COPPER IUD (PARAGARD / NON-HORMONAL)· 🔶 The Open Cycle

Non-hormonal means your cycle is still yours — fully.

The copper IUD doesn't touch your hormones, so you keep ovulating and the four-phase protocol still applies. It changes two specific things — and this stack covers exactly those two.

Selene built this profile for women with a copper IUD (Paragard) or a copper coil. Because it's non-hormonal, you don't have the nutrient depletion of the pill — you have a working cycle. The two real effects are mechanical and mineral: heavier, longer periods that cost you more iron each month, and a steady copper release that can tip the copper-to-zinc balance. So your cycle-phased foundation stays intact, with iron, zinc, and cofactors layered on top.

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“The copper IUD increases menstrual blood loss by roughly 50–75%, and iron-deficiency anemia is the single most common medical reason women have it removed. The flip side is mineral: copper and zinc compete for the same absorption and transport pathways, so a sustained copper load can quietly depress zinc status over months or years. Neither shows up as a dramatic symptom at first — they show up as fatigue, hair shedding, and lowered immunity that get blamed on everything but the IUD. Both are straightforward to stay ahead of.”

Hubacher et al., Contraception, 2009 / Imani et al., J Trace Elem Med Biol, 2014

YOUR PROFILE

🔶

The Open Cycle

Copper IUD (Paragard / non-hormonal)

WHAT'S IN YOUR PACK

Iron bisglycinate18–25mg
The central nutrient for copper IUD users. Heavier monthly bleeding means more iron lost — and ferritin below 30 ng/mL drives fatigue, hair shedding, and impaired thyroid conversion before anemia ever shows on a standard CBC. Bisglycinate is absorbed ~4× better than ferrous sulfate with far less GI upset, so it actually keeps pace with the loss.
Vitamin C (with iron)Paired dose
Vitamin C converts dietary and supplemental iron to its more absorbable form and can multiply non-heme iron uptake several-fold. Taken alongside the iron, it makes the repletion meaningfully more effective — which matters when you are replacing a recurring monthly loss, not a one-time deficit.
Zinc bisglycinate15–25mg
Copper and zinc are antagonists. The copper IUD raises copper exposure, so zinc is the counterweight that keeps the ratio in balance — supporting immunity, skin, and the iron metabolism that heavier periods stress. Bisglycinate is gentle and well-absorbed.
Magnesium glycinate300–400mg
Heavier, crampier periods are common with a copper IUD, especially in the first 6–12 months. Magnesium glycinate eases menstrual cramping and the prostaglandin-driven pain of heavier flow, and supports sleep and mood across the luteal phase your natural cycle still produces.
Activated B-complexDaily
Iron repletion works better against a full B-vitamin background: B12 and folate are required for the red-blood-cell production that replaces what heavier periods lose, and B6 supports the luteal phase. Because your cycle is intact, these slot into the normal phase-based foundation rather than a steady-state replacement.

Because the copper IUD is non-hormonal, your pack stays phase-synced to your natural cycle — this profile adds iron, vitamin C, zinc, and cofactors on top of that foundation rather than replacing it. If your IUD is hormonal (Mirena, Kyleena, Skyla, Liletta), see The Steady State instead.

“I switched to the copper IUD to get off hormones and felt great about it — until about a year in, when I was exhausted and shedding hair. My periods had gotten noticeably heavier and I hadn't connected the dots. Ferritin was 11. Iron plus vitamin C, and within two cycles I felt like myself. I just wish I'd been told to watch my iron from the start.”

Hannah K.
Copper IUD · Portland

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