Debilitating Birth Control: Hidden Dangers of the IUD

After the birth of my first child I began exploring my options for birth control. It was an unusually tough decision to make due to my circumstances, I was 18 years old and had a debilitating seizure disorder. The medication I had to take would inevitably cancel out any chemical form of birth control leaving me with few options. As a married young woman neither abstinence or condoms were a reasonable longterm choice, and pregnancy was extremely dangerous.

After the devastating loss of my first pregnancy and the miracle birth of my son I was not prepared to tempt fate and risk so much. I scheduled an appointment with my doctor to discuss my options and remained hopeful that he would have the perfect solution for me. I remember sitting wide eyed as he educated me on the I.U.D. (Intrauterine Device), at the time it was made from copper and plastic, it's placement was a 5 minute procedure done in the office. He explained to me that I would feel some discomfort and have minimal bleeding associated with the placement of the device. The overall risks were minimal since I was in a monogamous relationship and was not "at risk" for infection. It sounded so perfect, almost too good to be true. "Worry free birth control" was what they were calling it, there was no chemical involved and you didn't have to do anything once it was placed.

I, of course, agreed to having the procedure and even wondered why every woman didn't use this miracle device. This would allow me a full year for doctors to gain control of my seizures and for me to decide what to do next.

The actual placement of the I.U.D. went as planned, it was uncomfortable but not unbearable and I was allowed to return home just a few minutes after it was placed. It only took about 2 days for me to fully recover, the pain and bleeding subsided and I was back to my daily routine. I would soon find out the side effects that the doctor "forgot" to mention.

Within the next couple of months I had gone from a seemingly normal menstrual cycle to having debilitating cramps, heavy bleeding, and lower abdominal pain that shot like lightening bolts down both of my legs. When I expressed to the doctor the amount of pain I was in he assured me that it was "normal" and prescribed me a narcotic pain reliever. I was left in agony spending day after day crying, doubled over from the pain. I had a newborn baby at home and was forced to choose between the lesser of two evils, narcotics which left me groggy and unable to function, or pain that had me all but immobile most of the time. Either way I was incapable of providing the care a newborn baby requires but at least the pain alone didn't take away my ability to have a rational thought or to make sound decisions as to the care of my son. The pills were useless to me and sat untouched.

The doctors best advice at this point was to use heat and get plenty of rest, he continued to reassure me that there was absolutely nothing wrong. I went on the entire year with this foreign device all but taking over my body and my life. By the time I was due to have it removed my seizures had been controlled for nearly 9 months and I had hopes that once the I.U.D. was gone I would no longer be in constant pain and could now conceive another child.

It only made sense that if it was the device causing me all the pain then the best cure would be removal. I was excited the day I was scheduled to have it taken out, life would finally begin to seem "normal" to me. Months went by, seasons changed, and my hopes for normality began to diminish. Although it was no longer a constant daily battle with the pain it was still crippling me every month.

It was 3 years after the removal of the device when I finally conceived my second child. I had nearly given up hope when it happened, the doctors still assuring me nothing was wrong. It was a much more difficult pregnancy than the last one, I battled premature delivery and spent the final 3 months on complete bed rest. Soon after giving birth to a healthy baby boy I realized that there was indeed something wrong, the doctors must have missed something.

The pain I had experienced was back to a constant, daily occurrence and as my cycles became more irregular my concerns grew. My son was 18 months old when I ended up at the emergency room in such severe pain that every breath was unbearable and my vision was blurred. A few hours later I had a nurse scowling down at me, she had asked my husband to leave the room and began to tell me her diagnosis. She said that she thought I had Pelvic Inflammatory Disease and as if the word "Disease" didn't scare me enough she went on hounding me about my marriage. I assured the lady that we were in fact monogamous and had been for nearly 8 years. This nurse didn't bother waiting for test results before handing down her forethought on how this happened. She insisted that the only way you can get P.I.D. (Pelvic Inflammatory Disease) is from contracting a sexually transmitted disease. She went on to tell me that if it was in fact true that I had no extra marital partners then I needed to question what my husband was doing with his free time.

By now I was enraged, this lady had the bedside manner of a rabid wolf and she had chosen me as her prey. She was, however, a medical professional therefore she must be right. I spent the next 3 days in shock, how could he do this to me? The wealth of tests that were taken from my husband and I at the hospital had come back from the lab and I received a call back from the ER doctor, all of our tests were negative and neither one of us had contracted any STD.

