Copper IUD and inflammation

[Emily T]

I got the copper IUD put in about 14 months ago. As expected my periods became extremely heavy and painful - beyond description to be honest, it put me out of commission once a month for about six months. It calmed a bit but its still awful. I get horrible back pain during ovulation and my cramps and spotting start five full days before the actual period starts. Its just brutal. I have maybe a week without pain or bleeding every month. 

 

The whole30 is designed to remove as much inflammation as possible from our bodies. I feel that the copper IUD causes so much inflammation in my body. It cannot be normal to bleed this much or be in this much pain. I mean, can this honestly be that much better than hormones?

 

Anyone else struggle with this?

 

Natural planning has not worked for me. 

[ladyshanny]

No one here is a doctor and we cannot dispense with medical advice. That said, if you are having that much pain and bleeding that it is affecting your regular life, you might want to get checked at the doctor.  

 

I often think that maybe these IUDs prevent pregnancy because the user would never be in the mood to have sex based on the amount of pain, bleeding and discomfort they cause!

[laurenmccracken]

I had one for about 5 years-- and had systemic candida the whole time! The doctors (OB, GP, naturopath)-- everyone said it couldn't be that. I have always had heavy periods, and having the IUD didn't help matters, but after about 2-3 years in they calmed a bit. Had it taken out 3.5 years ago and haven't had a yeast issue since. I have also had 2 children in that time. I just got another IUD 4 months ago, and the periods ARE brutal (Ive had 2, and to be fair one was the first post part period). I wanted to experiment to see if the candida came back, and thus far, it hasn't. Again, check with your doctor about how much discomfort you're having, because you shouldn't have to be miserable every month! 

[praxisproject]

This is not really specific to IUD, but copper/zinc is a very important balance for women. Anything that throws you heavily high on copper can cause a lot of problems (drinking water from copper jugs, eating foods high in copper and low in zinc). There are blood tests for both copper and zinc.