Stiletto Diaries™

Between Two Evils, I Always Pick The One I’ve Never Tried Before

Posted on September 30th, 2009 in Does All Her Own Stunts, Emotional Angst, Featured, Mating And Relating

Tomorrow afternoon is my appointment for the IUD insertion.  Apparently I am also lacking Hep B vaccination, so I think they are going to give me the first of three shots for that while I’m in there.  I switched schools in the middle of grade 12, when everyone was getting vaccinated, and so I only managed to get 2 out of 3 then.  That was really the least of my worries when changing schools during senior year, but that’s irrelevant now.

I went to the clinic last week to pick up my IUD prescription and the medication they require you to take before the procedure.  The night before (tonight) I have to ‘insert vaginally’ 2 tabs of Misoprostol, which is generally used to induce labor by thinning and dilating ones cervix.  Fortunately from past experience, I know that it works extremely well for me, which means that the discomfort tomorrow should be minimal.

An hour before the appointment I have to take a muscle relaxant, and fortunately Nia (and hopefully Aiden) are coming with me so that I don’t have to drive because anything of that nature tends to make me seriously groggy.  The appointment also happens to fall fairly close to the time when my kiddos get out of school, so should I not feel well enough to fetch them myself, Nia will be able to pick them up.

I picked up the Mirena itself at the pharmacy, and let me tell you, thank Gods for Blue Cross.  Ontario provincial health care does not cover the cost of IUD’s and without our extra insurance, that little bit of T-shaped plastic would have set me back nearly $400.

In the box, along with the IUD itself, are instructions for inserting it, which I liked because it makes it very clear exactly what is supposed to happen.  I know for some, ignorance is bliss, but I tend to get angsty in situations where I don’t know what to expect.  The IUD is actually really tiny.  Much smaller than what I imagined.  It’s only about an inch long, and 1.25 inches wide at the top.

Although depression is considered a fairly uncommon side effect with Mirena, I’m still a tad on the wary side.  I’ve just never yet had a good experience with any sort of female birth control method (female condoms aside) and so I’m probably a little over-skeptical.  Getting back to the gym on a regular basis next week should help even out any moodiness I might experience.  Having dealt with depression off and on for the past 15 years I’ve found that working out is really the easiest and most effective ‘treatment’ for me.  That and always being mindful of my emotional state.  If I’m not paying attention, sometimes the emo sneaks up on me, but during periods of time when I *know* it might happen, I keep closer tabs on my feelings (like after each of my children was born, as I was a prime candidate for PPD).

I did speak about this with the practitioner who will be preforming the procedure and she feels that the chances Mirena will trigger my depression are fairly minimal.  I mentioned to her that I tried Depo, and without even having to elaborate for her she nodded and said “I’ll bet that wreaked all sorts of havoc with you”.  It did, it was awful.  I was sooooooo miserable, and I got it in November of all times, so I was a mess all through the holidays.  I also bled for a month and a half straight, at least.  It took over four months for that awful stuff to work it’s way out, and those months are right near the top of the list of “worst experiences ever”.  Perhaps the saddest part is between the bleeding and the depression, I don’t even think Jack and I had sex during that time!

Speaking of bleeding, the part in the Mirena information booklet about “in the first three months of use, many women experience unpredictable bleeding” isn’t really my idea of a good time, but apparently after that most women cease to menstruate altogether, which will hopefully be worth all the inconvenience.

I don’t want to feed any fears here, and so I am telling myself that everything is going to go perfectly and that I won’t have tons of random bleeding and no moodiness.

Thanks to everyone who has commented/e-mailed/Twittered me about this subject.  All of your encouragement, support, and reassurance has been appreciated immensely.  I will be certain to post an update in the next week, detailing how it all goes.