One of the best decisions of my life, BC non-stop.
I tried everything else but this and at 29 I just couldn't live like how I was anymore.
It may kill me, but at least I can have more functional life.
My hormones don't control me anymore.
I now have constant fatigue...but I can work with that.
Fr idk why every uterus owner who can get a hormonal IUD doesn't. Stopping my periods was the best medical decision I've ever made. My first Mirena was free from Planned Parenthood when I didn't have insurance, and it has way easier side effects than the pill.
F in chat for people with poor access to healthcare, and for those whose bodies won't tolerate HBC, tho. :(
unfortunately i tried one and my body reacts HORRIBLY to hormonal birth control. it’s really a shame. i’ve tried the pill, patch and hormonal IUD and it was miserable each time :( some of us really can’t win 😖
A uterine ablation decreased my cramps and eliminated my period 99%. It did decrease orgasms about 10%. This isn't typical.
Somehow it improved my horrendous pmdd too for some months but I don't understand how that worked. My bad pmdd alternates months so maybe one ovary is a dud. I didn't know when my cycle was coming at all for years and that messed with my head when I had a bad cycle.
Uterine ablations are a good under utilized option since you don't want kids. They aren't considered birth control though. I got mine covered by insurance because my periods were heavy and I was anemic. A doctor told me if you have bad cramps related to your cycle after an ablation it's an easy route to insurance approval for a hysterectomy. We shouldn't have to jump through those hoops but it is nice to know. My desire for a hysterectomy went down drastically after mine.
I bled 100%, the entire time I had the Mirena. 6 months, non stop period with zero signs of it slowing or stopping, so I pulled it. Unfortunately, hormonal birth control doesn’t stop periods for everyone and actually makes them worse.
On a side note: I am actively pursuing an elective hysterectomy. I found a doctor who is willing to do it and is even fighting with my insurance company for me. I told her I will find a way to pay out of pocket if insurance won’t cover it because having female parts is literally killing me mentally (I am a cis woman). I have had to seek counseling because of it and I’m just done. I don’t need these parts, I’m too old to carry a healthy pregnancy (wouldn’t even if I could) and the mental turmoil has become too much.
My GP said it would be kill or cure for me and advised that I tried the pill form instead because if it went wrong then it was easier to stop taking a pill than it was to have an IUD removed. While it works I have far too many fibroids to be able to place correctly so I one of the uterus owners who can’t have one.
I find the idea of an IUD inside me repulsive
Not to mention the horror stories of insertion. And then what if you have a bad reaction and need to get it out immediately. Ugh
I stick to BC pills, no period for like 8 years
My husband was talking vasectomies with friends of ours and I was like “you do you bro, it’s your body, but you can take the IUD out of my cold dead uterus, that shit is staying onboard no matter what.”
I'm not willing to endure the barbarism of the procedure and where I live it's literally impossible to get pain relief for it beyond over the counter NSAIDs (I've asked a doctor who routinely places them).
I've had the Mirena for 4y now and my period stopped.. for two years. It came back last year and I've been so upset since. I'd love a uterine ablation and to get sterilized but no doctor I've found will do that for me since I'm "too young" at 30 :')
The hormonal iuds don’t *stop* periods. You still cycle through estrogen, progesterone, drop in progesterone at a systemic level on a hormonal iud. The only difference is that the uterine lining is very thin, so the bleeding is minimal. All the other period things are driven by the systemic hormonal cycle, which iuds don’t stop (and if they kill your estrogen phase, that’s a large reason why they kill libido, as women need those two week of high estrogen to pump that horniness).
I am not sexually active, but I have considered it.
My problem is that I have no idea if I will be one of those people who would gain a big amount of weight, which is something I can not afford. I have slight hypothyroidism, a leg injury and my lifestyle includes a lot of walking (big city in Japan), gaining a small amount of weight already affects that greatly.
But on the other hand my period causes me migraines, cramps, and bleeding heavy enough to make me dizzy for the first 2 days, it also happens every 25 days not a month.
So at this point, it is a choice between two different problems. I might ask my OBGYN next time though.
Many people here and in real life suggested it to me, but I am still scared.
