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Why do people use pills rather than copper IUDs? At least based on information on the web, it seems copper IUDs are strictly better: cheap, easy to insert and r

by devit 3y ago

Why do people use pills rather than copper IUDs? At least based on information on the web, it seems copper IUDs are strictly better: cheap, easy to insert and remove, nothing to do after initial insertion, no side effects other than "increased menstrual flow".

toomuchtodo 3y ago
https://cwhccolorado.com/services/birth-control/iud/iud-complications/index.html https://cwhccolorado.com/services/birth-control/iud/iud-comp... Potential complications from use. Have heard some horror stories with regards to IUD failure (and resulting pregnancy) and uterus perforation, so it is not such a small risk as to by hypothetical.
Someone1234 3y ago
> easy to insert and remove Aren't they meant to be extremely painful to insert/remove?
sjsdaiuasgdia 3y ago
> no side effects other than "increased menstrual flow". It's my understanding that with birth control pills, a woman can indefinitely delay her menstrual cycle. I can absolutely see some making a choice to not have periods at all, if the other side effects for them are negligible. An option that not only brings periods back but makes them messier would not look very attractive in comparison. As with most things health and lifestyle, everything involves tradeoffs, and choices are dependent on individual valuation of those tradeoffs.
- b112 3y ago
  Does that mean her eggs aren't being used up?
elil17 3y ago
Most doctors won't give patients pain meds beyond NSAIDs, even though the insertion procedure is very painful.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
Dayshine 3y ago
Why do people prefer not to have longer and potentially more painful periods? Have you ever experienced recurring or ongoing debilitating pain? Going from 1-2 days of pain per month to more doesn't sound like "no side effects".
dzink 3y ago
If you have a toddler, they like to jump on your body and belly at random times, leading to increased risk of perforation. Same likely applies if you have a more active lifestyle.
jzb 3y ago
Birth control pills can help with other conditions in addition to / aside from contraception. My understanding is that they are used, for example, to try to treat symptoms of endometriosis and have been used to control acne. Dr. Google claims they can even help lower the risks of some cancers. IUDs can cause side-effects especially the first few cycles after insertion.
jlturner 3y ago
Not true, I have had exes with IUIs and they all had crippling pain and much worse cramping with them. In every case I talked them into get rid of the IUI, and the pain went away. The best birth control method (as defined by least side effects and max efficacy) I’ve come across is cycle tracking / family planning (called that because you can use it to get pregnant as well as prevent pregnancy). It’s simple (you can only get pregnant at certain times in your cycle), but there’s nothing for pharma to sell (it’s free!). Weirdly, doctors never seem to trust women to go through with it (and always try to push medicated birth control), but it’s easy, even before Apple added it to their products.
- sjsdaiuasgdia 3y ago
  You may want to rethink "max efficacy" there for the natural family planning approach. There are multiple methods (temp tracking, calendar tracking, vaginal mucus tracking, etc) that fall under the general header of natural family planning. High efficacy numbers only come with extremely consistent use of multiple methods. With all that work, it ties with the effectiveness of birth control pills. With only a portion of that work, it's not very effective at all in comparison. From https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/birth-control/fertility-awareness https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/birth-control/fertil... - > FAMs are about 77%–98% effective. That means 2–23 out of 100 couples who use FAMs will get pregnant each year, depending on which method(s) are used. If you use multiple FAMs together, they work even better. > The better you are about using FAMs the right way — tracking your fertility signs daily and avoiding sex or using birth control on “unsafe” days — the more effective they’ll be. But there’s a chance that you’ll still get pregnant, even if you always use them perfectly.
- pjc50 3y ago
  Cycle tracking is pretty unreliable. It's also dangerous to record that information when it may be used against you if you do get pregnant and have an abortion.

by devit 3y ago

toomuchtodo 3y ago

https://cwhccolorado.com/services/birth-control/iud/iud-complications/index.html https://cwhccolorado.com/services/birth-control/iud/iud-comp... Potential complications from use. Have heard some horror stories with regards to IUD failure (and resulting pregnancy) and uterus perforation, so it is not such a small risk as to by hypothetical.

Someone1234 3y ago

> easy to insert and remove Aren't they meant to be extremely painful to insert/remove?

sjsdaiuasgdia 3y ago

> no side effects other than "increased menstrual flow". It's my understanding that with birth control pills, a woman can indefinitely delay her menstrual cycle. I can absolutely see some making a choice to not have periods at all, if the other side effects for them are negligible. An option that not only brings periods back but makes them messier would not look very attractive in comparison. As with most things health and lifestyle, everything involves tradeoffs, and choices are dependent on individual valuation of those tradeoffs.

b112 3y ago
Does that mean her eggs aren't being used up?

elil17 3y ago

Most doctors won't give patients pain meds beyond NSAIDs, even though the insertion procedure is very painful.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

Dayshine 3y ago

Why do people prefer not to have longer and potentially more painful periods? Have you ever experienced recurring or ongoing debilitating pain? Going from 1-2 days of pain per month to more doesn't sound like "no side effects".

dzink 3y ago

If you have a toddler, they like to jump on your body and belly at random times, leading to increased risk of perforation. Same likely applies if you have a more active lifestyle.

jzb 3y ago

Birth control pills can help with other conditions in addition to / aside from contraception. My understanding is that they are used, for example, to try to treat symptoms of endometriosis and have been used to control acne. Dr. Google claims they can even help lower the risks of some cancers. IUDs can cause side-effects especially the first few cycles after insertion.

jlturner 3y ago

Not true, I have had exes with IUIs and they all had crippling pain and much worse cramping with them. In every case I talked them into get rid of the IUI, and the pain went away. The best birth control method (as defined by least side effects and max efficacy) I’ve come across is cycle tracking / family planning (called that because you can use it to get pregnant as well as prevent pregnancy). It’s simple (you can only get pregnant at certain times in your cycle), but there’s nothing for pharma to sell (it’s free!). Weirdly, doctors never seem to trust women to go through with it (and always try to push medicated birth control), but it’s easy, even before Apple added it to their products.

sjsdaiuasgdia 3y ago
You may want to rethink "max efficacy" there for the natural family planning approach. There are multiple methods (temp tracking, calendar tracking, vaginal mucus tracking, etc) that fall under the general header of natural family planning. High efficacy numbers only come with extremely consistent use of multiple methods. With all that work, it ties with the effectiveness of birth control pills. With only a portion of that work, it's not very effective at all in comparison. From https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/birth-control/fertility-awareness https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/birth-control/fertil... - > FAMs are about 77%–98% effective. That means 2–23 out of 100 couples who use FAMs will get pregnant each year, depending on which method(s) are used. If you use multiple FAMs together, they work even better. > The better you are about using FAMs the right way — tracking your fertility signs daily and avoiding sex or using birth control on “unsafe” days — the more effective they’ll be. But there’s a chance that you’ll still get pregnant, even if you always use them perfectly.
pjc50 3y ago
Cycle tracking is pretty unreliable. It's also dangerous to record that information when it may be used against you if you do get pregnant and have an abortion.