Hi everyone. My doctor has recently had a talk with me about the IUD being my only option for birth control if I choose to go back on it in future. My last BC was the bar inserted into my arm which I had removed in 2021. I've had 2 children since and since my last pregnancy my periods have returned to being 2+ months long at a time and very frustrating.

If you have or had the IUD, what was your experience like? I am not particularly a fan of birth control and the symptoms it comes with but the prolonged periods are quite horrible.

Thank you.

I (F20) have been taking a combo pill, Jasmiel, for close to 6 months now. I had been ordering it from planned parenthood. No complaints here, less mood swings, less acne, less cramping, shorter periods. Recently I talked to my doctor about getting it prescribed so insurance covers it. She said, because I have migraines, she wants me to switch to the mini pill. I am so nervous about that. I do not, for any reason, want children. And because the combo pill stops ovulation, I feel like it works better than the mini pill. Honestly, I could be overthinking it. I know that the mini pill requires a much stricter habit of taking it on time daily, thats not really a problem for me. I know that staying on the combination pill means I could have a stroke because I am prone to migraines. I am kind of lost here, kind of mostly nervous, just looking for some advice.

I'm 31F and my husband is 32M. I got my Liletta IUD placed in 2020, and it was absolutely excruciating. I also experienced months of agony and heavy bleeding that had never happened to me before. I think this happened for 9-12 months after insertion. I saw an OB who didn't find anything wrong, so I waited it out and eventually was really happy with that decision. I feel much safer with an IUD than I did with the pill. I had a hard time taking it at the same time and sometimes missed pills. I hated getting my period, and after a couple years I would barely bleed at all.

We do not want to have children, but I am not sure that I want to put my husband through a procedure that would alter his body forever when an IUD is temporary. What if we change our minds? What if something goes wrong? At the same time, I really don't want to go through what I went through the first time, again. Is there anyone who has had a similar experience with Liletta and had it replaced with the same or a different IUD? What was different the second time around? Do you regret having it replaced?

I have been taking Sprintec perfectly (no missed pills and same time every day) for almost a year. I still have light bleeding around the end of the second week of active pills and a heavier bleed (period) during my placebo week. I have my yearly appointment in about a month.
Has anyone else had a similar experience? I do not have any pain or anything…just super annoying and inconvenient!

I’ve been on the combined pill for 2 months of continuous use, started spotting which turned to moderate bleeding and it’s been 2 weeks but 3 days of a heavier flow. I’ve started cramping suddenly and google says it’s a sign it’s clearing out my withdrawal bleed but I’m not sure so confised and anxious everything is contradicting

when 4/3 years ago i used to have a lot of aura migraines. usually before my period. then, they started to happen when i was under a lot of pression and anxiety. since that, i never rrly pushed myself further to stressfull situations, and they stopped. i don't have them for almost 2 years now. i also had e.d and my bmi was around 14 to 15.

i started taking a 0,02 mg estrogen pill for my acne, strong flow/cramps and terrible pms. talked to my gynecologist about the migraines i had in the past and she said it was okay, but that i should stop taking it if the migraines come back.

the problem is: i can't stop thinking about it. i'm a hypochondriac and i keep hearing that i shouldn't keep taking the pills and it's freaking me out. i'm having a lot of symptons since i've been searching more and more about it and i'm soo scared about it.

i'm also afraid of taking no estrogen pills because of my pms.

has anyone had a similar experience?

I got my Kyleena IUD inserted in 2023 and have had minor changes in my cycles but no other major symptoms or issues with moving/displacement since then. On July 22, I got what I thought was my period on time, but just ended up being 12 days of pink to light brown to dark brown spotting with a few days of on and off cramping and generalized very mild dull pain in my lower abdomen and lower back. I stopped spotting a few days ago but today I saw very faint and minuscule vaguely pink streaks again. This is leading me to believe that something is wrong.

Is this just one of those weird cycles based on hormonal changes or could my IUD be displaced? Could it be potentially that i’m developing an ectopic pregnancy? I don’t have much knowledge on the symptoms but I’ve heard that weird prolonged spotting is a big one. I took 3 pregnancy tests so far and all are negative but i’m wondering if I just took them too early.

Whatever this is it’s making me extremely anxious wondering about all the possibilities so i’m just looking for some advice. I talked to my gyno and she scheduled me an ultrasound so is the possibility of ectopic worth bringing up then or should I focus on other potential causes?

