I got my IUD a month ago, on the last day of my period. The first week sucked, and I had a lot of cramping. Pain medication has never helped with my cramping, so I would take endless hot baths. After the first week I was doing pretty good aside from still being able to feel the IUD. There were maybe 3 days of feeling great with no pain and not noticing the IUD. Then, the cramps started. As I said, my cramps have always sucked. These were worse. Like, sharp, take your breath away, absolutely cannot move until they stop kind of cramps. These cramps went on for a few days before I finally started bleeding.

My periods used to be super heavy, like 80-90 mL of blood (Thanks, Diva Cup), bleeding through a Super + in an hour kind of heavy, but they only lasted 3-5 days... I’m now on day 16 of this period. It is pretty light (only had to wear a pad for a few days, and don’t even bother at this point, though it seems to be picking up again) and while it is my first period on my IUD, the cramps are still horrible (not as bad as before, but still bring me to tears like my usual cramps) and my pain meds are still not doing anything for me.

My Gyn said to visit if pain meds don’t make the cramps go away, but they never have so I’m not sure what to do. (I usually take 1000 mg Tylenol, and it can take the edge off but do not make the cramps go away, and they are still painful. I’m too scared to take more)

When checking, I still feel the strings, so I don’t think it has migrated.

I guess my question is: Is this normal? I don’t have a number to just call and chat, so I would have to make an appointment and drive the 30 minutes to see her. I’m always nervous I’m just being dramatic, as despite my above complaints, previous gynecologists haven’t been able to find evidence of Endo or PCOS or anything, even with extensive blood testing and ultrasounds (No MRI’s or Laps, as they didn’t deem it necessary)... Any advice is welcome. 💕