Fertility awareness methods (FAM) vs Hormonal coil (IUS)

Literally no side effects, no fake hormones affecting my body or mental health. Use symptothermal - 11 months in and find temping and checking cervical mucus easy and not at all laborious. We use condoms during fertile window (for me that’s usually about 9 days) and unprotected the rest of the time. No scares and I feel confident and secure with this method. I’ll never go back to hormonal birth control!

Natural cycles seemed promising when I first came across it in 2017 and read the reviews. I got the NC app along with the most expensive (hence hopefully most accurate) thermometer I could find to enter my readings. My partner and I decided to try it in place of condoms. I entered my thermometer and period readings religiously and only ever had unprotected sex on the ‘green: not fertile’ days when it says it’s safe to have sex. The next month I was pregnant. We were devastated. To add insult to injury, Natural cycles deleted my reviews about their product, offered ZERO help or acknowledgment of my situation and rather suspiciously my iTunes review of their app (tried from 2 separate accounts) was never published, despite my trying several times. Which is odd as I hadn’t said anything untoward, I’d simply stated my experience of using it and getting pregnant.

After feeling like I’d tried every hormonal contraception and not getting on with anything, Natural Cycles was such a breath of fresh air. I was nervous at first as it feels like there is more risk of pregnancy, but after taking the time to research I felt confident in this method. You have to be strict with yourself and use protection/ abstain on red days but it’s worth it. I feel so much more like myself without using hormones and I have also learnt a lot about my body. Highly recommend if you’re willing to spend some time getting used to the app, learning to take your temp correctly and being responsible throughout your cycle.

I had the IUS Mirena fitted just over a week ago and it is the worst decision. I am now deeply regretting it. After being put on a waitlist for it due to painful periods, an appointment became available. I did some initial research through the NHS website and in the appointment, the Dr ran through a few things. The insertion was honestly awful. It took ages and hurt a lot. I came home in agony and felt the worst cramps of my life for the rest of the day. Since then I've had my period and it's again been the worst. Cramping, lower back pain, feeling like I need to urinate a lot, heavy pressure on my tummy and bladder. My period was also more painful than ever and I'm still bleeding. Fed up and now willing to wait months and months like so many women for it to possibly settle (but judging by most reviews and conversations with women who have it, it rarely works as the doctors say it will). They also put me on a 3-day course of antibiotics when I called to say what was happening. They think I have an infection but no one has cared to see me in person. Once the course is over, I am booking the first appointment to have it removed.

I had this fitted this morning to help with endometriosis and wow I didn’t expect how much the insertion would hurt. They tried to fit the Mirena but my body just wouldn’t let me as it was too big so inserted this instead. Whoever wrote the protocols for this insertion was definitely a man.. keeping everything crossed this works.

Having the more a coil inserted is still to this day the most painful experience I have ever endured. I nearly passed out and I'm horrified I wasn't told local anaesthetic was an option until afterwards because the doctor felt sorry for me. I got some cramping after that but ainknew that was normal, but it never fully went away. Then I noticed I got cramping pain during sex that prevented me from climax. It was awful. I even had a vaginal ultrasound to check it was in the right position and apparently there was nothing out of place. After 9 months of putting up with random stabbing pelvic pain and it killing my sex drive, I got it removed. The doctor said it seemed like my cervix was really clamping down on it when she removed it. I am never letting anyone put anything through my cervix ever again. Horrific experience start to finish.

My insertion was painful, when I get it in again I will get more painkillers or ask to be under anaesthetic. If I could tell anyone considering this contraception one thing, I would say don't let that put you off. I mostly don't get my period which is absolutely fantastic, I might get it once every 6 months. When I do get them, they're not as painful or bloody as I used to get them without the IUS in. I don't get PMS symptoms anywhere as severe and I feel like it improved my mood in general. I don't have to remember to take anything which was my deciding factor in choosing this. It also helps that it is over 99% effective at preventing pregnancy.

