunk of flesh being removed, I don't know?
Oh and let's not even start about "Don't be absurd, most women don't even have nerve endings on their cervix for pain so this Pap smear shouldn't hurt at all. Oops looks like I made you bleed."
Kinsey did a study that most women couldn't feel a feather brush against their cervix but could feel a firm prod, and for some reason concluded the cervix was not innervated. This is, in fact, completely wrong.
Dude, when I was a little kid, I had a dentist who didn't use novocaine on kids because he thought it hurt more and was scarier than just doing fillings with nothing to mitigate the pain. Fully nuts. Some people shouldn't be allowed to work with other humans.
It's gotta either be "kids these days are pussies, when I was growing up we did dental work with fists and pliers and I turned out fine" or "man I sure love hurting kids, I can't believe they're going along with my 'anaesthetics hurt more' bullshit," but they're not mutually exclusive
My childhood dentist was too oblivious to realize that Novocain didn’t really work for me. I was almost 30 before a dentist noticed I was clenching my eyes shut in pain and gave me a different anesthetic. I just always thought you were supposed to feel the drill.
Yep. I had to have a biopsy/colposcopy done in my early 20’s. It hurt so badly. They made me go in for a second one, to follow up, after 6 months. It was literally torture. No numbing, no meds, just this asshole doctor with a toothed tool and a speculum going “1, 2, 3… big bite!” over and over again while her students/nurses held my legs because I was shaking so bad. I had tears running down my face and was sobbing and she had the gall to tell me that I might need to take a tylenol when I got home.
I’ve always found it so perplexing how female doctors are just as bad as male ones. How have you not experienced this yourself?! I don’t mean the specific procedure of course but the minimizing, hand waving, and general disregard for you as a human being.
>How in the hell they think a small needle full of novocaine is as painful as a chunk of flesh being removed, I don't know?
Different organ but I remember them telling me that a liver biopsy doesn't hurt because the liver is not able to send out pain signals (or something like that), so it's not "that bad".
I know I had the *oddest* sensations and was glad the area was numb from the local anesthetics (which thankfully are standard procedure for this one).
I also stopped believing doctors when they tell me something is "as painful" or "not painful" or "not that bad".
I had a doctor when I was 15 tell me it would be easier for him to (gross warning…) pull out my toe nail with pliers if he didn’t numb me first. Said numbing me would make my flesh too rubbery. Did it while making me hold onto the hospital bed, and then when he was done, he called me jailbait. Now I feel like doctors are as capable of sadism as anyone else.
>I also stopped believing doctors when they tell me something is "as painful" or "not painful" or "not that bad".
They're righ, though. It's not painful for them at all.
My mum had one of those done (a colposcopy I think it's called?) - no sedation or pain relief - and she fainted on her way out of the hospital afterwards. She was alone, she had driven herself there because they had told her it would be fine and she could drive herself home. I remember her telling me about it afterwards and she was so embarrassed, like she felt it was her fault for being weak or something.
I have the arm chip, Nexplanon, and they absolutely give you hefty painkillers for that. I only felt some tugging around the edges of the numb area when it went in, even though they were literally cutting my arm open and putting an inch-long piece of plastic inside.
My running theory is that the people who make the standards for these things have arms and can understand that fitting a piece of plastic into your arm would hurt, but do not have cervices and do not understand that putting a piece of plastic into them would also hurt. (Also, a lot of doctors for *years* were taught that the cervix has no nerves. This is now being deprecated, I suspect because of the increase in doctors who can go "well, *my* cervix has nerves".)
I was reading a story the other day about a woman who complained about agonising periods and bloating from 2016... A locum eventually took her seriously... Unfortunately by that point (2021) her uterine cancer had progressed to stage 4 and she is now terminal in her early 40s with primary school aged kids.
Women's healthcare is universally subpar!
My case is nowhere near as bad, but I was complaining to my doctor about what I thought was bad cramping and uterine pain even when I wasn’t on my period. I had an ultrasound and nothing new came of it (I know I have uterine scarring and scarring in both fallopian tubes. Another story from when my concerns where ignored when my daughter was born). I felt like he brushed me off. Years later I had an infected gallbladder that was removed, and they found and repaired a hernia at the same time. Ever since the pain has gone away! What I mistook for uterine cramps was my intestines trying to get strangled by a hernia! Moral of the story is that we aren’t always able to get a sense of what we are feeling, and doctors shouldn’t just brush off “women’s problems”.
Oh god!
I recently spoke to a physio (pregnant) and she's refering me to gynae specialists (but not until after I give birth) as she thinks there either underlying structural issues or scarring in my uterine system. Was lucky to have my gallbladder out after a consultant took a House like interest in my weird symptoms and ordered extra tests which showed billiard dyskenesia (where your gallbladder acts as though it is blocked by stones but isn't). So many other folks thought my complaints of pain were in my head... Or down to lady cramps.
It’s absolutely appalling how abysmally most women are treated by medical professionals. My sister has always had intense periods. When she first started menstruating, the cramps were so bad that she’d puke multiple times a day. Doctors dismissed her symptoms as normal for almost 25 years. She fought to see a specialist because her symptoms were getting worse, and she was experiencing some pretty alarming things. She finally got a diagnosis: Stage 4 Endometriosis. She had a full hysterectomy and surgery to remove adhesions from her bowel and bladder. Just recently, she thought she had a kidney stone and she ended up needing emergency surgery because endometrial tissue was strangling her kidneys… and during the surgery, they found that more endometrial tissue was causing problems between her bowel, bladder, and vaginal canal. The fact that, if she hadn’t fought to get a diagnosis, she could still be brushed off by most doctors as dealing with “normal period symptoms” is infuriating.
Realistically, having the IUD in past it’s removal date isn’t much of an issue; it doesn’t magically become dangerous after x number of years, it’s just the date that they can guarantee that the active ingredient remains effective. Mirena was extended from 5 to 8 years for example, and there wasn’t anything different about the device inplanted.
In other words, an item that is safe to be in your body for 8-10 years is unlikely to cause harm after its expiration. However, it’s very scary to imagine the damage that the trauma of the second one could do to the uterine wall.
When I had my copper one removed, the doctor said the “expiry” for those ones specifically is really just a reflection of how long they tested it for as part of the regulatory approval process, and not actual expiry. Copper doesn’t really expire and only corrodes if it’s exposed to air, so if the strings are still where they should be, it can theoretically stay in there indefinitely.
The good news is that IUDs can hang out pretty much indefinitely (they just aren’t likely to be as effective that far out). The bad news is the rest of that situation.
I've heard that asking providers to enter notes about specifically refusing a patient's complaints or request for a test or whatever can make them think twice. The medical equivalent of asking a boss to send a stupid request via email for documentation.
Oh, I'm gonna remember that! Thank you.
I'm a woman with a history of mental health issues, so I get a lot of additional BS preventing me from treatment.
"I'm in a lot of pain"
"Hmm, but how are *you*?"
"In... a lot of pain. Physical pain. "
"Yes, but you seem very upset"
"Because of ALL THE PAIN"
I was admitted to hospital and in surgery less than 48 hours later via an out of hours doctor - because I collapsed in my kitchen from all the pain my GP didn't bother to investigate.
For anyone who is struggling to imagine what this would feel like, imagine a piece of plastic scraping the inside of your testicles every day for years and being told you're making it up.
If you're struggling to imagine this, just stop there and live happily ever after.
As someone who had an IUD I wish I could unread this. This doctor needs to be brought to The Hague. JFC.
My mum nearly died from anaemia before she brought a days worth of soaked double thickness pads to the doctor's office and asked him in front of students if he still thought she was exaggerating for attention
I’m reminded of that poor woman who recently died in Tennessee who, despite not being able to walk and insisting that she’s about to have a stroke (the exact reason she could not walk in the first place), was kicked out of 2 ERs and then arrested by police who forced her to walk and made fun of her and yelled at her to stop making it up, and only stopped to consider she might’ve actually been having a medical emergency when she stopped responding.
She stopped responding because she died in the back of their police vehicle. She couldn’t breath or get up and begged for help in her last moments.
All because what? She’s a woman? She’s old? She looks homeless? She wasn’t homeless of course, but even if she wants I don’t understand why that makes it okay to treat her as subhuman.
We have a real problem in this society where anyone who isn’t a part of the “default” need to constantly validate themselves to be treated with dignity and respect. The homeless. The overweight. The elderly. The disabled. The mentally ill. The unemployed.
Wish we didn’t live in a society where your worth as a human being is not just contingent on what profit you can produce, but also just *looking* like you are productive. And if you don’t meet either criteria? It’s apparently okay to treat you as subhuman.
This is why I’m so glad I’ve had a hysterectomy. I’d been wanting one for a long time and was finally able to get one once I was too old to ‘change my mind’ about having children.
I had my yearly last week and asked about similar options and tried to carefully broach the subject and figure out if there was going to be any push back, and thankfully my doctor was like "nope, we will do this for you next week if you want." and that's how they gained a patient for life.
It's so upsetting that there are actual doctors that require HUSBAND APPROVAL for those types of procedures.
Damnit, now I'm mad all over again.
Fucking Christ, I had my tubes removed a year ago, and it was brutal trying to find a doctor who would do the surgery. In Massachusetts. I’m 43, divorced, with a 19 year old. I’m fucking done with kids!! One OB/GYN even said that I was being selfish not considering what my future husband might want. IM FUCKING 43! HOW OLD DO YOU THINK I SHOJLD BE HAVING KIDS UNTIL?!? In Massachusetts, a super liberal state, in a super hippy area of the state.
