Copper coil expulsion- what do I do now?

[Embley24]

My experience with the copper coil has been nothing but misery. I had it put in early January 2021 and I don’t think anything could have prepared me for the pain I experienced when it was put in, plus for at least 2 weeks after. It took my breath away and I almost fainted as they put it in. Then I spent the next 3 days in bed in agony with the strangest crampy period pains. Then I bled heavily for about 10 days, none stop. I was going through 5/6 tampons a day. As the weeks went by, I was starting to doubt if this was a good option for me, but wanted to stick it out a little longer. Gradually the pain decreased and to my absolute relief, my second period was relatively normal (on time, lasted 4/5 days and wasn’t ridiculously heavy). I had prepared myself for 3+ months of heavy and painful periods so I was pleasantly surprised. I was starting to feel like it was settling down and I thought, if this carries on like this it’s going to work amazingly for me. Then just before my 3rd period, I noticed some strange cramping and a weird smell, similar to BV. I booked a check up at my local practice, expecting them to tell me everything was fine and I was overreacting, for them to actually tell me I was giving birth to my coil and it needed to come out immediately. It had moved out of place which was causing the smell and a potential infection, and I’d also been unprotected for an unknown amount of time. I was so shocked and upset! They struggled to get it out due to where it was sat which was another horrible experience, they had to give me emergency contraception and wouldn’t fit another coil for at least 3 weeks to be sure I wasn’t pregnant. I’m now exploring other contraceptive methods as I don’t think I can go through all that pain again but similarly to many others on here, I want to try and stay away from hormones! Has anyone experienced anything similar and if so where did you go from here?

[Galen70]

Dear Embley , sorry you had a difficult time with the IUD. Its didn't however cause the odour , which I am presuming was BV. This most likely would have been caused by the prolonged bleeding which would alter the vaginal acid balance and predispose to BV.

There is a small chance of expulsion of the coil - after all, your uterus is one large muscle designed to push something out. The chance is small, slightly increased by heavy bleeding etc. The team cant put a coil in until they are sure you are not pregnant - because if you were , and the coil insertion caused a miscarriage , you might not be happy with that.

Non hormonal methods include condoms , male and female sterilization, caps and diaphragms , and natural family planning. Some of these methods however have a higher failure rate and are not recommended in younger women.