(no subject)

[avendya.livejournal.com]

How painful is IUD insertion? Is it doable even for people who've had bad experiences with pelvic exams?

My (first) partner and I are considering becoming sexually active, and neither of us are willing to take any risks re. pregnancy. I don't know how great of a choice HBC would be for me, because a) I'm on a giant cocktail of medications, some of which interact with birth control in odd ways, and b) I had an extremely bad reaction when I was on the pill a few years ago. Thus, considering the copper IUD + condoms.

However, I'm scared of the insertion. My last pelvic exam was... not good. Which is to say: it was so painful I blacked out and the doctor had to bring me back around with smelling salts. That was for a pap smear, but when she did that, she specifically said that she was glad she was not inserting an IUD. I don't think that's normal, and I am reasonably sure she was using a much larger speculum than she should have been, but.

Help?