Essure failure rates

I was curious about what the failure rate for Essure was. I figured it must be low since the sterility they cause is not reversible. Failure rates seem to range from 3 percent all the way up to 12 percent. That's kinda scary since you'd think a sterilization device with no reversibility would be a little more successful. Hell, I don't even think the failure rate for condoms is 12 percent, and it's not like you can't consistenly use Essure, so it's not as if you'll forget your pill or forget a condom "in the heat of the moment".

Reading more, I'm seeing tales of women who have had their Essure coils fall out, coils that migrate out of the fallopian tube and perforate the uterus (and may even float up into the abdomen), and women who, up to a year after insertion, got pregnant with the coils still in place and with tests showing proper scarring!

I still want to get Essure done someday, but damn...talk about some scary experiences, especially when Essure has been a gawdsend to so many CFers.

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Here's a message board with seven pages of Essure failure stories. All these women are Moomies (who were just thrilled when Gawd sent them another myrakull against the odds of the ebil nickel coils), so bear with me.

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http://www.womens-health.com/boards/birth-control/6693-essure-failure.html

i think condom failure rate is 3%. but dont quote me

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I just post the stories, for interest.. for everyone

Lord, what fools these mortals be!
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act III, Scene ii

Voltaire said: "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."

H.L.Mencken wrote:"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.”

Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. Albert Einstein

That's kind of horrifying. :/

I considered Essure, before my husband got snipped, but had a hard enough time finding a doc who would even agree to sterilize me by any means. I always thought Essure was a kind of laser sealing process, I had no idea an implant (?) was involved.

I was recommended it, and am still in the process of thinking about it but thanks a ton, Camb. This is serious food for thought.

I have the coils, no scarring after three months following the HSG procedure. Now what? The doctor just ran out of the room. I have an appt.let's see.

14% of women who get essure will not be blocked in both tubes after an initial placement. Ten percent of women will not see success with essure even after two placements. For the 90% for whom the procedure works, the failure rate is .2% (over the first three years; long-term data is not available). To compare, surgical ligation has a failure rate of .5% over the first five years, rising to up to 5% after 10 years (but varying significantly depending on the method used).

With essure, the risk of perforation is 1.8% and the risk of expulsion is 2.2%.

Researching techniques is a good idea, but it's worth understanding the level of risk and making your decision with that understanding. Personal accounts can be much more compelling, but they tend to be grouped with similar accounts, which can make a particular outcome seem more probable than it actually is.

One of my relatives who is a nurse herself, had an option of Essure. She went with a tubal ligation instead. Her reasoning was not so much that Essure had a high failure rate. She was mainly more comfortable with the tubal ligation due to the fact that it has been around much longer and had a chance to be "researched, tried and proven".

Even though my nickel-sensitivity ruled out standard Essure (I know they have some non-nickel, similar varieties), I felt very much like your relative, Techie. I also didn't want to have to go back and forth, waiting until they could 'ensure' my success, and I had a surgeon who warned me that he was damned aggressive, and would snip and burn 'em beyond all hope for a future pregnancy.

I got to see the x-ray of my lower body after I woke up from the surgery. It was surreal. I still recommend the heck out of tubal ligation, and no visible scars, since they went through my navel. Tubals rock!

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"They will say that you are on the wrong road, if it is your own." ~Antonio Porchia

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nullipar-tay
I had a surgeon who warned me that he was damned aggressive, and would snip and burn 'em beyond all hope for a future pregnancy.

When I went for my tubal consultation, I asked for the tubes to be cut, clipped, burned and a large piece taken out.

I had adiana (just like essure only they use silicone inserts instead of nickel ones) and haven't had any issues as of yet.

Heh! I hear ya. Scatter, smothered, covered --- whatever renders the dang things useless!

Geez, what's this old thing doing back on the main page?

I guess Essure is like an IUD in that it can be expelled, painful, go floating around in the abdomen, and just plain not work. I just know whatever method I choose, I will be looking at the failure rates and worrying I'll be in the two or three percent who experience a failure. It just sucks that so few doctors are willing to actually do a sterilization surgery requested of them...I mean, I know why they're so stubborn about it. It's because of assholes who DO regret their choice and fuck it all up for those of us who have more than one brain cell.

On one hand, a tubal sounds more thorough. But it's invasive (isn't it?) and likely a lot more expensive. But IUDs and Essure seem to have a higher failure rate since they can fall out. So I guess the question for the ladies with sterilization on our wish list is whether we want a successful choice or an economical one.

Cambion, my relative has good medical insurance, tubal ligation was covered almost completely. As far as price for it, here is a source of info:
http://www.yourcontraception.com/birth-control-methods/tubal-ligation/tubal-ligation.html
Contraception Costs

Yeah, I had Blue Cross, and called them twice before the procedure to verify that it should be covered. It was a 10k procedure... that we paid $1700 for. I'd already hit my deductible, though, for the year with a non-voluntary outpatient procedure. Still, insurance companies seem to be happier to cover sterilization than pregnancy. ^_^;

My tubal was about $5,000 but I paid only $250 with insurance. Note that this was in a fancy medical school facility, so price may vary.