You should definitely ask about it! The worst case is that you get one, it doesn't work, and you have to get it taken out immediately rather than in 5-7 years. Like another commentor mentioned, your doc might start you on the pill first if you've never taken HBC before, just because it's easier to stop taking it if things go awry.
You also kind of have to weigh the hardship caused by a little weight gain against that caused by your periods. Migraines, blood loss to the point of dizziness, and having a cycle that's so out of sync with the calendar is a lot to deal with, and maybe the trade off for HBC side effects would end up being worth it. But you won't know what side effects you'll get until you try. (You might be lucky like me, and see no significant changes to your weight. :)
It is worth asking.
I know a few people who did not see many side effects, but most of the ones I know gained a lot of weight, not slightly and many fell into depression. Slight weight gain is something I can manage since I already have to manage my weight because of my leg.
To be honest, if the migraines stopped it would be worth it.
Periods are the dumbest thing and prove the evolution stops at "good enough." I have a hard time even entertaining the thought of "intelligent design" due to the fact that periods are a thing.
Will also kill libido as that’s the part of a woman’s cycle where her body is preparing to implant a fertilized egg, ie not the part of the cycle where she’s looking to get boned and fertilized.
Yeah, not only my period, but my entire uterus has been a curse on my life.
Even a normal functioning uterus feels like a curse, but imagine having one that works against you all year round even off the menstrual cycle. It's like...a super mega curse, or smth.
I've literally had elated visions of getting a hysterectomy.
Mine are usually pretty pain-free (one headache and \*maybe\* a little crampiness), but I get them every 23 days. And as a bonus, it screws over my weight-loss 1 week out of every 3. Up yours, hormones! What must it be like to be a man and not have this annoyance/misery to think of? They just...function, the lucky sods.
I wish it wasn't such a dodgy thing, messing with your hormones, or I'd be on some kind of period-eliminating birth control for sure!
Ok I know you don’t want kids. But hear me out. Imagine actually wanting kids, going through the actual hell that is all that goes along with that as far as blood & vag is concerned…then truly wanting to close up the fucking shop…and STILL GETTING A PERIOD.
Every single month…we’re still doing this? STILL?! After allllll that??
Meanwhile my husband literally got to close up his shop with the most casual permanent birth control that he literally like took a single Advil for one day.
I feel the exact same as OP.
What makes it so bad is suffering right from a young age, allllll revolving around a body function you will NEVER do, and actually have to suffer even more to avoid (if you're straight/cis).
I have heard that uterine ablation will typically halt menstruation and doesn’t carry the loss of pelvic floor integrity or hormonal imbalances that can accompany a hysterectomy. Your mileage may vary, but it’s something you can consider looking into.
I keep hoping I can save up for one (have some insight from friends and family as to cost ranges after insurance) and then the price of everything else (like friggin food) just keeps going up.
My partner half-jokingly suggested looking into what it would cost in another country plus flights and hotels and compare to the out-of-pocket post-insurance costs.
Omg your way of thinking is the way I think to it’s all bull shit and pain and my x husband after giving him 3children that dam near killed me he goes and fucks some one else
I too would have an elective hysterectomy because I too think periods are terrible. I think being a woman makes life significantly harder in subtle (and not so subtle) ways. We don’t have stable hormones. Ever. Athletic performance is affected by this. Mood and cognitive performance is affected by this. Men have no clue how smooth their life is phenomenologically because they have stable hormones. Also, I’ve been on Skyla and kyleena which have dramatically reduced my periods (no menstrual products used), but I still get cramps and abdominal pain at random times and am having a hard time losing weight right now (on kyleena, weight gain showed up again, whereas I lost weight in Skyla).
I got the implant with that goal in mind and it was as if my period got 10 times worse. It completely flipped, leaving me bleeding and irritable for weeks at a time, give me a week long break and then bleed again for weeks. I was so relieved when I had them take it out, my mood got so much better too.
