Hi flintstone,

It's really hard for any of us to predict how painful you will find the actual procedure. It varies so much as you read individual stories.

I had my ablation done in my doctor's office, wide awake. I remember some very mild cramping--not even as bad as what I had experienced with my period. The doctor inserted my Essure coils first, and I felt a bit of poking and pinching during that. When he did the ablation immediately after, I don't even remember any sensation of the instruments in there. I had taken 3 Advil (as instructed by my doctor) one hour prior to my appointment, then they did some local anesthesia to the cervix prior to the procedure. Advil is what I used to take for menstrual cramps, so maybe that helped.

When I got home, I didn't even bother with the prescription Percocet. I had one of the Advil leftover (they actually gave me 2 "sample packets" with 2 Advil liqui-gels in as my pre-med). I took that sometime in the afternoon, partly because it was leftover, partly as a preventative measure. I used a hot water bottle on and off while I watched TV, as I had a bit of backache/cramps that was typical of period symptoms again. It wasn't even really painful, just mild discomfort.

I was able to resume my normal activities the next day. The only symptom I had that limited me at all was the watery discharge. That was a huge inconvenience, but not painful.

Can't compare the EA to childbirth, as I don't have any kids. But I can say that looking back, if I had to do it all over again knowing what I do now, I wouldn't hesitate to do the in-office procedure again.

Take care,
-Anita
Essure and ThermaChoice balloon EA 07.13.2007