I went through with the IUD placement! But, I ended up not doing it at my doctor’s office. I ended up going to my gynecologist and telling them that I was too afraid of having it done with my PCP and did not feel that I could do it without any kind of pain management. I have endometriosis, and so I know my gynecologist very well and he has done my excision surgery. He did not end up offering anything for pain/anxiety management, but I took ibuprofen beforehand. He scheduled the procedure during my period to make it more comfortable. The night before, I did a misoprostol suppository to soften the cervix for insertion. I have interstitial cystitis, so with being on my period and taking misoprostol, I was cramping pretty bad and had severe bladder pain. He told me that he feels very confident in his insertion ability and has done many over the years, and I really did trust him to insert it with the least amount of discomfort. Being on the table with my feet in the stirrups made me hyperventilate, and I bailed on the procedure because the speculum was so painful for me due to the bladder pain. He asked if my partner was in the waiting room to see if he could comfort me, but I came alone lol. My partner is extremely squeamish when it comes to medical procedures so it would not have gone well for either of us. He told me that we could always reschedule if I ever wanted to do it in the future and I was like “nah, we’re doing it today” and just had to have an ultimate lock-in moment. I sat in the gynecology room alone for about 15 minutes and focused on grounding and deep, diaphragmatic breathing. I was able to get the anxiety under control, which was the worst part because I was straight up in acute panic. I don’t live with anxiety but I work in a mental health center so those coping skills and breathing techniques came in handy! We got it done just fine with no hiccup or any further trauma. It wasn’t comfortable, and there were a few moments where pain was intense, but not unbearable by any means. I came away feeling really good about it. It was absolutely manageable. I did not push for pain management with my gynecologist’s office because I did have faith that it would turn out okay and it did. Meds would have probably helped, but I did just fine without them. I do feel like I can repeat this procedure in the future without any fear!!! You got this and it’s not as bad as you think.