Combined pill vs Hormonal coil (IUS)

Before I started contraception, I used to feel horribly sad around four days before I started my period. I knew it was my hormones making me feel this way, and I felt powerless. Since starting Levest, that has gone! My skin feels clearer too, I still get the occasional spot but they don’t seem to get as bad as they did before. I get tender breasts and light crawling around a week before going on my break week, which is similar to before, but now my breasts don’t get as painful. My periods now are more painful than they used to be on the first day, but the cramps are sorted quickly with a big breakfast and paracetamol, with no pain after the first day. They also come on the same day each cycle, are shorter than before, and tail off quicker. I also get a headache for a day or two during my break week - in the first couple of months of taking Levest, the headaches were almost unbearable, lasting a up to three days, but have got less painful and last a shorter amount of time as each month passed. On month seven, the headache was only mild and only lasted a day, which I’m counting as a win. My breasts seem to have got bigger, and I’ve put on about half a stone in six months - which is neither here nor there really, but I do feel like I’ve changed shape more than putting on weight? Some of my jeans no longer fit, but they did when I was a similar weight previously… I may try a tablet with a lower dose of oestrogen after this box of pills, to try to eliminate the headaches completely if they don’t go themselves, but they are nowhere near as bad as they were at the start.

Reduced my period pains massively. I used to get really really bad period pains before I got put on this pill, once I was put on it, I still got pains but nowhere near as bad as they were.

I have been on this pill for about 2 months and already have had a far better experience then I had on my pervious on.How ever the only think I have really noticed a difference is my appetite has increased quite a bit .surprisingly I was preparing myself for my sex drive to completely change and lose it all but it has actually been somewhat the same

Periods stopped, no noticeable side effects other than toward the end of the 5 years when I had a few side effects (tender breasts, spots, mood swings) which I put down to hormonal change as the coil was coming to expiry date. Now I've had it replaced and I have no side effects. Stable mood, skin clear, no periods, no stomach/back/head pain.

In terms of contraception practically perfect, I react extremely badly to hormonal contraception usually and this didn’t cause any of the negative side effects I usually get from hormonal methods. My periods became lighter and I still have the normal symptoms of my cycle which is exactly what I want. The only negatives (which is quite a big one) is significantly increased pain throughout my cycle, during my bleed and also cramping randomly throughout the month, sometimes when exercising and also two days before my period which I didn’t experience before. I am devastated that this has been discontinued in most places. I think it’s completely inexcusable that there is now no IUS which for most people doesn’t stop their period. One other slight negative at the beginning was my partner took some time to get used to the feeling of the strings when having sex, however this improved after a few months and is no longer an issue.

In terms of contraception practically perfect, I react extremely badly to hormonal contraception usually and this didn’t cause any of the negative side effects I usually get from hormonal methods. My periods because lighter and I still have the normal symptoms of my cycle. The only negative (which is quite a big one) is significantly increased pain throughout my cycle, during my bleed and also cramping randomly throughout the month, sometimes when exercising and also two days before my period which I didn’t experience before. I am devastated that this has been discontinued in most places. I think it’s completely inexcusable that there is now no IUS which for most people doesn’t stop their period.

Got this inserted as a long-acting, reliable method of contraception. I found the insertion process ok, it was uncomfortable but not painful. I was able to easily feel the coil threads when I checked regularly. I had lighter periods but actually found period pains worse with the coil in place - hence the deducted star. I had this removed as we wanted to try to concieve. The removal process was totally painless. We got pregnant in one month of trying.

Overall my experience has been positive in comparison to my previous experience with combined oral contraception. I no longer have mood swings or night sweats however over the 4 years of having my hormonal coil I now have no sex drive which was a big change for me, in addition to this sex became painful.On the other hand my periods stopped after 6 months to a year.

Today I finally had my Mirena coil removed. The insertion and removal went smoothly and were painless. I had the coil for 10 months. During the first 6 weeks, I experienced continuous bleeding. After that, my periods became more regular but were very long up to 10 days and lighter than usual. After a period ended, I had another one a week later for only 3 days, and then the cycle repeated exactly every 28 days. I also had persistent discharge, infections, and cysts, and I even had to have a biopsy due to white spots on my cervix caused by the Mirena. Today, having it removed, I felt immediate relief. I was prescribed desogestrel tablets, so hopefully it will be better, although the pill doesn’t have very good reviews either.

From coil insertion I had issues, it was very painful having it inserted and I had cramps for a weeks. I also got a post coil infection. I would get horrible period pain at that time of the month and my periods would also last longer than before coil. Often had spotting and could always feel there was something there like a pressure (difficult to explain). I also didn’t feel like myself, I didn’t have energy for a long time after the coil insertion. I got thrush and then got a UTI in August which I had for 6 & half weeks and took 5 courses of antibiotics. I finally saw a nurse who said stop the meds and agreed with my decision to have coil removed and said we would monitor it. I had coil removed 29/09 and am still getting the discomfort down there and regularly have a hot bean bag on my lower abdomen. Some days are better than others and this week I have had headaches so I’m not sure if it is linked to coil removal. The nurse will call me for follow up next week and if still getting it she needs to see if it could be pelvic inflammatory disease

I liked that it was minimal effort once inserted. My periods were far lighter and less frequently occurring. Because of the thickening of vaginal fluids being part of the mechanism; I found I because much more prone to UTIs after sex and also had lower sexual drive. I came off the Mirena because I wanted to track my cycle accurately to see if my hormones and cycle were affecting/triggering my seizures (I have drug resistant epilepsy). When I came off the Mirena I found I was less anxious over the months following swapping to the copper coil I.e. non hormonal. This had not been a concern of mine when on it.

While I had my Levosert, I liked it. I had mood changes, and cried a lot more than usual, but mostly just leading up to my period so it was manageable. I had recurrent thrush with it, and actually ended up having a prescription for monthly fluconazole tablets. In the end, after around 2 years, my coil slipped into my cervix, and it was incredibly stressful. I had no symptoms that it had slipped down, except my strings were a bit longer than usual. A doctor mistakenly told me it was fine to keep using, but when I later had it checked at a different clinic with ultrasound, they were alarmed that I'd had no symptoms as it was pretty much almost out of my body. I'd essentially been unprotected for about 8 months, and this led to a big pregnancy scare.

The mirena coil did effectively reduce menstrual bleeding and prevent pregnancy. Due to thickening vaginal discharge I found I was more prone to thrush and also that this had an impact on arousal. I was an advocate for the hormonal coil until I changed to a non hormonal birth control and found that this had elevated my anxiety certain times in my cycle. I am epileptic without seizure control and this was my reason for coming off hormonal methods. Female hormones can trigger seizures in women with refractory epilepsy!