My story is kind of long. I will try to make it as short as possible. After my 4th child was born in Oct of 2002, I had a tubal ligation (my doc said she cut, tied, cauterized my tubes). On Feb 1, 2012 (at the age of 38), I discovered I was pregnant. Everything was ok with me and the baby. After some time and several ultrasounds, they discovered something near my ovaries. I was then sent to a high risk OB, who subsequently sent me to a vascular doctor.
What they thought were cysts on my ovaries, were actually aneurysms in both my iliacs (the main arteries to my legs). When they get to a certain size (3cm) they are in danger of bursting. The one on my left side was 2.7cm and the one on my right side was 6cm. So naturally I wasn’t allowed to leave the hospital. I was admitted on March 23 (14 weeks pregnant) and on March 28 (15 weeks pregnant) I underwent a major surgery to stent the aneurysms. All precautions were taken to save the baby.
I didn’t want the surgery until after the baby was born, but was told that the right side aneurysm was in serious danger of bursting and if it did, I wouldn’t make it. So reluctantly, I agreed to the surgery. During the surgery I lost 4-5 pints of blood (had a bleeder that was hard to stop). On March 29, an ultrasound showed that my completely healthy son (amnio results came back the same day) didn’t make it. On the 30th, I gave birth to him. From all of the pain and frustration, I wanted to be sterilized.
The high risk OB suggested Essure. His wife has it. So reading all of the brochures I was given, and talking with my husband, I decided to go with it. The biggest seller for me was the no surgery. So on May 24, 2012, I had the procedure. I didn’t have any problems from the procedure or even after. I was one of the lucky ones. In October of 2012, I became severely light headed and tried to make it to my bed, but passed out on the way.
Due to insurance issues (a whole different story) I wasn’t able to go to the doctor for several months. Scans showed that the main artery to my left was completely blocked off (at this point I couldn’t walk very well and my left foot was numb, my legs hurt all of the time). My vascular surgeon was completely baffled.
On March 20, 2013 I had to have a bypass from my right leg to my left leg and I was put on Warfarin. My leg is better, but I still feel weak, moody, and depressed. My sex drive is non existent. My legs, knees, ankles, hips, and back hurt all of the time. I thought this was because of the surgeries and losing the baby. I also have horrible periods. I have never in my life bled like I do now. I didn’t even bleed like this after the birth of my children. I chalked that up to the warfarin.
Currently I am 12 days late. I have taken 2 pregnancy tests and both were negative. So I Googled Essure and pregnancy. I found this group. After all of the stories I have read here, I have made the decision to have the coils removed. Also I have had pain on my left side near the ovary. I thought this too was from the bypass although my vascular surgeon doesn’t think so. He said the bypass is lower closer to my thighs. I have been miserable and confused. Thank you to whomever started this site, and a big thanks to all of the women here who have shared their stories.
I may just have the answer to the question ‘What is wrong with me?’. I am 40 years old now, definitely done having kids (yes, a small part of me was kind of excited about possibly having another baby since my youngest will be 11 this year and I miss having babies around, but I am in no way healthy enough to take care of one right now, probably not even healthy enough to carry one to term). I am ready to have a hysterectomy and get my life back. I have let my family down for over a year now with the weakness, the moodiness, and the pain. I am done. I will be contacting my OB tomorrow to make an appointment to find out where my period went. I’m not upset about not having it, just curious as to why. I will be telling her I want whatever it takes to get this metal out of my body. I am so shocked over what you all have been going through. I am disgusted to hear that these things rust! Wow! Seriously? What were this company and the FDA thinking?? I actually know the answer to this….$$$