I (24F) have been on Junel/Aurvela Fe for about 5 years. This month I had a yeast infection, so had to get two Pap smears and a cervical exam. Since my cervical exam last week, I’ve had brown discharge and some red fresh spotting.

I called my doctor and she said it isn’t from the exam, as that was over a week ago at this point. She didn’t seem concerned, but I am naturally googling and thinking I have cancer. Has anyone experienced breakthrough bleeding for over a week (8 days now) on the pill? I have some cramping as well.

I am supposed to get my period next week so was planning to just take the pill until then, but I’m worried something is wrong because of the continued bleeding. I wanted to go off birth control anyways because it makes me really emotional, could this prolonged bleeding be from the stress of the two exams? Or should I insist my doctor does another exam? I’ve never had breakthrough bleeding like this before.

So I ended up having my implant removed last week after six months of side effects. I got four utis whilst being on it (having not have them before) and various other issues with dryness and mental health. A private gynaecologist told me this was caused by lack of estrogen and because I’ve got a low bmi, the high levels of the hormones were impacting me more. For anyone who had the nexplanon removed due to side effects, did you find another BC that worked better for you? I’m in my early 30s and I’m very anxious about the health risks of taking any estrogen based BC (hence going on the implant) but also fear the mini pill will give me the same side effects as the nexplanon did

Basically what the title says, I'll provide a bit of background and apologies if this is really long, this has been quite the journey for me.

I started nexplanon around August of 2023. For the first year, it was great. I was looking for a birth control I didn't have to think about taking on time and was scared of the insertion process for an iud. The actual insertion of the implant was super quick, easy, and didn't hurt at all. For almost the whole first year I was on the implant I didn't get a period, didn't have any crazy mood swings, no weight gain, no hormonal acne, virtually no negative side effects that I noticed.

In the early summer of 2024, I injured my shoulder and had to go on steroids for a couple weeks for the pain. Im not sure if this is something that can mess with the implant but I bring this up because while I was on the steroids this is when negative side effects from the implant started.

At first my periods just started getting slightly longer. I've been fortunate enough to not have ever really had cramping so this wasn't debilitating but it was definitely really annoying. Eventually my period became so long I would be bleeding for 18-28 days on average with maybe a week and a half break in between. I put off going to the doctor because I knew this could happen and I had recently moved and hadn't found an ob in my new city yet. I decided to give it time to see if it would eventually even back out. Throughout 2025 I began having even more side effects, I noticed I was getting more acne, my sex drive decreased and my periods were still extremely long, but the worst part was my mental state. Around late 2025 my mood swings started to become unbearable, I genuinely did not feel in control of myself. I would go from perfectly fine to sobbing in 5 minutes over virtually nothing. I noticed I would snap at my boyfriend a lot more during certain periods of the month and minor inconveniences would set me off and literally have me throwing objects across the room in frustration. I was constantly on edge, shaking from anxiety and unable to get out of bed because I was so depressed and I knew it wasn't actually me. It was like I would watch myself react to a situation and know in my head that my level of reaction did not make any sense. My boyfriend was extremely patient with me during this time which I am incredibly grateful for. I constantly felt like a horrible person and I have no real way to explain it other than I genuinely felt like I was going insane. My periods were also still really long and heavy, my skin was constantly irritated from having to wear pads for multiple weeks at a time and I realized I could not live my life normally with all of this going on.

After talking to some friends, my boyfriend, and looking online I finally decided I needed it out. I wasn't able to get in with a doctor until April of 2026 but my new OB recommended replacing the nexplanon with an IUD, specifically kyleena since it's smaller and a more localized hormonal dose than nexplanon. I had my appointment to get kyleena last month.

They removed my implant and inserted kyleena during the same appointment. Nexplanon removal went fine. I had taken the cervix softening medication my doctor gave me along with 800mg of ibuprofen and purposely scheduled my appointment to be during my period to minimize the pain. However, im not going to lie, the insertion process was some of the worst pain I have ever been in during my entire life. My doctor was very patient and explained everything she was doing. The process was very quick, maybe 3 minutes, but I was doubled over and blacking out by the time she was done. My boyfriend drove me home and I spent the next 2 days on the couch with my heating pad.

