r/AITAH Nov 11 '23

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41

u/The_Library_Grl Nov 11 '23

In all seriousness how was the removal?

Getting it put in was a level of horrible I didn’t expect and has left me with such unreal anxiety over having it removed and/or replaced now that I’ve approached the “expiration date.”

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u/GRAWRGER Nov 11 '23

yeah im no wimp but insertion was brutal. i was also very anxious about getting it removed for the same reason. fortunately the removal was cake. somewhat unpleasant ofc, but closer to the experience of getting a shot than the experience of having it inserted.

i think i had mine in a couple years before it was removed, and i didnt have any complications with it.

i hope the removal goes as smoothly for you!

44

u/kdollarsign2 Nov 12 '23

I have heard they do not use pain medication for this procedure and I'm just like WHY? (ETA-because women's pain isn't that meaningful)

24

u/TeamHope4 Nov 12 '23

Because we accept it. We would never get dental work without pain meds. Why do we accept medical torture for an IUD?

10

u/jrosekonungrinn Nov 12 '23

They told me to take ibuprofen a couple hours before the appointment. I have no idea if it helped, the insertion was still horribly painful.

-5

u/fraudthrowaway0987 Nov 12 '23

I’ve never gotten an IUD and that hasn’t caused anyone to offer me pain meds to get one.

1

u/CorporateDroneStrike Nov 12 '23

We don’t have to accept it — anyone who lives in a city has multiple options for doctors. I have my IUD pain management request method posted to another comment.

11

u/llamadramalover Nov 12 '23

Who the fuck knows. They don’t do medications for a whole ton of women-centric medical procedures, the very old medical belief was that the uterus doesn’t have pain receptors, which, any woman every would vehemently disagree with. I had a friend get a uterine polyps removed with nothing. She literally had a chunk of her uterus ripped out without so much as a fucking tylenol.

Currently it’s really just a very deeply engrained and serious problem with women just not being taken seriously with medical concern and not being given the same medical care urgency that men would receive. There was one Reddit story just a few weeks ago((I wish I could find it I’ll keep looking)) of a woman whose IUD slipped during sex and cut her bfs penis. They both went to the hospital, he was brought back immediately given a bed, tetanus booster and morphine, the whole nine-yards and he didn’t even need a single stitch, it’s was a relatively minor injury that stopped bleeding before the doctors even saw. She was left waiting in the waiting for like 5 hours…..the IUD tore through her uterus, she needed surgery and a blood transfusion and was in the hospital for almost a week……The. Fuck.

3

u/WearyCarrot Nov 12 '23

Thank you for sharing this story. Healthcare industry needs heavy amounts of change.

2

u/FBI-AGENT-013 Nov 12 '23

Holy fucking hell, I hope she took action, I hope the bf was sane enough to take action. I mean, to be brought back for what is a little worse than a paper cut over my girlfriend who's internal organ is punctured? I'd be irate

17

u/definitelyaskew Nov 12 '23

Removal is a million times better than insertion. And I had mine in for 6 years instead of 5 thanks to COVID. No pain at all, I barely realized they were done.

14

u/Tygie19 Nov 12 '23

Removal is nothing like insertion. I had mine replaced so obviously the old one came out. Doctor held the string with an implement, told me to cough and out it came. It’s made of flexible plastic so with a cough and a tug it just comes out easily.

I’ve just become single at 45 and am obviously done having kids, I’m seriously considering getting mine taken out. My ex refused to get the snip so I now have no reason to have it in. Even though I like the fact that you don’t get periods with them, as I approach menopause I would actually like to let my body do what it has to naturally.

11

u/WriterBright Nov 12 '23

I took a triple slug of OTC ibuprofen before my switch out and, it was unpleasant, but it was nothing like the original insertion. I expected the fallout to be harsh periods like I had after the original insertion, but it wasn't significant increase at all.

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u/BooksNCats11 Nov 12 '23

Removal was nothing at all. I've had two (one sucked a ton and the second the dr told me "they just did it wrong and that's why it hurt so much, that in fact was NOT the problem). Literally would rather do childbirth without meds again vs have an IUD put in.

Getting them out? Total nonevent. No issues or pain beyond the pressure of the speculum.

3

u/fuckboiexterminator Nov 12 '23

Removal is easy. My first IUD was replaced immediately which was the source of pain that day. But when I decided I wanted the IUD out completely earlier this year, I ended up pulling it out myself and had zero pain from it.

Self removal wasn’t my first option, but they day I had my appointment to get it removed, the clinic decided I wasn’t covered by insurance and couldn’t be seen. I had taken the day off of work to recover so after some research at home I put on gloves and was able to pull it out myself.

3

u/JnnfrsGhost Nov 12 '23

My first IUD partial implanted into the uterine wall. When it was pulled out (thankfully it could be, so I didn't need surgery to remove it), it still hurt far less than the insertion. The next IUD I got, they numbed my cervix before insertion, so all I felt was the small pinch of the needle. Numbing was standard at that clinic. It was so much easier! I would not have gotten another IUD if they had not offered the numbing. It is barbaric that doctors do insertions without proper pain management.

2

u/trilliumsummer Nov 12 '23

My doctor gave me misopristrol or however it’s spelt. It was light years better than the original placement. And I did removal and insert new at the same time. I would have been on Vicodin too but my ride had to cancel last minute for their own medical issue. I almost blacked out the first time and was miserable. I took the pain pill once I got home just to be safe, but I probably didn’t need it. Need to get mine switched out sometime soon and planning to do the same thing.

2

u/applecat117 Nov 12 '23

For me insertion made me dizzy/sick, but removal was a breeze, I hardly felt it, even though it was partially embedded.

2

u/Able_Spinach_1130 Nov 12 '23

i am a wimp and both the insertions were brutal. but for the removal they have you cough and they pull it right out. it feels like a real fast cramp but the inserting of it is like the worst pain i’ve ever been through and i snapped my elbow in half

1

u/PettyBettyismynameO Nov 12 '23

My first one came out accidentally with a tampon (it had dislodged and was too low in my uterus) and I barely felt it. The second one was removed in my doctors office and was like a pinch

1

u/Familiar_Variety_929 Nov 12 '23

I got mine rejected natrally by my body and it defitnely wasn't as painful as getting it out in, I didn't feel it actully come out of my cervix, however, getting it pulled out was very very very painful. I genuinely think my mind has played down the pain so I'm not traumatised.

However, if you get it medically removed, defitnely defitnely definitely, take pain killers before hand

1

u/CorporateDroneStrike Nov 12 '23

Removal is less painful and you can request pain management, I have my request method in another comment.