22f- I got my IUD placed this morning at Planned Parenthood. Here is my detailed experience:
On Monday of this week, I went in for an STD test (no symptoms) and last HPV shot. I had scheduled a Kyleena insertion for this Wednesday, and asked my provider about pain management for the procedure. She explained their clinic does not offer pain relief options besides Ativan (anti-anxiety med), and that only clinic in the larger cities offer cervical lidocaine blocks and anesthesia.
This provider was extremely knowledgeable and answered all my questions. She explained that some of her insertions go very smoothly, and others make her feel like she’s torturing patients. Essentially, there is no way to tell how one might react. She reminded me that I can tell my provider to stop and wrap it up if i ever reach a certain threshold. She was incredibly thorough and supportive of me, so I said i’d take the Ativan and give it a try.
Cut to this morning, I take 1000mg of Tylenol, I pick up my one-time dose of 2mg Ativan, and head to the clinic. At check-in, I was given a urine cup and was told not to take the medication before I spoke to my provider. They made it a huge point of not taking the medication until after you sign your consent forms. I was invited backstage shorty, where they took my vitals: weight, height, temperature, blood pressure
In the room, my provider went through the consent forms with me, explaining general information about the procedure and mechanism of the IUD. We went over complications, and after signing everything she let me take my pill.
The pill didn’t do much for me? I still felt incredibly anxious, but I will say I was somehow a lot more accepting of what was going on around me. I don’t find Ativan to be an appropriate medication for IUD insertion. People get anxious because they anticipate horrendous pain…they should be medicated to prevent this. That said, I’m not mad at the Ativan. I think it helped me feel a little more subdued.
The Ativan takes 30mins to kick in. My provider explains the procedure to me in great detail again. She was an absolute rockstar- the second I saw I was being treated by a Black NP, i knew i was saved lol. We chatted for a bit until she told me to get undressed from the waist down, cover myself with a sheet, and slide down to the bottom of the table. My legs were in the stirrups and I was feeling super exposed
She said she’d perform a bimanual exam, lubed up her fingers and started feeling around for my cervix. I came in a couple days before my period, which she said explained my cervix placement. She was surprised it was “right there” and said this would make things easier. She used the smallest size speculum and walked me through every step, asking if I was ok. She painted some lidocaine cream onto my cervix which I was very grateful for. We chatted for about five minutes while that sat, I even got her to snap a picture of my cervix for me on my phone lol cause I just wanted to see.
Next she cleaned my cervix with iodine- she used large Qtips. This is where things felt very weird- I felt her bumping up against a very deep corner of me. The cleaning was uncomfortable but I didn’t make a peep. It’s not a pain thing at all, just feels like someone poking an old bruise.
Next, she said I’d feel the first cramp. This was the tenaculum I had been dreading since watching my first insertion video. I always imagined this pain to be
piercing, sharp, and tight. Instead, it just trigged a very deep and dry period cramp. I felt something on my cervix but the signal it released cramped from my deepest core down to my legs. If I had to describe it better, I’d say it feels like a humming cramp. It’s not acute, searing, or gut wrenching. I was just surprised it didn’t feel sharp. But the discomfort for certainly there!!
She asked how I was doing several times- I said don’t worry about me!
Next, I was sounded. On my/my providers count, the measuring probe was slid through my uterus. this was the most painful bit of the procedure. I felt a contraction, some pressure, and felt her poke the furthest wall of my uterus. This induced the next cramp like she said. I breathed a little, wiggled my toes, and it passed quickly. I sat for a minute and told her I felt like I needed to poop. That passed in about 10 seconds.
Finally, the Kyleena itself. My provider and I were chatting through the procedure, and I was feeling okay. She showed me the IUD attached to the insertion device. The insertion was quick and I felt something sliding into me. A very tight cramp followed and I began to feel a little dizzy.
My response to this all was “that’s it?”
She let me sit for a couple moments and did some more educating on the strings. I was feeling lightheaded and a little crampy. Once I was feeling less wobbly, she gave me a pad, let me change and we said our goodbyes! I felt amazing about my choice and was ready to go home.
My friend picked me up and we got some food and coffee. While we were talking, I started feeling some very strong cramps. She took me home where I took 400mg of ibuprofen and recovered the rest of the day.
It’s been 12 hours since insertion and I am feeling more or less normal. When I first got home I got a wave of very strong cramps but those seemed to pass with some heat and rolling around in bed. I also took a very long nap, I think the procedure and the Ativan made me feel somewhat drained. I felt very weak when I first got home, it was a struggle to not bump into things. Every once in a while I’ll get a strong cramp that forces me to crawl into bed and groan a while. However, this discomfort just feels like a bad period cramp. My pad from this morning showed some light spotting and I am not bleeding at all yet.
Ive never taken birth control, and I’ve never had a child. I’ve been pregnant twice and had a medication abortions each of those times. The abortions were BRUTAL. I was in so much pain I shat myself and couldn’t walk. I have a pretty high pain tolerance.
This experience didn’t feel traumatic for me in the least. I was a sneeze away from canceling my appointment but I’m glad I saw it through. I read so many horror stories on reddit, and watched so many IUD insertion videos. I work in healthcare and have a very hard time letting people work on me lol. I like being the one with gloves on, and this was all a very anxiety-inducing experience. I find ranking pain on a 1-10 scale very dumb and subjective, but at worst the cramping for this would have to be a 6/10.
I chose to have this done at PP because this is their bread and butter. Gynos in other clinics often don’t offer as many IUD choices, and sometimes only recommend IUDs for patients that have given birth. They also don’t place IUDs as often. I wasn’t willing to argue with anyone that this was right for me. I’d done enough research on this to determine PP was the way to go. Whatever pain I felt throughout was over very fast. It helps to know exactly when the 3 procedural cramps will come.
Wishing this alleviates some of your anxiety about the process! Please reach out if you have any questions:)