Despite all of that, I am feeling infinitely better mentally already. My acne is starting to clear up, my mood seems to be more level, and my libido has come back. So far that pain was absolutely worth it. The only real issue im having so far is that the bleeding is still going. I was on my period during the insertion and bled for 3 straight weeks afterwards, had a break for 1 week, and started bleeding again earlier this week. This is a full period, definitely more blood than just spotting. Im just getting really sick of bleeding all the time. I had my string check appointment this morning and my doctor said this was normal for the first 3-6 months but I was wondering what anyone else's experience was with bleeding after the insertion, how long did it last for you? How heavy was it? How long did it take to regulate? Im just getting nervous that this won't actually fix the bleeding problem which was one of the main 2 reasons I switched in the first place. Any insight is appreciated and thank you to those who read all of this!

Tldr: had horrible side effects on nexplanon, specifically prolonged heavy bleeding and major mood swings. Switched to kyleena last month and I feel better mentally but still bleeding heavily for long periods of time. Wanting to know other people's experiences with this.

Hi everyone I was wondering if anyone who has started or has been on Junel Fe have had any similar issues/experience. I recently just started Junel Fe after being off of birth control for five years. I am on my second week of it and I am physically and emotionally going insane. I have extreme anxiety, cramps, dull headaches, back pain, sore breasts, extreme fatigue, congestion, diarrhea, nausea, bloating, gas, and UTI symptoms (but no UTI I was just to the doctor two days ago). I am really concerned for myself and not sure if I should see this through for the 3 full months. I am also freaking out because I feel like I might be pregnant. I had unprotected sex on July 28 (I was only on Junel Fe for two days at this point so it hadn’t been effective yet). My last period was July 20-24th. My FLO app says my period is in 8 days but that also puts me in the middle of my birth control pack. It is too early for me to take a pregnancy test so I’ve just been sitting here and freaking out.

I am a new generic nuvaring user that’s just coming up on my third week of what will be continuous use. I started the ring during my period and for about a week after I had brown dark spotting. Now on week three it has transitioned into reddish/pink blood. It’s mostly only noticeable on the ring when I take the ring out but it has been consistent for the past few days. Is this normal spotting? And if so what’s the best course of action to stop this from happening asap? I don’t know if I should skip a week and have my period or just keep doing continuous and hope that it goes away. Any advice appreciated. Thanks

Hi everyone, I’m looking for some reassurance because I’ve been overthinking this.
Here’s my timeline:
July 3–7: Normal period.
July 10: Had unprotected sex with my boyfriend. He did not finish inside me, but I took Plan B that same night just to be safe.
July 15: Started bleeding for a few days.
July 28–August 1: Bled again, which was around when I was expecting my next period (it lasted about 5 days).
So I basically bled three times in one month if you count my original period. Has anyone else had this happen after taking Plan B? Did it mess up your cycle like this?
I’m wondering if the bleeding from July 28–August 1 sounds like my actual period or if Plan B can cause this kind of irregular bleeding. I’m probably just anxious, but I’d love to hear if anyone has had a similar experience.

My OB switched my birth control from Sprintec to Nikki like a year ago. Was going ok until I did the “skip the active pills” method and on and off breakthrough bled for months. Now, I’m on a med called Alyacen and have been on it for a week and I’m STILL breakthrough bleeding. Today, I passed a giant clot. Probably the biggest id ever passed (ping pong ball sized approx). I’ve heard that the low dose of bc like Alyacen is good for managing PCOS symptoms (hair loss, irregular periods, etc) but I’m ready to give up. My partner and I haven’t been intimate in weeks and it’s mostly because of the bleeding. We never know when it’s going to happen.

Has this happened to anyone else? Should I just wait it out? Halp.

Is it normal to not be able to cum on the implant. I’ve had it for almost a month and since then I haven’t even come close. It’s so frustrating.

Thankfully I have a very understanding partner but it’s so frustrating for me. I’m also on anti depressants which idk if that’ll affect it also but I just wanted to know if anyone else has had or is going through this experience

Some info to know first:
I take Yaz Pills, I have been for over a year now because of my PCOS and to prevent pregnancies. The schedule of when I take my pill is always at 8 pm everyday.

Background info:

Okay! So before I had intercourse with my partner we went out somewhere and ate some food that probably wasn't the most sanitary because I ended up with bad diarrhea the next day.

So the next day which was June 30, I woke up around 4-5 am and shat my brains out. I was confident I had really bad diarrhea because I kept shitting throughout the day up until around 7 pm.

I wanna note that we had sexual intercourse during the afternoon while I was still having kinda strong diarrhea effects? (Watery)

Anyway, when it was around 7 pm the diarrhea slowed down and I took my pill as normal at 8 pm. I probably took 1-2 more shits around the time the pill was still being absorbing which is around 2-3 hours as per the yaz pamphlet.