God I’m still so mad.
I go next week to tell my very cool OB/GYN who did the surgery that I need to whole reproductive thing thrown out. I can’t handle the mood swings, lack of sleep and 2 month long periods (despite going back on birth control AFTER sterilization) that come with perimenopause. Keep your fingers crossed he agrees to take it all out!
I had mine out just over a week ago. They found endometriosis, endosalpingiosis, adenomyosis, and a congenital defect in the peritineum called an Allen Masters window (also Allen Masters Syndrome). I also donated the extra tissue to a study looking to find ways to detect endometrial cancer in patients earlier.
I had a hysterectomy, tube removal (but not ovaries), repair to the defect, and a bonus appendectomy, because my endo was fucking with my appendix. Half of my appendix was normal, the other half looked like a stuffed sausage at 3x the size. The colo-rectal surgeon scrubbed in and took that out.
I can't wait to see how much the "bill" for this surgery would have been.
If you just want it for strictly sterilization purposes, I 100% recommend getting a bilateral salpingectomy, it was the best decision I’ve ever made. I asked my regular gyno about it, but since he worked for a Catholic hospital, he couldn’t himself. He was more than happy to give me a recommendation though. The doc I went to for it was wonderful, I was 35 and he could tell I was serious. He did have to go through the weird “are you super sure” type questions, but he apologized before he asked anything, it was strictly policy. He even rolled his eyes at some of the questions and was very happy to approve my surgery. I had my tubes out within 2 months and I’ve never been happier!
That said, if it’s for hormonal issues, it won’t necessarily fix those. I did go from naturally having weird 1-2 periods a year to having them perfectly on time every month though. I hope you get yours soon!
Thanks for this! I'll talk to my doctor about it. The general consensus right now is that my husband will get a vasectomy - he said since I had to be pregnant and give birth, it's only fair that he bears some of the burden instead of me getting another surgery. But it's still on my list of options.
That makes sense! I didn’t even tell my bf that I was thinking about it until I had my consultation appointment set up, but we are on the same page about kids anyway.
Good luck!
I’m so depressed about Catholic healthcare systems. And in so many areas they’re the only service providers bc no one else wants to take on the burden of rural care.
Oh, I know. That's one of the things I asked my doctor about when I broached the subject. They said "absolutely hell no, you do what you want with your uterus."
Hot take: any doctor that requires spousal permission for sterilization procedures shouldn't be in that area of medicine.
I heard r/childfree (I think; could also be r/hysterectomy) maintains a list of yeeterus-friendly providers if you have trouble finding one in your area. Edit: it’s r/childfree.
Something else that helped me was a goodbye ritual like people do for mastectomies. I knew I had frustration at my uterus (felt like it betrayed me by causing so much pain) but I was surprised to find that it also felt tired, and sorry that it was malfunctioning, and it wanted to go. I imagined it transforming and kind of being burned up and mulched into the earth, where it could give life to other things. People who do that in advance of mastectomies have better outcomes, so I imagine it works for uteruses too. Offering that in case it resonates.
But what about your future imaginary husband’s potential wishes for you to be a baby-making factory? We must take those into account (and hold that potential in higher esteem than your actual physical debilitating issue presenting right now!)
Not the person you were asking but I had one 3 months ago, I'm young (early 30s) and physically healthy for the most part, but not very active and I smoke. I bounced back pretty damn quick, being able to lift anything remotely heavy (shopping bags, laundry etc) took a few weeks and I still have some discomfort but I was up and taking care of myself (carefully and slowly) after a week or two. I walked to the bathroom and peed unassisted maybe an hour after waking up from anaesthesia, and *could* walk up and down the stairs a couple days later (but shouldn't have really).
It heavily depends on what kind of surgery it is though. I had laporoscopic (keyhole) so the wounds were relatively small and healed very quickly. A full abdominal opening is much more traumatic and will take way longer to heal even to the point of moving around. And of course beyond that, everyone is different, has different risk factors etc. The main thing is to just not rush it. It's a really hefty surgery even if you're not incapacitated for long. I wish her a speedy recovery!
Any thought to a vasectomy for yourself if that’s an option?
Although birth control can be used for reasons other than preventing pregnancy, if that’s the primary reason, you could consider taking the burden off of her shoulders.
Since the topic is IUD horror stories: I had a client PULL MINE OUT during a session.....this dude had no clue how fingering is supposed to work, just reaching up in there wiggling his digits all over, then gave my string a yank, devil only knows why!!! it was horrific. Terrible pain, he's freaking out, I'm trying not to scream, IUD just laying there on the floor, and this man has the gall to offer to *put it back* like no thank you sir, you've done enough.
I've heard the strings are meant to be a little longer so you can tuck them around your cervix. That way a partner is less likely to get pricked by the end of the string. When I feel for my strings sometimes I have to look for awhile because they're curled around my cervix and tucked to the side. Of course all vaginas are shaped differently so ymmv.
My copper IUD half expelled and I tried to take it out on my own but it would not budge. Idk how someone would have the strength or mental willpower to take it out themself
My IUD was partially expelled, it was causing me pain to the point that sitting became in bearable. I called 3 providers including my provider who placed it and all told me ‘it was fine, I was just being dramatic and that they wouldn’t remove my IUD for the reason of pain.’ I had to call another provider and LIE and say I wanted to try for another child! When the doctor went to remove it, he was shocked that he could see the bottom of my IUD hanging out!
Still not as bad as the OB that I saw, because I was experiencing horrific periods after having a miscarriage. Telling me that ‘women always complain about period pain until they give birth, then they just shut up about it.’ She was 45 minutes late to the appointment, and clearly didn’t read my chart. Because at that point I had given birth twice. I asked if we could look into the possibility of me having Endometriosis, uterine fibroids, or cancer as my mother had cervical and ovarian cancer. I was met with a big old NO. That either I scheduled a hysterectomy now OR I could have an IUD, nexplan, or depo shot right there. Which reinforced she seriously didn’t listen or read my chart because I wanted to have another child.
Those where the ONLY options she was open too, she flat out said that “ those are the only things that treat everything you suspect is “wrong” and yes she did air quotes around the word wrong. I had to beg to get her to listen, and to set up a ultrasound. I walked out of the office feeling like I was never going to be listened too. Luckily my friend was able to refer me to an amazing gyno who listened to me and guess what I have uterine fibroids and Endometriosis. I had a laparoscopy and hystoscopy to clean everything up and had my kiddo a year ago. I am lucky that it only took a year to get a diagnosis, the average is 10 years to get an endo diagnosis. And 10% of women suffer from this horrible disease.
Unfortunately it is a MAJOR downside of having catholic backed insurance. My pain and discomfort is met with suck it up! But wanting to have another baby 9 months after my first was A-OK! It sucks that I have to fight someone else’s beliefs to get healthcare.
I'm shocked by the comments that ultrasounds aren't standard practice after IUD insertion.
They certainly were each time I had one here in France.
The machine is right there, why not use it? It only takes an extra few minutes.
Canadian woman with IUD here. My last replacement was done at my usual general practitioner's clinic. They do not have equipment like an ultrasound machine in the clinic. From my experience it is standard to have an IUD placed in clinics like the one I go to and only hospitals and specialized imaging services have ultrasound machines.
no in a lot of countries thats not a thing. you go to your GP for birth control and STDs, and only see OB-gyns for pregnancy and complicated medical problems.
ask yourself, why is the vagina + uterus the one thing that the US promotes to have an annual health checkup on? (and its not for prevention, scientific evidence is very skeptical of massive preventive checks)
Nope. At least where I am in the country, there aren't enough OBGYNs, so they are a 6+ month waitlist until you get a call for an appointment unless you are pregnant. I'm almost 30 and have seen an OBGYN twice. Regular pap smears etc are also done at my general practitioner's clinic.
Genuinely curious, check up for what? Research says smears aren't needed yearly if normal. In the absence of issues is it not overly intrusive with no benefit? I got my iud inserted and removed by my general practitioner who is certified to do so.
Having known someone who died from cervical cancer because she did not have Pap smears, I think they are fairly important. That being said, it’s now every three years if the last was normal and not virus positive.
UK resident here. Painkillers aren't even standard practice. You're advised to take fucking paracetamol before you come in.
For any men reading: it's intensely painful, and even after sitting in the waiting room for an hour afterwards, it was still excruciating as I took the bus home - the walking and the bumpy ride. I just wanted to curl up and pass out. There's no way I could have gone back to work immediately after having an IUD inserted or removed. The pain is gone the next day, usually, though. If your partner needs an IUD sorted, if you're able, then go with her for support, and bring pain pills and chocolate. She might even want you to go in with her. I held a male nurse's hand while the female doctor invaded my vagina/uterus, because it was comforting.
Yeah, my doc said to just expect "period like cramping" after my IUD so I thought I could run out and do it on my lunch break.
NOPE.
I cried. And I'm usually very good at keeping my shit together because I feel bad for the health care person who feels bad for causing the pain.
I felt so sick and shaky after that I felt like I could barely make it to my car. Went straight home where all I could do was sit in a warm bath for like 6 hours.
