6 Months with the Mirena IUD
I can’t believe it’s already been 6 months since I’ve quit my daily birth control pill and switched over to the Mirena IUD. It’s been… interesting to say the least and I can’t wait to tell you all about it. Before we start though, you can read a little more about my birth control experience in this blogpost.
As many of you guys know, I was sick of taking a pill every single day. It was stressful to remember to take it at the same time everyday, and when I would forget, despite the multiple reminders I set on my phone + computer, it would be majorly anxiety-inducing. That being said, I never missed a pill until literally the day before our wedding (ironic or nah?), but did take it late a handful of times.
So in May, I went for it because I knew that:
We don’t want kids for the next 5 years.
If we decide we do, I could simply get it removed.
I was tired of taking the pill every day.
I found an OB that I liked that I work with at the hospital.
My health insurance covered the entire cost of the Mirena IUD and insertion.
I’ve chatted about the actual insertion process on my Girl Talk story highlight on my Instagram, and I don’t have any qualms about that. I mean, it wasn’t the best feeling in the world, but it isn’t a huge deterring factor from getting an IUD, personally.
But the past 6 months, I feel like the weight gain has been so real. I know it’s one of the side effects of birth control in general, but I’ve never gained weight like this, even with eating a generally healthy diet. However, I feel like it’s not just the IUD alone, but the combination of working nights + my body adjusting to a new birth control method. My body’s just been realllllyyyy confused as of late and it’s getting exponentially more difficult to really appreciate and honor the body I’m in when I feel so out of control.
I’m also thinking that my body may just be adjusting to the fact that my estrogen levels have been highly influenced by taking a combination oral pill, as Tri-Previfem contained both estradiol and progestin, whereas the Mirena IUD only contains progestin. I’m hoping that in the next couple of months, with a consistent workout schedule (3x/week) and proper portion control, I can feel more comfortable in my body.
Let’s get to the most annoying part though.. the spotting. It’s been so incredibly frustrating to spot every. single. day. for the past 6 months. If you guys follow me on Instagram, you’ve heard me whine and complain and whine and whine and whine about the spotting. But when I tell you I wore a pantiliner every day, I really wish I was lying. I meant to buy some period panties from Thinx a while ago, but I didn’t, in hopes that I would eventually stop spotting. I know everyone is different, and I’ve chatted with other women who’ve both had a Mirena for a long time, and had just gotten theirs inserted, but I feel like I’m the only one who’s been spotting for so long.
And in all transparency, it really messed with my libido in the sense that I simply didn’t want to have sex when I was spotting. Not only because of the discharge and blood, but also because I would cramp and feel bloated. I felt so bad that I couldn’t always be DTF (lol) because I just felt so uncomfortable and every day would be a different amount of spotting. And because I know at least 1 person is wondering… Caleb has said he only felt the strings a couple of times, but it’s nothing painful or something that would prevent him from having sex. I mean, when I do my monthly string checks, the strings feel soft and pliable so it really doesn’t seem too bad. But then again, I don’t have a penis so there’s that.
I tried to keep track of my spotting and irregular bleeding with the Flo app, but it was very inconsistent. I feel like once a month I would have a “period” but It would either last 7+ days or 1-2 days. It was very hard to keep track of. This was also kind of a bummer because most of the women I know completely lost their periods with the IUD and I was honestly looking forward to that. But every month or so, I would bleed enough to saturate a pad or tampon, but like I said, it was never consistent. I just had to play it by ear, which is most people’s nightmare. And by most people, I mean me!!!
In the first 2-3 months, I was breaking out a lot, too. And I tracked it with my bleeding pattern (or lack thereof), and I would get really painful pimples right before a span of heavier spotting. That really sucked and honestly I did not miss that while I was on my oral contraceptives. But after 6 months, I feel like it’s really died down and I only get a couple breakouts here and there. That reminds me, I need to restock my Mario Badescu drying lotion - my holy grail for breakouts.
But I know that it’s a lot to judge in the first 6 months, and I know my expectations are high for my body as its regulating this change of hormones all while night shift has fucked up my circadian rhythm. Sigh.
All in all though, it’s doing its job. I’m not pregnant! Woohoo! I’m not spotting anymore! Woohoo! I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m totally spotting here and there but not every single day and it’s such a relief. The spotting actually kinda helped me get over the whole “not feeling sexy” thing and it taught me that there’s nothing a quick rinse + toilet paper can’t fix. TMI? Sorry.
I struggled a lot with wanting it removed completely, going back to the pill, and being off birth control completely. But I am kind of taking this as a lesson for my future self when I get off birth control completely so I kind of know what to expect. I most definitely won’t be coming off of birth control completely. We definitely aren’t ready to have a kid right now. I have my own career goals that heavily depend on my full attention aka grad school, and we aren’t as financially stable as we’d like to be with a baby. Plus, we are still newlyweds and we have so many places we want to see and things we want to do, and we want to be really fully ready, both emotionally and financially, when we bring another life into this world. And it’s really empowering that I have control over that.
So for now, I’m hoping that my body starts to accept this foreign object as a friend, not the enemy. Hopefully they’ll become besties and leave my adipose tissue alone. Hopefully it stays in my cervix and hopefully it doesn’t fail me. Do you also have an IUD? How are you liking it? Leave me a comment below!
xo,
Clara