Techie, I had to laugh at most of the comments in the link that you posted. So much lowing about "tubal ligation syndrome" and "can u git pregnate if you had ur tubez tyed?" IMO, tubal ligation syndrome can pretty much be summed up two ways: 1) Regret, and 2) side effects of going off of hormonal birth control. I have had zero negative side effects, and mine was two years ago. I rarely read about anyone saying they have this condition without also stating they want more kids (usually with a new partner - to have "one of their own").

Seems to me that the most economical choice will be the one that is most successful, usually a tubal.

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gwendolynrain
DONT DO IT. IT sucks. ITs painful. One of mine has left my fallopian tube and is embedded in my uterine wall. I have to have surgery. I have constant pain. Since the initial implant my bleeding has been ridiculously heavy. My last "period" was 34 days long. Life is too short to suffer like this. Its been a year and a half since my procedure and I JUST found out that the coil is out.......no wonder the last year of my life has been so crappy. There are hundreds of stories out there. Do your research, it will change your mind!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've had Essure for a year. I loooooove it. There are risks with any procedure. I have heavy periods to begin with because I have endometriosis. I don't really believe in the stories from the non-medical websites because shit happens. Yes, the coil can be expelled, yes you might not be blocked after 3 months, etc. Just because a handful of women had bad experiences doesn't mean the procedure is bad.

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What is a home without children? Quiet. ~Henny Youngman

I don't want people who want to dance, I want people who have to dance. ~George Balanchine

"I took the batteries out of my biological clock and put them in my vibrator"

I would definitely prefer tubal ligation to Essure, but doubt that any doctor would sterilise me in such an aggressive way. Apparently I am too young to know my own mind. d eyes2

I'd really love to have my ovaries ripped out and burnt, sometimes.
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Ketchup
My tubal was about $5,000 but I paid only $250 with insurance. Note that this was in a fancy medical school facility, so price may vary.

Techie, I had to laugh at most of the comments in the link that you posted. So much lowing about "tubal ligation syndrome" and "can u git pregnate if you had ur tubez tyed?" IMO, tubal ligation syndrome can pretty much be summed up two ways: 1) Regret, and 2) side effects of going off of hormonal birth control. I have had zero negative side effects, and mine was two years ago. I rarely read about anyone saying they have this condition without also stating they want more kids (usually with a new partner - to have "one of their own").

I did not check out the entire content of the site, sorry. I was mainly after costs of the procedure.

As far as side effects, my relative had none, aside from a typical recovery from a surgery. My relative is a nurse at a hospital where they perform many different surgeries, including tubal ligation. Her opinion on side effects is that any surgery could have side effects. In most cases, modern medicine is able to attend to side effects.

As far as people's post's about regrets. Someone is always complaining about something, somewhere. We still live in a society where some women do what they think they "should" do rather than decide for themselves. Sometimes, husbands will push women to get the procedure done. When someone does something against their own will or they are pressured into something, chances are good, they are not going to be happy with the outcome.

Majority of women here, on Bratfree, that have been sterilized, have chosen the procedures for themselves. Even if there were complications, overall complaint rate is going to be low, they feel that any negative are outweighed by the positives.

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Techie

Majority of women here, on Bratfree, that have been sterilized, have chosen the procedures for themselves. Even if there were complications, overall complaint rate is going to be low, they feel that any negative are outweighed by the positives.

Yep. I did have cramping off and on for 3 days and heavy bleeding (but I was due for my period), since then? No problems. My ex is convinced i'll change my mind, erm no. Everytime I see a kid in public throwing a tantrum, I think to myself "THANK GOODNESS I don't have to deal with that/train my kid how to behave".

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What is a home without children? Quiet. ~Henny Youngman

I don't want people who want to dance, I want people who have to dance. ~George Balanchine

"I took the batteries out of my biological clock and put them in my vibrator"

CLew(L)is, your experience can't be counted here, not least because it was probably due to human error due to your either not comprehending ,or not even paying attention, to what you were told or given to read as info about the procedure. The very fact that you posted in a childfree forum is proof of this being a problem for you.

I was Essured in 2006 and have had no problems at all. I would recommend Essure to anyone, and I picked it over a tubal ligation because it was less invasive. That said, hopefully I won't have any problems, but it's been 5 years and all is well. I'd make sure the doctor you go to is experienced in performing Essure, for sure. I went to a teaching hospital in NYC for my procedure.

I am happily uterus free and I doubt there's a chance that my hysterectomy will fail. Add that to the fact that I am comfortably partner free as well and I think I'm pretty safe in this area!

Your medical problems scientifically can't be traced back to Essure unless you have a metal sensitivity to something in the coils.

More likely they are due to something else. You might have uterine fibroids, PCOS, hormonal imbalance, or any number of issues and should be diagnosed by a doctor before blaming the Essure.

I had been seriously Looking into Essure, but the failure stories put me off (also I have nickel-sensitivity). Thanks for the price info on tubal (might as well stick to what works best) and it just so happens that in my state I'd pay the most (then again breast reduction surgery is $6k last I read).