My birth control journey started with taking the pill. I was probably on it for a little over a year. But I got really tired of all the side effects that came along with it. I was angry when I was on the pill! I literally went to see my primary doctor to talk to her about why I was feeling so angry all the time. I didn’t like that I had to take it every freaking day. I wasn’t enjoying my skin being so dry. It was just an unpleasant thing to endure but hey, safe sex is the best sex! So February 2018, I decided to get an IUD because I heard good things about it. I’m sensitive to hormonal changes so the my gyno and I both agreed it would be the best BC option considering that the hormones that come out of the IUD are targeted in the uterus, it doesn’t mess with the rest of your body basically. Once it’s implanted into your uterus, it stays there for years! I got the Mirena which stays inside you for 5 years before you have to replace it. It’s also 99.99% effective so you’re almost guaranteed to not get preggers. But!!! Always use a condom as well because you don’t want to be the .01% that the IUD failed.

The best way I can describe my experience with the Mirena is just the simple freaking fact that birth control affects people so differently!! The people that I know who also have an IUD, they have nothing but positive reviews. But when I go online, there are so many negative reviews. For me, it’s a love-hate relationship. The only thing stopping me from taking it out is just the fact that I don’t have to worry about it. It’s basically become a trusted friend. But holy f*ck, it has also been a freaking pain! The cramps I get?! Unbearable. Before birth control, I used to get zero cramps. With the IUD, I get the worst cramps that just twist my uterus. I have to stop what I’m doing and just ride the cramp out. I never know when I’ll get the cramps or how long they’ll last, but if I could, I would get rid of the cramps totally because they are that painful. For the first year, I had cramps for months straight. Then they stopped, and now they’re on and off again. The spotting is pretty annoying. It’s like I don’t get my period for the most part. But once in a while, I’ll get a slight period or a pretty heavy one. The “this or that” side effects that come with the IUD are definitely something you should consider when thinking of getting an IUD.

The side effects vary pretty frequently and that’s really the most annoying part. It’s like 50/50. Good half the time, pretty terrible the other half of the time. But damn, just the fact that it is so reliable, it honestly makes the pain worth it sadly. It all just makes me think about the fact that we don’t have better birth control methods. Or I guess that we had better ways to choose one instead of doing a trial and error type of thing because that can be pretty time consuming and no one wants to worry about birth control all the time.

I just had to go on this whole rant because I’m currently experiencing the really bad cramps and it’s been pretty freaking terrible. I literally feel like a sack of potatoes. My skin is breaking out. I’m craving so much salt. I can’t relax. My lower back hurts. I want to eat everything in sight. UGH. I’m just really tired of all the shit womxn have to deal with. We go through so much and somehow still manage to look freaking beautiful while juggling a million things at once. But then there are men who are just completely babies. I won’t get into that right now but that’s just an opinion of mine at the end of the day. I’m just tired of womxn suffering lol. I’m also tired of feeling like a sack of potatoes. I want to be a beautiful butterfly! It’s times like these where I wish we could go out and easily grab our favorite comforting snacks. It’s just sad when you’re in the worst pain of your life and you can’t even comfort yourself the way you want to. ANYWAYS, thank you all for coming to my TED talk.

XoXo,

Alexis 💘