Last year I wrote a post about contraception, trying to decide what was best
the coil or mini pill?
I wanted to blog about my experience. It seems silly because I wouldn't sit and tell a complete stranger in a coffee shop about my experience with the coil or walk around town with a placard stating "I have a Mirena Coil!" Or "I'm on the mini pill!", but its easier hiding behind a screen. I'm also quite open if people ask for advice or want to know about something. So by opening this post or reading past this point I'll assume you want to know.
I'm also hoping for a positive experience and want to be able to have this accessible to others who Google, like I did!
I'd planned to have the coil fitted back in December and last minute, being the night before I was due to have it, I stupidly Googled.
I was greeted by lots of negative stories. I asked for advice on Twitter and was thankfully given a few positive stories but the negative ones totally outweighed the positive.
With that I changed my appointment from a 'coil fit' to a 'coil chat'.
I explained to my doctor about the fact that I'd chickened out. We discussed side effects, the procedure itself and I was left feeling a bit better about it all.
I left with the mini pill to take in the mean time until I was ready to rebook for the coil fit.
I kept forgetting to take the mini pill so mid January decided to stop altogether and book my appointment. It takes a while to get an appointment date as you have to see the doctor and nurse at the same time so finding a day and time they are both free is quite a challenge....apparently!
Yesterday I had my appointment and I didn't cancel.
The general side effect I'd seen when I Googled and when asking on Twitter was cramping/period pains and bleeding.
Before I went to the appointment I followed my doctors advice of taking paracetamol, so that the period pains wouldn't be as bad as normal.
At the time I first spoke to the doctor last year our surgery didn't stock the Mirena coil so I had to get a prescription and take it in myself.
The box is HUGE so I took my big leather bag but still have to hold my hand over the top and keep it close to my body to conceal the contents.
The nurse called me and as we walked down the corridor I told her I was nervous and she then informed me that the doctor had a trainee gp with her.
A male trainee gp.
I quietly said I wasn't keen and teared up a bit. I said the same as the doctor and in a way felt pushed into having the trainee stay but I'm glad I did as they have to learn somewhere! And it means if I ever have problems at least there's another gp who can help, and it won't be as embarrassing as he'd of seen 'me' before!
I talked about my concerns and was comforted by the gp and nurse and we joked about cold hands, coil horror stories and losing jewellery in places jewellery shouldn't be lost!
I was feeling better already.
I undressed, laid on the bed and the doctor performed an examination. She told me everything she was going to do before she did it and this would be my biggest advice. With a coil fit, smear test, anything 'invasive' like this...ask the doctor, nurse, midwife, consultant to talk through what they are going to do and what they are doing.
I'd made the doctor aware of my fear of internals due to a rough and heavy handed midwife during Harry's birth and she took this on board and was gental and checked I was ok as she performed the examination.
The fact that my doctor did this made it a lot better for me and helped me relax; although it wasn't pleasant of course but it certainly wasn't as awful as I thought.
The nurse stood 'head end' and talked to me about the boys, and about Harrys birth because I was getting horrid flashbacks.
The doctor inserted the clamp to be able to fit the coil and see clearer and it didn't hurt at all. Again, letting them know you're concerned will help with this not being shoved in and wound open quicker than you can scream "OUCH". I also think it helps to just not think about what they are doing.
I tend to cover my face and not look whenever having an internal, I did this when pregnant both times and looked at the wall when I had my smear. I find that if I watch I tend to tense up and not relax. At no point today did they have to tell me to not tense up.
There were then some measurements and swabs being taken and the doctor used some local anaesthetic to numb me. She said this isn't done the majority of the time but I was special so she was doing it for me, this was because of the trauma from Harry's birth still being so fresh.
I'd recommend asking for this IF you feel you need it. I'm not sure if it made much difference to me actually as you're about to find out.
The worst bit was, if I heard them correctly, when a clamp was placed in to help the coil go in. I'm not talking about the silver clamp which resembles a beak, but something else. This did hurt and did make my eyes water but not enough to put me off. Within 5 minutes the pain had gone. The pain was right at the top of the cervix. (I think)
After this I felt a tiny bit of pulling and prodding and then DONE!
The doctor gave me a quick clean and then provided a big maternity pad (oh how I've missed those) and told me to close my legs and just lay on the bed for a while.
I was there for about 10 minutes. They checked to see if I was dizzy, how I felt in general and helped me to sit up and get off the bed when needed.
I felt slight cramping straight away but nothing too uncomfortable. As I said to the nurse, it could of just been one of those moments when you imagine a pain because you expect it.
I got dressed and was told to return in 6 weeks so the nurse can check everything is ok.
I was instructed to go home and rest and eat cake (yeah right! I wasn't able to rest at all due to a lack of support.)
I found within half an hour that I was bleeding and had cramping and period pains. The cramping wasn't bad enough for me to take any more paracetamol at all during the day and found distracting myself (colouring and painting with the boys) completely took my mind off any discomfort.
The bleeding was slightly heavy, but not pouring, at first but has now become almost like spotting.
At the moment I can just feel a dull ache in my back and hips but its not at all unbearable.
I will write another post in 2 weeks updating my progress with the Mirena Coil.
From my experience so far I would say DON'T put it off just because of it being painful. It's over within minutes and then just forgotten about...like a blood test I suppose.
And don't let embarrassment stop you. If I can do it with a trainee male doctor (who was young!) helping then you can certainly do it with a doctor and nurse...or just a nurse if you go to your family planning clinic.
Make sure you are with a doctor or nurse you feel comfortable with and be aware that you CAN STOP at ANY POINT! If you don't want to go any further just tell them and everything will be removed and no one will think badly of you.
Fingers crossed I have a positive 2 weeks!
