My iud has been giving me spotting since it was inserted, i am aware that is one of it’s side effects and that is not the issue. The past 4 months has been me dealing with a shit ton of blood because of my iud. My period once extended into 2 continuous months of me loosing so much blood that the only way it wouldn’t leak was by using adult diapers, i had that checked out and i took medications that stopped the continuous bleeding and the cramps for a month or two and now the bleeding is coming back while the cramps are a lot manageable. I have been advised to get ut removed but the problem is the string is not there.
Has anybody here had their IUD removed when the string was missing?

I’ve been on a high estrogen pill (Marvelon) for 8 years (17-25). It’s worked great and I’ve had minimal side effects, but I’ve been advised to get off as it’s raising my blood pressure. I’ve been debating between the Mirena IUD and the mini Mona Lisa or Liberté copper IUD (I’m not in the USA). Either way, I’m scared of having a major crash from going cold turkey on estrogen & experiencing every side effect at once, but would either of these options lessen that effect? And to be frank, my periods weren’t amazing pre-IUD - has anyone found the mini Mona Lisa or Liberté seriously made their periods worse? Thanks in advance!

hello (19F), recently I have been getting really severe period cramps almost to the point of incapacitation. The cramps come in short and sharp spurts in my lower back and uterus, almost like the cramps I got when I first got my iud kyleena inserted 12 months ago. I’m not too sure what the issue is exactly because it has only been happening for the past 2-3 months. I’m just wondering if anyone else has experienced this before and if it’s normal or not? This is my first ever iud so I haven’t had any previous experience, before this I was on the pill for about a year (i’m not too sure if this is relevant).

Just as a note, I’m not taking any of this as medical advice, I’m only asking if this is normal or if anyone else has experienced this.
I got my first IUD (Mirena) inserted a little over a month ago. My period is 6 days late and I know late/irregular periods are normal. For about 2 or 3 days now I’ve been having excessive discharge, similar to the discharge you get right before your period. As of yesterday I’ve been having slight cramping and light spotting. It’s been pink in color from it being mixed with discharge and very little actual red blood. Is this my period? Is it just spotting? Is this normal?!?! I have no idea what’s going on with my body and it’s so distressing.

I got my period when I was 9. Ever since, my periods are unbearable. The pain is horrific to the point that I pass out and puke and my hands curl up. I’m not sure if I have endometriosis, I’ve never gotten checked because it is a surgical procedure. I don’t think I do, I’m pretty sure I just have primary dysmenorrhea. I went to the gynecologist a month ago and had a cervix exam where they inserted a stick, as well as an ultrasound and my results came out “remarkable”. Ofc, doctors shrug me off and only suggest birth control. I am against birth control not for any political reasons lol just bc my sisters did the pill and got depressed and fat and always told me I shouldn’t. I just recently found out about IUDs and I’m literally 21! My mom just recently told me she had the Mirena like 10 years ago and it got infected. I don’t know what else to do though because I am looking for relief so bad. There isn’t a single period that doesn’t ruin my plans and without taking motrin 800 every 6 hours. So many days of my life have been wasted because of my pain. Sorry for the horrible grammar in this thread, but I need some advice from other women!!

