I had my Essure procedure done in early 2010, shortly after the birth of my fourth daughter. I was told by my doctor that the procedure was easier than having my husband get a vasectomy. Everything was fine right up to the procedure, then it went drastically downhill. They gave me Valium and pain medication, but it only worked for the first few minutes, before anything actually happended. They weren’t monitoring my blood pressure, which dropped so low due to the pain that they had to give me an injection in my leg to bring me back around. The pain afterward was horrible. I have had 2 of my children with no pain medication at all, and this pain was much worse than that. To the point that my husband had to call the doctor because I couldn’t do anything but cry. After a week the pain somewhat subsided, but I continued to have menstrual cramp type pain, with a much heavier period than I ever had in the past. I continued to go to the OB\GYN to figure out why I was still having these pains, along with depression, weight gain, mood swings and extreme fatigue. I was told that it may be my thyroid and they would run some tests to find out. I was then told that I had a thyroid problem, and the solution was to put me on depression medicine, prescription Vitamin D and thyroid medicine. My Endo doctor called my OB/GYN several times to discuss the coils with him. He was concerned that they may be causing some of my thyroid issues, because my hormone levels were that of a woman in late menopause or that of a marathon runner. I was neither. He even went to the point of having me get an MRI done on my brain, because my hormone levels couldn’t be explained. He thought that I may have a tumor on my pituary gland. Thank God that was not the case.
While the thyroid medication and Vitamin D, seemed to help some, I was still tired all the time, to the point that it was effecting my job, as well as, my home life. The menstrual cramping and bleeding continued; and I never knew when I would have my period or not. After several trips to my doctor’s office, they finally did an ultrasound and determined that I had a cyst. Which is a problem that only started occuring after having an IUD, which was another failed attempt at birth control. The cyst continued to grow and cause severe pain, to the point where I would almost past out, and I would break out into a cold sweat. I had a hysterectomy in December of 2012 due to a 8 cm dermatoid cyst on my right ovary; however, I still have one ovary. Within 4 weeks of my hysterectomy I was back in the ER with the same pains, which are equivilent to or worse than labor pains without medication. I have since then continued to have the same problem. I have menstrual cramp type pain everyday of my life. Some days are worse than others. Some days I am able to tough out the pain, and others it leaves me doubled over praying for relief. I have been back to the doctor, only this week, to be told that there is nothing they can do right now other than monitor it and for me to take birth control to try to prevent the cysts from forming. Unfortunately, I am starting to wonder if it isn’t the fact that I still have one tube and ovary left (and one remaining coil) that is causing my problems and pain. The doctors won’t remove my remaining ovary because at my age they believe that it would do more harm than good, by immediately sending me into menopause. So I am left to suffer with the unexplained pain. I was given a 3 month supply of Nuvaring and sent on my way. I would never recommend to anyone that they get an IUD or Essure. It is not worth it.,