birth control questions

[jadenfox.livejournal.com]

Ok so my computer for some strange reason isnt letting me look through the links you fine people have provided, so I am asking my questions here.

I am 30...yep.  I am engaged to be married to a wonderful man whom I have been with for 7 years.  We use my hormonal birthcontrol pill as our only protection.  It is alesse 28 (also known as aviane/lutera).  I have been on this pill for 15 years. Never have had an issue, and we are both std free ect.

I may have had a chemical type pregnancy in my teens, but nothing else, and am a SA survivior. 

My questions are as follows:

first of all-- My hubby-to-be and I dont want children.  Not for us. We have dogs :)... so:

1.  I want mirena.  Having never had kids, is it even possible? 
2. about mirena, any advice on how to get it? Planned parenthood? trying to get my doc to agree?
3. Implanon- good? bad? ugly?

I am allergic to nickle, so no copper IUD, and no one is going to implant essure without me having kids, so I am looking for long term options that someone will give me!!

Thanks!!

*ETA changed my intro to be more appropriate, and to add that I never intended to offend, I honestly didnt even really think about it, but you all are right, and I need to be more careful! 

Comments

[gunshotbeauty.livejournal.com]

1-yes definitely as long as your uterus is big enough but you may have to find a doctor willing to do it as some still think women who haven't had kids shouldn't get them
2-people here can offer tips and maybe a doctor recommendation
3-seems to work well for some and be awful for others

[six-dollar-baby.livejournal.com]

It's absolutely false that no one will give you essure without having kids first. i'm 30 and childfree, and i got my essure quite easily.
if that's an avenue you want to go down, try calling your nearest vasectomy clinic. ask if they perform female sterilization. when they say no, act surprised and ask for the number of a doctor that does. Getting sterilized without having kids first (for women, anyway) largely depends on the attitude of the doctor you're dealing with, and a vasectomy clinic can generally point you to a CF-friendly doctor.

There are a couple of CF/sterilization comms on LJ that may be able to give you some advice as well: http://cf-hardcore.livejournal.com/profile, http://cf-resources.livejournal.com/profile, and http://sterilizationqa.livejournal.com/profile.

[archangelbeth]

1: As said, yes. Some doctors -- especially ones who are not experienced with insertion of IUDs -- think that your uterus will not be big enough if you haven't had a pregnancy to stretch it out. (Statistically, "parous" (have-been-pregnant) uteruses are more likely to be big enough. But plenty of nulliparous (no-pregnancies) uteruses are big enough as well.) It is possible that your uterus will be too small to have an additional IUD resident, but they can't really tell without "sounding" it with a special rod, generally just prior to insertion.

2: Start with your doctor, I'd say. IUDs have a low risk of complications if you have no vaginal infections (e.g., BV) during insertion, and if the doctor has a decent idea of what he/she is doing. If you get no joy from your doctor, consider finding another one -- but PP would be a good place to try while you're looking.

3: Like any hormonal birth control, this is great, okay, or lousy depending on your personal biochemistry and how it interacts with the synthetic hormones. (Same for Mirena, actually.)

4: Has your betrothed considered a vasectomy? Those are often much easier for penis-owners to get than permanent sterilization methods are for uterus-owners.

Good luck!

[archangelbeth]

(PS: one of your dogs in the icon? Such soulful eyes! Lovely markings, too.)

[jadenfox.livejournal.com]

yeah, thats my oldest boy Clyde. Hes a great dog (whippet)

[jadenfox.livejournal.com]

we are considering the vasectomy route too, he is 37 and most docs will do it at his age. I originally wanted mirena because the hormones will help with my horrible periods like my pill- but heard about essure and was all "heck yeah!"

[whowehavetofear.livejournal.com]

I inquired at Planned Parenthood about Essure and they said they wanted me to wait a year after the initial appointment just to be sure I still wanted it, but that they'd do it in a year. I'm 29 and have no kids.

[atalanta0jess.livejournal.com]

You can absolutely get a mirena even though you are nulliparous. Ask your doctor first - if they readily agree, that's a good sign. If they don't, and you have to convince them, I'd consider elsewhere. You want your insertion done by someone who has experience with nulliparous women. You're right that Planned parenthood is often a good bet.