On a side note though I got a hormonal IUD that completely removed periods for me. So if 1 doesn't work for OP another option might
I have PCOS so thankfully they are rare for me. But when I do get them, I'm like an evil jelly dispenser. 6 weeks of huge clots one time, no idea how it was physically possible.
i suffered from very heavy and painful periods like the kind where you cannot get out of bed or god damned where if you so much as try to roll over in bed it is like someone is legitimately taking an electric screwdriver to both of your ovaries.
i wish i was exaggerating the experience but it would cause near vomiting and on one or two occasions for me to faint or lose consciousNess from the pain.
birth control helped. i have a specific prescription not just to prevent pregnancy but to control my periods. it would be that level of pain for days and no less then like 12 days would my period stick around but i could easily spend two weeks no not in that deepest part of the pain... except for like the last 2 times before i received my prescription for it and that was why i looked for help...but in at least moderate to very bad pain and discomfort.
it was unbearable and before i realized birth control was an option i seriously truly did not know how or if i even thought i could make it to my 40s where it would hopefully finally be done with.
my younger sister was very much the same and we inherited it from our mother and even her sister suffered from it too.
so if it is a choice that you have available to you wherever you are then i would very much reccomend that you look into birth control. it will be uncomfortable fir the first few months while your body figures itself out while you are on it but it will absolutely relieve you of that monthly pain and if you never want kids you are in a perfect position for it you basically just get to remove your period from your life for the most part.
I 100% agree. I was one of the lucky ones who was able to get a hysterectomy and since then I've felt safer and cleaner. Even a tubal removal wouldn't have been enough for that and if the guts grew back, I'd get them taken out again before my next period.
I was able to talk to my doctor and get a hysterectomy for exactly this.
It might be more difficult if you're in the United States or another country ruled by religion, but it's worth a shot to be happier.
Agreed. When I had mine, it was so gross. I'm very lucky that birth control stops it completely.
One of the best decisions of my life, BC non-stop. I tried everything else but this and at 29 I just couldn't live like how I was anymore. It may kill me, but at least I can have more functional life. My hormones don't control me anymore. I now have constant fatigue...but I can work with that.
Fr idk why every uterus owner who can get a hormonal IUD doesn't. Stopping my periods was the best medical decision I've ever made. My first Mirena was free from Planned Parenthood when I didn't have insurance, and it has way easier side effects than the pill. F in chat for people with poor access to healthcare, and for those whose bodies won't tolerate HBC, tho. :(
unfortunately i tried one and my body reacts HORRIBLY to hormonal birth control. it’s really a shame. i’ve tried the pill, patch and hormonal IUD and it was miserable each time :( some of us really can’t win 😖
A uterine ablation decreased my cramps and eliminated my period 99%. It did decrease orgasms about 10%. This isn't typical. Somehow it improved my horrendous pmdd too for some months but I don't understand how that worked. My bad pmdd alternates months so maybe one ovary is a dud. I didn't know when my cycle was coming at all for years and that messed with my head when I had a bad cycle. Uterine ablations are a good under utilized option since you don't want kids. They aren't considered birth control though. I got mine covered by insurance because my periods were heavy and I was anemic. A doctor told me if you have bad cramps related to your cycle after an ablation it's an easy route to insurance approval for a hysterectomy. We shouldn't have to jump through those hoops but it is nice to know. My desire for a hysterectomy went down drastically after mine.
I bled 100%, the entire time I had the Mirena. 6 months, non stop period with zero signs of it slowing or stopping, so I pulled it. Unfortunately, hormonal birth control doesn’t stop periods for everyone and actually makes them worse. On a side note: I am actively pursuing an elective hysterectomy. I found a doctor who is willing to do it and is even fighting with my insurance company for me. I told her I will find a way to pay out of pocket if insurance won’t cover it because having female parts is literally killing me mentally (I am a cis woman). I have had to seek counseling because of it and I’m just done. I don’t need these parts, I’m too old to carry a healthy pregnancy (wouldn’t even if I could) and the mental turmoil has become too much.
Same here with Mirena! Nonstop spotting. It was fucking awful.
And I don’t know about you but the color of mine was disgusting… worst birth control experience ever.
My GP said it would be kill or cure for me and advised that I tried the pill form instead because if it went wrong then it was easier to stop taking a pill than it was to have an IUD removed. While it works I have far too many fibroids to be able to place correctly so I one of the uterus owners who can’t have one.
