I pulled my own out. It was a little crampy while I was pulling, but a huge relief when I finally got it out. Apparently it had moved while I was working (farm work so I move some pretty heavy stuff all day) and was sitting in the bottom of my uterus instead of the top and the pain was unbelievable. The Dr told me "Oh you have an appointment with the gyno in 3 weeks, just get him to pull it out" but no way was I waiting and putting up with the pain for that long. I made another appointment with her the next day, went home and pulled it out then went back in, handed it to her in a zip lock bag and told her she best be putting the rod in because if I fell pregnant between then and the gyno appointment she would be booking me in for an abortion as well. (I honestly would have used barrier protection and would have kept it if I had fallen pregnant, but doctors in my town need those sorts of threats made before they will actually do anything). Had the rod put in the following day so I can't really tell you about periods or falling pregnant sorry. But yeah the removal it was uncomfortable, but didn't really hurt. Good luck with it

It comes out really really easily. It took about a month to get back to normal - easy!

I had bad cramps and spotting or light bleeding for a few weeks after it came out. An over-the-counter pain reliever like ibuprofen can help you feel better.