EP 69: Why the Copper IUD is Not a Safe Form of Birth Control

Copper IUDs have soared in popularity as a safe alternative to hormone-based birth control for women but is this really true?

From what I’ve seen over the last 14 years, the opposite is true, yet when a woman notices chronic symptoms such as yeast infections, anxiety and panic attacks, and even psychosis after insertion of this device, she is often gaslit and told to see a psychiatrist. Please know it’s not all in your head. If you or a loved one are experiencing adverse reactions to the copper IUD, please share this episode. You may save a life.

The copper IUD is a Class II medical intrauterine device that’s inserted into the uterus for long-term birth control (up to 10 years). It’s a T-shaped plastic frame with copper wire coiled around the stem and two copper sleeves along the arms that continuously release copper into the lining of the uterus. This process produces an inflammatory reaction in the uterus that is toxic to sperm, which helps prevent fertilization.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The detrimental side-effects of the copper IUD
• Why the copper IUD is not a safer or better form of birth control
• The multi-district lawsuit against the manufacturer of the copper IUD
• Why the copper IUD was recalled in 2014
• What copper toxicity is and how it impacts a woman’s body

Listen to the podcast here:

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Is There a Lawsuit Against Copper IUD Side Effects?

I want you to think about this: the copper IUD produces an inflammatory reaction (emphasis on inflammatory reaction) in the uterus that is toxic to sperm, which helps prevent fertilization.

My question to you is why would you want something in your uterus that creates an inflammatory reaction?

Now I want to share with you what this inflammatory reaction does to a woman’s body.

The FDA first approved the copper IUD under the name Paragard in 1984. In the 30 years since Paragard was approved, there have been more than 40,000 reports to the FDA according to publicly available data in the FDA Adverse Events Reporting System database (otherwise known as FAERS), which is intended to help identify safety concerns related to marketed products. Side note: we know the FDA monitors these reports but because the FDA suffers from a chronic disease known as regulatory capture aka in bed with Big Pharma, they’ve done nothing to remove this device from the market.

Of the tens of thousands of reports in FAERS, more than 15,000 have involved serious complications and at least 15 deaths. In 2019, the agency received 7,273 reports, again, according to the FAERS database. Because so many women have suffered serious complications from this device, in 2022 a multi-district litigation lawsuit was filed against the manufacturer, Teva Pharmaceuticals, as well as Cooper Surgical, which purchased the device from Teva Pharmaceuticals in 2017.

Was the Copper IUD Recalled?

Here’s another interesting side note: In April 2014, Teva Pharmaceuticals recalled two lots of the device for “lack of assurance of sterility,” according to an archived FDA report.

The health complications women have experienced that are in the litigation include:

• Inflammation caused by copper left in the body, including migration of the IUD and pieces left inside after removal causing inflammation or allergic reaction, as well as IUD pieces becoming lodged in organs, missing IUD pieces, and pieces that cannot be removed
• Perforation of the uterine wall or cervix
• Scarring and damage to other organs

If you have a copper IUD please do not try to remove it yourself! I’m seeing a lot of women do this and it’s a very bad idea because not only can you perforate your uterine wall or cervix during this process but as I just shared, pieces can break off and become logged into organs, which can cause even more inflammation.

Now the Paragard has a special removal thread that hangs down from the base of the device into a woman’s vagina. When it is time to remove it, the doctor is supposed to locate this thread and simply pull it out. The two T-shaped arms which hold the device in place are made of flexible plastic that is supposed to bend upwards to enable the device to be pulled out through the cervix.

But in many cases the flexible plastic in the arms appears to get brittle and hard after years inside the body and as a result, the arms do not flex upward like they’re supposed to when a doctor attempts to remove it. When this happens, one or both of the plastic arms often fracture and break into fragments inside the woman’s body.

Once the arms break off it can be a major challenge to remove them safely. This can be done with a hysteroscopy procedure that involves inserting a small endoscopic device with a camera through the cervix and into the uterine cavity in the hopes of removing the broken pieces but unfortunately, hysteroscopic removal will not work if the fragmented pieces have become embedded if they are already in the uterine wall.

The only other options for removal of the fragmented pieces are to surgically open the uterine cavity, which is similar to a C-section or to perform a hysterectomy, which will result in permanently infertility and throw a woman into instant menopause.

What is the Major Disadvantage of Using an IUD?

Other complications of the copper IUD include:

• Permanent infertility
• Anemia – this is due to the relationship between copper and iron metabolism
• As well as cancer, hysterectomy, infection, chronic abdominal pain, vaginal bleeding and pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)

Proponents of the copper IUD make a lot of claims that it is a better and safer form of birth control, even citing studies that copper ion levels released by IUDs are too tiny to impair human health. Please don’t believe these claims. Two big claims that are completely false are that the copper IUD decreases the risk of endometrial cancer and possibly cervical cancer and that it doesn’t carry the risk of side effects related to hormonal birth control methods.

