I had Mirena IUD placed in October of 2012 due to heavy, painful, infrequent periods. I was reassured by my OB that the level of hormones was minimal and shouldn’t pose a problem for me even after I explained that my body is very sensitive to hormones.
About a month or so later I was having significant issues with mood swings and weight gain and called her with concern. In about January I went to her office to speak to her about having the IUD removed. I noticed on the peg board a brochure about Novasure. I quickly read through the information and became very excited. This would be perfect for me; no hormones and would help me with my over the top periods.
When my OB came into the room I immediately asked her about the procedure. She began to say how this would be a great alternative to the IUD and gave me the low down about how it would cause me to never be able to have children again and that doing a procedure called Essure is essential in order to prevent complications she just explained that can happen with Novasure on its own (tubal pregnancy and eggs can still be fertilized and then miscarried). I got the information about Essure and started in on my 30 day waiting period for the sterilization.
I went on line read reviews and googled for further information regarding both procedures. All the info that I found was positive to neutral.
At the end of February 2013 I had the Essures put into place. It felt like #2 pencils being shoved into my fallopian tubes. It was very painful. I did develop some cysts a few weeks later and some long lasting soreness. I then needed to wait three months to have the initial procedure I wanted to have. Mean while I was stuck with the IUD and the negative effects of hormones.
At the end of May 2013 I went in for the Novasure. It hurt way worse than the Essure.
In June at the time of my period I started having panic attacks, headaches, insomnia, and back pain. I didn’t report this to my doctor till the fallowing month or so because I wasn’t sure where these symptoms where coming from. The fallowing two months I had the same issues around the time of my period…but the symptoms where getting more persistent.
I went to my primary regarding the panic attacks and sleep and was given two pills to play with.. Xanax and something like an antihistamine to help with sleep. They both helped me fall asleep but my issue was that I was restless up to 15x’s a night. Not normal for me (I know this because when I started having sleep issues in June I wore my FitBit to measure sleep).
I continued to call my OB and she assured me that the symptoms where not due to the Essure or Novasure procedures. But I didn’t have these symptoms prior to these procedures and these are normal for me.
I have been to see my OB and I explained to her clearly that she better not say that this is due to my age, but she said something much worse… that I should seek mental health help. UGH!! REALLY!
My symptoms have gotten more persistent and more keep popping up. My OB states that she just doesn’t see how taking out the Essure is going to help… I am at a loss to get my life back. I was running and had gotten down to my goal weight and managing my IBS and PTSD and HSV2 with diet and exercise. NOW I am so fatigued that I can’t get myself motivated. I used to see the sun out and love the fact that I could go for a run that day. Now I just cry and pray that my doctor will get on board with me and have my back about taking these coils out so that my insurance is more likely to approve the procedure.
Noticeable side effects started to become noticeable in June/ July (about a month after NovaSure) that included panic attacks, pelvic pain, and bad headaches that happened at my period. I didn’t call my OB until the fallowing month when the symptoms occurred again at the same time… at my period. Since then my symptoms have gotten more acute and regular. I have other onset of symptoms as well: worsening joint pain, lower back pain, headaches, pelvic pain – sometimes sharp (can feel pain along side uterus that should be the area of my tubes), pelvic pain during orgasm, worsening fatigue, chest pains, nipples are always soar and sensitive (feels like they are bruised), weight gain, worsening my PTSD, my IBS is uncontrollable with diet alone now, leg numbness just sitting, mood swings, way more discharge and odor than ever in my life, and insomnia/ restfulless sleep issues (up to 15 times per night/ aprox 200 mins or more). I also have HSV2 and I rarely had outbreaks prior… I have them every month now since May 2013.
The reason I am writing is that I hope other women have written in with concerns and the need help other women. I believe that there isn’t a plan of recourse put into place for us women that have adverse reactions to Essure. The FDA has even updated their website of the side-effects. I was not made aware of what the device was made of either. There needs to be more information available. I am not totally against this device and the fact that it works fine for most women; the issue is that there isn’t a point of recourse for the rest of us.