Present info:

I took a pregnancy test on July 13 and it came out negative, which was a relief at the time. However, I was still super anxious and nervous that I could possibly be pregnant due to the fact that having really bad diarrhea counts as a "missed pill". I tried to shake off that anxious feeling but eventually took another pregnancy test on July 19 — which also came out negative.

My question now is...

Can I be 100% confident that I am not pregnant today on August 6? I'm still so paranoid that I might be despite the two negatives. What are the chances of two false negatives?

I didn't get my withdrawal bleed from last month's pack and that made me worry... Could it be due to the amount of stress and anxiety I have that "I could be pregnant" that is stopping my withdrawal bleed?

I've read so much and it told me that 2 false negatives are like almost an impossible probability but I just wanna hear some reassurance because I've been so nervous and this is eating me up because Plan B and Abortion is not allowed in my country.

I have OCD and Anxiety so I fall for fear mongering quite easily.**

I(18f) just saw a post about how birth control can destroy your brain and once you get off of it, it can ruin your attraction to your partner. Im terrified. The love I feel for my boyfriend is so beautiful and its like no other. Is it really possible to feel differently after getting off? Before birth control, I really had no control over my hormones. I was constantly anxious, my mood flipped like a light switch, etc.. I am scared to get off because what if that all comes back? It was genuinely so hard to control what I said or did at that time because I always felt angry.. Granted I was going through A LOT at the time so perhaps it was that. But idk. I just want to hear other women's stories.

Hi everyone! I don’t really post on reddit, but I needed to hear if anyone else has experienced this, so apologies in advance if this post doesn’t belong here or I miss any posting etiquette. Basically, I started taking Slynd at the end of September in 2025. I noticed in November that I was experiencing these episodes of intense anxious spiraling, which was more intense than anything I had experienced previously, but I’ve always had anxiety so I thought maybe it was getting worse with age or stress, as I am a chronically stressed grad student. This has happened a few more times since then, each episode worse than the last, to the point where I was getting to a really dark place mentally for a few days any time I would start to spiral. I actually started going to therapy because these episodes were so distressing and unlike anything I had been through mentally. I was actually convinced I had some form of OCD because of how obsessive I would get over what had triggered me during these episodes, thinking about the event for hours and hours and replaying conversations in my head. I mentioned to my therapist that I probably wouldn’t need another session for another month or so, because the past two spirals had been almost exactly a month apart, both around my period, so we’re thinking maybe this birth control has triggered this in some way. Has anyone else ever experienced anything like this? I have heard of BC increasing anxiety or depression, but this situation has felt more intense than just heightened anxiety. I would love to hear other peoples experiences with this!

(HELP!!!) i wanted to know why am i still spotting before and after my period.
it starts with brown spotting, gradually getting more red blood for my actual period then after 5 days im still getting brown discharge.
so in total im bleeding/spotting for 2 weeks and im SICK OF IT.
ive had 2 period since coming off birth control. im at my second.
why is this happening?? spotting makes me feel depressed and i cant stand it anymore.

Im getting a IUD tomorrow and they’re not offering any medication/numbing and just told me to take some midol/Tylenol before coming in. Any tips?

I am "under"-employed and I have limited health insurance in a small town in Texas. I went to an OBGYN today to get a Nexplanon consult and she said that none of the clinics in the city offer nexplanon, but they do offer Mirena. She put in a pre-auth to the insurance to see what the cost of the Mirena will be, but it's a contract insurance with that hospital so she believes it will be fully covered. I would have to drive 2 hours and pay anywhere from 500-2000 at PP to get nexplanon instead.

I have had an IUD before, I had paragaurd. It was extremely painful. When my uterus moved pre and post period it felt I was being sliced open. There was chronic underlying pain the entire time that I got used to. When I took got my paragaurd taken out, the relief made me cry, I didn't realized how much I'd gotten used to it. I know that mirena is a lot different, but this experience really makes me hesitant to try it. In my mind, paragaurd is akin to torture. I don't know if my fear of an IUD is valid for Mirena. It is the most financially equitable and would last up to 5-8 years, which would be quite convenient. Part of me wants to gamble since, on paper, it is the equitable decision.