Why is a Copper IUD Not Recommended?

Well, guess what? Even if you’re not directly taking estrogen, estrogen increases copper retention in the body. And dysregulation of estrogen and the many endocrine disruptors we are exposed to can contribute to the development of many cancers, including cancers of the breasts, ovaries, and cervix. Plus copper is needed to make blood vessels, and blood vessels feed fibroids, cysts, and tumors. Anytime I’m working with a woman with elevated copper levels and a history of cancer, I want her off birth control immediately, regardless of the form. If I’m being honest, I don’t recommend birth control for any woman. It’s just too risky, and there are other, safer options.

Anytime I’m working with a woman with elevated copper levels and a family history of cancer, I want her off birth control immediately, regardless of the form. If I’m being honest, I don’t recommend birth control for any woman. It’s just too risky, and there are other, safer options.

Implanting a copper IUD into a female who is already (and usually unknowingly) overloaded with copper is a recipe for disaster. To make matters worse, few doctors are aware of copper overload, thus, they may unintentionally prescribe hormones and/or devices that could negatively impact health and well-being.

As I’ve shared, these claims that a copper IUD is safe couldn’t be further from the truth, and many women painfully discover this the hard way. In fact, I have yet to work with a single woman in my clinic who hasn’t been adversely affected by the copper IUD.

What is Copper Toxicity and Can the Copper IUD Mess With Hormones?

Copper toxicity (or overload) tends to run in families, and occurs due to an inability to effectively metabolize and eliminate excess copper. It is not the same as Wilson’s Disease, which is a life-threatening and rare genetic disorder where copper accumulates in vital organs and glands.

Copper has the ability to profoundly affect every system in the body (especially the reproductive, nervous, and glandular systems). An overabundance of copper can also have a devastating effect on mental health because copper lowers dopamine (a neurotransmitter that controls the brain’s pleasure and reward centers) and increases norepinephrine (a neurotransmitter that also functions as a stress hormone) in the brain. Norepinephrine is a chemical released by the adrenal glands. It is a regulator of attention and impulsivity. It’s also part of the body’s fight and flight response and has a direct impact on heart rate and blood pressure. When elevated it becomes a pro-inflammatory agent.

One of the things that studies show on the gut microbiome is that when you increase epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (noradrenaline) in the body, you actually start proliferating certain pathogenic bacteria. These pathogenic bacteria that sit in your system are lying in wait so to speak because they’re waiting for your system to change in order to start proliferating. This is one of the ways in which stress can alter your microbial terrain and it’s something I commonly see in women with a copper IUD or who are on other forms of birth control.

Does a Copper IUD Have Long-Term Side Effects?

This explains why common, yet undisclosed side effects of copper IUDs include severe anxiety and panic attacks, depression, hair loss, anemia, increased anger and rage, brain fog, spaciness, paranoia, fatigue, and yeast and bacterial infections.

As a metal, copper is a great conductor of energy, (you know how that energizer bunny keeps going and going) which explains why all of my female clients have complained about symptoms of insomnia, racing thoughts, heart palpitations, and dizziness after a copper IUD is inserted for birth control.

Practitioners are told to inform patients that adverse menstrual irregularities will eventually subside after insertion of a copper IUD, but I have found the opposite to be true. Disorders such as endometriosis, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD), and Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) actually tend to increase in severity and duration after a copper IUD is implanted.

Postpartum depression (PPD) and psychosis are directly connected to elevated levels of copper, especially with multiple births because copper levels increase with each pregnancy (as I shared copper is needed to make blood vessels) and often do not go back to normal post-birth. When I hear about women drowning their children, committing suicide, or shooting their husbands, I wonder if monitoring their copper levels would have helped prevent such sad stories.

If your doctor rolls their eyes at you for asking to have your copper IUD removed and says it’s not the IUD, please share Dr. William Walsh’s study in the Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology titled Elevated serum copper levels in women with a history of postpartum depression. By the way, that study was conducted in 2007.

As I shared, copper overload is quite common in women because estrogen increases copper retention in the body. It is often inherited and brought on during hormonal events such as puberty and pregnancy. If you and the women in your family share similar traits and conditions such as ADHD, painful periods, or depression, I encourage getting your copper levels checked because copper overload may run in your family as it does in mine.

Copper overload is quite common in women because estrogen increases copper retention in the body. It is often inherited and brought on during hormonal events such as puberty and pregnancy.

When copper is not bound to the proteins ceruloplasmin and metallothionein, it and other heavy metals are free to roam the blood in unbound form, leading to what we call systemic oxidative stress. With the sympathetic branch of the nervous system under attack, the body goes into a constant state of fight, flight, freeze, so calming down becomes extremely difficult.

