I'm looking for other ladies' experiences with the copper coil. I have diagnosed stage 2 endometriosis which was treated in March (laparoscopy and ablation). Initially my cyclical pain was less and my periods lighter but that's since worsened again. I'm highly sensitive to hormonal contraceptions and am therefore unable (and refuse) to use them for the management of my symptoms. I take tranexamic acid during my period (for the 4 days allowed as directed). I'm also allergic to latex so as you may imagine contraception can be rather tedious as the only option really left is latex free condoms or the copper coil.
I'm 23 and my fiancée is 29 so a vasectomy/hysterectomy isn't really suitable. In the past I have been on numerous different contraceptive pills, the implant, the depo provera injection and the mirena coil, all of which have not been suitable. I know the copper coil can increase the heaviness of periods which is a concern but I am intrigued to hear of other ladies' experiences.
Thanks in advance.
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eew_notts
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Hi there I would be interested to see what others say as I am as yet undiagnosed but have all classic symptoms (severe bowel and bladder issues, constant pain, ovulation pain and ovaries adhered to uterus seen on ultrasound) anyway I do have the copper cool and this is the third time u have tried it as it has been removed before due to pain in pelvic area. I pretty sure that my endo symptoms are massively worse with the copper coil. I have maybe 2-3 pain free days since having it this past 4 months where as before I'd have maybe 10-12. My GP won't remove it until I had seen my endo consultant. She actually told me it was utter rubbish that the copper coil would make endo symptoms worse as I was told by the gynaecologist I saw on my last hospital admission. Like you I can't and don't want to to take hormones to be honest so interested to hear other opinions.
I wish you well and hope you get some answers here that helps you decide xx
Apologies for the typos I've been awake since 3am with left sided ovulation pain and had a fair few codeine so somewhat fuzzy headed 😳😴 (and still in bloody pain 😢)
The mirena coil did work for me - one of the best things I have ever done - but it took about 6 months to settle down. However, the past 5 years have been bliss, and I'm dreading having it out - even though my GP insists the endo won't return (Ha?!) as I'm post-menopause, now.
However, my case is very different, as I was in my 50s, and my endo only got really, really bad when I was told to stop the pill post-50: before that my endo had been controlled by the pill ... and I believe weight loss helped, plus exercise to keep all hip, butt, abdomen, etc. bits well supported.
[Nb Find a really good, well-trained, old-school - eg: in 50s, & trained at somewhere like Addenbrookes, not some 'jonnie-come-lately uni course' 'cos the uni wants your fees' - physiotherapist, and get advice about support and exercise in that region. An excellent Pilates course for the rest of your life would be good too. You will be grateful come your 50s!]
But if you found the mirena unbearable and really did give it a good try, I would look at Lindle's posts on here, and see if she can offer advice.
Thank you! I've previously spoken (messaged) with Lindle at length as we have some similar experiences with hormonal issues. I was 'diagnosed' as being progesterone intolerant which explains an awful lot of my issues with hormonal contraceptives and also explains some of the issues I've had with my own natural menstrual cycle and associated hormonal fluctuations. Anyway. The mirena coil was utterly unbearable, the qlaira pill was worse and i actually thought I was dying I felt so unwell.
I do Pilates already, you're right, it is brilliant! I find a stronger core really helps me manage the pain.
So glad you are in touch with Lindle. Apologies if I was trying to teach you what you already know ... I was becoming so oestrogen dominant that I really needed a good dose of prog in my 50s ... but I hadn't realised you were prog intolerant.
I do hope you get some good feedback, and manage to find relief from this hideous, and still underfunded, nderrated, and un-understood condition.
Absolutely horrendous!! Sorry to be blunt, but don't go there.....I'm a bit like you, and many other endo sufferers in that we don't tolerate hormone therapy well, so all the pills and mirena were no good (I tried them all)
Decided to try the copper coil, like you - how bad can it be? Answer- 10 days chronic bleeding, clots, made a "normal" endo period seem attractive. Major exhaustion brought in by acute anaemia which took 6 months to correct. So painful it was impossible to even pee let alone have a bm in the morning.
I stuck this out for about 4/5 months and then had it removed, but it took a long time to recover.
I think there's a non-latex diaphragm that can be ordered - diaphragm worked great for me for years (never got accidentally pregnant anyway) no hormones, occasionally yeast infections, but best of a bad choice overall.
Sorry to be so negative about the coil, but I'd hate anyone else to suffer like that!
I too had the copper coil as a contraceptive before I was diagnosed with Endo! It was horrendous! Everyone's different though so it might work for you! I could deal with the extra bleeding fine, but it was the pain on insertion (I passed out!) and the pain/cramps thereafter... I had it removed after 2-3weeks! Awful!!xxx
I had the copper coil for about 6 years, personally I think it's makes things a lot worse but I don't get on well with synthetic hormones either so at the time had no choice.
It made my periods terrible, I used to change sanitary towel and tampons once an hour and sorry to be grose but in the morning used to make the toilet look like something had been murdered in there, ended up anaemic that's when endometriosis was discussed and a year or so later was diagnosed. I now have the mirena coil which has pretty much stopped my bleeding but still get a lot of pains and hormones feel all over the place. Xxx
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