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Copper IUD removed today - my experience
Some of you might remember I posted a lot about my experiences with the Paragard (copper IUD).
I had it since June, 2006, and I had it removed today.
I want to be clear about the reason I had it removed. I was diagnosed yesterday with a very rare genetic hemoglobin disorder. This disorder is usually pretty mild, but when a person with it loses blood, they develop dozens of unpleasant symptoms. After 3.5 years of going from doctor to doctor (over 10 in fact), and literally every last one telling me it was in my head, I finally had to come to Greece to get a diagnosis. (The disorder is prevalent in Greece but is extremely rare everywhere else.)
I was losing a great deal of blood every month ever since I got the Paragard. Not every woman who gets it will have very heavy periods, but I certainly did. I went from 3 days (and extremely light, no cramps) to 7-9 days, extremely heavy, really bad cramps. I was perfectly content to live with this. I only had it removed because the *blood loss* was creating *other* symptoms that I can NOT live with, due to the rare disorder.
So anyway, I had it removed today at my gynecologist's office. There were about 3 seconds of pretty ouchy pain, I would say about a 7 on a scale of 1 to 10. I kind of yelped. But then it was over and no pain.
About 45 minutes after that, I peed and it started to hurt a bit. I took two Aleve and the pain went away and hasn't come back.
It is best to have it removed when you have your period, because this dilates the cervix and makes it less painful. I have my period now - it was extremely heavy this morning and now, just a few hours after removal, it seems light. This could be a coincidence, as it seems really unlikely that it would ALREADY be lighter, but at least it's not heavier, which could indicate that the removal made me bleed or something.
To anyone considering a Paragard, if you get it, I would encourage you to feel very relaxed about the removal. I was nervous about it and it turned out to be nothing at all.
I wish you all the best in your decisions about contraception methods 
Personally, I will be trying out low-dose BCP once my doctors say I can start putting other stuff in my body (I have a bit of a long road involving surgery coming up, due to the discovery of this disorder).
By the way, I had my Paragard put in in the US. I was told that it was good for 10 years. My gynecologist here in Greece told me that they are only approved for *5* years in Europe (Europe has stricter safety rules in many areas) and only *3* years in Greece! Since I had mine for 3.5 years, he said that even if I didn't need to have it out, he would have recommended I get it out anyway! I'm not saying you shouldn't keep yours for 10 years - I was certainly planning to - but it made me think a little bit about safety and how different it is in different places!
Re: Copper IUD removed today - my experience
its possible that is what was wrong with me. i had mine put in when i met my H and had it removed when whe decidet to TTC. after it was removed i started having very light periods mostly spotting that lasted for 2-3 days. at first i thought i had gotten pregnant right away but no such luck. but while i had it in i bleed very heavily and i was always week and tired while on and i became very annemic. and sex was somewhat painful. now i'm beginning to feel a lot better and although i got used to the pain for the joy of sex, i enjoy it a lot better now.
good luck with your surgery and i wish you well.
Mirena is 5 years, Paragard is 10. I've had mine for 5...
Thanks for your story! That's really interesting stuff. Paragard does increase blood loss during a period - mine is not as bad as yours was, but yeah, worse than it used to be. That sucks you had to get it out.
I'll probably check out Mirena after I get this one removed (I'll check out some info about how long to keep them in too).
I'm so sorry about you diagnosis - keep your chin up!
I was having the same issue with my Paraguard - after 4 years, my period was out of control. I do not have any sort of hemoglobin disorder, but apparently Paraguard can cause some pretty serious periods. My doc switched me to Mirena, and I've had no problems - it's only been about a month and I went from 11 days of hell to 3 days of not even noticing. It is low-dose, and provides constant hormones. I love it, but apparently I was quite grumpy while my body adjusted to the hormones.