Mirena Coil vs Copper Coil

Off-Topic Chat
1

Hey y'all

I know this has been asked before but I can't find any recent threads on the subject....

I've had an hormonal implant for the past 6 years and the one I have now is due (overdue in fact) to be removed. 

As this most recent implant was pretty much a nightmare from the start, I'm thinking about moving onto something different for my next form of contraception.

This brings me onto the coil options. 

My main sticking points on making a decision are: 

1) I would like to go hormone free for my overall health and well-being. For this, the coppr coil would be best. 

BUT

2) If the copper coil is as effective as they say, why the hell is there a hormonal option? Do the hormones make it more effective? If so, surely the Mirena would be the better choice. 

In addition, the hormonal coil has a waiting list, the copper one doesn't. This tells me that people generally prefer the hormonal version (do they feel more protected or do they not want to be covered for 10 years?).

I want to be as covered as I possibly can be against pregnancy, whilst also limiting the amount of hormones going into my body. I would also prefer to be covered ASAP, rather than waiting a long time - but if it's worth the wait then I'm cool with that. 

I've done a lot of research on both types of coil, and know the ins-and-outs of the general side effects, benefits of each etc etc, but I'm looking for some personal experiences.

Have you had either of them? Or maybe you've tried both? Why did you choose the one you went for? Do you think its worth going on a waiting list for the hormonal option? 

Any insight into your experience, from the procedure to how you feel since you've had it would be much appreciated.

I have an appointment booked next Monday to have my implant removed from my arm, and have said to them I'd like to chat about my other options, but if I can go in with a decision already in my mind, I can perhaps get that done at the same time. 

Thanks! 

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Hi Jess, I've had experience of both types of coil and personally for me the best one was the Mirena .

When I came off the pill years ago and wanted a reliable form of contraception it was was recommended by my doctor to try the copper coil , which I did . It did prove to be reliable but one of the side effects is heavy periods, especially if you already suffer from them. I had it for a year or two before the heavy periods became so bad that I could hardly leave the house on some days ....went back and had it removed .

Thats when my doctor then told me about the Mirena coil ( this is going back years and it was quite new then ) I was concerned about the hormonal aspect of it but I was told that it was the equivalent of taking one contraceptive pill a week and the hormones are delivered straight in the uterus so it shouldn't be a problem .

I would think that the hormones would give it a bit more reliabilty and it's great that once you've got it in you can forget about it for 5 years . I found it very reliable and continued with it as my contraception right up until I had a hysterectomy 3 years ago . The upside of it is very light periods or if you're lucky no periods at all !

I'd recommmend the Mirena based on my own experience . How longs the waiting list ? If its a very long time then maybe you could go with the copper one ...it might suit you better than it did me and you can always have it out if you don't get on with it ( I understand its fairly cheap compared to the Mirena ) .

Hope this had helped a bit ....finding the right contraception can be a right problem !

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wildflower wrote:

Hi Jess, I've had experience of both types of coil and personally for me the best one was the Mirena .

When I came off the pill years ago and wanted a reliable form of contraception it was was recommended by my doctor to try the copper coil , which I did . It did prove to be reliable but one of the side effects is heavy periods, especially if you already suffer from them. I had it for a year or two before the heavy periods became so bad that I could hardly leave the house on some days ....went back and had it removed .

Thats when my doctor then told me about the Mirena coil ( this is going back years and it was quite new then ) I was concerned about the hormonal aspect of it but I was told that it was the equivalent of taking one contraceptive pill a week and the hormones are delivered straight in the uterus so it shouldn't be a problem .

I would think that the hormones would give it a bit more reliabilty and it's great that once you've got it in you can forget about it for 5 years . I found it very reliable and continued with it as my contraception right up until I had a hysterectomy 3 years ago . The upside of it is very light periods or if you're lucky no periods at all !

I'd recommmend the Mirena based on my own experience . How longs the waiting list ? If its a very long time then maybe you could go with the copper one ...it might suit you better than it did me and you can always have it out if you don't get on with it ( I understand its fairly cheap compared to the Mirena ) .

Hope this had helped a bit ....finding the right contraception can be a right problem !

Thank you wildflower - it's interesting you make a point about the heavy bleeding. I've read about this and wondered if it was just one of those "1% of women will experience it" (like you get all the craaazy warnings on pills) or if it genuinely is quite common. 

I really don't want heavy periods, that's for sure. I had heavy, 3-4 week periods with my recent implant and it was not fun. 

They said the waiting list is "as long as a piece of string" and can vary, but right now its about a month which doesn't seem too bad to me. 

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A month to wait doesn't seem to too bad to me either . I 'd always had reasonably heavy periods even before the copper on went in so I think it was bound to happen that they would get heavier....but i just sort of hoped they wouldn't !.

