Can we talk about birth control?

Am I the only one having major issues in the birth control department?

Two weeks ago my Mirena IUD had to be removed because it shifted so much it was almost out on it's own. Dr. said due to "drastic weight loss" and put me on Lo Loestrin FE because neither of us wanted to deal with the side effects of higher dose pills. Ok, fine.

I go to my 3 month post-op appointment and the nurse practitioner was surprised about the IUD issue. And then said that she was concerned that the birth control pill will be basically useless due to malabsorption. She suggested I call my OB and talk about other options, like an apparently chewable form of birth control. 

Today my OB and I talked and he said that the concern for malabsorption was valid but that he didn't see much room for improvement even with a chewable form and recommended we just skip the absorption issue all together and go for something that goes directly into the blood stream. So now I have to finish out a month of "basically useless" birth control.

Anyway, has anyone else had issues or concerns in this department?

Cant you just be "fitted" for another Mirena? My OB has suggested that, if due to weight loss, mine decides to shift or move, it will be removed & I can have another one put in its place.

My OB said it would be a waste. Mirena is a "one size fits all" kind of IUD so they could technically put it back in but the same thing would theoretically happen and if it shifts even slightly you have an increased risk of pregnancy.

He actually said I was pretty lucky I hadn't gotten pregnant.

This is a great topic! So I've been using the same birth control (Yasmin) for about 6 years now. My period is like clock work with th Yasmin. My surgeon, OB and a few pharmacist i've talked to say they are absorbed in the middle of the small intestines. If my birthcontrol wasn't being absorbed properly my period would have been all out of wack. With that being said, I still use another form of birth control because with the rapid weight loss we become fertile Mertyles. When my weight becomes more stablized then it shouldn't become an issue.

Also u can use nuvaring! With that you wouldn't have to worry about it being absorbed correctly or not. Wish I knew more about Mirenas.....

Your NP is giving you good advice. Chewed or swallowed, especially early on, oral contracelptives are at risk of being malabsorbed. It is very important to use another form of birth control in addition to oral contraceptives. That said, like RNYgirl mentioned, we tend to get pretty darned fertile while losing weight, so it's a good thing to have 2 forms. I have used Yaz for years and decided to stick wit that and add condoms to the mix. I won't quit the Yaz because of the great side effects, almost no PMS, acne gone, very infrequent and very short periods... But, so glad I had it when there was an "error" with the condom the other day. As fertile as I tend to be in general and the heightened fertility associated with the rapid weight loss, I don't want to take any chances. I'm happy to double up!

We did end up deciding on the nuva ring.

BugDocMom: definitely doubling up! I just don't want to risk having a higher chance due to not absorbing the pill well/at all!

okay, this is what I was told - all post ops must use 2 forms of birth control for the first 18 months after surgery -we had to sign something saying we would do this.  I am not familiar with the IUD but you have a few options - you can use the patch = ortho evra which is great for us post op since it goes directly into the bloodstream and you dont have to worry about malabsorbtion - might only need the form but from what I have heard if you are over 200 pounds, it is less effective, so again you need a second form until you lose enough weight for this to work on its own.  I used this many years ago to stop my periods not to prevent preganancy and it worked great - I wore it all the time instead of 3 out of the 4 weeks.  It also helps with iron deficiency to wear all the time.  No blood loss and higher iron and ferritin levels.  Great for us.

Another option is the injection Depo Provera - this is great to prevent pregnancy and stops periods.''

You could talk to your gyn about a low dose birth control pill with the patch or possibly the injection - I would think the injection would be enough on its own but not sure.  I personally love the patch - wear it on your abdomen for a week and then change and wear again for another week.  You can get it wet and it doesn't matter.

If you have gone an entire month without enough coverage- make sure you get a pregnancy test because many dont' know they need more than one form and end up pregnant early out and it is very dangerous to both the mother and baby

I was going to suggest the NuvaRing as well...but I see that's what you decided on. I love it and would totally recommend it to anyone.

I went to my doctor just today for this.  I had my second IUD placed last year.  I had not had any problems or periods.  Since about a month after surgery I have been spotting,  Last week I started a full fledged, heavy, super crampy, headache inducing period.  My doctor told me it was because of the weight loss becuase fat has hormones so the weight loss is throwing my balance off.  She told me it would take about 3 months to get back to normal.  Could you feel that your IUD shifted?

I was told the effects of the estrogen being released from within the breaking down fat cells would last significantly longer than three months.  Now you have me worried.  I'm going to need to confer with my doc again.  Yikes.