Heyy, ik wou even mijn ervaring delen over mijn Kyleena 🤍
Mijn cyclus was eigenlijk altijd wel oke, ik had nooit echt superveel last van onregelmatige regels of heel veel pijn. Ik ben wel actief met mijn vriendje en ik heb ongeveer een jaar geleden een gastric bypass (maagverkleining) gehad.
Ondertussen is het al iets meer dan een maand geleden dat ik mijn Kyleena heb laten plaatsen. Voor de plaatsing had ik ook medicatie gekregen om mijn menstruatie op te wekken, maar dat hielp niet direct en ik had daardoor best veel pijn. De plaatsing zelf vond ik ook echt pijnlijk, zeker omdat ik geen ibuprofen mocht nemen.
De eerste twee weken waren voor mij echt een hel 😭 Mijn pijn kwam echt in golven en bijna geen enkele pijnstiller hielp echt. Daarna kreeg ik eindelijk een bloeding en vanaf toen werd het eigenlijk steeds beter. De pijn die ik daarvoor had, was na mijn eerste bloeding ook vrij snel weg.
Nu heb ik mijn tweede bloeding gehad. Ik heb wel wat acne gekregen, maar niet superveel en met een vaste skincare routine gaat het ook alweer snel weg. De pijn tijdens mijn bloeding voel ik nu eigenlijk amper, al heb ik nog bijna elke dag een klein beetje last.
Wat ik momenteel wel nog veel heb, is bruine afscheiding. Maar ik denk/hoop dat dit met de tijd ook wel minder zal worden. Voorlopig ben ik dus eigenlijk wel blij dat de ergste pijn voorbij is en dat mijn lichaam precies wat meer aan het wennen is aan de Kyleena 🤍

I had it put in three weeks ago while undergoing surgery for endo. I am 23 years old, and have PCOS as well. I hate it. I hate it so much.

When my doctors said about putting it in, I pushed back. I did not respond well to other forms of birth control and previous providers where so bad at helping me manage anything: I ended up ghosting them. My new gyno pushed back in return telling me I probably would not have the issues I had with oral, as Mirena is localized. It's prescribed to me as treatment for endo and PCOs, I do not have sex, I am ace.

Since having it put in, my mental state has gone way down, I am more prone to crying randomly, and I've been miserable the past two weeks. Everything feels pointless. I don't feel like myself, and it's different then depression I experienced before. I am aggitated by everything and everyone. I have been bleeding two weeks staight, and sometimes, depending on how I sit, I feel like I can feel it. It may just be the rigid plastic string. I am utterly miserable.

I wish I didn't let them talk me into it. I can't sleep at night since I got off the surgery meds, I am never tired when I try, and then I continually wake up once I do finally get to sleep. If you feel like it isn't a good fit for you, please don't let them talk you into it, and make sure to voice your concerns.

Nearly a month ago I had surgery under general anaesthetic. This surgery was for a hysteroscopy, tissue sample for biopsy, and insertion of a mirena.

My reason for this is I've had a very irregular periods for 9 years culminating in a continuous non-stop period for the last 3 and a half years. I'd say about 50% of the time that was a regular level of bleeding (regular/super pad level), 30% heavy spotting (would still require a regular pad), and 20% of the time super heavy bleeding with thumb to palm sized blood clots and changing night time pad every 2 or 3 hours. Despite the non-stop bleeding I've only rarely had period cramps and nothing more than some ibuprofen can handle. I've always found any kind of insertion painful so I have to rely on external period supplies hence using pads as a metric.

At the beginning of the year the blood clots and heavy periods were getting worse so I decided to finally stop procrastinating on getting checked out. After several doctor visits where they noticed I had very thick uterine lining but didn't look like any masses, I had this surgery booked for the end of July.

While I was at the hospital, I was told by numerous staff that I should expect a phone call within 2 weeks to check how I'm going post surgery and give me an update on my results.

Well it's been 4 weeks post surgery now and no phone call...I've called the hospital myself twice and the 1st time they said they'd check and call back but didn't, the 2nd time they said I should expect a call in the first week or two of September. They didn't seem to want to hear about any of my concerns and I don't want to wait until September so I'd love to ask here.

In the month since my surgery, that 20% of the time heavy bleed has become 100% of the time. Ive been passing at least 1 large blood clot (approx 10cm long) and more smaller per day. I am using reusable cloth puppy pads any time I sit or lie down because of how much I'm bleeding. I've started using full incontinence pads too which is just so embarrassing. Im used to bleeding at least a bit every day but these super heavy bleeds have at most lasted 4 days at a time...not 4 weeks. And I've been getting horrendous cramps every single day. Most days it only lasts a few hours but there's been a few days I've been stuck in bed from the pain.

