Boards
Not carrying these around is the greatest. Source: Shutterstock
When I saw this news about a new IUD designed for young women, I was so excited! And partly mad that it didn’t come out four years ago so I could have avoided a world of trouble.
An IUD or “intrauterine device” is a birth control that contains either copper or progesterone and is inserted into your uterus for anywhere from 3-5 years. This new one is called Skyla, and it’s a low-dose IUD that prevents pregnancy for up to three years. Skyla is smaller than the other IUDs out there, and it was designed with young women in mind.
When I was eighteen, I suffered from a pulmonary embolism, which is a blood clot in the lung. And it’s exactly as terrifying as it sounds. I was fortunately home from college for winter break. I woke up in the middle of the night, struggling to breathe and with a searing pain in my back. I crawled my way toward my parents’ room, and my brother found me on the floor.
I spent a week in the hospital doped up on Morphine and being prodded with needles and IVs. The doctors said had we arrived an hour later, the clot would have broken apart and traveled to my heart or brain, which could have killed me. I can easily say this as the worst week of my life.
I was able to go back to school, but I was very ill. I had marks on my arms from constant blood tests (2-3 a week) to monitor my blood thinners. I was medicated for eight months and my doctors were still trying to figure out why this happened to someone my age.
After countless tests, my doctors concluded that my blueberry-sized clot was a direct result of my birth control, Yaz. Blood clots are a side effect of most birth control pills, as estrogen is a blood-thickening agent. But they’re really not that common (so don’t totally flip out, ok?) and they’re normally more of a concern for women over 30 and smokers. You’ve seen the lawsuit commercials about Yaz and blood clots, I’m sure. And I’m involved in one of those. The entire experience was scary and really hard to accept. Here I was, young and healthy, and then I all of a sudden wasn’t.
From that point forward, I wasn’t allowed to be on regular birth control. I could take mini-pills under strict watch of my gyno, but I had really awful periods. I had paralyzing cramps, serious irregularity, migraines and all that fun stuff, which is why I started birth control in the first place. I had switched to Yaz per a recommendation from my dermatologist since I was struggling with acne. Yaz was supposed to be this miracle birth control for me that cleared up my acne, help with my period issues and kept me baby-free. Obviously, it wasn’t.
The mini-pills were rough for me. They’re progestin-only, which means they don’t control the hormonal effects of your period. They strictly deal with the not having babies thing. Progestin is funky and affects all women differently. For me, it meant getting my period every other week. I hated everything. I was sick of feeling awful, so I stopped taking the mini-pills and was birth control free for a year.
This is where the Mirena IUD came in. I couldn’t get an IUD at eighteen because quite simply it didn’t fit. IUDs aren’t large by any means, but they don’t fit in the small uteruses (uteri?) of young women. They’re really made for adult women who’ve already had a child, and that wasn’t me. So my gyno told me to give it a few years, and I finally got Mirena last summer. It’s the best thing that’s happened to me. I don’t feel crazy, I don’t have mood swings, I don’t have a period. Oh, and I don’t get pregnant.
Having an IUD has changed my life, and I really wish Skyla was an option for me years ago. Not only did I suffer from some of the worst menstrual side effects, but my regular birth control almost killed me. I was so lucky, and I’m so fortunate that I can discuss these issues with you now.
If an IUD is something you’re interested in, start the conversation with your doctor. Don’t think that just because you’re young that you shouldn’t have one. They can be safe for teens, especially now with the introduction of Skyla. Do some research, ask questions, chat with your mom, talk to me.
What do you think about IUDs? Do you have one? Are you worried about getting one? Tell me about it in the comments!
Tips on how to get your best kiss
Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter!
Would You Rather?
Would You Rather?
i got mine yesterday, just have to say….
it hurts pretty bad. I was supposed to take a train out of town today…AS IF!!
How about rolling around crying on the floor instead?
