jaimeleigh asked: Thanks for posting your thoughts on your IUD. Two follow up questions:

1. The biggest reason I'm in the pill is that it makes my skin totally perfect. I mean, the no babies thing is a huge plus, but for me it is all about the skin. Does the hormonal IUD have the same amazing side effect?

2. About the wham bam thank you mam thing. Waitaminuterightthere. Do you mean no hard fucking at all? Or just...no hard fucking without being super lube-y? Or no quickies? I'm confused!

Thanks!

Following up on today’s earlier post on the pros and cons of IUDs:

1. I know that some women go on birth control pills in order to treat acne, but I haven’t had any personal experience with that. The skin issues I do have are neither fixed nor worsened by birth control. Perhaps someone else reading this can speak to this issue better than I can? I believe that the hormonal part of pills is what’s responsible for skin-clearing results, and coincidentally, I love the IUD so much precisely because even the hormonal IUD is very, very low-hormone compared to other contraceptive options. According to one IUD user, “The gyn I saw said that he didn’t even want to consider Mirena a hormonal birth control because the hormone levels are barely 10% of those in the NuvaRing, which is already significantly lower than the lowest dose pill available.”

2. First, a disclaimer: when inserting metal rod into vadge, results may totally vary, and I am on the petite side, so maybe not everyone has the same problems with hard sex. In my case, I found it really uncomfortable post-IUD (especially in the two months after insertion) to have penetrative intercourse involving deep, repeated thrusts. It basically felt like getting clubbed in the cervix over and over. But things have improved and I can and do have hard sex nowadays (and even occasional quickies), though it’s always more comfortable with generous lubrication.

And one more very important detail: as Lux notes, doctors sometimes only give IUDs to women who are in long-term monogamous relationships, because having an IUD can transform a run-of-the-mill STI into full-blown PID (which, in turn, can cause infertility). The chances that you will become infertile are very slim (you would have to totally ignore your STI symptoms, then ignore your PID symptoms), but this is just a reminder that IUD users have to be extra careful about their sexual health. If Patrick and I broke up tomorrow or started an open relationship, my IUD would probably have to go too.

More burning questions (or questions about things that burn)? Ask them here.

Anonymous asked: I know that you had an IUD inserted a couple months ago, and I'm thinking of getting one myself. How do you like it so far? I know every woman is different but is there anything you don't like about it? Or do you possibly have any other recommendations? I was reading about the Ortho Evra patch and seems some forms of birth control can do horrible things to our bodies.

I’m so glad this question was asked, because it’s been a good six months since I’ve reflected on the “baby-fighting friend in [my] uterus”. I got my IUD in October and quickly began evangelizing, even going so far as to turn friends into converts. Conclusion thus far: I LOVE it! And there are so, so many reasons why, but these are the ones off the top of my head:

• Never having to remember to take a pill and never freaking out if I take a pill and then puke and am down one pill because I got too drunk and WHOOPS now I’m preggers
• Never having to pay for birth control. My IUD insertion process and the device itself was fully covered by insurance (as it often the case), so this was FREE NINETY NINE versus a $10/month generic pill pack
• Just like the Showtime Rotisserie Oven, you can SET IT AND FORGET IT for five to ten years
• If you get the Mirena, which is the hormonal IUD (as opposed to the non-hormonal copper), menstrual pain and flow actually decrease. I don’t bleed very much during my period anymore.
• Even the hormonal IUD is still far, far less hormonal than birth control pills, the Ortho Evra patch, or the Depo-Provera shot. The birth control pill killed my sex drive. My vagina was like the Sahara, no joke. The IUD fixed me and helped me start thinking sexy thoughts again.

Are there downsides? Sure! But they vary from person to person, so these are just my own. (Readers, if you have more to add, be sure to chime in in the comments.)

• Spotting happens throughout the month for me. Sometimes, your period gets eliminated altogether, but there can also be breakthrough bleeding, and that gets annoying.
• I can no longer have penetrative sex of the Wham, Bam, Thank You Ma’am variety. Deep thrusting is a no-no unless there’s a lot of lubrication involved, because HELLO, I have a shiny metallic neighbor down there and she is not pleased when I go knocking on her door at all hours.
• Sometimes, my partner can feel the string, which weirds him out. But he lives with it, ‘cause kids would be WAY weirder.
• The insertion process was so, so painful. Do not be like me and go in without undergoing anesthesia and ingesting copious amount of painkillers.

If you are considering an IUD, I have a treasure trove of old posts and articles for you to skim:

No Pain, No Gain: The IUD Insertion Process (Sex Really)

Consider An IUD: “I got my Mirena last April and never looked back” (The Chicktionary)

How I Dumped The Pill And Met The IUD (Sex Really)

5 Reasons Why Women Should Consider An IUD (Yahoo! Shine)

If you’ve had experience with the IUD yourself — positive or negative — please do share in the comments!

More burning questions? Ask them here.