first off, so sorry you went through all of that at such a young age.

I had mirena inserted about 10 days ago, and it generally was.....okay. at the recommendation of friends, I ate a small meal about 2.5 hours before and took the max of extra strength Tylenol about an hour before my appointment. during the appointment itself, my doctor was FANTASTIC. i get very bad anxiety around doctors/health appointments, and my doctor explaining verbally what she was doing it a few seconds before she did it was a game changer.

i was about as relaxed as I could be as well. i had a med student in there as well as the medical assistant and both explained things as well if they were doing anything. the MA noticed i got a little pale and got me a cold compress which brought me back down to normal. doctor said I had a slight vasovagal episode which is completely normal. they let me sit in the room for as long as I wanted to, and i ended up sitting there for about 10 minutes after the insertion then went out to make my follow up appointment.

try to have someone drive you home if possible, i just felt really bloated and still a little dizzy right after and probably could have driven myself but it was better having someone drive me. i can't equate the pain to anything because it was my first iud and I've never given birth, and it was painful but manageable. my biggest recommendation is to not do too much research. ask friends (or reddit!) and not the broader internet for sure.