I wrote an IUD update a month in, and I was not having a great time. You can read all about that here, including my decision making process and how the insertion went, but as a quick refresher, I got the Kyleena IUD, my first IUD ever, in December 2021.
The nurse practitioner who inserted it said that it would take three to six months for it to settle in, and this is why I listen to medical professionals, because she was spot on. The first seven or so weeks were rough. The cramps were really bad, nearly all the time. And then at some points they were excruciating, I have never really been someone with period cramps, and these were an 8 (but I also had organs get tangled up and literally start killing each other, so my ten is very high). For the first three periods after it was inserted, there were about two to three blissful days of no cramping, and then it would return with a vengeance. But for the past two weeks I have just been chilling. It’s been great.
The day I got it inserted I went and bought some pantyliners because I was warned about spotting, I used maybe a quarter of them in the past 3 months. That’s maybe not the best measure, because there were a handful of days where I wished that I had worn one. But the spotting seems to have stopped, and my last “period” was nearly indistinguishable from the spotting, a titch heavier, but nothing serious. And then there was a bit of cramping on the first two days, but that was it.
The biggest lingering issues is the strings. I have finally gotten an appointment to get them trimmed (I had one, but then I couldn’t duck out of work at the time). They can be felt, and they are not comfortable when you feel them. So I’m hoping that getting them trimmed this week will eliminate that.
Overall, I am so glad to have gotten the IUD. The peace of mind of it just being there is exactly what I was hoping for and not having to remember to take a pill at the same time every day, because I was truly terrible at that, even with a phone alarm, are so worth the relatively short-term discomfort. If you have been considering it, I think you should go for it. I was so scared of the insertion, there are so many horror stories out there about the pain, but at this point, when this one expired, I 100% plan on replacing it with a new one in 3-5 years.
This post ended up being shorter than I was expecting because honestly it’s just good, and I don’t have much more to say than that.
Laura
Thoughtful Millennial 