I wasn't one of the lucky ones who had no periods on the Mirena but they were extremely light so I could just get away with using panty liners most of the time.

Yep heavy bleeding is no fun !

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I have the mirena coil and it is the only thing that has worked for me. I'm lucky, there has been no bleeding at all. I had a little spotting for a few days after but that was it. Last year I had a new one put in when they removed the old one. My only problem was they done my smear test at the same time and I went into cervical shock. It was not pleasant but very rare.

I went to our local sexual health clinic for mine as they could do it within 10 days whilst my gp surgery was several weeks. The 10 days wait was so they could give me the necessary information, no sex for 7 days being the main one.

If you don't like it its easily enough removed, little uncomfortable but not painful. Fertility returns to normal quickly too.

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Thank you both - that's good to know. 

Sounds like Mirena might be the way to go? I ike the fact that it's the equivalent of a pill a week, which is at least a huge reduction in hormones. 

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Hi Jess.

The cupper coil is efective as a contraceptive method because cupper is spermicide. It has it's place too because as you said, it is not hormonal so doesn't cause any change in your body like the hormonal one does. People still use mirena for other reasons. Some people need hormones. I, for an example, know I wouldn't go for a cupper coil because I need hormones to lessen my flow, and hormones do that. Conversly, the cupper coil may even increase blood flow, so be aware of that.

The hormonal coil still is the most efficient type of birth control, after ligation, but the cupper one has almost the same efficiency (it's a mather of percent decimals, the first site I opened on google gives 99,9% vs 99,2%, still way over the pill).

The cupper coil has the same benefits than the hormonal one, it requires the same insertion, may be rejected by your body, has the same risks on installation, but I guess it doesn't require that adaptation period after installation. It can't mess with your mood etc since it's hormone free (I guess you already know that tough, as you are wanting to get rid of those hormones). It does not change your menstrual cycle (the mirena doesn't either in much women, unlike the pill, but it doesn't change your uterus to make it less receptive to a feconded egg if fecondation occures, it only ensures the sperm doesn't get to fecond the egg in the first place.

This is my understanding of both methods. I may be wrong but I know a few things about contraceptions etc.

I have a mirena at the moment, but it's still not settle down. I'd never personally go for a cupper one but only because of my heavy flow, my doctor probably wouldn't let me anyway haha he wouldn't want me to become anemic.

I'd say go for the cupper coil if you want to get a safe and efficient contraception method and don't mind the increase of blood flow!

Good luck figuring it out. Don't hesitate if you have any more questions. as said earlier, I am no expert but still

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RosyCheek wrote:

I have the mirena coil and it is the only thing that has worked for me. I'm lucky, there has been no bleeding at all. I had a little spotting for a few days after but that was it. Last year I had a new one put in when they removed the old one. My only problem was they done my smear test at the same time and I went into cervical shock. It was not pleasant but very rare.

I went to our local sexual health clinic for mine as they could do it within 10 days whilst my gp surgery was several weeks. The 10 days wait was so they could give me the necessary information, no sex for 7 days being the main one.

If you don't like it its easily enough removed, little uncomfortable but not painful. Fertility returns to normal quickly too.

Fertility can take up to a year to set back to normal after mirena

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Apparently the Mirena has no long term effects on fertility and it's possible to get pregnant as soon as it's removed but as with anything there will always be exceptions .

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Yep, it is possible, as in like "you're not covered against pregnancy anymore" but your fertility reaches it normal level only after a while, and then it's like you've had nothing installed.

Sorry for confusion

1 Like
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Thanks mamz - that's definitely givem me food for thought.

Before my recent implant I never had any problems with heavy flow, or longer lasting periods, but my recent experience has put me off somewhat. 

I know you can still enjoy sex whilst on your period, but for me, when it's really heavy, I just don't feel like it and I don't enjoy it as much.

It seems silly to risk heavy flow etc which will get in the way of sex because of a contraception which I want to take/have so that I can have lots of sex! Gah! haha

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I agree. People saying "you still an have sex when on your period" definitely don't know what it's like to have an heavy flow. It's like, I can't even go from the bathroom to my room without leaking on the floor, I'm not sure I want our bed to look like a murder scene after haha.

I find it's weird that you've ecperienced heavy flow with the mirena, as it's supposed to have the opposite effect.. hummm

One thing to take into consideration is that hormonal contraception usually lessen the flow, while I am not aware of any non hormonal ones that does. I guess you'll have to decide with which is the most important to you: being free from additionnal hormones, or having a lighter flow.

Also note that some people react differently to their 2nd, 3rd, etc mirenas, so if you chose to get this one again, you may not experience the same as the first one (ex. some people stoped bleeding completely, then got a second one installed and got their period back, and took more time to settle, etc.)

