In October, 2013 at 32 years old, I had my 4th child. When talking about a more permanant method of birth control, by doctor told me about Essure. I was not sold on it and kept trying to convince him I wanted to just get my tubes tied. Something about Essure just didn’t feel right. I decided to talk with my Midwife at my 6 week post-partum appointment and she assured me that Essure was a great alternative to a more invasive surgery. I went back to my doctor and he also reassured me this was the easiest and best method available. With 4 kids at home the quick recovery was a huge plus. The doctor also told me that there were NO reported pregnancies with Essure. (I have now come to know that is not true). In January 2014 I had the procedure done. The actual procedure was easy and my recovery was quick and easy. A few days after I started feeling a strange pinching pain in my left hip. I called my doctor and he told me it was not related at all. It felt almost like a pinched nerve or muscle. He suggested maybe I go to physical therapy. In April I had my confirmation test that my tubes were completely blocked. I noticed on the screen that one of the coils (the left one) was angled differently than the other, but the doctur told me that is normal and no concern as long as it’s fully blocked. Since having Essure my periods have been extremely heavy, with large clots. At first I would have bad cramping, then heavy, clot filled bleeding. Then as each month went on I started to notice that about a week before my period I would get really sharp stomach cramping, become extrememly tired, get headaches and was very emotional and sometimes even mean. I kept losing more and more energy and the other side effects started increasing. The time between periods when I actually felt ‘normal’ started to become less and less. Then last month it got really bad. It started with a headache that lasted 3 days. I kept taking Ibuprofin, but nothing was helping. I had no energy, I was taking naps every day and could barely get anything done. With 4 kids I need to be able to be up and taking care of them. Then one night I was so sick I couldn’t even get up off the couch. My head was still hurting, I was having trouble breathing, my heart was racing. I tried to stand up to get off the couch to go to bed, but fell because I didn’t have enough strength. My husband took me to bed and brought me 2 iron tablets. I was sure I was anemic because of all the large clots I was passing during my period. I called my doctor the following morning and they had me come in a couple days later for blood work. During those days I was taking 3 iron pills a day. My bloodwork came back normal, I was not anemic becuase I was taking so much iron to help. I have an ultrasound scheduled in 2 days and a follow-up with my doctor in January. I think that Essure is the cause of my problems because I never had them before having this procedure done. I am worried the doctor will not take me seriously, he truely believes Essure is safe, I disagree. Here is a list of my symptoms since having this procedure done: super tired, exhausted; losing a lot of hair…a lot!; shortness of breath; heart races; dizzy; nauseaus; face gets tingly; severe migrains; feel weak; sharp pelvic pain; pain during sex; large blood clots during period, size of a quarter; stomach cramping-feels like contractions during labor, not usual period cramps; tender stomach; irritable and moody; leg cramps; bloated stomach-I look like I am still 4 months pregnant.
Since having this done I have talked one friend out of having the procedure done. It is my hope that by speaking up about it we can prevent more women from giong through this unnecessary pain. I really wish I would have went with my initial gut feeling, which was not to have it done. I trusted the doctor and trusted the FDA.