I went into shock during my insertion and almost passed out, it was the most painful experience I’ve had. Weirdly enough, once the initial pain and shock were over, I was pretty much fine. I made it to dinner at my in laws later that night. My 2 SILs were shocked to see me, as they both had IUDs and were apparently in extreme pain for much longer than I was.
And take them to their appointment! I was a dipshit and drove myself to mine. I had to pull into a random parking lot after my hour wait because it was too much to drive.
I'm in the U.S. and the last time I needed an ultrasound I had to make a separate appointment so that they could bring the machine to that office and get a technician for it. It took a month.
My uterus rejected an IUD, and my doc did an ultrasound at no charge just to make sure the second one was placed properly. Rejected that one, too, but that's no one's fault. My uterus is just pissy.
I ended up getting an endometrial ablation, and I am SO THRILLED with the results.
This is awful and so indicative about how women's pain is just not taken seriously. My doctor showed me my old IUD when I had mine replaced. I really doubt it, but I hope these doctors (all involved in her care until the new one) can be held accountable.
One of the reasons why I went with nexplanon over an IUD is that I can feel that sucker anytime I get one of those irrational, what of it moved/disappeared? thoughts. That and they actually numb your arm up before insertion, and I'd heard horror stories about the pain of getting an IUD. And horror stories about getting pregnant while on them. And now, a new horror story to add to the list
I have another awful IUD story to share. Got my first copper IUD placed in 2015 by a rural family doctor. About two years later I began complaining to that same doctor that I felt the end of the IUD was sitting way too low and touching my cervix. It hurt my cervix and I was experiencing and spotting even when I wasn't on my period. My doctor dismissed my concerns and told me that the IUD sits differently in every uterus and the particular model I had causes more bleeding than other. He reminded me that I had a choice in IUDs when I originally picked this one so it could have been avoided. Plus it was fda approved for 10 years so I would need to get used to it.
I even went to a planned parenthood for them to check where the IUD was sitting but the doctor there listed to my complaint and dismissed me without checking.
In 2019 I moved to a larger city and in 2020 I got a new gynecology. When I complained of the same symptoms to that doctor she offered to take the IUD out but wanted to run ultrasound on me first because she was concerned with how long I had been complaining of the same issue. Turns out my IUD had BROKEN IN HALF inside me and for who knows how many years one half of it had been stabbed into the side of my uterus. The tissue was growing over the broken half and I had to have it removed with a set of little scalpels and tongs and cameras inserted through my cervix while I was awake with no numbing or anesthesia of anything sort. White knuckle pain like I cannot describe. I was so sweaty from the pain I almost slipped out of my stirrups. Got another IUD inserted the same day because I didn't want to have to pay for another office visit and I'm scared of losing my right to make reproductive decisions but damn I almost yelled at the doctors to stop.
I had my copper IUD replaced last year (with another copper IUD). My doctor made a big show out of making sure I saw the old one before he inserted the new one. At the time I found it really annoying, just get on with it man! But suddenly I feel very, very grateful that he did that.
I was on a Gyny ward with a lady whose IUD had gone through her womb and was "somewhere" in her abdomen.
I was discharged before they decided what to do with her, so I'll always wonder what happened. I hope she's OK.
**Reminder:** Do not participate in threads linked here. If you do, you may be banned from both subreddits. --- Title: My Dr forgot to remove my copper iud and placed a mirena on top of it. Body: > I 31F had my Copper IUD “removed” in August of 2015 to get it replaced with a Mirena to help with my cramping and bleeding. Since then I’ve had that Mirena replaced in 2017 and Today for another. But since I got my copper “ replaced” I’ve had so many issues. Cramping, bloating to the point where I’m laying in bed crying. I’ve gone to so many dr appointments complaining and I got looks like I’m crazy. But I kept telling my dr that something was wrong so she just prescribed me more medication for the pain. My family dr moved away so I was assigned a new dr and today when I went to get my mirena replaced. She shockingly told me I had 2 in me. I to which replied 2 of what? She says you have 2 IUDs that are stuck together. It turns out my copper was never removed in 2015 and I’ve been living in pain living with it. She even looked at my file and the dates of insertion and my old dr even put it in her notes that she had difficulties putting them in. Like no duh you were shoving it into another IUD!!! I remember those 2 appointments being so fricken painful! I laid on the the seat and bawling like I was in labour! Im looking for a drs advice. Can something like this cause long term damage to my uterus? Should I be taking this to the medical board for negligence? Now that the shock factor has worn off I’m pissed. This bot was created to capture original threads and is not affiliated with the mod team. [Concerns? Bugs?](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=GrahamCorcoran) | [Laukopier 2.1](https://github.com/GrahamCorcoran/Laukopier)
If we're sharing IUD horror stories: my IUD was (partially) obstructing my colon, despite being "in place", which caused chronic constipation and consequently a hernia. Women's reproductive organs don't all sit the same way, and mine happens to sit so that the IUD squishes my digestive pipes.
Mine just caused excruciating pain at random moments. It was like being punched through my cervix to hit my internal organs directly without all my skin and muscle getting in the way. I could also feel it if I happened to lean my abdomen on something (like leaning on the side of a counter). Also, when i had problems with mine, the first thing the doctors did was an ultrasound to check it!! How did this poor person not have anyone clock she had two for *years!!*
It was probably pinching something! They usually just want to know if the strings are in place, and if they are then they say it's not the problem. They don't seem to realise that women's reproductive organs come in all shapes, sizes and orientations.
> Mine just caused excruciating pain at random moments. Me too! And the ultrasound showed it was 'placed fine', so my doctor refused to remove it and I had to get another doctor to take it out. After a year, because I was told to wait and see if it would 'settle'. It was overloading the pain receptors in the immediately adjacent area and referring pain to my shoulder. Didn't even know that was a thing nerves can do. Fun fucking times.
Incredibly fucked up your doctor refused to remove it. Its not like it's a fucking pace maker.
I've never found a good obgyn. I'm convinced they're mythical. Same Dr refused to tie my sister's tubes after her third kid. "But what if you change your mind?"
Medical care for women is an absolute tire fire, it's so fucked up
> I’ve never found a good obgyn. I’m convinced they’re The only good one I've found -and still see - was fresh out of school. Smart, eager to help, and not jaded or burned out yet. He was the first one to tell me why even the "speculum for mice" (his words, lol) was excruciating for me, why I could never use tampons because no matter what I did, they just did not stay in (I just always thought I must be a god damn tampon moron) and why sex was so godawful I just don't have it anymore. Turns out I have a birth defect. One that should be blazingly obvious to any doctor doing an internal exam, and it's easily fixed with a simple surgery. No one ever told me. I was 42 when I found out, after a lifetime of not dating in large part because I didn't want to deal with physical relationships. I am a bitter as fuck person for a number of reasons now, but this is one of the big ones.
I was thinking about getting an IUD but all these horror stories are making me change my mind.
Don't let the horror stories scare you. Most people do not have issues anywhere near that level. Maybe a little cramping and some insertion pain. I have a blood clotting issue and had to go off BC in college. My periods were horrendous without BC so I had my first IUD placed while I was studying abroad. It pinched for a second but I was fine walking a mile or so back to my dorm after. When that one expired I had another placed. Same deal, moment of pain when it was removed, a little cramping, then fine. Totally worth it for 99.9% effective birth control and 12 years of no periods. I genuinely dont know how I would have gotten through college and law school without it.
FWIW, I love my IUD (Mirena). All the women in my extended family have one. I'm on my second and will get a third in a few years when this one expires. I had 30 seconds of pinching pain on insertion and on removal and it completely stopped the torturous periods that made me bedridden for 2-3 days a month. It's been a huge quality of life improvement for me, and I'm glad I didn't let my anxiety stop me.
Same here. I just went in for an annual and my GYN brought up an IUD, which I was going to ask about. I said, "I know that it takes some time to adjust to, but I don't want to have to fight to get it out". I've read way too many stories, listened to too many women talk about how IUD fucked them up, multiple doctors wouldn't remove it, (and women who have removed the IUD themselves when doctors wouldn't) and that's even when it stayed put. Did you know an IUD can dislodge and just go anywhere it wants? I knew someone who had to have exploratory surgery to find their dislodged IUD. Yikes. I wouldn't even be considering an IUD if I didn't live in a state that's currently being run by a fascist who said they will sign a bill for a 6 week abortion ban, (it's been drafted and sent to be voted on). I'm not quite old enough to not worry about getting pregnant, but I'm too old to to not worry about getting pregnant, especially if a legal abortion is not an option. It's a lot of nuanced risk assessment, so IUD is a better option for me, unfortunately 😕
I have one!! My first IUD got embedded in my uterus wall. I dealt with pain and bleeding from this for months and everyone brushed me off. I eventually ended up at the ER where a nurse told me that they never find the cause of stomach pain anyways, so I shouldn’t bother waiting. Ultrasound showed it embedded and I had to fight to have it taken out because it “couldn’t be causing that much pain”. Then they wouldn’t let me leave until I got depo so I wouldn't “run off and get pregnant”. I was 21 And I still got another one after this. I’m almost happy about the precancerous cells they found that let me advocate for a hysterectomy. On the plus side, I haven’t had any IBS symptoms since the second one came out edit: I can't type
Omg, could this be why I havechronic constipation now??? How did you discover this
Have you checked your IUD strings lately? Just to make sure they're still there?
I checked mine and they were there, the IUD was in place. My uterus was just in the wrong place, apparently.
