I love my IUS. We’re best friends. It’s the voice of reason to my uterus. “No, you don’t want to be pregnant. That’s a silly idea. Why would you do that?” It just sits there, quietly doing it’s job while I do my thing. I never have to think about it, or remember it, but when I do I’m thankful for it. If I could, I would give it a little pat on the head for the good job it’s doing. But that would be awkward, as I’m not into cervical fisting.

The IUS (intrauterine system) is an amazing little T-shaped piece of plastic that slowly releases hormones directly into the uterus. A doctor inserts the IUS through the cervix in an in-office procedure. While that sounds like it would be incredibly painful, it’s really not any worse than bad cramps. OK, still not selling you on it. Trust me, the initial pain is worth it for the benefits.

Periods become lighter to non-existent

So I realize that I just lost some male readers as soon as I said the “P word”, but hopefully they stuck it out for the rest of the sentence to discover that periods can disappear. I haven’t had one in over a year. It is glorious. Normally the lining of the uterus grows each month and is shed like the clothes off a stripper. The progestogen released by the IUS slows the buildup or stops it entirely. Hence, little to no periods.

It’s more effective than having your tubes tied

I know some women who welcome their monthly blood letting. It’s a 28 day reminder that says “you’re not pregnant! Go have a drink!” While I don’t get a monthly reminder of my non-pregnancy, I do sleep easy knowing that there is only a 0.2% chance of getting pregnant over a year. That’s really low. If I had my tubes tied, I would be looking at a 0.5% chance. In addition to being more effective, it also has the added bonus of being completely reversible. Let’s say I change my mind and decide I want to have a terrifying mini version of me running around the house. I can go back to the doctor’s office and have her yank the IUS out. Things return to normal levels after a few months, just like going off the pill.

Set it, and forget it

I’m a forgetful person. I forget my own age way too much for someone who is only 24 (Editor’s note: 25). My cats might starve if they didn’t look wistfully at their empty food dish every morning and meow like their lives depend on it. Which I guess it kinda does. When I took the pill, I was terrible at taking it every day, let alone at the correct time. With the IUS, I get it inserted once every five years. Heck, after those five years, I can forget to have it changed for a few months and I’m still fully protected.

All the protection, at a tenth of the hormones!

The IUS releases only about 10% of the hormones that you would get if you are on the pill. When the pill is ingested, it needs to be absorbed by the stomach and travel through the bloodstream to get down to the uterus. The IUS cuts out the middleman and delivers the sweet, delicious progestogen directly to the wannabe babymaker. This means that many of the negative side effects like weight gain, mood changes, etc are lessened with the lower dose.

Bad(ish) stuff

While the IUS is amazing once it’s in, it does have some downsides. Getting it put in hurts. To me it felt like bad period cramps, the doctor compared it to mild labour. Considering that it stopped both of those things from happening to me, I don’t even see it as that big of a negative. The upfront cost also hurts, though not quite “cervix dilating” hurt. When I got it a few years ago, it cost me $350. My medical plan didn’t cover it, whereas they were covering the pill. Unfortunately the IUS isn’t so awesome that it prevents against STIs, so if you’re not in a fluid-bonded relationship, you’re still gonna need to use condoms to protect against all those nasty buggers.

For me, the benefits far outweigh the negatives. Most of the negatives only come along every 5 years or so, when you need to get it changed. I cannot recommend it highly enough. Get it, love it, forget it’s even there.

Go forth and don’t multiply!

Bonus info! If you feel like you just haven’t got your fill of contraceptives talk, Sex Nerd Sandra did a “no babies allowed” podcast this week! Go listen!