April 2th
2008
10:16 PM
Hi everyone. Just got my mirena removed today. I was taken off birth control pills about 8 years ago due to a tumor in my liver from years of taking BCPs; ex-husband had a V, so bc wasn't an issue. I started perimenopausal symptoms around age 38 (I'm now 45), but they weren't severe and I was as regular as clockwork. About two years ago, I started bleeding very heavily with a lot of clotting for about 9 days at a time, and started every third week, which meant I only had 1 clean week/month. Yuck. My doctors agreed that the discomfort of increased bleeding outweighed the risk of the liver business. I started taking a low-dose progesterone pill. I stopped after just two weeks - I felt horrible. My body knows when something's not right. Then I went on the same estrogen-loaded pill I'd taken for 20 some years. It was great the first few months, and then the headaches began...very intense pain about 4 days before my period. It took me months to figure out they were related to the onset of my period. We agreed the pill wasn't for me. My gyn then suggested the mirena, so I had it inserted in October 2007. I went back to having regular periods, but the spotting increased both before and after my 5 day periods (back to 9-day periods, including spotting), but at least the clotting had decreased. Then a couple months later, I started having headaches, backaches, weight gain, and was feeling very blue. I'm at an incredible time in my life...it just doesn't make sense to be feeling down. The last straw was that my hands and feet started to swell up like crazy. Like some others here, I began to feel like an old (really old) lady! And I am heavier than I've ever been...including when I was pregnant! I went to a ladies' boot camp for five weeks in January, ate a healthy diet, and could not lose weight to save my life. In fact, I think I gained weight! I don't like experiencing the normal aging process, hot flashes, moodiness, etc., but at least those things are a natural part of aging. I'm done with all this hormone business for a while. My gyn has now mentioned Novasure (endometrial ablation). I'm too gun-shy to even think about burning my insides permanently for now, so just going natural for a while. I'll check back to let you know if my condition improves. Thanks for posting everyone!
-- By marilyndee | Reply | Private Message me
April 24th
2008
11:07 AM
Well...I guess I'm not crazy. My doctor assured me this pill was great...I'm finding that not to be the case! I was put on Femcon FE following the birth of my second child via c-section. Since starting the pill I have experienced headaches, depression and MAJOR WEIGHT GAIN. Prior to the pill I was about 3lbs. away from my pre-pregnancy weight. After 6 weeks on the pill I have gained over 12lbs. It makes no sense. I am monitoring my caloric intake which is around 1500-1700 calories per day. I attend a tough "boot camp" style workout 4 days a weeks. How can I be gaining weight? I'm considering just going off birth control all together. I'm 39 and our family is complete. I just can't tolerate this much longer.
-- By screpeau | Reply | (2) replies | Private Message me