For me possibly the best of the hormonal options I tried (Nuvaring & POP)...definitely in terms of comfort level (and for me the biggest pro is that I have 0 worry about getting pregnant and I can forget about the admin of contraception. When I was using condoms I was an anxious mess about getting pregnant...) but I am still on the fence and may have it removed. Insertion was awful (no painkiller offered) and I was almost completely out of action for 3 days after: pain, headaches, my uterus and ovaries wanted to basically run away and I could hardly walk my dog! Oh yes and quite hormonal as well. So be organised in case this is how your body reacts too. I believed the "most people find it uncomfortable but not painful" official line..must have been written by a man lol. It went way beyond uncomfortable for me. I started bleeding/spotting for about 2 months without stopping immidiately after insertion. It wasn't too worrying but rather annoying. Had to buy more black undies as kept ruining my lighter coloured ones! I had my first proper period 2 months in. I stopped ovulating and I miss my natural cycle and my juices and the libido that comes with it. That being said I do experience vaginal dryness to an extent. I put on about 2lbs (1kg) As only had it over 2.5 months, it's still early days and if things settle down with the spotting and I don't get more annoying side effects I may stay with it a bit longer as I find it very convenient.

I have PCOS and Adenomyosis which has made my period very heavy, painful, terrible mood swings. I also suffered from anemia as a result. I have tried for years to fight it naturally. I have had several polyps removed, but they always come back. I have previously been fitted a Mirena coil via NHS but the side effects were unbearable, I felt sucidal, in the end I had to pull it out myself, as the GP insisted I had to give it three months. I had my last polyp removal done privately, and the doctor suggested that I might respond better to a Kyleena coil because of the smaller dose of hormones. In the first 4 weeks I felt a bit off, weird headache on one side of my head, but that has now gone away completely, and I have to say, I will never go without a coil until I become a man :) My periods are totally manageable now, there is a bit of pain and spotting but I'd say there is a 90% reduction in these symptoms. I can actually get on with my life, do things and not feel totally out of control. I used to think there was something fundamentally wrong with me, but now I don't get these crazy mood swings, I feel more in control of my body and my life. I really hope this review can help someone out there.

I previously had another hormonal contraceptive before changing to jaydess. I changed to jaydess as I wanted fewer hormones in comparison to the last. I didn't experience periods with either contraceptive forms, which worked for me at the time, but then I began to grow paranoid at the effect it was having on my body. I didn't experience any "negative" side effects other than that I noticed I was experiencing dark facial hair on my chin leading down to my neck, about 6 hairs in total. But totally killed my confidence. I had the jaydess removed 3 weeks ago, experienced what I believe is a withdrawal bleed so awaiting the true return of my period... which I'm hoping won't take too long to return! Massive positive since removal is how much I've noticed my sex drive has increased! I didn't even truly realise how it had effected it.

For me, having the Mirena inserted initially was very painful and I had bad cramping for several days after. I really liked not having to take a pill every day and my skin also improved. Unfortunately, I bled constantly for the 8 months I had the Mirena, and my cramps got worse while I was on it. It also caused pain during sex, so I ultimately had it removed.

Before the Mirena Coil I was using the pill, but I wanted to come off it as I felt it negatively affected my mood, and I didn’t like having to remember to take it all the time. This was when I switched to to coil. Insertion was really painful but I wasn’t given any pain relief aside from numbing gel. I tried to ask about it, but was told by the nurses that it wouldn’t make any difference. I think the pain really varies from person to person. After insertion I felt really sick and faint and had to lie down a lot. The cramping lasted for a couple of days and then eased up. Since then, I only get cramping when I have a period. My periods are now a bit all over the place, but they are gradually becoming further apart which is nice. I’m hoping they will stop altogether soon. I really like not having to think or worry about contraception now and I do think my mood is better than it was on the pill. On balance, I would recommend the coil and think that it is less of a faff than the pill, but insertion was tough. Definitely ask about pain relief before getting it done :)

I loved the coil. I had minimal hormonal side affects compared to the pill and the implant. I stopped having my period which for me was a bonus. It was also great not having to think about contraception for so long. I would highly recommend the coil. I would suggest speaking with a gynaecologist if you have any side affects as some medications can cause them to be worse.