Paraguard was the worst decision I have ever made in my life! I’ll start out by saying I am a registered nurse with a lot of experience in health care. I got it placed April 3, 2019. I wasn’t experiencing too many side effects other than pain in my abdomen and spotting which is normal. Fast forward to late August, my weight started to increase, note that I was 130 lbs before I went on. I started to notice severe fatigue, losing hair noticeable on my rubber bands (ones that are soft- not the ones that literally pull your hair out) and shower, anxiety, “spaciness”, brain fog, anger, little pimples, and constipation. It started to get worse, October I was 137 pounds!!! Mind you, I am very WEIGHT and HEALTH conscious. I count and track all my meals and I workout 4-5 days per week with lifting and cardio. I started to get stomach cramping and the side effects were just getting worse. I got my labs done October 7th2019 because I needed an answer to why I was experiencing these symptoms since copper IUD (Paraguard) has “no hormones”. To my surprise, my thyroid function (TSH and T4 free) both decreased significantly and my eosinophils increased dramatically and the doctor didn’t even pick up on it!!! I made an appointment with my OBGYN October 28thto see my doctor due to cramping and I also started to develop low grade temperatures with a max temp of 101 F orally. When I went in I told him everything and he did a vaginal exam…he said to me in his exact words “the copper eroded into your uterus, do you want me to pull it out?” I said YES pull it out please! The doctor said it was actually a little difficult to take out. He also did a culture swab to see if an infection was present…..and IT WAS! The organism that grew is an anaerobic bacteria called Prevotella Bivia. This type of infection cause pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). He then told me I was smart for coming in the office and removing the IUD…
I get it, not everyone has the same symptoms but to see other people posting the same horrible side effects should alert the company that something isn’t quite right with this foreign object. This paraguard IUD claims it has no hormones and that is most likely accurate. But, did you know that copper has an indirect effect on estrogen? For example, copper increases estrogen levels so you can experience the same symptoms as someone who is on oral BC. Did you know if you get your blood copper levels checked it will NOT show copper toxicity and appear normal? Did you know that copper toxicity does damage to organs? Hence why my thyroid function went down when I never had a problem before. So, for the people who have this horrible thing, don’t tell others that the people who experience these negative side effects are wrong or it is something else and they are crazy. To those who have experienced far worse side effects than mine, I am so sorry and hope you do regain your health back!
It is now January 22, 2020 and I still have yet to lose the weight I gained! Constipation has resolved, hair loss is less if anything at all now, brain fog got so much better as I do not experience this anymore, and no acne! I have never been so disappointed in the research and studies on this particular birth control. I will NEVER get another paraguard IUD and I will tell everyone who asks me about it NOT to get it. This thing has ruined me. I hope to lose the weight, get my life back, and regain my health back!