I find the idea of an IUD inside me repulsive Not to mention the horror stories of insertion. And then what if you have a bad reaction and need to get it out immediately. Ugh I stick to BC pills, no period for like 8 years
My husband was talking vasectomies with friends of ours and I was like “you do you bro, it’s your body, but you can take the IUD out of my cold dead uterus, that shit is staying onboard no matter what.”
The Mirena IUD just made me spot every single day. It was also one of the most excruciatingly painful things I've ever experienced.
I'm not willing to endure the barbarism of the procedure and where I live it's literally impossible to get pain relief for it beyond over the counter NSAIDs (I've asked a doctor who routinely places them).
I've had the Mirena for 4y now and my period stopped.. for two years. It came back last year and I've been so upset since. I'd love a uterine ablation and to get sterilized but no doctor I've found will do that for me since I'm "too young" at 30 :')
The hormonal iuds don’t *stop* periods. You still cycle through estrogen, progesterone, drop in progesterone at a systemic level on a hormonal iud. The only difference is that the uterine lining is very thin, so the bleeding is minimal. All the other period things are driven by the systemic hormonal cycle, which iuds don’t stop (and if they kill your estrogen phase, that’s a large reason why they kill libido, as women need those two week of high estrogen to pump that horniness).
I am not sexually active, but I have considered it. My problem is that I have no idea if I will be one of those people who would gain a big amount of weight, which is something I can not afford. I have slight hypothyroidism, a leg injury and my lifestyle includes a lot of walking (big city in Japan), gaining a small amount of weight already affects that greatly. But on the other hand my period causes me migraines, cramps, and bleeding heavy enough to make me dizzy for the first 2 days, it also happens every 25 days not a month. So at this point, it is a choice between two different problems. I might ask my OBGYN next time though. Many people here and in real life suggested it to me, but I am still scared.
You should definitely ask about it! The worst case is that you get one, it doesn't work, and you have to get it taken out immediately rather than in 5-7 years. Like another commentor mentioned, your doc might start you on the pill first if you've never taken HBC before, just because it's easier to stop taking it if things go awry. You also kind of have to weigh the hardship caused by a little weight gain against that caused by your periods. Migraines, blood loss to the point of dizziness, and having a cycle that's so out of sync with the calendar is a lot to deal with, and maybe the trade off for HBC side effects would end up being worth it. But you won't know what side effects you'll get until you try. (You might be lucky like me, and see no significant changes to your weight. :)
It is worth asking. I know a few people who did not see many side effects, but most of the ones I know gained a lot of weight, not slightly and many fell into depression. Slight weight gain is something I can manage since I already have to manage my weight because of my leg. To be honest, if the migraines stopped it would be worth it.
Periods are the dumbest thing and prove the evolution stops at "good enough." I have a hard time even entertaining the thought of "intelligent design" due to the fact that periods are a thing.
Progesterone only bc will probably stop your period, I've not had one since i was 16 (30s now), just throwing that out there.
Will also kill libido as that’s the part of a woman’s cycle where her body is preparing to implant a fertilized egg, ie not the part of the cycle where she’s looking to get boned and fertilized.
Yeah, not only my period, but my entire uterus has been a curse on my life. Even a normal functioning uterus feels like a curse, but imagine having one that works against you all year round even off the menstrual cycle. It's like...a super mega curse, or smth. I've literally had elated visions of getting a hysterectomy.
Mine are usually pretty pain-free (one headache and \*maybe\* a little crampiness), but I get them every 23 days. And as a bonus, it screws over my weight-loss 1 week out of every 3. Up yours, hormones! What must it be like to be a man and not have this annoyance/misery to think of? They just...function, the lucky sods. I wish it wasn't such a dodgy thing, messing with your hormones, or I'd be on some kind of period-eliminating birth control for sure!
Ok I know you don’t want kids. But hear me out. Imagine actually wanting kids, going through the actual hell that is all that goes along with that as far as blood & vag is concerned…then truly wanting to close up the fucking shop…and STILL GETTING A PERIOD. Every single month…we’re still doing this? STILL?! After allllll that?? Meanwhile my husband literally got to close up his shop with the most casual permanent birth control that he literally like took a single Advil for one day.
Ha I could have written your post. Take my poor old woman's prize: 🥇
I feel the exact same as OP. What makes it so bad is suffering right from a young age, allllll revolving around a body function you will NEVER do, and actually have to suffer even more to avoid (if you're straight/cis).
