Trying to decide which kind of Copper IUD: Liberte or Nova?

January 13, 2014 6:59 PM

I'm in Ontario, and my doctor wrote a note for my prescription which basically says "Copper IUD" on it, which means I get to decide which IUD to get of the kinds available here: the NOVA T ($200) or the Liberte ($80).

My google fu doesn't seem to find any real comparisons out there...I'd love to spend less money, but have this feeling that cheaping out on my birth control is a bad idea...BUT some things I've read seem to indicate the Liberte actually has more copper and lasts longer. Any opinions??

posted by anonymous to Health & Fitness (3 answers total)

IANAD. Looking around at the patient/doctor information, it looks like the Liberté is licensed for 5 years, but the Nova-T for only 2.5 years. Both are licensed by Health Canada, so I wouldn't worry about "cheaping out". Especially since they're both copper IUDs, which are pretty comparable in terms of mechanism.
posted by gingerest at 8:06 PM on January 13, 2014

If you can get it, I highly recommend Gynefix. It's a non-hormonal copper IUD that attaches to the top of the cervix. The big advantage is that because it's attached, it doesn't need the big T shape to hold it in. So you don't get the extra-heavy periods that are common with bigger IUDs. I got one when I lived in the UK and it was awesome. It's not available here in the US, so I've had to switch to Paragard. Which is fine, but oh man ... so. much. blood.

Apparently it is available as part of clinical trials in Canada. $65 at Willow clinic in Vancouver.
posted by CruiseSavvy at 10:08 PM on January 13, 2014 [5 favorites]

I have the Nova T. I was told it comes in 5 or 10 year versions, but I had the 5 year inserted. (I could be wrong about this but I think I recall them saying they'd advise the 5 year one as I had never had kids, which I took to mean that the 10 year one is bigger and so opening the cervix wider would be more painful. But I didn't totally take that in as I had thought I might be considering kids after the 5 anyway.) I had no problems at all with it, and had it changed to a new one after the time was up 2 years ago. Again, no issues, my periods didn't change at all. Birth Control wise it's the best thing I ever did. (However I'll add BC is free here under our health system so I didn't have to factor in costs.)
posted by billiebee at 1:05 AM on January 14, 2014