“I’m so scared for removal day. I’ve actually had flashbacks to it being inserted, which have triggered a small panic attack.”

I’m a lifestyle and pet writer with over a decade of experience in copywriting, covering viral animal moments, well-being topics, and lifestyle trends.

"Here are the things I wished they had warned me about with an IUD:

I bled randomly for months. And then randomly didn’t for months. For 3 years, it was a flip of the coin if I would be bleeding or not.

I swear I could feel it, like just walking, sitting, and if I sat wrong, it would hurt, and I’d have to readjust.

No matter what guy I was with, they’d complain about it — and no, I could not have those strings cut any shorter; we tried."

"The main reason I got it taken out is that I would have those kinds of stabbing cramps, like my uterus was pushing inwards and stabbing onto the IUD. I used to get them like once a week on average, and since getting my IUD out 9 months ago, I have not had that kind of cramp once."

"I didn’t even know that was a thing until last week, as fucked up as that is. Like legit, no clue. And now that I know, I seriously think I could have prevented so many problems if I had been even at one point told."

"My doctor told me about the difficulty of pooping afterward. She literally encouraged me to buy a stool softener because she said it would be painful the first time I tried."

Note: Responses may have been edited for length and/or clarity.