"Feminine" questions...

I really needed to hear that right now. I had it put in today, and I keep asking why I did this to myself. They couldn't give me the pain medication because my surgery is next week and it is an NSAID. It was the worst pain I've ever experienced. I was screaming it hurt so bad. Advice for anyone else considering an IUD: get it at least a couple of weeks in advance of wls so you can get the pain meds.

Owwwwwwww!!! Yeah, they said it would pinch, but I had cramps for three days where I felt like I'd been hit by a wrecking ball.

Grab a hot pad or a sock full of rice run through the microwave, that was the only thing that helped me.

The good news is that it hardly hurts at all on the way out...

My surgeon wanted her patients to be off hormonal birth control two weeks before surgery. I brought some pads with me to the hospital, but my period didn't actually start until the day after I got home, still about a week early.

You don't typically have to stop your contraceptives (at least the oral ones) because they aren't known to thin the blood.  However, you will want to have a back-up method of BC for awhile as women can apparently become SUPER fertile after WLS.  

I would use pills AND condoms.  And make sure you take those pills religiously every day at the exact same time every day.  They've reduced the amount of hormones in BC pills to the absolute lowest level to reduce side effects.  Missing a day if you're super-fertile can spell disaster :-( 

Thanks Tracy! I have heard about the "super-fertility." I had an unintended pregnancy (and very early miscarriage) last summer at my highest weight while on birth control AND with PCOS, so doubling-up BC methods is definitely in my playbook!

If it's an option, I'd absolutely recommend looking into the IUD. No worries about pills being absorbed or estrogen in your bloodstream, plus it's one less pill to take every day. I had mine for 3 years, worked like a charm!

My surgeon has us stop hormonal birth control 6-8 weeks prior to surgery, and can't be resumed until 6-8 weeks post surgery.