After years of taking the hormonal pill, and 3 kids, I decided to get a hormonal IUD put in to make things easier when it came to contraception. My husband and I didn’t want any more kids and we were both in our 40’s. He didn’t want to get the snip so I thought ‘let’s try an IUD ‘.

Initially, it all seemed really straightforward. My GP was really knowlegable on women’s health issues and I trust and respect her. She was great and explained it all…it was going to cost this much, this is how it works, these are the possible complications and off we went. The cost wasn’t an issue as we both work, the way it worked seemed fine to me and I just hoped there wouldn’t be any complications. The pharmacy ordered it in when I gave them the prescription and my GP inserted it the next week.


For the first few weeks, it was a bit uncomfortable but seemed like it was going to be a good solution. Then one night after having sex I started to feel a lot of discomfort and began to spot bleed. I had cramping and was worried about having sex again in case it got worse. It eventually settled down but every time my husband and I had sex I would have the same problems.

My GP checked me out and told me it was normal and there was nothing wrong with the IUD. After another 4 weeks I decided to have the IUD removed as I couldn’t stand the pain. My GP warned me that I might bleed a little afterwards and for a few days or maybe a week. After it was removed I had very heavy bleeding and it lasted for almost three weeks. I felt so unwell and anemic. Apparently this is perfectly normal for IUD removal, overall my experience wasn’t positive and we’ve gone back to using condoms…and I am still hoping my husband has the snip in the end!


This story was a contribution to the Storylines: Her Voice Matters project, a collaboration between Women’s Health Goulburn North East, Women’s Health Loddon Mallee and Murray PHN.

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