Local anasthesia won't help at all with the cramping, and in my opinion is overkill for the procedure. It hurts, I won't lie, but it's only a few minutes of actual pain, and I'd imagine the horribly unpleasant sensation of the anasthetic wearing off would be worse than the actual insertion pain. Even if it's not, it certainly lasts longer. I just don't see the procedure warranting an actual anasthetic and if it gives you that degree of pain then the IUD is probably not for you in general.
As for the cramping, hot water bottles or a heating pad will help quite a bit. Lots of water is a good thing for your body anytime but could ease the cramping a little bit. Your body is going to react to not only the foreign object but also the physical manipulation of the cervix to inser it, and it's just going to take a little time for it to finish those reactions.
I had mine inserted in my early twenties (never given birth) and have what my gyne calls a "tiny" uterus. I took about 4 Advil prior to my appt which didnt do much to dull the pain.
Insertion hurt, badly. I ended up being up all night with cramps and having to contact the on-call MD to phone in narcotic Rx for me.
mild to moderate cramping continued for about two weeks post insertion. 4 years later, I'm doing absolutely great and LOVE the mirena. The long term results heavily outweigh the short term pain and inconvenience I experienced. I would do it again in a heartbeat.
I had mine done with no paid medicine at all. It hurt a little and I had some cramping afterwards but that was it. I was supposed to take a Tylenol before I got to the office but I forgot.
It is HEAVEN to have no period. Mine were really heavy lasting 8 or 9 days before I got Mirena. I did have bleeding (very slight) for a few weeks after and now nothing at all. I haven't had any side effects and it is awesome not to have to worry about birth control.
I would recommend this to anyone!
I don't have microscopic colitis so I can't help you with that part, but I had my Mirena inserted a couple years ago (I think shortly before I turned 20) and even though I'm kind of pathetic about pain, I was totally fine with 800mg ibuprofen and the cervix softening drugs. I actually went out to lunch with my dad immediately afterward and although I had some minor abdominal discomfort it was significantly better than normal period cramps (which are fair to bad with me). Have you checked the livejournal community IUD Divas? I haven't been on in a year or so but reading stories and experiences was invaluable for me before I got my Mirena.
I just got one last week. My doctor told me to take 2 Advil about an hour before the procedure, and if you are on your period it helps because your cervix is more open. The procedure wasn't as bad as I thought... She told me there would be a needle with local anaesthetic first before she inserted the Mirena itself. That freaked me right out because I hate needles in general and I couldn't imagine one INSIDE me. But I honestly didn't feel a thing. After that it was just like feeling pressure, but not really pain. I had cramping for a few hours after but it wasn't too bad, I just laid around on the couch and babied myself. Get a heat pack to help with that. Good luck!
@mstellah: thanks for sharing :) I've read a lot of people having small uterus. I'm hoping I'm not one of them! But just in case I am, I'll try to stick it out, I also think putting up with a few weeks worth of pain is worth it given what I go through every month! And I have a bottle of Tylenol with Codeine laying around somewhere, i'll have to find it and keep it on stand by.
Glad to hear everything worked out for you!
Did any of you other ladies have this done before ever having a child?
I've had a cervical biopsy done 2 years ago, and while the pain wasn't terrible, it was alot more pain then I was expecting. It was over before I even had a chance to say ow, so at that point, no need to even complain about it. I'm hoping this procedure is similiar to that.
Thanks for all the tips, I'll have to dig out our heating pad. I've deffinately taken time off for this. I took off the day of the procedure (thursday), the day after, I'm off the weekend, and then my birthday is that Monday so i'm off that day as well. Plenty of time to baby myself. :)
I recenty had a Mirena IUD placed and I have never had a child. My doctor gave me the prescription to soften my cervix, which if I had to do it again I wouldn't take. It makes you uncomfortable the evening before and in journals and recent articles it has been shown to not increase comfort for the patient or ease of insertion for the practitioner. I would reccomend taking the pain reliever before the appointment and I recommend asking for the local anesthetic. It really a fairly simple procedure and it is uncomfortable, but the pain is so fleeting. Expect to cramp throughout the evening and possibly into the next day. Good luck!
@stepherzx33: I've had endured three IUD insertions! by the third, I had it all figured out:
with #1 (which was a copper T IUD), I had nothing to help me and it sucked bigtime.
with #2 (my first Mirena), my doctor offered me a local anestetic and I have to say that the pain of getting an injection in my cervix was almost as painful and scary as having an IUD inserted, so I would not recommend that.