With copper high, zinc becomes unbalanced.

Zinc, essential to all forms of life, and is a component of more than 300 enzymes. It enhances resistance to stress and maintains intellectual function, memory and mood levels. It also enhances gene expression of metallothionein (one of our body’s master antioxidants), which is essential because of its ability to bind to toxic heavy metals and transport them out of the body.

Copper and zinc work in tandem to control the overgrowth of fungal, yeast, and parasitic infections. Without the proper ratio of copper and zinc, these types of infections can become chronic and difficult to eliminate. Copper/zinc imbalance also contributes to high levels of other toxic metals such as mercury, lead, cadmium, and arsenic.

The highest concentrations of zinc are the brain and prostate gland, which is why it takes more zinc to create a male than a female. I often find that women who miscarry males are quite deficient in zinc. Zinc cannot determine gender so please do not go out and start taking a bunch of zinc, but it is a critical nutrient for a healthy pregnancy and as I mentioned previously, postpartum issues are a result of elevated copper levels that do not return to normal post-birth. By the way, it’s normal for copper to increase during pregnancy to create the blood vessels needed to create a baby.

Zinc deficiency in parents before conception can cause miscarriage, fetal growth restrictions, learning disabilities, and mental health challenges.

In fact, thanks to great work of Dr. William Walsh, zinc deficiency is the most frequently observed chemical imbalance in mental health and cognitive functioning with more than 90% of individuals diagnosed with depression, anxiety, behavioral disorders, ADHD, autism, and schizophrenia to exhibit depleted plasma zinc levels. Additionally, most mental health disorders involve oxidative stress that depletes zinc stores in the body.

Zinc is necessary to produce important neurotransmitters and hormones such as serotonin, GABA, and dopamine.

Copper is a conductor of energy and we are energetic beings. What do you think happens what we overload our own circuitry? We crash and blow a fuse. This is why copper is a pro inflammatory agent when it becomes elevated.

Copper is a conductor of energy and we are energetic beings. What do you think happens what we overload our own circuitry? We crash and blow a fuse. This is why copper is a pro inflammatory agent when it becomes elevated.

I want to end this episode talking about metallothionein and copper. We hear a lot about the master antioxidant glutathione, but metallothionein deserves equal attention.

Metallothionein is a family of cysteine-rich proteins. Cysteine is one of two sulfur-containing amino acids; the other is methionine. The GI tract contains this powerful antioxidant.

If a person has an excess of copper in the GI tract, more MT is automatically expressed, which then binds to copper and prevents the amount of copper that can make it into the liver and bloodstream. That’s the primary way copper is regulated, meaning copper elevation is prevented.

When a person has chronically elevated copper levels, it means there is a genetic weakness to MT function. When copper gets into the bloodstream, it gets there by binding to proteins such as albumen when it leaves the intestinal membrane, then goes into the liver where most of the copper becomes bound to ceruloplasmin, which is a copper-binding protein that acts like a chaperone carrying copper throughout the body and delivering it where it’s needed). What’s also interesting is ceruloplasmin’s ability to destroy histamines (along with the copper-containing enzyme histaminase).

In a normal, healthy individual, copper is regulated throughout the bloodstream and bound to ceruloplasmin, which is why I always test for it. If you wind up with too much copper in the liver, the excess is supposed to bind with ceruloplasmin and MT and go out through the bile duct.

A small percentage of free copper is normal, but if a person has a much higher level – higher than 25% – this is a definite indicator of high oxidative stress.

What Does Metallothionein Do?

• Detoxifies mercury and other toxic heavy metals
• Develops and improves functioning of the immune system
• Delivers zinc to cells throughout the body
• Prevents yeast overgrowth
• Regulates stomach acid pH
• Helps with taste discrimination by the tongue
• Protects enzymes that break down casein and gluten
• Enhances efficiency of the intestinal and blood-brain barriers and
• Reduces inflammation after injury or illness

I realize there is a lot of confusing and very contradictory advice available about copper toxicity and the copper IUD. Please note that copper isn’t bad, we need it to function optimally. It’s only when it becomes elevated that it turns into an pro-inflammatory agent. What’s important is that copper and zinc are balanced with one another. They need to live in harmony, happily married for the rest of their lives for your brain and body to function optimally.

If you know of a loved one who is suffering negative side-effects from the copper IUD or any other form of birth control, please share this post. You may just save a life.

Important Links:

• Paragard Lawsuits
• Forbes Paragard Lawsuit Update February 2023
• FDA Recall Report
• FDA Adverse Events Reporting System
• Walsh, William J., Crayton, John W. Elevated serum copper levels in women with a history of postpartum depression. Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology, Volume 21, Issue 1, March 14, 2007
• Walsh, William J. (2012). Nutrient Power: Heal Your Biochemistry and Heal Your Brain. New York, NY: Skyhorse.