Confusion and hatred for this nurse who had nearly ruined my marriage overwhelmed me, at this point I needed to hear it from the doctor I knew and respected.

After another full round of tests and a complete physical he had found the answer to all my troubles. I could tell he was not too happy having to admit that he was in some way liable for what had become of me, he had ignored so many clues. The I.U.D. that I had almost 6 years ago had caused Endometriosis, left untreated for so long it had riddled my reproductive organs with scar tissue. The diagnosis was devastating, Endometriosis was curable but the damage it had left behind was not. My pain was now considered "chronic" and would not go away, my chances of ever conceiving children again were slim but not impossible.

Two years later during a routine exam the doctor took a couple of extra tests, it was precautionary due to my circumstances. The results of these tests would forever change my life.

I remember getting the call from the doctors office, they needed me to come in and talk with the doctor. They wouldn't tell me much over the phone, what they did say was that I needed to be seen right away. My appointment was scheduled for the next day and I recall thinking that it was the longest 24 hour span I had ever endured. I was a wreck going into the office the next day, I didn't sleep that night and my nerves were on edge.

My doctor sat me down and when I looked into his eyes I saw something I had never seen before, compassion. At that moment he was more than just a medical degree, he was human. His voice seemed to crack slightly when he gave me the news, it was cervical cancer. He explained that they had caught it very early and he was certain my prognosis was good. He said he didn't foresee my needing to undergo chemo, the abnormal spot was on the wall of my cervix and could be removed.

I'm not sure I heard anything he had to say after the "C" word, that is until he dropped the next bomb. In order to effectively remove all traces of cancer and address the scar tissue build up I would have to have a hysterectomy. I went home in a state of shock and disbelief, I was so young and still wanted to have another baby.

The next few weeks I weighed all my options and considered every avenue, I needed to make some decisions and now was no time to be distraught. I decided that I truly needed to have a baby before my "slim chance" at conception became no chance. The problem was that nearly 4 years had passed since I had my last child, I hadn't used any form of birth control in that time period. I was certain that all hope was gone and I was wasting valuable time, time was not on my side. I knew I should have had the surgery right away but was so set on having a baby that I validated the risk I was taking. Just when I had given up and was scheduled to see my doctor regarding surgery I injured my shoulder at work. I went to my family practitioner for the injury completely clueless as to my current "condition". Since I was a young woman of child bearing age it was standard to perform a pregnancy test before any X rays. The fear, disbelief, and excitement surmounted as they gave me the news, I was pregnant! It was exactly what I wanted, yet so dangerous at the same time. I would now have to wait until I had healed from giving birth before I could have a hysterectomy. So far the cancer had not spread any further and it was in the very early stages, it wasn't much but it was a light at the end of the tunnel.

I was having a difficult time trusting the doctors after all I had been through and made it a personal goal to live by a quote I had heard time and time again; "Let go and let God". It was the doctors who failed to mention that an I.U.D. could ruin my life, the doctor who ignored all the danger signs, the same doctor who I was now supposed to trust with my life.

The pregnancy went well, all things considered, and we had already discussed and scheduled my surgery for exactly one year after the birth of the baby. I was vigilant with my doctors appointments and he performed regular tests to be sure I was safe and the delivery went without a hitch. For about 5 months after my son was born things stayed pretty much status quo, then I began to feel sick and my pain level increased. I needed to have surgery right away and was scheduled to go in the next week.

I was barely 26 years old the day my child bearing rights were stripped from me. When I woke up after surgery I heard the news, they had to do what was termed a "radical hysterectomy". My choice to use an I.U.D. for birth control had turned into a potentially life threatening one. Pathology found 9 spots of cancer hidden away on the inner wall of my cervix and the scar tissue was so severe that nothing could be salvaged. What this meant for me was that I would get to experience menopause at the age of 26, even before my own mother did.

I will forever regret having the I.U.D. placed, and falling for it's "worry free" image. All the regrets in the world can't change what has happened and I may forever view myself as broken, my only hope is that my story will educate someone out there who may be considering an I.U.D. on it's hidden dangers.

In life nothing is worry-free. Ask questions, get a second opinion, and as always, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!