I had Essure placed in October 2009. I wasn’t as concerned about birth control, but I wanted to have an endometrial ablation and my physician wanted me to have permanent birth control before she would perform the ablation. She recommended the Essure.
I liked the idea of the ablation as I thought it could be performed without general anesthesia. My physician said she thought she could do the ablation and essure placement without having to take me into surgery. I tried to research Essure but had a hard time finding a lot of information about it. I felt comfortable with what my doctor thought was best and I went in for both procedures.
After checking in, the nurse anesthetist informed me the he felt it would be best to do both procedures under general anesthesia. I didn’t want to have surgery, but had already checked in and driven to the hospital so I chose to go ahead. I went for my 3 month hsg and was told that my left side was not blocked. I was told that insurance won’t always cover a second hsg so I opted to use another form of birth control and never had a second hsg. In April 2011 I woke up with a sharp stabbing pain in my lower left side.
My husband and I felt that it might be something related to the left tube as I had been worried about that coil since the hsg. I decided to wait a month before visiting my doctor. She felt that perhaps I was having cysts and didn’t feel that essure could cause pain like that. I went back a year later and the pain had worsened. It only occurred during my period but it had gone from a sharp pain to severe, debilitating pain. She said she could go in and check for endometriosis and remove the left tube if it appeared to be inflamed.
I had that surgery in November 2012. My pain continued between my surgery and post-op appointment. When I saw my doctor after two weeks, she said that the coil was not in the tube. I was told that I may have passed it or that it could be in my uterus and that it shouldn’t bother me if it was. We decided to wait and see. In January 2013 the pain was so bad that I began seeking out more information online and found that many women have suffered from Essure and was able to speak to others about my symptoms. I called my doctor again and she said she would try to call conceptus because she really didn’t know what to do at the point.
I found another ob/gyn and scheduled an appointment. They did a pelvic ultrasound right away and detected the ‘missing coil’ in my uterus. I met with a doctor that day who said it would be very difficult to remove without a hysterectomy. We scheduled it right away. In March 2013 I had a laparoscopic hysterectomy and right salpingectomy.
My lower left side pain is gone for the first time in 2 years. I feel like myself again and am so glad to be back to normal. If I had any idea how terrible the side effects could be I would never have had this procedure done. I feel that this was very trying on myself and my family and I hope others are able to find this information before seeking this procedure.