Just reposting some photos from yesterdays shoot because I still can’t get over how perfect my make up was!
I asked some of my wonderful friends and followers on Instagram what their thoughts were on the pill vs the coil a couple of weeks ago and wow, I could not believe the responses I received! Most were all in favour for the coil but there were a couple who mentioned alternatives, such as the injection and the implant.
I’ve been on the pill for around 7-8 years with a few brand changes in between, as well as a 3 month stint of the injection – which was not pleasant. I gained a shed load of weight from the injection, just like my Mum did so as soon as I could, I went back on the pill. I started with a contraceptive pill that I would take continuously which was in the beginning great, until I started bleeding irregularly and from what I remember around 6 months of spotting, which was obviously not ideal! I then spoke with my local GP who advised the combined pill, where you take it for 3 weeks and have a break for a period. This worked fab, I really loved having the break and feeling somewhat ‘normal’. Then I started suffering with really bad skin on my face.. this isn’t the eczema that I spoke about in a previous post but this was spots on my cheek, forehead and chin. To be honest, I never even linked it with my pill. I’d been on it for so long that I thought it must just be my hormones…and then I spoke to my best friend who had recently changed her pill because of really bad break outs.
So I went to speak with my Dr again and was prescribed the the combined pill, Yasmin. Since then my skin has been amazing and I didn’t think much about changing my contraception until we were lying in bed one evening and Josh showed me this picture of a girl who had been on the pill for several years and an after picture from when she came off it. There was such a huge difference in her physique which got me thinking about all the effects I have had to put up with from the pill. Mood swings, bad skin, weight gain and the thought of all that medicine going into my body. I looked up the coil after hearing about it on a number of occasions and did a bit of research before asking you guys what you thought and what your experiences were of contraceptive. I booked in with a nurse the next day and consulted with her about it. She advised me that the coil is getting extremely popular, especially with young girls who are really sick of the mood swings and like I mentioned before, the amount of oestrogen and a progestogen being swallowed into their bodies, effecting them physically as well as mentally.
There are two different types of coil which you can read more about here and here.
I was actually booked in for my fitting (oh it sounds like a dress fitting, maybe one day ha!) shortly after discussing this over on the gram and I know a few of you were curious about the procedure and if it hurts, if I can feel it etc. so I thought I’d stick it all in a post, rather than Insta stories where I’m sure all the lads cringe at the thought of it (but seriously though, why is it us girls that have to go through all this shit?). Basically, it did not go as planned…. Please do not continue reading if you are going to be grossed out, feel sick, faint etc. This is your warning now. Do not go ahead. It is dangerous territory. Ok, so you managed this far. I believe you’re in it until the end so I will continue… I was working myself up all day long for this appointment. I had to wait until 4pm and the plan was to nip out of work for half an hour and go back into the office as if nothing had happened. So, I go in and the Dr and I go through all the side effects and statistics of the coil. She said that she wanted to fit the smallest coil which had around 16% of hormone but I can’t remember all of the details as my head was just on another planet. The reason for the smaller coil was because I hadn’t had children so my womb wouldn’t be big enough but she said that if she could fit it then she would. The procedure starts, I’m butt naked laying on the bed with the lamp glaring *down there*. At this point, all I’m thinking about is how it looks. Oh god, did I miss a bit shaving? God, I hope not. I had my head in the crease of my arm. I couldn’t look. I didn’t want to look. Anyway, so she feels my stomach and then inside.. I’m guessing for any cysts or unusual lumps but I didn’t ask, I was just trying to imagine myself on a beach somewhere. Then the speculum goes up and I just hear this ratchet sound – to hold me open. This isn’t too bad, I had a full STI test around this time last year so I knew I’d be ok with this. Then she tells me that I’m going to have a local anaesthetic, ok fine. I’ve never had one before, I don’t know what it involves and then woah. It kills and when I say it kills wow, I nearly kicked my GP in the face. I even said “I am never having children after this”. We wait 5 minutes for the ‘local anaesthetic’ to kick in. I don’t feel any different and then the speculum goes back in. From there on in I’m not really sure what’s going on. After around 10 minutes of who knows what, apparently my cervix is too small and wouldn’t open. I was asked if I wanted to continue and I said no, although apparently they did have ‘metal clamps’ which would’ve held me open better, as the one she was using kept slipping. So we aborted mission. I came to terms with the fact that I’d probably be on the pill now for another good few years and then I sat in my car and cried. My stomach was in agony and I had started to bleed. I was advised to go home, so I text my manager and went home to a hot water bottle and a hot chocolate. I’m not sharing this info with you to put you off but I’m sharing it because I want you to know that if you do go ahead with this then there is a small chance that you will be just like me. Apparently I’m like 1/10 women that this happens to and sometimes they just aren’t suitable. I’m sorry if this has put you off but please don’t let my bad experience change your mind. Chances are you’ll be fine and I’m just a weirdo that bad things happen to. If you want to ask me any more questions then please do feel free to privately message me, I don’t bite and I will try and help in any way possible. I just wanted to be as honest as possible and obviously had it all gone well, I would’ve shared that too – which was initially the plan! A very different post to the norm but I hope you enjoyed the read, L.