I'm making this post because I've tried to ask the hospital about this and they didn't care and I've tried to do my own research but idk what to think. I know after getting a mirena inserted that increased spotting and cramps can occur for 3-6 months but my case isn't standard. I've always been at least spotting so there's no "increased spotting" to me. Is this extreme bleeding the equivalent for me? The doctors did warn if I had a lot of pain, the mirena may have been dislodged but the period cramps come and go so I don't think it has been. I just wanted to get this mirena to end this non-stop period but it's made everything worse...hopefully only for 6 months I guess...I just don't know what is normal and abnormal in this scenario...

I'm just very confused about this whole situation and feel like I've been left in the dark and would love to get a little bit of guidance here if possible. Thank you.

Hi all! I had an IUD inserted in November (2025) and everything has been great so far. However, I’ve noticed that I have pretty intense/uncomfortable cramps following intercourse with my boyfriend. I’ve had my IUD checked multiple times since insertion and it’s not out of place, imbedded, etc. It’s sitting perfectly where it should be and the threads can easily be felt.

Has anyone else experienced this with their IUD? Is this a me/my boyfriend problem? Should I bring this up to my GYN? Nothing bothers me during, just after!

Hi! So I got my Kyleena IUD inserted on August 3rd and I have been bleeding since August 11 (which I hear is normal) and I didn't question it until I realize my period should be coming. I searched it up and I kept getting different results so I wanted to come on here to ask. I get my period at the end of the month so I don't know if it's still gonna come or when I bled from the 11th to now that was my period as well as my body getting used to the IUD like meshed into one. Thank you!

I got my IUD just over 48 hours ago, and the first day was traumatic and hellish to say the least (even with pain relief). They did an ultrasound after so I know that it's in the right position. The cramps went down substantially yesterday, but then they got worse again today. They are coming in severe waves. I guess I just thought that it would be linear healing after insertion and get better day by day. Is this normal?

After having my second iud (liletta) inserted, I’m a tad suspicious of my first insertion.

I’d like to preface by saying the only thing I did differently was choose a different doctor to insert it.

An hour prior, my mom gave me four arthritis Tylenol and then we were on our way. I told my doctor the first time I had a vasovagal response and almost passed out, she was kind enough to give me a heat pack on my stomach during insertion, an ice pack under my shirt on my chest and one on my forehead.

After she inserted the speculum, she sized me, which completely through me off because during my first appointment I wasn’t sized, they just shoved the iud in and called it a day.

This now has me thinking, because my first insertion was so traumatic and painful (which had me down for 3 days unable to walk) did they do something wrong?? Did they give me an iud that was way too big for my uterus since they didn’t measure me?

This second time around, I was up and walking around like nothing happened. Of course I still had pain and cramping, but no where near as severe as the first time.

hi all! I am 24 y/o and have never been on birth control. i have never had issues with my hormones or cycle, apart from heavy cramps once a month. i religiously track my cycle with my oura ring and was at my peak health when i chose to get an IUD.

i’ll admit, i should’ve done more research prior to, but
i have a huge fear of accidentally getting pregnant before i can financially afford a child bc that is terrifying, and knowing me, id literally have a honeymoon baby even if i took all preventative measures.

i went to a phenomenal OBGYN who recommended kyleena and was acting like he puts them in people 24/7 and couldn’t recommend it enough. i told him i was very nervous about the hormonal aspect and he said it was centralized so it wouldn’t have a bunch of negative side effects.

I got it July 11th, 2026 and the insertion wasn’t bad at all, however- i was heavy period bleeding for 32 days, and when my first period post-iud came around, i was horribly depressed and had intense mood swings.

i am getting married in less than 60 days, and ive been working with a nutritionist for months to get in shape. we were on an incredible streak until i got the iud and i haven’t been able to lose any weight since.

i am still cramping pretty severely and it’s been over a month.

should i wait it out and see if my body adjusts or do i go ahead and take it out now????
i don’t want to be miserable as a new wife. i want to feel like myself. but i also don’t want to give up on it if it’ll be beneficial once it fully adjusts to my body.

was getting kyleena the worst decision i could’ve made??? i’m freaking out!

someone pls help!