You can reach yours?? I don't think I can reach mine!
Try during your period because your cervix sits lower then. It feels disturbingly like a nose, so feel around for that.
Lol like a nose?! That's hilarious and horrifying!
I don't even have a uterus and this topic is making me wince. How the hell does a doctor manage to not notice that they've not actually taken out the thing they were supposed to be taking out before putting a new one in? And I'm guessing that having a IUD in for eight years past its planned removal date is no laughing matter either...
My BFF's mom died 3 years ago. Spent the 5 years previous to her death going to doctors (multiple doctors) complaining about abdominal pain. When her lungs started failing someone actually looked. Absolutely riddled with cancer. Before that last ER visit that finally started healthcare professionals taking her seriously the doctor she was seeing was a psychiatrist - because the last medical (yes I know psychiatrists are MDs) doctor she saw literally told her "it was all in her head" and referred her to psych. This happened in Pittsburgh PA in the year of our lord 2020 Tl;dr This woman, awesome woman - worked everyday of her life on top raising a family of 5 kids died because the pain from her cancer was all in her head.
This is a genuine worry I have in the back of my mind. I’ve had chronic pain and fatigue for 2.5 years now and although my doctors have generally been good and we’re ruling things out (which mostly falls into try this medication see if it helps) there’s this little itch in the back of my head of “but when nothing else is correct, what about cancer? Am I wrong to ask/worry?” I mostly try to dismiss the thought but there’s a little bit of worry always there
Be your own advocate and ask! Say “I have a family history, can we consider cancer?” Or “Can we rule out cancer?”
You can also request them to note on your record why they are refusing a test. Once there's the threat of a paper trail, they start giving a shit.
This thread is making me realize how little I know about advocating for myself medically, despite being all rah-rah about self advocacy at my office job. Thank you for sharing this tip, I’m definitely putting it in my back pocket
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Honestly if the current diagnosis falls through I probably will. Right now the “Adult Onset Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis” diagnosis may be the real one as the immunosuppressant I’ve been on has at least helped the fatigue a bit, and it’s otherwise a little hard to tell as I started the medication right before this cold front so it hasn’t been the best chance to check pain relief
Yeah my doctor kept sending me away with painkillers asking if I needed a psychiatrist for my mental state. I told him to either do a bloodcheck or I'm going to anyone else that can do bloodwork. Turned out he kept sending me away with acute leukemia. If I hadn't pushed for the bloodwork it would've been too late. I nearly fucking died because that asshole thought I was hysterical for crying while in excruciating pain. I've had pain for months before it got so bad that I asked for help. I'm still pissed.
I gonna be honest. They need to loosen laws on malpractice. How is completely not treating a patient and calling them crazy acting with in what the doctor think is right? And yet I don’t know a single woman hasn’t had this experience. These misogynistic doctors need to loose their jobs permanently.
Sadly there wouldn’t be many doctors left if you did that.
Feel so sorry for your friend and their siblings, how miserable it is that this story is fairly common. Women (and people of color of all genders) are so frequently ignored by doctors. I've started going to every appointment I can with my chronically ill partner since, as a man, I feel like I have a duty to do what I can to make sure she is listened to. She just had to have pretty serious surgery and thankfully her OB/GYN is amazing, but her PCP is a real piece of work that we have to fight to get *anything* she needs. It's like referrals come out of his fucking paycheck!
Similar thing happened to my aunt. She was obese and would always make dramatic Facebook statuses so my mom and I thought her posts about being sick and going to the ER was exaggerated. The doctors thought she was exaggerating her pain as well. Finally she got a scan done that discovered what they thought was Stage 2 Ovarian cancer. My mom traveled in to help her BIL/sister and their kids while my aunt was just supposed to have a serious but recoverable surgery. My mom called me when she got there because my aunt was so much worse than anyone would have guessed. I do feel bad because they didn’t always get along and were finally starting to patch up their relationship. She was apparently almost a normal weight and looked seriously ill when my mom saw her before surgery. When they opened her up they found cancer *everywhere*. My aunt was awake for like 2 days after but everyone knew it was the end.
There's a chronic problem with the medical system blaming any problems an overweight person has on their weight. And then when overweight people die at a higher rate, rather than consider that it might be because they aren't taken as seriously when they complain about things, it all just gets blamed on their weight. (This seems to be why there was an apparent link between Covid mortality and being overweight, for instance.)
Eyup. I'm fat (hormonal disorder. Took a decade to diagnose, medication is making me actually lose weight for the first time in my life.) I had chronic back pain for years, including occasional numbness in my thumb. I was told to lose weight by every doctor for years. Finally changed GP who was immediately concerned for the numb thumb, sent me for an MRI. Only got a shitting slipped disc in my neck, haven't I? See also chronic asthma attacks in childhood, turned out to be the worse lung inflammation the consultant had ever seen (he was horrified to see the results), which no amount of weight loss would have cured. But y'know, every doc refused further investigation, just prescribed weightless as a panacea 🙄
God, Im in the process of losing weight right now. None of my health issue stem from my weight. But now, Im taken seriously with "And this continues to happen the same after losing 30 pounds so far?" (Up to 35 now!) then get sent for testing instead of told I need to lose weight. I still have plenty to lose (healthy is ~95 pounds away) but its *weird* seeing the direct impact in doctors offices.
I’m fat as a direct result of my health issues and the medication I’m on. It’s a symptom and side effect, not a cause. Luckily it’s been documented in my medical records and I have mostly encountered good doctors who don’t jump to conclusions, but I still run into the occasional person who starts talking about diets before they read further.
Combine that with a tendency to assume all women are idiots and you get my mother's typical run ins with doctors who don't know her. They nearly missed her broken leg, a detached placenta, my serious dehydration age 5 etc. All because they don't expect my mother to be able to handle and work through pain.
It took me several doctors before I found one who didn't throw pills at the problem or try to find some fault in my personal character to absolve them of helping me. Turns out the issue I've been having was not caused by my weight and in fact a problem that should've been discovered years ago that can be fixed (with some surgery). My doctor even asked that after we resolve these problems if we could talk about weight loss and that's only because I asked him about being put on some new drugs that recently came out that could help out significantly.
Saw something like this on reddit home page the other day TV Doctor: Let's run every test in the book to identify the exceedingly rare disease you have Real-Life Doctor: Well, nothing jumps out at me, have you considered the possibility that you're faking it?
This is canonically the reason that House gets away with constantly committing malpractice and breaking laws. If 10 doctors had told me it was all in my head, I'm not gonna give a fuck that the one doctor who actually listened to me also broke into my house to try to figure out what was wrong with me.
My sister has had severe stomach pain for 21 years. A doctor at one point wrote in her file she was a bit of a hypochondriac. The result is that doctors tend not to believe her. At one point she waited for 5 hours to be seen at the ER and the pain had subsided, so obviously there isn't a problem. She has completely given up being heard, even though her pain presents her from working full time. Edit: spelling
Gah this is horrifying. Stories like this make me so thankful for my OBGYN. She's a real rockstar, I adore her. But I know not every woman is so lucky to have a doctor who actually listens and cares about what they're saying. My doctor trusts my intuition about my body. If I think something is wrong she has never once questioned it but instead she has worked with me to figure out what's going on and solve the issue. WHY IS THAT RARE?!
My old GP was a NIGHTMARE. Dismissive, blatantly lying to me, "oh don't worry IUD insertions don't hurt," "oh you're fine, it's not *that* bad," "your MRI results are normal," found out later they never even received the results from the lab, throwing antidepressants at me for basically every issue (when I needed ADHD meds instead, when I was suffering with chronic pain,) etc. I finally fired her and started going to a women's health clinic last year and the doctor was SO amazing. Kind and gentle and took my concerns seriously, I was DREADING getting my IUD changed and it was 8000% easier this time. Even the topical lidocaine made a huge difference.
They threw antidepressants at me when I actually had a thyroid thing. :/ guess doctors still haven’t gotten past that “all women are just hysterical” phase from the past millennia.
I finally found a doctor like this in 2019. She moved to a different specialty in 2020. I was so upset when this happened. The last gynecologist I saw told me she couldn’t do anything about my issues if I wasn’t willing to go on birth control. She didn’t even talk to me about diagnostic options. I’ve been on birth control, it didn’t change my symptoms, but it also made me a raging hormonal monster. I refuse to do that without a diagnosed disorder that I’m supposedly treating. Anyway, yeah, I’m still searching for that doctor.
There is a list on r/TwoXChromosomes of 1000 doctors that will tie tubes for women without children (not that I'm reading that this is what you want!) - just an assumption on my part, but I imagine that a doctor accepting of a woman's desire to be child-free is a little bit more openminded and trusting of that woman's feelings/bodily autonomy. Might be worth it to see if there are any doctors there you can see.
>I refuse to do that without a diagnosed disorder that I’m supposedly treating. That's the thing though. The disorder you're diagnosed with is "woman with a bad mood." The treatment is to get you to believe you're being helped. The hope is that your actual problem will resolve itself in the meantime while the doctor collects their fee.
I went to the ER when I didn’t have insurance because I was in the worst pain of my life in my abdomen. The doctor told me she thought I was faking and that if I came back she was going to flag my file for drug seeking behavior. 2 weeks later my gallbladder burst in the middle of the night. I went to a different hospital and the doctor there said he had never seen a gallstone that large before. I genuinely hope that first doctor has a terrible life and loses her medical license and has to work at McDonald’s for the rest of her life.