[dkwgdk.livejournal.com]

I'm 34, NP, and I got a Mirena in April. Seems to be working great for me so far! My gyno doesn't do IUD insertions and referred me to someone else who does. I had two months of very light spotting in the beginning of my time with it, and I've had an uptick in acne since getting it. Oh, and some breast tenderness. Other than that, things are fine. I got it to cope with my crazy heavy periods and it's working well for that, plus no babies.

[jadenfox.livejournal.com]

so its true it helps with bad periods?

[dkwgdk.livejournal.com]

It's been true for me, and since its documented side effects include lightening or total period cessation, yep...seems like it can help!

[sweetchild92.livejournal.com]

Because of concerns related to fertility about IUDs leftover from 40 years ago, the Mirena ppl decided to not try and get it FDA approved for nulliparous users and thus bypass those unfounded concerns and got it to market faster.
http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/07/ff_iud/

Planned Parenthood is my rec.

Some people like implanon, some don't, some are "meh" about it, just like any other form of bc :)

This post recently on implanon may be of interest: http://vaginapagina.livejournal.com/20447401.html

[sweetchild92.livejournal.com]

yay glad you liked it!

[kaowolfie.livejournal.com]

Huh, I hadn't seen that Wired article. I gotta say, I do not understand the shape on some of those things - especially the freaking Dalkon Shield! No wonder the damn thing caused so many problems.

[hiriel1804.livejournal.com]

Agreed, it looks like a torture device!

[jadenfox.livejournal.com]

Great article, and very scary shield thingy!

[jocelina.livejournal.com]

1. Totally possible! I would bring it up with your primary care provider if you haven't yet -- they may be totally on board with it (mine was, even though I'm also nulliparous).

2. I would talk with your doctor. It seems like it's more and more common for health care providers to be aware that IUDs can be a good option for people who haven't given birth, so you may not even have to do any convincing! If they're not sold on the idea, Planned Parenthood is a good backup option. If you'll be using health insurance to cover some/all of the cost, I'd also call your insurance provider to make sure you've got all of that squared away too.

3. It varies so much that unfortunately it's pretty impossible to predict one person's experience with Implanon (or any contraceptive, really) based on others'. And unfortunately, the "try it and see!" approach, which works relatively well with oral contraceptives, is a little trickier with something like Implanon, where you can't stop taking it quite as easily.

And as others have said, Essure may still be an option for you -- it might be trickier to find a supportive health care provider, but they are out there. We have some tagged entries about members' experiences with Essure here (http://vaginapagina.livejournal.com/tag/essure-sterilization-procedure), if you're curious.

Also, I did just want to mention that not all of us here identify as women (http://vaginapagina.com/index.php?title=VaginaPagina_FAQ#Is_VP_for_women_only.3F), but that doesn't mean we're not all here to help, and in order to avoid making anyone feel left out or unwelcome, we've been trying to use more inclusive terms when referring to VPers as a whole. You can read more about that here (http://community.livejournal.com/contact_vp/tag/language).

And finally, this is mostly OT, but the dog in your icon is making me go all melty over here. What a sweet face!

[jadenfox.livejournal.com]

sorry my computer wouldnt let me edit until today!

[jocelina.livejournal.com]

No worries! Thank you for the edit, and happy new year! :)

[jadenfox.livejournal.com]

Thats my oldest cuddle dog. Hes a great little man!

[jocelina.livejournal.com]

He is so darn cute! He looks like he's about to hop into the lap of the person taking the picture.

[onlyforever10.livejournal.com]

I got my Mirena two and a half years ago at age 23. I also have never given birth or have been pregnant. I would suggest calling doctors in your area and asking over the phone whether or not they are willing to insert an IUD in someone who has not had kids. That way you don't waste your time and money with appointments that don't go anywhere. There are definitely doctors that will do it, you just might have to search a little.

