In October 2005, I went in to urgent care thinking I had the flu or possibly a lupus flare (I was diagnosed with SLE in 2000). I found out instead I was pregnant which was a shock since I had the Paragard IUD. Since my OB/GYN was located in a different office they sent me directly to them. I had an ultrasound done and the IUD was exactly where it was supposed to be and pregnancy was visually confirmed. I had the IUD removed and baby was fine. After I had my daughter in June 2006 I spoke to my doctor about the Essure procedure, since this was my 3rd pregnancy and completely unexpected.
I had the Essure device implanted in July 2006 so it was a fairly new procedure. It was a pretty simple procedure with some pain but manageable. I have had health problems but it has been a very difficult road to diagnosis since my lupus complicates everything. The internal medicine doctors tend to immediately blame my lupus but my rheumatalogist and labs say otherwise. I didn’t start to consider the Essure procedure the problem until recently with all the news reports and found this website.
Since I have had the procedure I have had off and on abdominal pain, migraines, fatigue and muscle pain. I did have menorrhagia with painful cramps so in February 2011 I had an ablation, only to have my period and cramps return full force a month later. So in June 2012, I made the decision to have a hysterectomy. Unfortunately, I hadn’t thought about the implants causing problems and my ovaries were left along with the Essure implants. Although, I do not suffer from my menstration issues I do continue to suffer from migraines, occasional abdominal pains and muscle/joint pain which was recently diagnosed as fibromyalgia. I have had several scans (C/T, MRI,etc) and several other tests and they can’t come up with any other diagnosis. I have spent so much on doctor bills that I think I put several people through med school by now! This has hit us hard financially. Not to mention, the sick time missed and unpaid short term disability I had to take when I had the hysterectomy. At this point I have to consider if I can risk another surgery to remove the implants because the hysterectomy caused me to have a lupus flare. I guess my next step will need to be having a conversation with my OB/GYN and Rheumatologist.