This is going to be a long one.
A few things have changed since my first ever post. For one I stopped taking the pill.
I was fed up of having the hormones that made my moods fluctuate like crazy and wanted to see what I’d be like without it.
I’d been on the pill since I was about 16, which started out as a way to combat these weird bumps that covered my forehead, but eventually became contraception.
Think about that. Six years of taking the pill. Finishing puberty on the pill. Full of these hormones which cleared up my skin but would at times leave me feeling empty.
I spoke to my friends and my partner; finally deciding that I wanted to come off it and see how I felt. I didn’t know who I was without the pill, would I be super chill and happy? This was what I needed to find out, and I've been seeing a lot of other women making this change too.
It usually takes about 3 cycles for the hormones to completely leave your body so I waited until then to make a total judgement on if I wanted to stay off the pill or go back to it.
Well, to start off I was happier. I had less mood swings and felt much more confident in myself. My skin stayed pretty much the same, though I do get a few little spots here and there but nothing as drastic as I thought it might be.
Don't worry everyone, my partner and I still used protection (all about that safe sex) as I might not want the hormones but I for one, am damn sure not ready to be a mom. Yikes.
My periods however were erratic and odd. They were trying to tackle the hormones that had been in my body for so many years, inducing a “withdrawal” bleed (aka not a real period) that now, when given free reign again, I was left with periods that were consistently irregular. Getting my period was like a bloody miracle at first as after my first period was over a week late, I was starting to freak out a bit. Even though like I said earlier, I literally had absolutely no reason to. Go figure. After having these irregular periods for about four months, I decided that I wanted to try having the coil (IUD).
Terrifying no?
That's how I felt, absolutely terrified. Luckily I had a few good friends who had been through it all before to explain to me what happened and how it wasn't as bad as I was making out in my head. So we went to the Sexual Health Clinic and I booked an appointment.
The actual insertion wasn't too bad. You can google it to read the full process, but it basically it's a bit uncomfortable, then there is a couple of the sharp stabbing period pains you get, then it's over.
Thankfully my friend was with me to hold my hand and joke about how this felt like we were having a baby together to take my mind off it all. She'd already been through it all so knew exactly how I was feeling.
And I was fine! That is until about 20 minutes later and the mother of all cramps began.
Holllyyyyy sh*t. I never really had bad cramps before but damn. These were something else. Make sure you don't have anything else planned for that day as you will be in bed, dosed up on painkillers trying to find a comfortable way to lie whilst your housemates bring you chocolate buttons (Love you guys). Once I got past that first day, it wasn't so bad. Just like normal cramps but a teensy bit worse.
But to be honest with you, it's been fine since then. No hormones, my skin is still clear, I'm still happy and healthy.
However, I am in the last few days of my first period since having the IUD and can confirm:
Cramps: Worse. (Lots of painkillers)
Flow: Literally never been so heavy (I've ruined like 10 pairs of pants.)
Mood swings: Actually pretty non existent. Apart from the one morning I cried at a video of an elderly lady getting to live her dream and ski again. But then I would've cried at that anyways.
But this is the first one, and after speaking to my friends, it can only go up from here. I'm planning to order some THINX underwear and I'll let you all know what they are like with the next cycle!
(Please don't hesitate to drop me a message if you want to know anything. I'm always happy to answer any questions <3 )
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