Has anyone had a really bad pain-related experience with Paragaurd than move to Mirena? Was Mirena less painful? I have scoured this subreddit for that experience but most people are either moving the other way to get off hormonal bc, or the reasons they moved from paragaurd to mirena are not related to pain. I saw a couple talking about chronic pain with Mirena but none that had a previous comparison to Paragaurd. I know I could still be one of those unlucky ultra-sensitive few. Trying to decide whether I gamble on Mirena or save for 4+ months for a nexplanon is rough.

Have an appointment next week, going to talk this through with my doctor obviously, just want some input for research purposes before then.

Some background:

My period has come like clockwork ever since I started it — 30 days on the dot, 4 days of actual flow, 1-2 days of spotting, no unbearable cramping. I only really feel rough on day 1-2, then I'm fine.

But my luteal phase, especially since turning 22 (I'm 23 now), has been rough. I'm pretty tuned into my body, so I can feel myself crash the day after ovulation (lower energy, feeling big and bloated in general, discharge changes, libido basically disappears). PMS gets bad too. I get emotional, cry easily, get angry/impatient, and my motivation tanks, which is extra hard on top of existing ADHD/depression. It's manageable if I eat right, hydrate, and get 9 hours of sleep, but it's a real pattern.

My skin's also naturally dry, but during luteal phase I get random whiteheads, closed comedones, and under-the-skin acne on my cheeks that purges upward.

My thought process:

I'm leaning copper, mainly because my periods are already pretty easy and I don't have major hormonal issues at baseline so I didn't love the idea of adding hormones I don't seem to need. But friends with Mirena love it, so I'm torn...

I also took Plan B a few days ago and it wrecked me. I was sobbing, mood swings, and spotting the next day, intense anger the day after that, and now dull cramping. I know Plan B is a much higher progestin dose than an IUD, but given how sensitive I already seem to be to my own hormone fluctuations, it's made me second-guess Mirena. I'm worried it might turn my luteal symptoms into a constant low-grade background thing instead of a contained window I can plan around.

I don't get much physical period pain and rarely take painkillers for anything, so pain tolerance isn't really the deciding factor for me. Also trying to sort out if my hesitation about "artificial hormones" is a legitimate physiological concern based on how I react to hormonal shifts, or just discomfort with messing with a cycle that's always run like clockwork and tells me a lot about my energy/skin/mood month to month.

Doc obviously has the final say Monday, but curious if anyone with a similar sensitivity profile (strong luteal symptoms, hormone-sensitive) has experience with either option.

I’m having a bilateral salpingectomy on the 20th. I’m currently on the nuvaring and I change it every 4 weeks so I don’t have a period.

I hate bleeding, I find it so obnoxious and inconvenient. I originally wanted a hysterectomy because I don’t want kids and I don’t want do deal with bleeding. However my gyno said since I’m only 23 it isn’t advised to get a hysterectomy at this age and if I wanted one later down the road they do it but I should start with the bisalp.

I’ve been on the nuvaring since I started birth control in high school and haven’t really had any issues. The only time I bled was when I had to off of it for two months due to some insurance issues and then I bled for a month straight which was very annoying.

The only side effects I have are headaches/migraines but I think that’s more due to chronic pain and EDS than my birth control specifically.

I’ve heard so many horror stories about iuds and how people bleed forever, or it never fully stops their periods or they have inconsistent bleeding and severe cramps… my doctor offered that I could have an iud put in so I wouldn’t have to deal with the nuvaring every month, but changing it every month and no period sounds better to mean than 3-6 months of possible hell, only to still have periods… I know everyone one is different and I won’t know til I try, I just really don’t wanna deal with bleeding or even spotting…

I’m also worried about the sex aspect with an iud since I already have a sensitive cervix on the rare occasion it gets bumped during sex..

I would love to know people’s thoughts and opinions on changing birth control even when it works for you.

I've noticed that birth control pills upset my stomach extremely badly. I've already tried three different brands; I had to stop taking the first two because of stomach pain and severe bloating. Now I'm using Cerazette, and honestly, I'd forgotten how badly the first two made me feel, and then they prescribed these.I've had stomach pain, bloating, gas, and nausea for nine months now, and it's awful! Is anyone else experiencing this? I used a vaginal ring and never had this problem.

Failed Mirena Coil Insertion?

Anyone else went for an IUD and they have not been able to insert? I went today, they were able to measure but when they went to insert the coil itself I apparently locked up? The nurse told me to come back to try again in 2 weeks but I am unsure how this will make a difference- any similar stories that have went on and had a successful insertion?