At 18 years old, when I was 38 weeks pregnant, I had to have an emergency c section due to complications from Pre Eclampsia. At 20 when I got pregnant a second time, I went and seen my OB/GYN who told me that I was already developing symptoms and signs of the Pre Eclampsia. I was approx 8 weeks pregnant. I was also told I had two choices, wait out the pregnancy to see how ‘bad’ it would get and that I would most likely be on bed rest until I needed to be in the hospital on bed rest there, or terminate the pregnancy. With a 2 year old already, I decided to terminate. 2.5 years later in 2009, I went to see my Dr to discuss either getting my tubes tied or getting on some sort of birth control that would last years (implant, IUD) and he immediately brought up Essure. I looked through the pamphlet and at 22 years old, it seemed like a good idea. I did not exactly have internet access the way I do now. In fact, if I got on the internet it was to send a resume off for a job. I had the Essure put in about a month later in November of 2009. So in February of 2010, I went for my first HSG (to make sure that my tubes were 100% blocked). The first time I had the HSG done, I was in so much pain that I cried the entire time. When it was finished, I went into the bathroom to change back into my clothes, I slid down the bathroom wall and cried. About a week later, my doctor called and said that I’d need to have it done again 3 months from then because the radiologist and the Essure people were not comfortable that my tubes were 100% blocked. I put the appointment off for 7 months remembering how much pain I was in. When I finally got the b*lls to do it, I took 5 ibuprofen an hour before I went and another 5 as soon as I got there. The second HSG hurt, not as bad as the first one, but it still hurt. Another week later, my doctor calls me to tell me that he can confirm my tubes are 100% blocked.
So that was it. Until late 2010, Novemeber 2010, 1 year after the Essure procedure. I started bleeding. Not just enough to annoy you…it was enough to make me think I was dying. I litereally thought I was bleeding out. I went to the ER where to my disappointment, nothing was wrong. I waited it out for a few weeks, and in December of 2010, I went to my Doctor and I told him that I had been bleeding for 5 or 6 weeks straight. That I was soaking through tampons and pads every hour. He suggested that I have a thermal ablation done. Again, I took home a pamphlet, read about it. Asked people about it. 3 months later (for insurance reasons I had to wait 90 days) I was still bleeding heavily. So here I was in the outpatient surgery department, 5 months after the bleeding started, waiting to have a thermal ablation done. After I had the ablation done, there was minimal bleeding. Maybe 2 days. For about 2 weeks I had some clear discharge which my dr said was completely normal. All was good. I was not bleeding, I had not had a period. In August of 2011, the cramping started. I thought it was going to be the start of my periods, afterall, my dr did tell me that I would probably get them again. In September of 2011, a month after the cramping started, I was still crampy. The pain most days was so unbearable, all I could do was lay in bed until the ibuprofen kicked in. I made an appointment with my primary dr, who told me that it was possible I had pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), she perscribed me Vicodin and told me to make an appointment with my GYN. The next morning I was in the shower and it was so bad that I could barely stand. I took one of the Vicodins, laid in bed and I ended up so sick to my stomach with pain that I told my mom she needed to take me to the ER. At the ER, I told them what I had, the Essure and the ablation and that I had taken a vicodin about an hour before hand. The nurse came in with ‘pain medication’, I asked her what it was and she told me it was 10mg of percocet. I told her I had taken a vicodin and that I did not want the percocet. The dr came in and explained to me that I needed to take it to get the pain under control so they could examine me. I explained to the dr, the third person that day, that I had already taken a vicodin and I was not taking a percocet on top of that. After about 2 hours, the pain subsided, and I left the ER because no one had examined me nor had anyone been in my room. I had to sign an AMA form stating I was leaving against medical advice. I wrote on the form that no one had seen me in the two hours I was there, and that after explaining to 3 people I had taken a vicodin, they were trying to force me to take a percocet.
The cramping lasted all of 2 months. With no blood. Approximately 7 months later, I was bleeding so heavily, and I guess I had lost so much blood I was starting to feel lightheaded. I made an emergency appointment with my GYN, who told me that I needed to ‘loose weight’ and that would stop my bleeding. Again, 4 weeks later I was still bleeding, I made an appointment with the DR who did my Essure and ablation, and he perscribed me Progesterin (sp) and birth control pills to control the bleeding. That worked, for all of 13 days. That is when I decided that I was finished with trying to find out what was wrong with me. In late 2012/early 2013, I started calling different GYNs because the bleeding had started again. This time was worse than ever. I couldnt wear tampons because it hurt so bad. So I was overnight pads to work, shoving papertowels in the front and back of pants around my pad so I wouldnt leak out. I had 4 different GYN’s tell me that with the amount of blood I was loosing I needed to go the ER. So I did. They did an ultrasound, and they found nothing. 8 hours in an ER, for them tell me NOTHING. I was changing my sheets on my bed everyday, washing 4 and 5 pairs of pants, between 7 and 8 undies a day because I could not keep up with the blood. Eventually like all the other times, it stopped. In October of 2013, the bleeding started again. This time it only lasted about 3 weeks. It is April 1st, 2014, and right now I am dealing with cramping, but my dr has perscribed me naproxen. Which takes the pain away.
A few weeks ago, around February of 2014, I discovered the facebook page ‘Essure Problems’ and realized that I was not alone. I was never told about the side effects of Essure or what it was made out of. I was simply told, ‘they are little metal coils that go inside your fallopian tube which will create scar tissue’. I wish I would have known then what I know now. I would not have gotten Essure done. I have actually told several friends and family members that were considering Essure, not to get it done. And always refer them to the Facebook Page. Something needs to be done, Essure doesnt need to go in other woman!