Sleeping for endless hours to avoid being conscious….
Get some heavy pain killers and take ibuprofen as an inflammatory….
the hole in the uterus gets stretched and it hurts pretty bad, even if it is the smaller size mean for women who have never been pregnant.
LOST MY FALLOPIAN TUBE, POSSIBLY INFERTILE
The pain before never went away… IT GOT WORSE. Eventually I couldn’t walk and horrible problems peeing. I went to the ER that sunday night and they performed a LAPAROTOMY aka “Bikini Cut” which is a large invasive surgery. I had a grapefruit sized abcess in my abdomen and pus in my uterus. A doctor told me I had a 50% of losing my ovary and fallopian tube. I was lucky and still have both ovaries.
I was told I had PID, Pelvic Inflammatory Disease, and that it was because I had an STD of Gonorrhea or Chylamedia.
I don’t have any STDS, all my tests were negative and they are dna based so it doesn’t get much more accurate. While STDS are the usual cause of PID, I think it is pretty unacceptable to tell someone they have one without looking at a test result.
(i wasn’t planning on getting it…i went in for a normal check up and my doctor sprung it on me and when i said I’m scared and theres no rush said lets do it now probably wont get the gumption to come back)
I went to get the skyla today. My cervix is just too small. I have never been in so much pain in my life. The doctor couldn’t even get it in. Next week i’m going in to get Implanon/Nexplanon implant. Hopefully that won’t hurt as bad.
I am 25 and had Mirena put in last November. I have never had children, did all my research, asked a ton of questions before having it, read the reviews but decided those were just bad cases. Well I had so much pain with insertion and the cramping lasted over a week so they ran a sonogram to check the IUD. They told me it was “sitting low” and it should be fine. A few days later I felt the strings way lower then what they should be and felt the IUD with my fingers falling out. So I hardly tugged and was in so much pain I couldn’t stand up straight and was rushed to the ER. Sure enough they told me it was stabbing into the walls of my uterus and vaginal canal….. Months later I found a new gyno and told her the story and she told me she is 100% positive that my iud had been placed incorrectly. And when your body rejects it that it shouldn’t hurt and insertion shouldn’t hurt either. She said I should’ve been given a pill that goes into the vaginalol to soften the tissue to make insertion less painful. She is now recommending Skyla and I am terrified to give it another chance. In the midst of all that they found a tennis ball sized cyst on my ovary probably not from the iud but while having it removed they found endometriosis as well. After being on every pill, the patch the ring and having a horrible experience with Mirena I am so scared to go back to an iud but I am considering Skyla since it is for women with no children and a younger target demographic. Hoping this time goes better. But hesitant. Luckily I found an amazing doctor this time. I should sue the other one! Lol
I have my annual gyno apt this next Tuesday (3/19/13) and I was going to bring up the IUD idea to my doc. Mirena seemed to be right up my ally, but the only thing holding me back was the reviews about acne. I had pretty severe acne and was put on Accutane (a balls to the wall form of acne medication that is so intense you need pregnancy tests and observation by the FDA every month that you are on it) for almost a year. My acne cleared up significantly from it, but I still have breakouts
Mirena reviews have said over and over that it causes acne – which scares me to death, because I had it so bad, and still have it now, so I don’t want to go on something that is going to make my bad worse.
I have looked up Skyla and acne and found nothing, probably because its fresh on the market. Because its lower in hormones than Mirena, do you think it would be better for me and my skin? Seeing that the traits for both are nearly the same – except the hormone levels and expiration date, I don’t prefer one over the other, except for the acne factor…
Thank you!
I’m so glad that they’ve come out with that option for younger women! I’ll have to look into that myself. I have irregular periods myself, migraines and terrible cramps. I am on my 5th different birth control to try to ‘regulate’ and make it tolerable. Yaz was not a success for me either, I just never stopped bleeding when I was on it.
Good luck to anyone who is able to try Skyla!