birth control reccommendations?

Sarah Vaughan wrote:
Amy wrote:


I asked both my doctors - my OB and my GP - about an IUD, and both said
that it's not appropriate for me since we're planning on having other
kids within the next few years. Apparently it's too much trouble for
them to put it in for that short a time, and then take it back out.
Grrrr...


That is complete rubbish, and putting up with it sounds so unlike you
that I'm wondering whether there is some insurance issue here that I'm
being naive about that means you really can't go to another doctor.
Couldn't you go to Planned Parenthood, or somewhere like that?

Did they specifically say that it was too much trouble, or is that just
what you're inferring? If somebody tried telling me that, I would very
politely and icily ask them to in that case please let me know if they
could recommend a doctor who didn't consider it too much trouble to do a
relatively simple health care procedure when a patient needed it. Or
I'd just go and find one on my own. Couldn't you go to Planned Parenthood?

Ooops, sorry - the repeat of the 'Planned Parenthood' comment was due to
poor editing on my part rather than intentional nagging. Proofreading
before posting has been one of the casualties of life with a toddler. ;-)


All the best,

Sarah
--
http://www.goodenoughmummy.typepad.com

But how do we _know_ that nobody ever said on their deathbed that they
wished they’d spent more time at the office?

"Anne Rogers" wrote in message
...
Good to know...I think I would go for something non-hormonal if it was
me. The BCP makes me loopy too. Has anyone had their IUD put in under a
general? I have heard of one person who did, but I guess she had unique
circumstances as she tore incredibly easily. I couldn't stomach the
thought of it under sedation.

I had it done with no intervention and even with my SPD it was basically
fine. I do know someone who had it done under a general, but that was
because she was having surgery anyway and she hasn't had children.

It's not really about the physical discomfort...it just gives me horrors
thinking about it :-/


--
Amy
Mum to Carlos born sleeping 20/11/02,
& Ana born screaming 30/06/04
http://www.freewebs.com/carlos2002/
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/a/ana%5Fj%5F2004/
My blog: http://spaces.msn.com/members/querer-hijo-querer-hija/

Sarah Vaughan wrote:
Amy wrote:


I asked both my doctors - my OB and my GP - about an IUD, and both said
that it's not appropriate for me since we're planning on having other
kids within the next few years. Apparently it's too much trouble for
them to put it in for that short a time, and then take it back out.
Grrrr...

That is complete rubbish, and putting up with it sounds so unlike you

It's not. But honestly, I spent so much time fighting when I was
pregnant, now I'm just tired. If I really, really wanted to I could
call my OB's office and say, "Look, I want an IUD, and if you can't do
it I want a referral to someone who can, because using condoms when
you've been in a committed relationship for 9 years and married for 5
is bull****..." The fact is that the issues isn't coming up often
enough for it to matter, if you know what I mean, and I just haven't
made the time.

that I'm wondering whether there is some insurance issue here that I'm
being naive about that means you really can't go to another doctor.

That too, I have an HMO. My options for an OB are really limited. I
think there are 5 or 6 that are covered, and I know two others (besides
my own) from when I was pregnant, and I wouldn't want to be treated by
either of them.

Couldn't you go to Planned Parenthood, or somewhere like that?

Probably, but if I'm having something like that done, I'd rather have
it done by a doctor, if I have a choice, than by a nurse practitioner.
Our local PP, last time I was there, was staffed only by NPs, and they
didn't do a lot of the more delicate procedures. (Funny story - there
were protesters outside the PP one time when I went there to get my
pills. I went in and said, "Do you guys even do abortions here?" and
the gal at the desk said, "Nope, nearest place where they do is in (big
city 45 minutes away)." So, I went back outside and told the
protesters that they should really be protesting at Dairy Queen -
because the exact same number of abortions was going on in the building
behind me as at Dairy Queen, and at least at DQ they could get a snack.
Then I started protesting one of the protesters, who was wearing
leather, and giving him a hard time about killing cows for fashion,
etc. Then they started singing hyms, so I did interpretive dance up
and down the sidewalk in front of the PP. It was one of my finer
moments as an anti-protest protester. )

Did they specifically say that it was too much trouble,

Yep.

or is that just
what you're inferring? If somebody tried telling me that, I would very
politely and icily ask them to in that case please let me know if they
could recommend a doctor who didn't consider it too much trouble to do a
relatively simple health care procedure when a patient needed it. Or
I'd just go and find one on my own.

