I am so relieved to have found this site!! I've had my Paragard IUD for ten years this month. Like many of you, I thought I had chosen the safest method out there. I had vaguely heard about copper toxicity but it was so rare to hear of instances that I went ahead with it. The first few years I was fine. No aches, no pains, normal periods, PMS, and I didn't have to worry about getting pregnant. Life got stressful so I attributed my beginning hair loss to stress. Then to getting older. I just assumed I was going to have the same issues my mom had. I used to have beautiful Keri Russel (before she cut it) long curls. Then I had kids, and got a hair cut. Then my hair started falling out and thinning and the only way to style it was to blow it out and add some volume with the round brush. I can't flat iron my hair, it looks horrible. But I assumed it was supposed to be this way. I also blamed all the coloring and bleaching I did to my hair. I quit smoking 10 months ago tomorrow and albeit some VERY stressful life situations, I managed to stay quit. But I was very stressed out as I had started pre-med classes to get into the nursing program and so I blamed my stress on a lot of new symptoms I started having shortly after I quit. Especially anxiety and panic attacks. They got SEVERE. I had had them before due to excessive anesthesia when my daughter was born (emergency c-sec after 15 hour labor with epidural and pitocin) which lasted a few weeks and again when I took some cold medicine about 5 years ago. lasting another few weeks. I also have motion sickness and vertigo and claustrophobia. But the panic attacks were so bad I was getting scared. It didn't help that we moved cross-country and I had to quit school during midterms so I assumed my body had shut down. It took a few months but fortunately, a lot of exercise helped. But the 12 lbs I gained after I quit smoking will not go away. I power walk 4 miles and mountain bike 5 miles every day and not an ounce to lose. I went from 118 to 130 and cannot fit into my jeans and so I thought I had inherited my mom's thyroid issues. I am waiting till my period stops so I can take my temperature and see if that's the key (message me if you want to know how to do that). My hair loss is still ongoing. I started researching and I believe that I may be vitamin b12 deficient as I had been eating a mostly vegetarian diet to lose weight which can depress the thyroid. But then it dawned on me to research about the IUD as I knew it could very well be since it was time to "replace" it. Now, I know I won't be replacing it with a good reason and DH will have to use condoms or have a V. I am happy to know that other women are or have gone through this too as I thought I was going crazy. Now I know that it's been the IUD all along. Recently, after some really informative anatomy and physiology classes, I learned that inflammation is the culprit of most diseases. And the IUD causes inflammation hence the many symptoms we feel. I read on another website that our body goes into flight or fight mode and if it's under constant attack, we store fat. Up until now, nicotine has helped keep the fat off apparently. The weight gain was always one of my worst fears. But I finally overcame it thinking I would be fine. Now, I am just relieved that I can shower without getting a panic attack and drive without anxiety. I am going to be scheduling an appointment to have my IUD removed but will have to wait until I can afford the office visit as I have no insurance. I am VERY eager to do this and start cleansing my body once and for all. Thank you to all of you who have shared your experiences!!! I hope to hear updates from you on how you are doing.
Flavia
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