Mirena: My Choice of Birth Control

A few months ago, as my fortieth birthday loomed, I began to look at my choices of birth control. I finally ended up with only one logical option: Mirena. This is an IUD that is placed directly into the uterus during an office visit.

Before I tell my story of experience with Mirena, I'd like to give some of the facts I found on it at the Mirena website.
* it is 99% effective at preventing pregnancy
* it can be used for up to five years, but can be removed earlier
* 15 million women worldwide use it
* 2 million women use it in the U.S.

Insertion

As I patiently waited for the nurse practitioner to call me back for my appointment, I was hoping I could endure the few minutes of discomfort I knew was coming. I am very sensitive when it comes to just a regular yearly check up, so I had thought ahead and had taken some Naproxen to help take the edge off. I am very glad I did.

I was called back to my examination room and the nurse practitioner instructed me to disrobe from the waist down. I then sat nervously on the table with that fabulous sheet spread across me. She soon came back in and explained what was going to happen.

She removed the IUD from its packaging and let me examine it. It is very small, "t" shaped, made of a white plastic-type material and had long strings hanging from it. She had me feel the strings. I'm sure she was trying to get me to calm down and relax. She also wanted me to be as educated about the product as possible. So we spent several minutes talking about it before she inserted it.

It was just as if I were having a regular vaginal examination. It did get painful as she proceeded to put the IUD into place and make all necessary adjustments. I cramped very hard the entire time. Although it was painful and uncomfortable, it only lasted a few minutes. She clipped the strings to a shorter length and checked everything once again before she had me sit back up.

Of course, all of that made me bleed, which she had warned me about. Overall, the experience was not a bad one.

Results After Two Months

Exactly four months after I had the IUD inserted, I went back for a check up. She had to make sure that everything was still in place. Once again, it was just like a vaginal exam. She poked around for a few minutes and had me worried that something was wrong. But then I heard her sigh and she told me she had found the strings. They had softened and curled up around my cervix so she couldn't find them at first. This is common and is exactly what they are supposed to do, but she didn't expect them to do it so soon.

It has now been a month since my last check up; two months since I had it inserted. Everything seems to still be fine. My periods are much shorter and lighter, even though I do still experience some cramps and passing blood clots. Between my periods I am spotting, so I always have to have a pantie liner on as a precaution.

I am looking forward to the day when the spotting ends and my periods are almost non-existent. This doesn't always happen for all women, but I am holding out hope that I will be one of the lucky ones.

I do not feel any pain or discomfort because of the IUD and I can tell that it is making a difference.

Cost

I began comparing my cost for the IUD to the cost of my birth control pills and I do believe I am coming out ahead. With my insurance, I was paying $10 a month for my pills, which is not bad. That ends up being $120 for one year and $600 for five years.

The total cost for the IUD was $639. I paid my $35 co-pay at the time of the visit. Recently I received a bill for $93.74. So my total cost is $128.74. That means that for a total of $128.74, my birth control expenses are taken care of for the next five years. This is saving me approximately $470 over the next five years. I will say that I am very pleased with that. Although it is more money out of my pocket right now, it will be much, much less over the course of the five years.

Closing Thoughts

My experience with Mirena has been a positive one so far. I am looking forward to the next few months and seeing how my body continues to react to it.

From my health point of view and my financial point of view, I would recommend that you check into Mirena for yourself if you are looking for something better than the pill but not needing something as drastic as a hysterectomy.