#3 was by far the best experience: my new doctor prescribed Lorazepam. it does not kill any pain, but it made me so that I was relaxed and not nervous before the procedure. I would very highly recommend something like that.
also important: ask your doctor if it's ok to take 4 (yes FOUR) ibuprofen 1/2 hour before the procedure to preempt the cramping. several doctors have told me it's ok to take a dose that big every now and then, as long as you don't do that all the time.
finally: I did this on a friday and took the rest of the day off. I ended up being fine, but it's good to have a few days to rest just in case you do get crampy.
I really love my Mirena. I have not had a period in 7 years! plus fewer mood swings too. no more PMS or period related acne! yay!
one more thing: I used to be a person who got really bad cramps during my period. with the Mirena, it seemed that my cramps were only a little bit worse than usual period cramps for about a week or so. nothing ibuprofen didn't help.
for the next 6 months, I would get really random, unpredicable spotting and cramps. but it was not all the time. it was often at first and then tapered down so that by month 6, my period was gone for good. but everybody is really different when it comes to that.
I kinda second what @janie-janie said about the anxiety of it all. With any sort of female procedure, I get myself so worked up that it hurts reeeeeeally bad. That being said, I did a total mind-over-matter thing with my endometrial biopsy I had recently, and it was nothing!!!!
I am one of Mirena's biggest cheerleaders. I love it so much!
I've had Mirena for over 3 years. I've never been pregnant either.
I had no anesthetic or other drugs administered. Pain level was about a 8/10 for 3 seconds. Then I felt crampy (pain level of 4 for an hour or so) but was good to go with some advil and half a percoset after I drove myself home.
well I had my mirena inserted yesterday! :) Figured I'd share my story as well for all of those thinking about the mirena and searching the internet like I was.
My expeirence was not so fun lol. It didn't help that the front desk ladies over booked my doctor. So I waited patiently in the waiting room for an hour, I think that made me even more nervous. By the time I was called back, I was shaking! My doctor said we'd "talk" about the steps involved to inserting it but I don't remember much of talking. We pretty much just did it since she was running late with everyone. I wish I had a nurse to talk to and keep me occupied.
She did tell me, that there were three main steps and with every step, there would be a cramp to go along with it. I made it through steps one and two. Then she told the nurse that was helping her that it didn't stay and we had to start over. So my three cramp procedure now became five. The first one wasn't bad. The second was mild. Mostly pressure but it was enough to be considered pain. The third was an overwhelming amount of pressure. They didn't offer me the option to lay there for a while, like I've read with others. I also didn't feel like I would pass out. I've seen others post that as well.
But it was all over, and I walked out with a mirena! It felt strange to walk. I had a lot of pressure in my lower back and in my lower stomach area. When I got home, the cramps were absolutely terrible. I believe the Cytotec RX they gave me, caused a lot of gas pains as a side effect. Which gas pains + Colitis = pain & pressure. Therefore, I can't really say that all of my pain was from the Mirena alone. I had my heating pad out, laid in bed and cried. It hurt to even change positions in bed. When it was time for more medicine, I took 2 Aleve (Naproxen) [instead of the ibuprofen they suggested] and some Immodium as well to stop the gas pains & pressure in my intestines, and that seemed to work like a charm. Finally able to sleep.
I woke up this morning with no pains at all. I changed positions just fine with no pain or pressure. So i was curious to stand up and walk around. I've been awake for almost 5 hours now and I feel absolutely fine! There is some slight barely-there cramping but it's very minimal. As long as it doesn't feel anything like it did yesterday! :)
I'm so excited that I finally have a mirena and can enjoy all of it's wonderful benefits. If anything changes, I will keep you bees updated. :)
@stepherzx33: local anesthesia is a shot. I had it...quick pinch, no pain. 2 random cramps later that same day & done. Use the anethesia, you don't notice when it wears off.
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Hello,
I'm new to your site so I hope I've posted to the right board.
I'm 23 yrs old and never been pregnant before and I've decided to get the Mirena because I have microscopic colitis. Everytime I have my period, my body over reacts and I have a colitis flare. I think it's just the fluctuation of hormones but I've decided it'd be best to just get rid of my period. GYN also thinks that since I've done so well on birth control pills, I wouldn't have a period on mirena.
I'm going in to have it done during my period, and I will also be given the medicine to help soften the cervix. That being said, I have a lot of planning to do ahead of time to do everything in my power to avoid a flare during this time. Cramping from Mirena and a colitis flare all in one DOES NOT sound fun to me!
As I was planning I started thinking about what I could do to help with the contractions that my GYN said I would have during the procedure. (She said it would hurt but she seemed a little bit too excited to do it if you ask me!) Do any of you guys think that drinking tons of water and decreasing caffeine intake a week or so before would help? I know I've heard that water helps your muscles relax so that's why I was wondering... but maybe with it being a foreign object, theres no decreasing the contractions.
Also, has anyone else had the medication to soften the cervix AND the local anesthesia? Maybe i can have bot?h :)