"i had paraguard for four years and experienced very bad cramps during ovulation and my period, along with heavy bleeding.  i switched to mirena after consulting with a new gyn.   the removal of paraguard was painless and took less than a second.  the original insertion of it was extremly painful.  i had it inserted when i was in my late 20s, no children.  i still have no children and found the insertion of the mirena to be no worse than two bad cramps, each lasting only a second.  i took 800mg of motrin about an hour prior to the precedure, which may have helped.  i had no cramping or spotting after the procedure and have still have no cramping or spotting."