I went back to my gynecologist. My usual gynecologist wasn’t in the office so I saw someone else. She took a look and found that the IUD had been partially expelled and was stuck in my cervix.
Submitted on: 2022/06/28
I got Paragard (copper IUD) inserted in June 2020. I had been doing the fertility awareness/cycle tracking method for about 2 years at this point. Before then, I was on the pill for 4 years but went off due to bad side effects. I decided to get the copper IUD because I had a new boyfriend (we’re now engaged) and I wanted to avoid synthetic hormones.
The insertion was incredibly painful – I’ve never screamed out of pain except for that experience and I felt faint for about 5 minutes after. Over the next 3 weeks, I had constant mild cramping, fatigue, and a fair amount of spotting. When I got my period, it came with really bad pain. I had awful cramps, tons of blood and clots, and fevers and chills.
This went on for about 10 days before I went back to my gynecologist. My usual gynecologist wasn’t in the office so I saw someone else. She took a look and found that the IUD had been partially expelled and was stuck in my cervix.
She pulled it out and asked if I had ever been pregnant. I told her I hadn’t been. She then told me that Paragard is not recommended for people who haven’t been pregnant because your uterus is typically smaller and the rate of expulsion is high. I was never told this prior to insertion. I was not informed of any possible side effects other than heavy periods that should regulate within a year. After that, I educated my boyfriend about fertility awareness (he was very accepting of it), we spent a few months being extra careful while making sure my cycle was back to its normal state, and have been good ever since.