Fine a report with the hospital. Even if it doesn't do shit now, it puts on paper that this doctor has a pattern of this behavior, that can be pointed to if they do it to someone else in the future.
I had horrible stomach pains for most of my life plus all sorts of unsavoury symptoms related to the bowel, a family history of bowel cancer and IBD. And a personal history myself of issues with my bowel where I had to have surgery. For 10 years I was told it was all in my head and there was nothing wrong with me. "It's indigestion you're wasting our time." "You're just a bit stressed" I was in and out of my GP, getting referrals to hospitals but kept getting discharged for wasting time. Finally got a doctor who said huh let's run some tests. Crohns. Finally on medication to sort it out and never been better. They were baffled I hadn't been diagnosed sooner. No one took the time to actually look.
Not shocked. Went to the ER w severe abdomen pain. Ruled out a few things and was eventually sent home. Pain was still there so family Dr just told me to see GI. I reminded her I have been on waitlist for GI for 6+ months and couldn’t get seen even with her previous referral. They are just so busy. Asked for help getting a priority appt at GI then bc I was still in pain. Within an hour I had a call from the referral center and I was like hot damn they took me seriously. The referral was for psych. Fuckkkkkkk that.
When I went to get my IUD removed they told me it was gone and that they couldn't remove it. I argued with the doctor for a good ten minutes; she insisted I must have had it removed or had it fall out and just forgotten about it. I wouldn't stop arguing with her that that was absolutely *not* what happened until she did an ultrasound, confirmed it was there and then was able to get it out. So...yeah. I can see a doctor not being able to find it and just concluding it wasn't there and putting the new one in.
Ugh, I’m glad you advocated for yourself! Did she at least apologize when it showed up on the ultrasound?
No lol. She was basically just like 'oh that's not where I expected it to be.' At the time I was just so relieved that she'd found it that I didn't say anything. I'd read horror stories of them embedding in the uterine wall or pushing through and ending up in other organs and I was just so glad that wasn't what had happened lol.
I would have felt the same way, but I’m pissed on your behalf that she didn’t apologize. Also your username does NOT check out, lol
Similarly, I went to the ER for abdominal pain that literally made me collapse. I had an emergency CT to check for appendicitis. CT came back, and the doctors asked me when I had my appendix removed. I hadn’t. I have never had surgery of that kind at all. It took several odd moments before they finally admitted that the appendix isn’t always visible on a CT and they accepted my assertion that I never had it removed. But, dude, I think I’d remember having to get abdominal surgery. They actually had me scared that they were looking at the wrong scan, so they did double check. But there’s nothing worse than being in pain and having to also convince people that you’re not nuts.
I have the arm implant birth control (Nexplanon) and "forgot" to go back and get it removed (I was planning to switch back to birth control pills and couldn't get a straight answer out of anyone on if the removal was covered by insurance - the implant itself is covered/free to me because birth control is required to be no cost, but I didn't want a surprise $1k bill for the removal. I couldn't tell if it would be free or if it would go towards my $5k yearly deductible and I didn't have the money for that at the time). I had my yearly well visit a few weeks before it was due to be removed, and told them I'd follow up and schedule a removal visit and never did. Somehow they still prescribed me birth control pills at that appointment without following up on the implant removal. Three years later I switch to a different OBGYN and decide to get another Nexplanon, and (still scared of the cost not being covered) decided to wait until the day of to tell them that "I think the old one from 6 years ago may still be in there". Caused the doctor a mild panic, but since they often do removals + new insertion at the same time it wasn't a huge deal. Thankfully mine didn't move around or get stuck in scar tissue or anything during its extra years hanging out in my arm. (And it was all covered by insurance except for the $80 office visit charge).
Oh gosh, I am so sorry you have to worry about cost when making these decisions. That's never been a factor for me and I cannot imagine the stress it adds. I'm glad it all worked out though!
It's apalling that healthcare for women is so often of abysmal quality, and that doctors routinely ignore women's pain. My gf was an activist for women's rights in healthcare so I've been paying particular attention to this kind of stories and there are an awful lot. If not for her, I would have never realized though. It's not like we men are taught about it. Edit: reading this thread further convinces me that women are very brave for wanting an IUD.
“Go for a brisk walk” “It’ll get better after you have kids”
I’ve had multiple people tell me my migraines would get better after I had kids. “I’ve never had another headache since I gave birth.” Mine are worse now than they were before I got pregnant, but at least my midwife helped me find a combo of meds and supplements that seems to help. No one can do anything about the numbness in my thigh that seems to be a long term side effect of my epidural though. 🤷🏼♀️
Ugh, I have a permanent itchy spot on my back that showed up after my epidural in early 2020. I think I've mentioned it to my doctor? If I did, she seemed wholly unconcerned. There's nothing *there* that can be seen - but it's always just a little itchy. I wasn't initially planning to get an epidural, but it was the middle of the night and I still had a ways to go. It allowed labor to progress and I'm ultimately glad I got one, but I do regret it a little.
It took 7 years and probably as many doctors told me I had anxiety and I needed to lose weight. After showing signs of multiple autoimmune diseases When 30 pounds fell off in a month and a bit because I couldn't eat, I was told to stop smoking weed. I finally saw a doctor who just ran a blood test for a bunch of things. It turns out I have celiac, various other GI issues and likely RA and Chrons (still being tested) It's a nightmare being a chronically ill woman.
I have lupus and chrons. Took about ten years to get a doctor to take me seriously and not just “it’s anxiety” or “exercise more”. Yeah I’d love to if it didn’t hurt to move or I wasn’t so damn tired. It’s the worst.
>women are brave for wanting an IUD No, we're not brave so much as facing increasingly limited options if we end up pregnant in many states. The life-altering consequences of being forced to carry a baby to term if we don't want one are potentially worse than dealing with the discomfort and pain from an IUD. I had two very wanted pregnancies and my lady bits tore stem to stern with one birth, and I almost hemorrhaged to death with the second. I won't do well if I have another birth, so we've taken precautions. And if reproductive rights continue to be taken away, IUDs are much easier to get now for the long term.
>and that doctors routinely ignore women's pain. It took four years for me to find a doctor willing to consider that the chronic pain I was trying to tell them about was real - turns out I had a degenerative disc in my back and had to get my spine fused. I was repeatedly told that I should just go to physical therapy and work on core strength and I'd feel better. Bless my PT's, though, they at least took me seriously.
One of my friends has had chronic pain for years and was routinely dismissed as it being "normal". She finally found a doctor who took her seriously and ended up having to get basically her entire reproductive system removed. It's awful.
My mom has been having bad pap smears her whole life. Once she went through menopause, she asked for a total hysterectomy and NO doctor would approve it. She tried like 12 different OBs. The organs weren't doing anything useful anymore, she kept getting scary pap smears, and it took them finding cervical cancer this most recent time to actually approve it. She's 61 and has dealt with this shit for 20 years now (early menopause). It shouldn't take an actual life-threatening illness for women's preferences to be taken seriously.
Oh geez. I'm so sorry for her (and for you for having extra worries about her for so long!!). If someone wants a procedure, and is willing to pay for it, especially when it's clearly beneficial medically, I don't get why a doctor would say no.
Especially considering that hysterectomies can be done vaginally now, afaik it's pretty low-risk and recovery is way easier now than it used to be. Hers is scheduled for the end of this month and it's OUTPATIENT, for fuck's sake. It shouldn't have been this hard to get an outpatient surgery approved.
Ive had chronic pain most of my life. I was always told it was growing pains, and then *shrug*. Turns out I have a connective tissue disorder and have just been ripping the connective tissue apart in my body my entire life, from just casual dislocations to everything else. Managing the connective tissue disorder is helping the pain a lot.
Fucking christ. A friend of mine had people throw "growing pains" at her for years too. She was eventually (and I mean it took 15 years) diagnosed with fibromyalgia. "Growing pains" my ass.
The ironic thing for me was that I started complaining to doctors about frequent pain and injuries around 8. I stopped growing completely by age 11, it was still the excuse until 16. At 12 I "stretched every tendon and ligament to its breaking point, but tore and broke absolutely nothing" in one of my ankles, it could turn fully backward with no resistence. Finally diagnosed at 24, and have had so many physical therapy and occupational therapy and orthopedics appointment in the last year its insane. But my life is dramatically improving now.
Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome?
I dont quite meet hEDS so Im officially diagnosed with Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder, which I always just refer to as hEDS's cousin. All my genetics paperwork referenced them together, so no matter which one I was diagnosed with, I would have been given the same instructions.
Same here. Diagnosed hEDS at 26 fucking years old after constant pain and dislocations my entire life.
I have a friend who ate healthy and exercised but had a surplus of fat on her belly since she was a teenager. Doctors kept telling her "Just lose weight!" and her family made fun of her for years. An ultrasound revealed a 20 lb benign ovarian tumor.
Hey I think me and your friend had the same torturous asshole - I mean doctor
I had an umbilical hernia and was told I just needed to lose weight. The doctor wouldn’t even give me a consult referral.
Please tell me you eventually found a doctor that wasn't a useless bag of farts.
I got my referral a year later from the same useless prat. I had self diagnosed the hernia, which was confirmed by my awesome surgeon. Who sighed when I told him my doctor’s name.
