My name is Natalie, I’m 36 years old and I received the Essure tubal in early 2004. During that time it was relatively new and I was one of the first 50 women in my area to get this ‘great’ new form of birth control. By this time I had already had 4 children. My husband and I decided that we were good with 4 and it was time to get something permanant to prevent pregnancy. I was scared to death to ‘go under’ for surgery after hearing horror stories of people still feeling what was happening and not being able to say anything. With my fears, the Essure seemed like the perfect option with no surgery involved. Fast forward a couple of years and it all starts to go downhill from there. My anxiety levels started to rise. I was having mild panic attacks but just attributed those to getting older and possible genetics (my mom has panic attacks). I put it out of my mind. Then my periods started getting heavier and more painful. Never in my life, since I had my first period at age 11, did I ever have cramps or heavy flow. I’d always had as easy of a period as one could have. The periods became longer and the pain more intense. Month after month I was getting debilitating periods. There were days I would just curl up in pain with nothing helping to take the edge off. I started to become more and more lethargic. It didn’t matter how much I slept, I was always tired. I also started having a lot of pain in my lower back and it felt like buring pains shooting down my legs. Then the headaches started. To make a long story short, I’ve been dealing with a long list of pains and problems over the years since my Essure procedure. A couple of years ago I started going to my regular doctor because I was dealing with increasing pains and skin sensititivies. Also an increase in forgetfulness, headaches, depression and anxiety. I was once an outgoing person who loved to be around others. Now, I get anxiety going to the grocery store and being around groups of people. I had to quit a great job because I was getting sick all the time. My doctor did every test imaginable and eventually diagnosed me with Fibromyalgia (there was no other explanation). I started doing some research and found all of these stories from women that also had the Essure procedure and what they were dealing with. Bells started going off in my head. These stories sound so close to home. Today I saw a gyn and told him of my concerns. I am scheduled for a pelvic ultrasound on Monday to see what we can find. He didn’t seem to eager to believe that it is the Essure but I’m hoping that if it is, we can do something about it so no one else has to go through what I, and so many other women, have. My story is, unfortunately, not at an end but hopefully it will shed some light for others and maybe they will think really long on what type of birth control is best for them.
Natalie’s Story
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