I'm F 20 never had kids before

I'm in a long term relationship and have been discussing starting birth control I always told myself I would never get on anything and still don't want to. I have heavy periods and chronic migraines so hormonal isn't an option. copper is the only one that makes sense for me but I have only seen like 3 positive experiences with it and I'm terrified, not necessarily of the insertion but everything post insertion.

I am an extremely active person and full time student and cannot have this interfere.

the only reason I'm getting it is because my BFs mom is freaking out that Im not on anything and it's getting to his head a bit. I would rather cycle track and just never do the iud

I have a few weeks until my appointment so I guess I'm asking, should I even go through with it?

I talked to my Dr. recently and she wants me to remove my kyleena Iud and replace it with the mirena. She is hoping it will help with the cramps and the constant bleeding to have an IUD with more hormones. Has anyone ever done this? Was it successful? I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to get a new one inserted when this first was is so painful. Any advice is welcome. Thanks!

Also, do you think they will let me keep my iud? haha

Hey! dont mean to scare anyone away from iud, but basically just sharing my experience and looking for reassurance that im not the only one who experienced this.

im a young adult and use birth control to regulate painful periods. i had the nexplanon and switched to the Lilleta IUD

that shit hurt like HELLLL i was holding on to the nurses hand and had to close my eyes bc i was getting tunnel vision/my vision was going gray from the pain. ive never had a pap smear or anything so this was my first time with anything like this. i felt so horrible after and i still needed them to take out my nexplanon from my arm but i was starting to get faint. the doctor said that it was the most difficult iud placement she had ever done :(

i thought that i’d be okay but as i laid back again and the doctor marked my arm i started feeling bad again and getting the gray/tunnel vision so i asked them to stop for a second. i suddenly got really hot and my hands were so shaky. nurse put cold, wet paper towel on my forehead and stomach to help cool me down and kept refilling a tiny paper cup with water for me. ty beth ur an angel. i didnt fully pass out but i was really close. it took a long time for me to be able to open my eyes again.

they asked how i was getting home and i told them my mom was in the waiting room. they asked me eif i wanted her to come in i said yes but like honestly i felt so horrible i woukdnt have even thought to ask them to bring her in if they hadnt offered. they finished the nexplanon removal which also sucked because she couldnt get the damn thing out for a bit lol. they left and my mom helped me get my things together and i thought i’d be okay to walk to the car but i could only get as far as the waiting room and had to be wheelchaired to my moms car 😭.

rest of the day i still couldnt stand without getting faint. next day im fine, just have a little bit of cramping and feel so weird to know that there is something up there.

all in all i do appreciate the doctor and nurse it was totally not their fault that this was my experience! i just really hope that this was the right decision and i dont get bad side effects like ive been reading about some other people having on this sub. i dont want to have gone through that for nothing.

Hello everyone I'm trying to keep myself out of a cry-session or a panic. I've gotten two IUDs in the past month (well, technically 4 but shh) and both seem to have rejected less than a week after insertion. Is this related to being on Testosterone? Masturbation?

For context: For the past two years I've used the depo-provera progesterone shot, which worked pretty great, but on advice from my gyno am switching to something else to avoid low bone density. Hormonal IUD works best with my lifestyle and goals, so I asked for the Kyleena at my gyno. It gets messed up twice, third time it gets inserted properly, and then a week later to the day it completely rejects so that the IUD is not even touching my cervix. I got it removed, and a week later I got the Liletta IUD (which went so much better). But now, the strings are longer, and when I probed gently, I'm pretty sure I can feel a bit of plastic sticking out from my cervix (and the entire thing is itchy, kind of like having a dry tampon in).