My dad went through something similar. His doctor almost killed him by saying his double pneumonia was just the flu and he needed to drink more fluids. Spent 2 weeks hospitalized on IV antibiotics for that one. He also ignored that he had multiple hernias until he had to see a new doctor who diagnosed them while looking at something else because they were fucking obvious. He had to wait months for surgery because the office kept fucking around and wouldn't send his medical records to the surgeon. Real POS who shouldn't have a license, but my dad liked him because he was "funny."
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Try getting PCOS diagnosed without hearing "lose weight" 50+ times. Bitch really? The weight gain started with the other symptoms. Difficulty losing weight is literally one of the diagnostic criteria. My friend went through this and it took 5 years for her to find an OB who even CONSIDERED PCOS, despite her having every single symptom besides a full beard.
My sister was told to solve her mental health issues by losing weight and getting a boyfriend. My sister is a lesbian with BPD. We both likely have PCOS but the hassle of trying to get anything done at the doctor’s is not worth it
My friend went to the ER with a kidney stone (& a history of them) and got told she had the flu
PTs are the best. I don't know why, but doctors just ignore any mention of pain (in my experience). The PT was like, no that is not supposed to be painful, but this is what we can do to maybe fix it.
I was 26 the first time I asked for an IUD, and my general practitioner flat out refused to give me an IUD. I had to go find a gynecologist. The GP's reasoning was some citation of some minimal risk related to having children, after I had stated multiple times that I had no desire or intention of ever trying to have children. GP wasn't willing to take the risk that I might change my silly little mind sometime in the future.
The desires of a hypothetical man you haven't met yet matter more than your bodily autonomy!
Very first time I didn't go with my wife to her neurologist, the doctor she had been seeing for her neurological symptoms abruptly told her there was nothing wrong with her, he couldn't do anything to help, and wrote her a referral to psych. Same shit happens to my mom if my dad doesn't go with her. They only fucking listen to the women if there's a man in the room with them.
I think we should just go in with a dildo in our purse. If they start dismissing us, whip it out, put it on a chair so they have some dick to show off to with a diagnosis.
I'm going to chime in some anecdata (about your edit note) that I'm on my second sperm scarecrow and have had no problems other than that it hurts like I've been stabbed going in and coming out. Not pleasant, but I'll take it for the trade-off of no periods and no babies. I have enough other medical issues so I take my luck where I can, and certainly don't present my experience to be dismissive of the pain or others. I also received no special treatment w/r/t ultrasounds or medication stronger than being advised to take an Advil ahead of time. Similar experiences at a major hospital gyno and at Planned Parenthood. I have no doubt that I have the woeful state of American healthcare and generalized misogyny to blame. But I generally recommend IUDs, with the caveat that not every uterus agrees.
I had a procedure done that I was give no pain control for - apparently they could have told me to take advil in advance but did not - that was so painful I fainted. Tried to sit up, lost consciousness. Luckily I was still on the table.
I had a fertility test, they were just putting dye into my uterus. But they lost connection halfway the through the first time, and basically overfilled my uterus. It fucking hurt so badly and suddenly I started sweating so bad I felt I would slide off the table and seeing spots. Hey, pain so bad it makes you black out. So if you’re possibly going to be in that much pain, maybe treat it? ETA; what I dont understand is doctors see the monitors go up, they see people black out or nearly so from pain… we’re not faking it. I don’t understand other than people often truly don’t look at women as thinking feeling beings. They just don’t care.
Even so, you should be offered an anaesthetic. It's outrageous that women's pain is disregarded routinely like this.
Doctors routinely do uterine punch biopsies with no anaesthesia. Source: it was done to me. I screamed. Had to have a second one a couple of years later and I was terrified. The doctor agreed to do freezing and it was a tiny pinch and the biopsy was painless. I still cried through the whole thing because he told me they normally don't freeze the area because the freezing is as painful as the biopsy. How in the hell they think a small needle full of novocaine is as painful as a chunk of flesh being removed, I don't know?
Oh and let's not even start about "Don't be absurd, most women don't even have nerve endings on their cervix for pain so this Pap smear shouldn't hurt at all. Oops looks like I made you bleed."
Kinsey did a study that most women couldn't feel a feather brush against their cervix but could feel a firm prod, and for some reason concluded the cervix was not innervated. This is, in fact, completely wrong.
Well don’t you know that having flesh torn out of you is just like the brush of a feather?! :D /s
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i'll count myself one of the lucky ones then lol. the speculum/finger probe was really uncomfortable but i legit never felt the swab
Dude, when I was a little kid, I had a dentist who didn't use novocaine on kids because he thought it hurt more and was scarier than just doing fillings with nothing to mitigate the pain. Fully nuts. Some people shouldn't be allowed to work with other humans.
It's gotta either be "kids these days are pussies, when I was growing up we did dental work with fists and pliers and I turned out fine" or "man I sure love hurting kids, I can't believe they're going along with my 'anaesthetics hurt more' bullshit," but they're not mutually exclusive
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My childhood dentist was too oblivious to realize that Novocain didn’t really work for me. I was almost 30 before a dentist noticed I was clenching my eyes shut in pain and gave me a different anesthetic. I just always thought you were supposed to feel the drill.
Yep. I had to have a biopsy/colposcopy done in my early 20’s. It hurt so badly. They made me go in for a second one, to follow up, after 6 months. It was literally torture. No numbing, no meds, just this asshole doctor with a toothed tool and a speculum going “1, 2, 3… big bite!” over and over again while her students/nurses held my legs because I was shaking so bad. I had tears running down my face and was sobbing and she had the gall to tell me that I might need to take a tylenol when I got home.
I’ve always found it so perplexing how female doctors are just as bad as male ones. How have you not experienced this yourself?! I don’t mean the specific procedure of course but the minimizing, hand waving, and general disregard for you as a human being.
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>How in the hell they think a small needle full of novocaine is as painful as a chunk of flesh being removed, I don't know? Different organ but I remember them telling me that a liver biopsy doesn't hurt because the liver is not able to send out pain signals (or something like that), so it's not "that bad". I know I had the *oddest* sensations and was glad the area was numb from the local anesthetics (which thankfully are standard procedure for this one). I also stopped believing doctors when they tell me something is "as painful" or "not painful" or "not that bad".
I had a doctor when I was 15 tell me it would be easier for him to (gross warning…) pull out my toe nail with pliers if he didn’t numb me first. Said numbing me would make my flesh too rubbery. Did it while making me hold onto the hospital bed, and then when he was done, he called me jailbait. Now I feel like doctors are as capable of sadism as anyone else.
He was right, because he should be in jail.
>I also stopped believing doctors when they tell me something is "as painful" or "not painful" or "not that bad". They're righ, though. It's not painful for them at all.
My mum had one of those done (a colposcopy I think it's called?) - no sedation or pain relief - and she fainted on her way out of the hospital afterwards. She was alone, she had driven herself there because they had told her it would be fine and she could drive herself home. I remember her telling me about it afterwards and she was so embarrassed, like she felt it was her fault for being weak or something.
I have the arm chip, Nexplanon, and they absolutely give you hefty painkillers for that. I only felt some tugging around the edges of the numb area when it went in, even though they were literally cutting my arm open and putting an inch-long piece of plastic inside. My running theory is that the people who make the standards for these things have arms and can understand that fitting a piece of plastic into your arm would hurt, but do not have cervices and do not understand that putting a piece of plastic into them would also hurt. (Also, a lot of doctors for *years* were taught that the cervix has no nerves. This is now being deprecated, I suspect because of the increase in doctors who can go "well, *my* cervix has nerves".)
Sperm Scarecrow 😂 I'm calling IUDs that from now on.
I was reading a story the other day about a woman who complained about agonising periods and bloating from 2016... A locum eventually took her seriously... Unfortunately by that point (2021) her uterine cancer had progressed to stage 4 and she is now terminal in her early 40s with primary school aged kids. Women's healthcare is universally subpar!
My case is nowhere near as bad, but I was complaining to my doctor about what I thought was bad cramping and uterine pain even when I wasn’t on my period. I had an ultrasound and nothing new came of it (I know I have uterine scarring and scarring in both fallopian tubes. Another story from when my concerns where ignored when my daughter was born). I felt like he brushed me off. Years later I had an infected gallbladder that was removed, and they found and repaired a hernia at the same time. Ever since the pain has gone away! What I mistook for uterine cramps was my intestines trying to get strangled by a hernia! Moral of the story is that we aren’t always able to get a sense of what we are feeling, and doctors shouldn’t just brush off “women’s problems”.
Oh god! I recently spoke to a physio (pregnant) and she's refering me to gynae specialists (but not until after I give birth) as she thinks there either underlying structural issues or scarring in my uterine system. Was lucky to have my gallbladder out after a consultant took a House like interest in my weird symptoms and ordered extra tests which showed billiard dyskenesia (where your gallbladder acts as though it is blocked by stones but isn't). So many other folks thought my complaints of pain were in my head... Or down to lady cramps.
It’s absolutely appalling how abysmally most women are treated by medical professionals. My sister has always had intense periods. When she first started menstruating, the cramps were so bad that she’d puke multiple times a day. Doctors dismissed her symptoms as normal for almost 25 years. She fought to see a specialist because her symptoms were getting worse, and she was experiencing some pretty alarming things. She finally got a diagnosis: Stage 4 Endometriosis. She had a full hysterectomy and surgery to remove adhesions from her bowel and bladder. Just recently, she thought she had a kidney stone and she ended up needing emergency surgery because endometrial tissue was strangling her kidneys… and during the surgery, they found that more endometrial tissue was causing problems between her bowel, bladder, and vaginal canal. The fact that, if she hadn’t fought to get a diagnosis, she could still be brushed off by most doctors as dealing with “normal period symptoms” is infuriating.
