Non-hormonal/copper IUD

If you have dysmenorrhea (the medical term for extremely painful periods), hormonal birth control can make a big difference. Options like the combination pill or a hormonal IUD can reduce the level of pain and heaviness of your bleeding, basically making it easier for you to live your life when you have your period. There are a bunch of hormonal methods that can help regulate your periods, decrease bleeding, or even make your period go away completely.

If you’re just not vibing with your choice of birth control, it might be time to switch things up! But before you do, it’s important to take a second to ask yourself some questions to make sure you’re ready. Thinking about why you want to switch methods and what your needs are going forward will help you and your health care provider plan your next steps.

If you’d like to stop your birth control and try to get pregnant, here’s some information about returning to fertility after using different methods of birth control.

For most people, the risk of blood clots when using the ring, the patch, or the combined birth control pill (which is the most common type of pill) is low. But smoking increases this risk. If you are over 35 and smoke 15 or more cigarettes a day, the combination pill, patch, and ring are not safe options for you. If you’re over 35 and you smoke less than 15 cigarettes a day, talk to your provider about whether these birth control methods are safe options for you. People who smoke can always use the IUD, the implant, the shot, the mini-pill (progestin-only pill), and any method that is hormone free (like condoms, for example).

If you feel like your birth control is changing your behavior, it’s time to talk to your health care provider. Everybody responds to birth control differently, and your provider can help you decide whether it’s time to try something else. It might be a matter of switching hormonal methods or deciding whether to avoid hormonal birth control altogether, or you may choose to wait it out since some negative side effects go away with time. The bottom line: If your current method is making you feel blah, don’t settle. There are a lot of methods to choose from and sometimes it can take a few tries to get it right.

Yes, unless you are allergic to copper (but most women aren’t).

If this is the case, you’re probably using a copper IUD (Paragard). Sometimes things get better if you just give it a couple months. You can also take ibuprofen the first few days of your period.

The IUD shouldn’t hurt your partner. You may have heard that the IUD strings can bother partners while having sex, but most partners can’t even feel the strings. If your partner can feel the strings, and that bothers them, your healthcare provider might be able to trim them. Plus, they usually soften over time.

IUDs are safe for most people with a uterus, and copper toxicity is super rare. That said, it can happen, especially in people with Wilson’s Disease, a rare genetic condition (about 1 in every 30,000 to 40,000 people have it) that affects your body’s ability to process copper. Given how low the daily dose of copper is from the non-hormonal IUD, it is extremely unlikely that someone who does not have Wilson’s Disease would experience copper toxicity.

IUDs are very safe, and many people use one for years without any problems. As with any medication or medical device, IUDs do carry the risk of complications in certain cases. Here are some of the problems most commonly reported from using an IUD.

This would be pretty rare, but it can happen. If you get pregnant with an IUD in, you should see a health care provider as soon as possible. Why? Because the pregnancy may be in your fallopian tube, or you may have a higher chance of having a miscarriage.

Getting an IUD can be a breeze or a hassle, depending on how easy it is for you to find a health care provider who knows how to insert them, get an appointment, and make sure your insurance will cover the procedure.

The good news? Once you get those ducks in a row, the actual insertion process is usually pretty quick. Experienced providers can insert an IUD in as little as a minute! Read more about the process of getting an IUD.

If you’re under the influence of alcohol—or anything else—a birth control method that doesn’t require action right when you’re about to get your freak on may be your safest bet. Fortunately, there are plenty of options. Note: These methods will cover you against pregnancy, but you should pair them with a condom for STI protection.

And speaking of covering all your bases, here are some tips for safer, smarter hookups.