Copper coil (IUD)

The insertion was nowhere near as bad as the horror stories I’ve read elsewhere, but was by no means comfortable. I had medium / light bleeding for a few days after insertion, with normal / slightly worse than normal cramping, then my periods returned to their regular start date. My periods are now a heavier in the first few days than they were before, and last much longer (7-10 days, rather than 4-5). My menstrual cramps are also much much worse during the first few days of my period, sometimes so bad that I feel faint and need to lie / sit down. They’ve got progressively better each month, but are still much worse than before – this is the main negative side-effect for me. I tend to get light cramping for 4-5 days in the lead-up to my period too, so I do get pain for quite a lot of the month. The main benefit for me is that I don’t have to remember to do anything (take a pill / patch etc), and that it isn’t a hormonal solution, which could mess with my body’s natural rhythm.