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Jess I have the Mirena... we call it an IUD in the states =)

Here is my 2 cents worth: Very low hormone levels vs. the implant or the pill. Long term wear (the one I have is up to 5 years) and I have litttle to no issues with it.

There are times I have minor spotting, but I have not bought a box of tampons the whole time I have had this. Maybe bled more than a pantyliner 3 or 4 times.

And if you partner has a longer penis it can be bumped during sex so I had to get the lead "wires" trimmed down for my partner.

I understand not wanting hormones, but I think if you research you will see the hormone level difference between Mirena and other hormonal based contracpetion is dramatic.

I dont even think the cooper coil is legal again over here?  But I could be wrong as the Mirena has worked so well for me.  How in the hell is there a waitles for contraception?  Sorry to see that.

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is right too. The mirena may contain hormones but the dose is very low in comparison to other hormonal methods because the hormone is slowly but constantly realeased (in comparison to the pill, with which you take a higher dose once a day).

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mamz wrote:

I agree. People saying "you still an have sex when on your period" definitely don't know what it's like to have an heavy flow. It's like, I can't even go from the bathroom to my room without leaking on the floor, I'm not sure I want our bed to look like a murder scene after haha.

I find it's weird that you've ecperienced heavy flow with the mirena, as it's supposed to have the opposite effect.. hummm

One thing to take into consideration is that hormonal contraception usually lessen the flow, while I am not aware of any non hormonal ones that does. I guess you'll have to decide with which is the most important to you: being free from additionnal hormones, or having a lighter flow.

Also note that some people react differently to their 2nd, 3rd, etc mirenas, so if you chose to get this one again, you may not experience the same as the first one (ex. some people stoped bleeding completely, then got a second one installed and got their period back, and took more time to settle, etc.)

Ah - sorry I wasn't very clear. The heavy bleeding I experienced was during my second implant (in my arm). The first was a dream and I barely even had periods, but this second one I had about 18-24 months of almost constant bleeding. Basically 3 weeks on, 1 week off. 

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Vanessa8 wrote:

Jess I have the Mirena... we call it an IUD in the states =)

Here is my 2 cents worth: Very low hormone levels vs. the implant or the pill. Long term wear (the one I have is up to 5 years) and I have litttle to no issues with it.

There are times I have minor spotting, but I have not bought a box of tampons the whole time I have had this. Maybe bled more than a pantyliner 3 or 4 times.

And if you partner has a longer penis it can be bumped during sex so I had to get the lead "wires" trimmed down for my partner.

I understand not wanting hormones, but I think if you research you will see the hormone level difference between Mirena and other hormonal based contracpetion is dramatic.

I dont even think the cooper coil is legal again over here?  But I could be wrong as the Mirena has worked so well for me.  How in the hell is there a waitles for contraception?  Sorry to see that.

Thank you - all super helpful!

The last 2 implants I had done, I just walked in and walked out with it done within about 30 mins. 

Now there is apparently a waiting list for the implant, and any hormonal coil. The only non-waiting list option seems to be the copper coil.

After all of your advice, I have to say I think I'm veering towards going for the Mirena. 

Also - mamz, that's interesting you mention having a different reaction from the first coil to others. I think that's what must have happened with my arm implant. #annoying! 

Thank you all! 

17

Jess I will add this... it took me about 2 months for hte Mirena to "settle in" I did have break through bleeding at first but once it got settled I am litterally only spotting vs. a full on period for 2-3 days a month and only require a panty liner.

I guess I dont understand the UK health system I would think they would want everyone to have acess to contraceptive choices ASAP to avoid costs of a pregnancy and delivery. Our HC over here is a bit odd and times as well so nohting is perfect I guess.

Since I got mine 4 close friends have also got them and we all love them.  I joke we coudl be a "sales video" for the company.

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Jess I will add this... it took me about 2 months for hte Mirena to "settle in" I did have break through bleeding at first but once it got settled I am litterally only spotting vs. a full on period for 2-3 days a month and only require a panty liner.

I guess I dont understand the UK health system I would think they would want everyone to have acess to contraceptive choices ASAP to avoid costs of a pregnancy and delivery. Our HC over here is a bit odd and times as well so nohting is perfect I guess.

Since I got mine 4 close friends have also got them and we all love them. I joke we coudl be a "sales video" for the company.

Yes, it's rather strange. There are a lot of cut backs with the NHS at the moment though. I'm just hoping I can get in there before they start charging us for contraception!

Thanks V8. Super helpful as always :)

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Mrs LUC has mirena, initially she was - in her own words - a moody sod due to hormones, on the plus no periods but that's not true of everyone, can make lighter if not stopping altogether.

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luvved up cupple wrote:

Mrs LUC has mirena, initially she was - in her own words - a moody sod due to hormones, on the plus no periods but that's not true of everyone, can make lighter if not stopping altogether.

Did she find the moods subsided over time?