[misspaigeb.livejournal.com]

Definitely possible to get an IUD without having ever had kids. I'm only 21 and I was pleasantly surprised when I asked my gyno if she inserted IUD's for people like me. "Oh yeah we all do them [the doctors/NP's in the practice], just come in when you're on your period and we'll take care of it." Basically, I agree with another poster that you're looking for a provider who is confident inserting IUD's and is comfortable doing it. If my doctor had said "Oh well I don't know, it could have ah higher expulsion rate, and you know it might be difficult because you haven't had kids..." and took some convincing, I probably wouldn't be very confident in their insertion skills anyway and would look elsewhere. In general, though, PP seems fairly good about giving an IUD to whoever requests one, so that might be a place to start.

[jadenfox.livejournal.com]

I never intended to offend anyone! Sorry if I did so! And thanks to evryone who responded! Very helpful info!

[x-hypatia-x.livejournal.com]

I got Essure when I was...27, I think? And we did not have children. I called clinics within a four-hour radius until I found someone who did not have a specific policy like "No sterilization unless you're over 40 or have had three children," then scheduled an appointment and went in. I mean, if you'd prefer something long-term but temporary, then I'd probably go the same route in calling doctors' offices and asking about their policies with regard to Mirena.

Note: I dunno if there's a specific reason you're not considering vasectomy, but if there isn't, vasectomy is a hell of a lot cheaper usually and is a pretty fast-and-easy procedure, from what I've been told and witnessed. (I'm polyamorous and both of my partners have vasectomies and I had the Essure procedure.)

(Also, I noticed you apologized for the assumption everyone here is a woman; I'm sure you didn't/don't intend to offend anyone, and it's often more a question of acknowledging all of the members of VP than of offense, anyway. I was wondering, though, whether it'd be possible for you to edit your post to switch to "people" instead? Not a moderator or anything here, just wanted to suggest a possible way to avoid seeming to exclude people, however unintentionally.)

[jadenfox.livejournal.com]

Done! my comp was acting up and I couldnt edit for some reason, but its working now. I really never ment to be in any way shape or form to offend or mis identify or make anyone uncomfy...

[x-hypatia-x.livejournal.com]

I'm sure you didn't! I thought maybe it hadn't occurred to you to edit, so I was suggesting, but now it's all good.

And d'oh, I didn't realize Essure had nickel, or at least, I spaced out on it, even though they gave me a little card to give to health care providers if I have to get an MRI or something. Suck. While the procedure was not fun, I've otherwise been really happy with it. If you do want any info or want to discuss vasectomies, I'd be happy to share, even though it's not technically about vaginas. :) Otherwise, I'd still go with calling ob/gyns before scheduling an appointment to make sure they're not going to be hostile to the idea of providing a nulliparous woman an IUD; Planned Parenthood seems to be more willing than other providers to do that.

(Your dog is adorable!)

[knittinggoddess.livejournal.com]

1 & 2. It's absolutely possible to get the Mirena without ever having been pregnant. In addition to Planned Parenthood, check out your county health clinics or university hospitals.

Sidenote: Essure contains nickel, so it may not be an option for you. Adiana is the nickel-free plug, though it hasn't been around for as long as Essure.

Also, if you want to edit your post to reflect any changes or additional information, click the little blue pencil at the top of your post.

[knittinggoddess.livejournal.com]

Also, something I've seen suggested in sterilizationqa or iud_divas is first request sterilization, so that an IUD seems like a compromise to the doc. Of course, the ideal situation would be that your doc is knowledgeable about the safety of iuds and nullipara, but not everyone has that privilege!

Those two comms are also great resources for np people seeking long term or permanent birth control.

[jadenfox.livejournal.com]

ugh. Thanks for pointing that essure has nickle. Boo. I was all hopeful for a moment. Though the website sites less nickle than in food, so I may have to discuss this fact.

I found out my sister in law (brothers wife) has the same ob/gyn and got an IUD without having kids so I am going to beg her for it when I have my yearly in a few months.

[knittinggoddess.livejournal.com]

Do you have access to an allergist? Apparently skin allergies don't necessarily mean internal allergies, and it might be okay!

I think I might have a nickel allergy, and I don't want to get Essure or a copper IUD until I talk to an allergist. They'd be more able to answer the allergy questions than an gyno.

Yes, do ask your gyn! What a great discovery.