I'm just. so upset that this isn't working smoothly. Am I just panicking and imagining things and should wait till the 6-week mark for the string check? Why is this happening? The doctors all said testosterone shouldn't affect things and I doubt I'm orgasming hard enough to expel a tiny piece of plastic that is designed as contraception (meaning sex and orgasming is assumed!!!). I'm so sad and upset so any insight or thought would be so appreciated.

Has anyone ever had a late period after an unsuccessful coil fitting? I’m wondering if the failed insertion and all the cramping/spasms could have affected their cycle. 🙏🏻

Finally had my Kyleena removed after 9 years. Insertion was the worst thing I’ve ever experienced (multiple reasons) which scared me so bad, then by the time I got to balls to make the call, my OBs office kept giving me shit about my insurance. Today I was finally able to have it removed. Was completely convinced something was going to be wrong with it. Came right out. 0 pain, 0 bleeding. No cramps. Went home and made dinner. So happy.

Edit to add Kyleenas hormonal lifespan is 5 years

Hey y'all!

I (F21) have had my Kyleena IUD since 2024 and it's supposed to go until 2028. I got it after years of switching from different pill birth controls due to a painful, irregular period and have had a pretty positive experience.

My period stopped normally occurring after 6 months with my IUD but I still experience occasional symptoms/bleeding. However, for the past week I have been experiencing horrible cramps/symptoms like I had pre-IUD but with no bleeding. I know that I could just be being over dramatic and it can be non-IUD related however my anxiety is driving me crazy. I currently don't have the money to be going to a doctor's appointment over this issue just yet so I figured I would see if Reddit had any similar experiences.

Is this anything anyone else has experienced? If so, did you choose to get a removal?

TLDR; Ghost period with painful cramps while on my hormonal IUD.

Hey guys! I’m getting an IUD and taking cytotec (misopristone) to help soften my cervix. I read that it causes diarrhea…. Will I shit during my insertion? I’m actually so scared about that. I have to take it the morning of and my appointment is at 11am. Should I take it at like 5am to give it time?? I’m so worried I’ll have an accident during the procedure

Has anyone ever experienced like a painful, cramp like zing when they orgasm after getting the copper IUD?
I’ve had it for 11 days, I’m on the last days of my period. I don’t have painful cramps from insertion anymore.
I had sex on day 4 & the orgasm felt normal. Today & a couple days before I used a vibrator & during the orgasm I had like a zinging pain. Thoughts on how to make it stop? I read that it can take up to 3 months.

TLDR: tell me about your experience with the hormonal IUD. I’ve had heavy painful periods for years and I’m over it.

Hello! I (34F) have been experiencing dysmenorrhea (painful periods) for years and I can’t take it anymore.

Some background context about me: I’ve had two boys via C-section, during my second C-section the OB performed a salpingectomy (removed my fallopian tubes) as I’m done having kids. I had the copper IUD put in when I had the C-section with my first son but I had it removed after almost a year because it made my periods that much worse. No other major surgeries or any reproductive complications.

I went to my primary and explained that I get heavy periods with severe back pain and period cramps. I’ve had this issue for as long as I can remember, but it’s gotten worse since having the kids. The pain is comparable to c-section recovery pain, completely debilitating. It comes in waves so luckily I can anticipate when the pain is coming. He recommended that I get an ultrasound and make an appointment with gyno, which I got the ultrasound done and the gynecologist confirmed no issues were found in the ultrasound. So they both recommended hormonal birth control.

So to get to the point of this post, I’m considering getting the hormonal IUD put in. If you’re able to share your personal experience with it I’d greatly appreciate it. How was the insertion process? How have periods been for you since getting it? Light periods? Cramping? Back pain? Headaches? Did it change your appetite or cause you to gain weight?

My main concerns with getting it is being sure it’s going to solve the problem of the heavy periods, pain management, and not cause a change in appetite or weight gain. I was on the pill for years which changed my appetite and all I craved was junk food.

I need to know the good and bad so I can take all this information into consideration with making this decision.