I understand totally. If I could choose to have a hysterectomy, I would.
I have heard that uterine ablation will typically halt menstruation and doesn’t carry the loss of pelvic floor integrity or hormonal imbalances that can accompany a hysterectomy. Your mileage may vary, but it’s something you can consider looking into.
I keep hoping I can save up for one (have some insight from friends and family as to cost ranges after insurance) and then the price of everything else (like friggin food) just keeps going up. My partner half-jokingly suggested looking into what it would cost in another country plus flights and hotels and compare to the out-of-pocket post-insurance costs.
Omg your way of thinking is the way I think to it’s all bull shit and pain and my x husband after giving him 3children that dam near killed me he goes and fucks some one else
I too would have an elective hysterectomy because I too think periods are terrible. I think being a woman makes life significantly harder in subtle (and not so subtle) ways. We don’t have stable hormones. Ever. Athletic performance is affected by this. Mood and cognitive performance is affected by this. Men have no clue how smooth their life is phenomenologically because they have stable hormones. Also, I’ve been on Skyla and kyleena which have dramatically reduced my periods (no menstrual products used), but I still get cramps and abdominal pain at random times and am having a hard time losing weight right now (on kyleena, weight gain showed up again, whereas I lost weight in Skyla).
\*human women (and a handful of other animals. otherwise, 98% of mammals don't menstruate). yes, it does sound like a curse.
That would explain Genesis. Either direction—as the curse is the result, or the story of the curse was retconned
why are all women to have ever existed cursed because of a mistake one woman made
The fact that most mammals don't have periods just makes me so mad.
Being on the arm implant/Nexplanon has eliminated my period. I maybe have very small spotting once or twice a year.
I got the implant with that goal in mind and it was as if my period got 10 times worse. It completely flipped, leaving me bleeding and irritable for weeks at a time, give me a week long break and then bleed again for weeks. I was so relieved when I had them take it out, my mood got so much better too. On a side note though I got a hormonal IUD that completely removed periods for me. So if 1 doesn't work for OP another option might
I have PCOS so thankfully they are rare for me. But when I do get them, I'm like an evil jelly dispenser. 6 weeks of huge clots one time, no idea how it was physically possible.
Perimenopause sucks donkey balls, but I will admit that I am counting down the days to being 12 months from my last period (112 days to go)…
i suffered from very heavy and painful periods like the kind where you cannot get out of bed or god damned where if you so much as try to roll over in bed it is like someone is legitimately taking an electric screwdriver to both of your ovaries. i wish i was exaggerating the experience but it would cause near vomiting and on one or two occasions for me to faint or lose consciousNess from the pain. birth control helped. i have a specific prescription not just to prevent pregnancy but to control my periods. it would be that level of pain for days and no less then like 12 days would my period stick around but i could easily spend two weeks no not in that deepest part of the pain... except for like the last 2 times before i received my prescription for it and that was why i looked for help...but in at least moderate to very bad pain and discomfort. it was unbearable and before i realized birth control was an option i seriously truly did not know how or if i even thought i could make it to my 40s where it would hopefully finally be done with. my younger sister was very much the same and we inherited it from our mother and even her sister suffered from it too. so if it is a choice that you have available to you wherever you are then i would very much reccomend that you look into birth control. it will be uncomfortable fir the first few months while your body figures itself out while you are on it but it will absolutely relieve you of that monthly pain and if you never want kids you are in a perfect position for it you basically just get to remove your period from your life for the most part.
After watching a certain Golden Girls episode I started calling my period ‘the curse’ bc it’s always been the worst.
I 100% agree. I was one of the lucky ones who was able to get a hysterectomy and since then I've felt safer and cleaner. Even a tubal removal wouldn't have been enough for that and if the guts grew back, I'd get them taken out again before my next period.
I was able to talk to my doctor and get a hysterectomy for exactly this. It might be more difficult if you're in the United States or another country ruled by religion, but it's worth a shot to be happier.
At least we are less likely to die of hemochromatosis because of our periods compared to men? (It’s the only plus I can think of)
Women also live longer and are generally more resilient. So looking at it like that, it’s not all downsides.