anybody with experience/info on essure?

[Milo]

Hi all, I'm just trying to do my homework in advance. DH and I are expecting a bonus baby in January - despite our efforts to avoid. We are rejoicing in the chance to have another baby, but really want this to be the caboose in our family. I know that I need to do something permanent when the new baby is between 3 and 6 months old, and I'm crazed, sleep-deprived and overwhelmed. Otherwise, the little one will be a year old, our family will have adjusted and we won't think another baby is such a big deal.

DH is NOT a good candidate for vasectomy due to his own health/immune issues, and I am very nervous about cutting nerves and or blood flow to my ovaries, as I need them to keep working for the rest of my pre-menopause years.

Charting, NFP and EBF have spaced our other children nicely, but I have a remarkable ability to get pregnant it seems. My mother and both grandmothers had healthy natural conceptions in their early forties. I really don't want to have ten more productive years!!!

SO- I think maybe Essure is the best option. BUT- I can't find too much about potential side effects, horror stories, happy stories, whatever stories that are independent from the manufacturers web info.

Anybody want to share?

Thanks, Milo

[mrsjtc]

I'm also looking for info about Essure. I did find some horror stories online and I'm looking to see if anyone on here has experiences. 

[jeminijad]

[Kellyh_01]

I had a tubal ligation 2 weeks ago.  I considered Essure, but it didn't seem as "sure" to me.  I didn't like the idea of the waiting period and  hoping that enough scar tissue formed to block the tubes.  I know that they check, but I just didn't trust it's effectiveness, despite the statistics that are published about it.  I feel like it's still very new.  And insertion in the office sounded painful to me.

[Milo]

I did some more looking online, and found the Adaina, the same idea but using medical grade silicon, instead of metal coils.  I like the non-metal aspect.  Still looking for info.  

[Catherine12]

I had the Essure procedure a bit over a year ago.

It went very well - really it was just like the website described. I was still breastfeeding my dd at the time, and having the essure done didn't interfere with that at all, since it's an outpatient procedure with minimum medication necessary (I took high doses of advil and one stronger pain pill right before the procedure, advil for a few days after the procedure. The gyn who did it usually also gives an anti-anxiety pill, but I chose to go without it and was fine.)

The most stressful part was worrying that I would get pregnant during the three month waiting period. But we managed, and the HSG test to confirm the tubal occlusion was quick and easy.

The worst part of the procedure was getting the local anesthetic shots in my cervix. Also, you do have to have a speculum in for a significant period of time - maybe ten minutes. I hate speculums and this was perhaps the worst part for me. Fortunately, the speculum can come out once they get the camera in. After that point, the procedure was easy and perfectly comfortable. I got to see the inside of my uterus on video, which was actually really cool. There was a slight twinge with the placement of each coil, but it wasn't a big deal. The whole procedure was quick - maybe 30 minutes. Shortly after it was over, I felt pretty normal again, just crampy like with an especially bad period. In fact, I actually ended up going shopping and out to dinner right afterward.

After a couple days, the cramping had stopped. Over the next few months, I occasionally felt a little twinge in the area where the coils were, but nothing else. My periods seemed a little heaver than usual for a few months, but that could have been because dd was nursing less.

Now, over a year later, I feel totally normal. I don't think the essure has had any side effects for me - and it's great that I don't have to worry about birth control anymore. The only real downside was the expense - thousands of dollars.