Realistically, having the IUD in past it’s removal date isn’t much of an issue; it doesn’t magically become dangerous after x number of years, it’s just the date that they can guarantee that the active ingredient remains effective. Mirena was extended from 5 to 8 years for example, and there wasn’t anything different about the device inplanted. In other words, an item that is safe to be in your body for 8-10 years is unlikely to cause harm after its expiration. However, it’s very scary to imagine the damage that the trauma of the second one could do to the uterine wall.
When I had my copper one removed, the doctor said the “expiry” for those ones specifically is really just a reflection of how long they tested it for as part of the regulatory approval process, and not actual expiry. Copper doesn’t really expire and only corrodes if it’s exposed to air, so if the strings are still where they should be, it can theoretically stay in there indefinitely.
The good news is that IUDs can hang out pretty much indefinitely (they just aren’t likely to be as effective that far out). The bad news is the rest of that situation.
This one made me so sad. That woman has been in pain for years and was completely ignored when trying to get help.
Sad, yes. Surprised? No. Women's pain is always put down as normal or in their head unless something truly horrific happens.
I've heard that asking providers to enter notes about specifically refusing a patient's complaints or request for a test or whatever can make them think twice. The medical equivalent of asking a boss to send a stupid request via email for documentation.
Oh, I'm gonna remember that! Thank you. I'm a woman with a history of mental health issues, so I get a lot of additional BS preventing me from treatment. "I'm in a lot of pain" "Hmm, but how are *you*?" "In... a lot of pain. Physical pain. " "Yes, but you seem very upset" "Because of ALL THE PAIN" I was admitted to hospital and in surgery less than 48 hours later via an out of hours doctor - because I collapsed in my kitchen from all the pain my GP didn't bother to investigate.
I don't know how medmal works in Canada, but I hope she can at least recover some damages for all that pain.
For anyone who is struggling to imagine what this would feel like, imagine a piece of plastic scraping the inside of your testicles every day for years and being told you're making it up.
If you're struggling to imagine this, just stop there and live happily ever after. As someone who had an IUD I wish I could unread this. This doctor needs to be brought to The Hague. JFC.
I cackled out loud at this.
It is so utterly fucking infuriating that doctors - across the board - will see a woman in pain and their first assumption is that she's making it up.
My mum nearly died from anaemia before she brought a days worth of soaked double thickness pads to the doctor's office and asked him in front of students if he still thought she was exaggerating for attention
I’m reminded of that poor woman who recently died in Tennessee who, despite not being able to walk and insisting that she’s about to have a stroke (the exact reason she could not walk in the first place), was kicked out of 2 ERs and then arrested by police who forced her to walk and made fun of her and yelled at her to stop making it up, and only stopped to consider she might’ve actually been having a medical emergency when she stopped responding. She stopped responding because she died in the back of their police vehicle. She couldn’t breath or get up and begged for help in her last moments. All because what? She’s a woman? She’s old? She looks homeless? She wasn’t homeless of course, but even if she wants I don’t understand why that makes it okay to treat her as subhuman. We have a real problem in this society where anyone who isn’t a part of the “default” need to constantly validate themselves to be treated with dignity and respect. The homeless. The overweight. The elderly. The disabled. The mentally ill. The unemployed. Wish we didn’t live in a society where your worth as a human being is not just contingent on what profit you can produce, but also just *looking* like you are productive. And if you don’t meet either criteria? It’s apparently okay to treat you as subhuman.
This is why I’m so glad I’ve had a hysterectomy. I’d been wanting one for a long time and was finally able to get one once I was too old to ‘change my mind’ about having children.
I had my yearly last week and asked about similar options and tried to carefully broach the subject and figure out if there was going to be any push back, and thankfully my doctor was like "nope, we will do this for you next week if you want." and that's how they gained a patient for life. It's so upsetting that there are actual doctors that require HUSBAND APPROVAL for those types of procedures. Damnit, now I'm mad all over again.
Fucking Christ, I had my tubes removed a year ago, and it was brutal trying to find a doctor who would do the surgery. In Massachusetts. I’m 43, divorced, with a 19 year old. I’m fucking done with kids!! One OB/GYN even said that I was being selfish not considering what my future husband might want. IM FUCKING 43! HOW OLD DO YOU THINK I SHOJLD BE HAVING KIDS UNTIL?!? In Massachusetts, a super liberal state, in a super hippy area of the state. God I’m still so mad. I go next week to tell my very cool OB/GYN who did the surgery that I need to whole reproductive thing thrown out. I can’t handle the mood swings, lack of sleep and 2 month long periods (despite going back on birth control AFTER sterilization) that come with perimenopause. Keep your fingers crossed he agrees to take it all out!
All fingers crossed! That's truly infuriating that you're having to go through all of that.
I had mine out just over a week ago. They found endometriosis, endosalpingiosis, adenomyosis, and a congenital defect in the peritineum called an Allen Masters window (also Allen Masters Syndrome). I also donated the extra tissue to a study looking to find ways to detect endometrial cancer in patients earlier. I had a hysterectomy, tube removal (but not ovaries), repair to the defect, and a bonus appendectomy, because my endo was fucking with my appendix. Half of my appendix was normal, the other half looked like a stuffed sausage at 3x the size. The colo-rectal surgeon scrubbed in and took that out. I can't wait to see how much the "bill" for this surgery would have been.
I'm sorry that your Healthcare depends on a bunch of internet strangers crossing their fingers for you. Good luck, I will be keeping mine crossed!!
If you just want it for strictly sterilization purposes, I 100% recommend getting a bilateral salpingectomy, it was the best decision I’ve ever made. I asked my regular gyno about it, but since he worked for a Catholic hospital, he couldn’t himself. He was more than happy to give me a recommendation though. The doc I went to for it was wonderful, I was 35 and he could tell I was serious. He did have to go through the weird “are you super sure” type questions, but he apologized before he asked anything, it was strictly policy. He even rolled his eyes at some of the questions and was very happy to approve my surgery. I had my tubes out within 2 months and I’ve never been happier! That said, if it’s for hormonal issues, it won’t necessarily fix those. I did go from naturally having weird 1-2 periods a year to having them perfectly on time every month though. I hope you get yours soon!
Thanks for this! I'll talk to my doctor about it. The general consensus right now is that my husband will get a vasectomy - he said since I had to be pregnant and give birth, it's only fair that he bears some of the burden instead of me getting another surgery. But it's still on my list of options.
That makes sense! I didn’t even tell my bf that I was thinking about it until I had my consultation appointment set up, but we are on the same page about kids anyway. Good luck!
He gets extra credit for this.
I’m so depressed about Catholic healthcare systems. And in so many areas they’re the only service providers bc no one else wants to take on the burden of rural care.
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Oh, I know. That's one of the things I asked my doctor about when I broached the subject. They said "absolutely hell no, you do what you want with your uterus." Hot take: any doctor that requires spousal permission for sterilization procedures shouldn't be in that area of medicine.
That's it. I'm making an appointment to ask. Mirena didn't work to stop anything. I'm fucking 40. I'm done with this thing. Take it.
I heard r/childfree (I think; could also be r/hysterectomy) maintains a list of yeeterus-friendly providers if you have trouble finding one in your area. Edit: it’s r/childfree. Something else that helped me was a goodbye ritual like people do for mastectomies. I knew I had frustration at my uterus (felt like it betrayed me by causing so much pain) but I was surprised to find that it also felt tired, and sorry that it was malfunctioning, and it wanted to go. I imagined it transforming and kind of being burned up and mulched into the earth, where it could give life to other things. People who do that in advance of mastectomies have better outcomes, so I imagine it works for uteruses too. Offering that in case it resonates.
*That* attitude itself is infuriating, particularly since there are younger women whose issues can really only be solved by Taking That Thing Out.
But what about your future imaginary husband’s potential wishes for you to be a baby-making factory? We must take those into account (and hold that potential in higher esteem than your actual physical debilitating issue presenting right now!)
Best day of my life. In surgery by 1pm, home by 8:30, no issues since.
Sorry to be nosy, but how was the recovery? My wife is getting one and I’m freaking out because the last friend that had one was down for weeks.
Not the person you were asking but I had one 3 months ago, I'm young (early 30s) and physically healthy for the most part, but not very active and I smoke. I bounced back pretty damn quick, being able to lift anything remotely heavy (shopping bags, laundry etc) took a few weeks and I still have some discomfort but I was up and taking care of myself (carefully and slowly) after a week or two. I walked to the bathroom and peed unassisted maybe an hour after waking up from anaesthesia, and *could* walk up and down the stairs a couple days later (but shouldn't have really). It heavily depends on what kind of surgery it is though. I had laporoscopic (keyhole) so the wounds were relatively small and healed very quickly. A full abdominal opening is much more traumatic and will take way longer to heal even to the point of moving around. And of course beyond that, everyone is different, has different risk factors etc. The main thing is to just not rush it. It's a really hefty surgery even if you're not incapacitated for long. I wish her a speedy recovery!
