Periods after IUD removal; lighter and short= fertility issues?

Rachallkins

Forgive the paranoid rant...

At the end of January 2014 I had my copper IUD of 5 years removed due to constant BV (which is now all better. yay! happy vag!) 

Looking back now I know while I had the IUD my periods were heavy and long. About 9-12 days in length with 4 of those days being heavy.

Since the removal of my IUD I have had 3 periods, all of which have been a joke compared to every period I have had in my past.  The first day I have to "use something", then after that I don't need to "use" anything! They are super light and only last about 4 days..... is this normal??

Also my cycles are getting super long. Before they have always been about 28-30 days, always at the end of the month.   Now I am charting and can see that they are around 34 days.

My BBT temps have been on point with a normal curve.

So just wondering if a long cycle and short light period is a bad thing for my future fertility??

Rachallkins

Also:   Hurray on saving money on tampons... and I seem to ovulate on CD 17-20. 

janda426

Oh boy.

Your body is adjusting to coming off the birth control. Your cycles aren't going to be perfect. I'm 10 months off BC and still average 34 day cycles (which isn't "super long" btw)

Don't borrow trouble for yourself. What you're experiencing is completely normal.

mommy2C

Was your IUD hormonal or not?

Rachallkins

I just figured since it was non-hormonal there would not be such a huge change!  Sheesh!   Thank for the replies! Made me feel better.

marriedinaugust

Everyone is different in their adjustment. I had Mirena taken out last June and my periods are super light compared to what they were 5 years ago. My cycle also went from 28 days to 26. My last period was the first time I even had cramps since coming off BC.

mm529

I just had a lengthy discussion with a OBGYN fellow about this last month. From what she told me, copper from the paraguard iud can thicken the lining and gives you a much heavier flow than you would see with another type of BC. The copper can also thin the uterine wall, but i have no clue if this would cause you to have a lighter period after removal. Sounds like you're just adjusting. Just because it wasn't hormonal doesn't mean that it won't take some time to normalize.

vjdk07

I had the copper IUD removed in January. When I had it my periods were super heavy and lasted 8 to 10 days. My gyn tried to tell me it was basically because my ute is old. When I had it, my cycles were pretty much exactly 28 days. Since removal my periods last 3ish days and are super light and my cyle has gone to 30 to 34 days.

HeyStVincent

@Rachallkins - I went ofF OCPs about 4.5 months ago. My cycles have been between 42 and 28 days along (42d, 28d, 34d, and 32d).  My periods have also been MUCH more bearable off of the pill.  I've never been able to keep my iron levels up (even on an iron supplement) and now that I'm off the pill my iron levels and RBC counts are perfect - that's how heavy my periods were on the pill.  Had I known that OCPs were the culprit, I would have stopped using them!!  I think I didn't realize how bad my periods were on the pill because I started on the pill when I was pretty young (long story) so I never really knew what my real cycles were like and I got used to having a really shitty one.

Anyway, point being - don't worry too much about it.  You sound perfectly healthy and normal to me.

kennkl26

I had my Mirena IUD removed after a little over a year about 13 days ago, the same day i had it removed i started the nuvaring.  I have been bleeding for 12 of those 13 days, its not heavy but stronger than spotting. There is some clotting but i am worried.  I call the doctor after day 6 and she said its normal but this is the 3 time this month i am getting my period. Have anyone experience anything similar to this?  

Alicia_R1

When I came off BCP's back in sep 2012 I noticed my periods were super short and super light, like I could get by with 1 tampon the entire time and maybe had 3 days of bleeding, most of it super light. 

My shorter cycles were 32-35 days, but more often than not I had them ranging up to 77 days. 

your cycle lengths don't sound out of the  normal range, and if you are relatively consistant and ovulating regularly, I wouldn't worry at this point.