"oregonchick" wrote in message
...
My doc is suggesting an IUD, but I've heard bad things about that in the
past, and also wonder if you can feel it there? We are not planning on
more children, so I wish my husband would just get the procedure, but he
seems pretty reluctant to do anything permanent. Whatever I choose, I am
assuming I will still have irregular cycles, and wonder if the only
treatment for that is still taking the pill?

I have had my IUD for almost four years now. It is the best, best, BEST
method of reversible birth control on the planet as far as I'm concerned.
No, you cannot feel it at all. It's very tiny, actually. There is a small
risk of infection immediately after insertion, but it is such a small risk
that I had no issues in taking it.

I have long, irregular cycles, too. They've never bothered me, so the fact
that IUD won't correct that isn't an issue for me. The only birth control
method that will regularize your cycles is combination BCPs, and the
estrogen can interfere significantly with milk production (not to mention it
makes me a stark, raving nut, so I have always avoided it). And combination
BCPs don't really cause you to have "normal" cycles anyway. You actually
only get your period because some of the pills in the pack are placebos and
the withdrawal of the hormones induces a "fake" period.

I have a copper-T IUD which is non-hormonal. The Mirena releases small
amounts of progesterone (which is what is in depo). I chose the copper-T
because I felt I'd had enough synthetic hormones in my system by then and
didn't need any more. The downside to the copper-T is that it can make
periods heavier, although mine have always been pretty heavy (I think it's
payback for my going longer between periods than most people g) so I'm not
sure it's had much on an effect on me that way.
--
Be well, Barbara