Dear all,
I am from the UK and I had the Essure implants in Dec 2009, it was a new procedure at my hospital and I was pressurised into having it by the gynecologist at the hospital. I had requested to have my tubes tied. When I went for the Essure implant procedure I was told I was having a general anesthetic, I pointed out at the time that during my consultation I was told that it was not done under general anesthesia, but the doctor told me he had not performed many Essure implants as it was new and he told me, he would prefer to it whilst I was anesthetised. I was horrified and the doctor tried to prescibed a drug to relax me. I had already signed the consent form.
I had the procedure none the less, and I woke with severe pain, which I thought was to be expected. I was prescibed strong painkillers. I went home about an hour later. Three days after the procedure I haemorraged at work, losing blood and had blood clots. I thought it was normal to have this after all it was only three days after. The pain in my pelvis was tolerable and didn’t interfer too much for a few months after except I had excruiating pain while on my period, the worst pain I had ever eperienced.
Then I started to bloat, there was times when it felt like I was pregnant, but that was an impossibilty as my new boyfriend was sterile. The periods got heavier and with clots, painful not just in my pelvis but pain shooting down my legs and I started to come on earlier instead of the normal 28 day cycle. Yet after giving birth to my daughter which was 14yrs earlier my periods were so much better, with little pain and a regular 5 day period.
Several months later I had enough and went to my GP ( doctor) I explained about my periods and the trouble I was having, my doctor referred me to the hospital for an ultrasound and they weren’t able to find one of my overies and aapparently that was normal and my womb appeared normal. My doctor prescribed medication to lesson the blood during my period. I always felt light headed during my period, which I had never experienced before and I was told I was anaemic due to the blood loss. I took the medication which helped.
In 2011 I started to feel more nauseous and vomiting almost on a daily occurence and the bloating got so bad that I had to wear bigger clothes, I went to my doctor and she referred me to the endoscopy department to have a camera put inside my stomach, the results came back normal but I was precribed more tablets to stop the reflux of acid, as I was not eating regulary due to the nausea and bloating.
later on I started to have hot flushes and the vaginal dryness was getting worse. I was having severe migraines and I have never suffered from migraines. I was feeling more and more depressed. I thought and my collegues thought I was premenopausal. My hair had been thinning for sometime. I was still feeling ill and I had blood tests to check my hormones etc and they all came back normal.
I have had an internal vaginal scan earlier this year as my periods have become longer and infrequent since last year, I have two periods consecutively, one after another in a 10day cycle. The scan revealed free fluid and scarring in my womb. I have been prescibed progesterone a contraceptive to help with my periods. I never wanted to take oral or any hormone medication due to the increased risk of cancer. What was the point of having the Essure implants to stop you getting pregnant and having to take oral contraceptives years later. I am also taking domperidone to try and stop the vomiting once and for all. My doctor understands that what I am experiencing is not normal, but with tests keep coming back as normal, means my body cells are normal so the only conclusion is the essure implants are not normal to my body. I never had a scan afterwards to see if the implants were put in correctly, although I’ve had scans to look at the soft tissue, but never to detect the essure implants though I can feel them inside. the doctors I’ve seen have never given it a thought as all literture regarding the implants are safe and very rarely cause problems especially in those women who have had the implants for a few years.
I have had years of unexeplained symptoms which evolves around my periods, that all started when I had the implants. I wish I had never had them, I wish I could have them removed safely, but I’ve been told they are permenant.