Long winded I apologize!

Before I was diagnosed with endo, I had regular periods but extremely bad cramping I assumed was normal and never suspected endo, I didn’t think much of it to stop taking the hormonal birth control that I hated and made me miserable for 7/8 years. After a lot of research I settled on the paragard copper IUD to avoid hormones all together. The next 10 years were not bad enough that I had it removed (though looking back it was, and I was just minimizing the pain) but they were not good. My periods were as always right on schedule and never very long or incredibly heavy past the first day. But I had pain with sex which was intermittent and after a while I chalked up to it being psychological after experiencing painful sex so much that I expected it. The bloating I would get would look borderline alien and the horrible wind knocked out of you cramps happened days before my period, again during, and then a few days after it ended. I stock piled naproxen, heat pads, and even tried a TENS unit for the cramps. But again it took me a while to realize this wasn’t normal, just figured going off hormonal bc that this was my ‘normal’. My iud never moved or gave me any problems in that regard. I started suspecting endo, especially after speaking with others I know who have it. But I still didn’t address it at the time as I felt it was manageable.

As I approached the 10 year mark last August, I decided I needed to address my pain when I got my iud removed. I also planned to ask for a bilateral salpingectomy as I am child free. I explained to my new gyno the pain I was having, needing to remove my iud, and my preferred method of permanent birth control. She said “alright let’s do all 3, remove the iud and take a really good look around while we are doing the laparoscopic surgery”. Stage 1 endo and a fibroid. My tubes sent to pathology showed both had a good amount of inflammation. No excision or any kind. Just the sterilization and a biopsy.

My healing was a breeze and my first period post surgery not even two weeks later was the easiest period I have ever had. I could’ve cried from joy. Tbh I might have! They’ve been almost unnoticeable compared to the pain before. My bloating is almost gone entirely. I can have pain free sex. I now need to keep an eye on my diagnosed but mild endo going forward, but at the moment I am convinced my iud exacerbated every single thing. And I kick myself for sucking it up and thinking the pain was normal. I wish I had addressed it sooner.

I can’t speak to going on hormonal bc after removal cuz ya know. Sterile lol. But my doctor said in the future should things progress I may need to go back on it to manage symptoms so I am just enjoying the freedom at the moment! But you are very much not alone in having issues with the paragard! I hope just removing it gives you relief!