I think the thing that's holding me back is that I'm a little bit
scared of the procedure involved with putting in an IUD. And if it's
really bad, then I know that I have to have it again to get the IUD
back out to have another kid. Eventually I'll get fed up enough with
condoms that I'll either convince DH that it's time to have another
baby, I'll get pregnant accidentally, or I'll get over the fear and
call my OB and raise hell. But like I said, I'm so tired of
fighting...

Amy

I had it done with no intervention and even with my SPD it was basically
fine. I do know someone who had it done under a general, but that was
because she was having surgery anyway and she hasn't had children.

It's not really about the physical discomfort...it just gives me horrors
thinking about it :-/

even so, it really isn't that bad, ok, they are going to go though your
cervix, which doesn't usually happen, but a coil in one direction is better
than a baby in the other in my book!

Anne

are you referring to a non hormonal IUCD?

Sorry, yes - should have clarified that. I decided to go for the
non-hormonal because I knew it would be less than five years before I
wanted to try for another baby, and, given my vivid awareness of the NHS's
perennially cash-strapped state, I didn't feel right about effectively
wasting two-thirds of a Mirena. ;-) My periods have never been
particularly heavy, so I figured I could chance it.

that's fair, I'm thinking a Mirena is about 90 pounds? Now, I expect I'll
use the full 5 years, though when I had it put in there was a possiblity it
would have only been 3-4, I figured that was a big enough percentage of the
time! Though between babies, that's why the mini pill was so good, I
eventually got normalish periods, but the were very light with a 6 week or
so gap between, a lot better than the 2 normal ones I had before I started
the pills. Also, when we decided we wanted another, I literally stopped the
pills, and was pregnant 3 weeks later!

Anne

There are days when I don't even want another one! DD is so intense, I
can't imagine having another one before she's walking, talking, and
potty trained. We're going to revisit the issue (assuming that we
don't have an "oops") when she's 3, and see how we feel then. DH is
reluctant to make any permanent decisions while I'm still sleep
deprived and not thinking clearly. I've always imagined myself with
three kids, but I didn't know that the first one would be a doozy!!

that to me is a long enough time for it to be worth a Mirena, even if I had
to pay out of pocket! I only needed birth control for 8-9 months between my
children, which wouldn't have been worth it. (we used LAM for 6 months, then
the mini pill, decided we'd have another and got pregnant 3 weeks later)

Anne

Another vote for the Copper-T. I personally felt uncomfortable with the
Mirena's hormones, regardless of how minimal, given a rocky history of
the hormonal effects of the pill. Easy insertion, minor (trivial)
issues re.my periods, which just reinforce for me that I'm not
pregnant.

I was also concerned about this, but progesterone only is a very different
ball game from combined, I had a hellish time with the combined pill, but as
we just don't get on with condoms and I wasn't quite ready to try a
diaphragm and with already periods that were a slight issue I didn't want to
make them more of an issue with a non hormonal IUD, the advice was to try
the mini pill as a test of a progesterone only method, it has the highest
dose of any, which turned out fine. I wanted something that could be taken
out so I wasn't going to go the route of injections, leaving the mirena, or
implanon (implant in the arm), having poked someone elses arm, I couldn't
hack feeling that regularly, so I went for the mirena.

Anne

Anne Rogers wrote:

Another vote for the Copper-T. I personally felt uncomfortable with the
Mirena's hormones, regardless of how minimal, given a rocky history of
the hormonal effects of the pill. Easy insertion, minor (trivial)
issues re.my periods, which just reinforce for me that I'm not
pregnant.

I was also concerned about this, but progesterone only is a very different
ball game from combined,

Too true -- the Mirena 's synthetic progesterone is *very very* low.

For me, though, the choice of a plain copper-T IUD made more sense due
to my family history of blood clots and what not, and the side-effect
of a heavier period (copper T, and they are slightly heavier) versus a
slight increase in likelihood of migranes and blood clots made the
copper T a better choice.

Caledonia

Thanks for everyone's feedback. Looks like the IUD is the way to go.

Betsy

"oregonchick" wrote in message
...
So, here it is 3 months post partum, and I'm just now starting to consider
my options for birth control. I was on depo before, but gained weight and
didn't care for the hassles of going in for an injection every 3 months.
I have always had super irregular cycles though, and with depo I had no
period at all... I liked that! But my doc says there are bone density
issues coming out now with depo, so I'm looking into other things. 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?

so many questions! and I'm still not even sure I'll ever want to have sex
again! lol...

Betsy

oregonchick skrev:
Thanks for everyone's feedback. Looks like the IUD is the way to go.

Betsy

Yup. You just put it in and forget all about it.

Tine, Denmark