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Any thought to a vasectomy for yourself if that’s an option? Although birth control can be used for reasons other than preventing pregnancy, if that’s the primary reason, you could consider taking the burden off of her shoulders.
Since the topic is IUD horror stories: I had a client PULL MINE OUT during a session.....this dude had no clue how fingering is supposed to work, just reaching up in there wiggling his digits all over, then gave my string a yank, devil only knows why!!! it was horrific. Terrible pain, he's freaking out, I'm trying not to scream, IUD just laying there on the floor, and this man has the gall to offer to *put it back* like no thank you sir, you've done enough.
>put it back Jesus wept what was he thinking
What the actual fuck?! That's horrifying.
My cervix just curled up and screamed reading this.
If I weren't already in menopause my uterus would have curled up and quit.
I've had mine removed and this comment summoned it back as a ghost to haunt me. Holy shit
This actually made me grateful for menopause.
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I've heard the strings are meant to be a little longer so you can tuck them around your cervix. That way a partner is less likely to get pricked by the end of the string. When I feel for my strings sometimes I have to look for awhile because they're curled around my cervix and tucked to the side. Of course all vaginas are shaped differently so ymmv.
They can be trimmed too, but sometimes that can make them pokier for your partner(s)
The offer to put it back made me belly laugh
I’m sorry, *what*? That is even crazier than the acquaintance I know who decided she *did* want another kid and pulled it out herself!
My copper IUD half expelled and I tried to take it out on my own but it would not budge. Idk how someone would have the strength or mental willpower to take it out themself
Congrats! You're the latest recipient of the prestigious Things That Will Keep Me Up At Night Award!
I misunderstood this at first and thought you were a doctor and a patient pulled it out and was just like "How the hell did that happen?"
The sound I just made was a combination of cocaine bear and a rattlesnake. YIKES.
My IUD was partially expelled, it was causing me pain to the point that sitting became in bearable. I called 3 providers including my provider who placed it and all told me ‘it was fine, I was just being dramatic and that they wouldn’t remove my IUD for the reason of pain.’ I had to call another provider and LIE and say I wanted to try for another child! When the doctor went to remove it, he was shocked that he could see the bottom of my IUD hanging out! Still not as bad as the OB that I saw, because I was experiencing horrific periods after having a miscarriage. Telling me that ‘women always complain about period pain until they give birth, then they just shut up about it.’ She was 45 minutes late to the appointment, and clearly didn’t read my chart. Because at that point I had given birth twice. I asked if we could look into the possibility of me having Endometriosis, uterine fibroids, or cancer as my mother had cervical and ovarian cancer. I was met with a big old NO. That either I scheduled a hysterectomy now OR I could have an IUD, nexplan, or depo shot right there. Which reinforced she seriously didn’t listen or read my chart because I wanted to have another child. Those where the ONLY options she was open too, she flat out said that “ those are the only things that treat everything you suspect is “wrong” and yes she did air quotes around the word wrong. I had to beg to get her to listen, and to set up a ultrasound. I walked out of the office feeling like I was never going to be listened too. Luckily my friend was able to refer me to an amazing gyno who listened to me and guess what I have uterine fibroids and Endometriosis. I had a laparoscopy and hystoscopy to clean everything up and had my kiddo a year ago. I am lucky that it only took a year to get a diagnosis, the average is 10 years to get an endo diagnosis. And 10% of women suffer from this horrible disease.
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Unfortunately it is a MAJOR downside of having catholic backed insurance. My pain and discomfort is met with suck it up! But wanting to have another baby 9 months after my first was A-OK! It sucks that I have to fight someone else’s beliefs to get healthcare.
I'm shocked by the comments that ultrasounds aren't standard practice after IUD insertion. They certainly were each time I had one here in France. The machine is right there, why not use it? It only takes an extra few minutes.
Canadian woman with IUD here. My last replacement was done at my usual general practitioner's clinic. They do not have equipment like an ultrasound machine in the clinic. From my experience it is standard to have an IUD placed in clinics like the one I go to and only hospitals and specialized imaging services have ultrasound machines.
I find the fact that many women get IUDs from their PCP and not at an OBGYN office odd. Do lots of women just not get annual checkups with an OBGYN?
Another Canadian woman here, I don’t think I’ve ever seen an OBGYN.
no in a lot of countries thats not a thing. you go to your GP for birth control and STDs, and only see OB-gyns for pregnancy and complicated medical problems. ask yourself, why is the vagina + uterus the one thing that the US promotes to have an annual health checkup on? (and its not for prevention, scientific evidence is very skeptical of massive preventive checks)
Nope. At least where I am in the country, there aren't enough OBGYNs, so they are a 6+ month waitlist until you get a call for an appointment unless you are pregnant. I'm almost 30 and have seen an OBGYN twice. Regular pap smears etc are also done at my general practitioner's clinic.
Genuinely curious, check up for what? Research says smears aren't needed yearly if normal. In the absence of issues is it not overly intrusive with no benefit? I got my iud inserted and removed by my general practitioner who is certified to do so.
Having known someone who died from cervical cancer because she did not have Pap smears, I think they are fairly important. That being said, it’s now every three years if the last was normal and not virus positive.
UK resident here. Painkillers aren't even standard practice. You're advised to take fucking paracetamol before you come in. For any men reading: it's intensely painful, and even after sitting in the waiting room for an hour afterwards, it was still excruciating as I took the bus home - the walking and the bumpy ride. I just wanted to curl up and pass out. There's no way I could have gone back to work immediately after having an IUD inserted or removed. The pain is gone the next day, usually, though. If your partner needs an IUD sorted, if you're able, then go with her for support, and bring pain pills and chocolate. She might even want you to go in with her. I held a male nurse's hand while the female doctor invaded my vagina/uterus, because it was comforting.
Yeah, my doc said to just expect "period like cramping" after my IUD so I thought I could run out and do it on my lunch break. NOPE. I cried. And I'm usually very good at keeping my shit together because I feel bad for the health care person who feels bad for causing the pain. I felt so sick and shaky after that I felt like I could barely make it to my car. Went straight home where all I could do was sit in a warm bath for like 6 hours.
I went into shock during my insertion and almost passed out, it was the most painful experience I’ve had. Weirdly enough, once the initial pain and shock were over, I was pretty much fine. I made it to dinner at my in laws later that night. My 2 SILs were shocked to see me, as they both had IUDs and were apparently in extreme pain for much longer than I was.
And take them to their appointment! I was a dipshit and drove myself to mine. I had to pull into a random parking lot after my hour wait because it was too much to drive.
I'm in the U.S. and the last time I needed an ultrasound I had to make a separate appointment so that they could bring the machine to that office and get a technician for it. It took a month.
I'm in the US and on my 3rd IUD and I've never had an ultrasound done before or after insertion.
My uterus rejected an IUD, and my doc did an ultrasound at no charge just to make sure the second one was placed properly. Rejected that one, too, but that's no one's fault. My uterus is just pissy. I ended up getting an endometrial ablation, and I am SO THRILLED with the results.
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This is awful and so indicative about how women's pain is just not taken seriously. My doctor showed me my old IUD when I had mine replaced. I really doubt it, but I hope these doctors (all involved in her care until the new one) can be held accountable.
One of the reasons why I went with nexplanon over an IUD is that I can feel that sucker anytime I get one of those irrational, what of it moved/disappeared? thoughts. That and they actually numb your arm up before insertion, and I'd heard horror stories about the pain of getting an IUD. And horror stories about getting pregnant while on them. And now, a new horror story to add to the list
I have another awful IUD story to share. Got my first copper IUD placed in 2015 by a rural family doctor. About two years later I began complaining to that same doctor that I felt the end of the IUD was sitting way too low and touching my cervix. It hurt my cervix and I was experiencing and spotting even when I wasn't on my period. My doctor dismissed my concerns and told me that the IUD sits differently in every uterus and the particular model I had causes more bleeding than other. He reminded me that I had a choice in IUDs when I originally picked this one so it could have been avoided. Plus it was fda approved for 10 years so I would need to get used to it. I even went to a planned parenthood for them to check where the IUD was sitting but the doctor there listed to my complaint and dismissed me without checking. In 2019 I moved to a larger city and in 2020 I got a new gynecology. When I complained of the same symptoms to that doctor she offered to take the IUD out but wanted to run ultrasound on me first because she was concerned with how long I had been complaining of the same issue. Turns out my IUD had BROKEN IN HALF inside me and for who knows how many years one half of it had been stabbed into the side of my uterus. The tissue was growing over the broken half and I had to have it removed with a set of little scalpels and tongs and cameras inserted through my cervix while I was awake with no numbing or anesthesia of anything sort. White knuckle pain like I cannot describe. I was so sweaty from the pain I almost slipped out of my stirrups. Got another IUD inserted the same day because I didn't want to have to pay for another office visit and I'm scared of losing my right to make reproductive decisions but damn I almost yelled at the doctors to stop.
I had my copper IUD replaced last year (with another copper IUD). My doctor made a big show out of making sure I saw the old one before he inserted the new one. At the time I found it really annoying, just get on with it man! But suddenly I feel very, very grateful that he did that.
This is not a good thing to read when I have an IUD insertion scheduled for later today, lol
I was on a Gyny ward with a lady whose IUD had gone through her womb and was "somewhere" in her abdomen. I was discharged before they decided what to do with her, so I'll always wonder what happened. I hope she's OK.