Fertility issues symptoms and conditions

I am a 39 year old mother of two teenager daughters. I had my original Mirena inserted in July, 2002 due to extreme bleeding for many months. I would bleed for about 24 days out of every month and felt horrible. As I was only 32 years old at the time, my GYN did not want to perform a hysterectomy and suggested the Mirena. I bled for a couple of months after insertion, but shortly thereafter I had no bleeding and have had no period ever since. This is the side effect that is fantastic!

Shortly after having the Mirena inserted, my marriage fell apart and I was feeling very depressed, EXTREMELY EXHAUSTED and overall "crappy". I assumed that this was all due to my life circumstances. I gained significant weight in my mid-section, I had (and still have) constant headaches, I am always still very very tired, am dizzy, fuzzy-minded, blurred vision, achey, etc. etc. etc. I never once thought about the Mirena being the cause of any of these symptoms.

My doctor has checked my bloodwork numerous time to ensure my iron levels, etc. were okay as well as my thyroid - every time the results were normal so I thought it must all be in my head and all be due to me being somewhat depressed, etc. due to my marital breakdown.

I had my 2nd Mirena put in in December, 2009 as the first one was in for the full 5 years. It was a little painful getting it taken out and the new one put in, but for me the pain was worth it to continue to be period-free for another 5 years!

Recently I have been experiencing hot flashes and night sweats so I asked my doctor if I could be going through menopause. She ordered bloodwork to check my hormones and informed me last week that yes, in fact I am quite far into menopause!!! (remember, age 39)! Because I have not had a period in almost 6 years, I did have the early warning signs of menopause such as missed or irregular periods.

I wondered why I would be going through it so early so googled "Mirena and early menopause" which brought me to this site. When I started reading all the side effects, I wondered if it was maybe the Mirena that cause a lot my problems over the years and it wasn't in fact the dissolving of my marriage and change in life circumstances.

I now have to decide what to do. My doctor stated that I should (because of my young age) go on Hormone Replacement for quality of life. (I am close to my decision and believe that HRT is beneficial for me) - hopefully this will help with the terrible symptoms of menopause I have been having.

I am wondering if having the Mirena inserted had any part in accelerating my body into menopause. I am thinking of having it removed before starting HRT because even though the doctor told me that there is a very low hormone dosage in the Mirena, I don't want to over-do it with hormones as that could cause me even more problems. It would be amazing if I had it removed that I would feel the way I used to feel back 6 years ago (minus the husband)

FYI, before I had the Mirena inserted the first time I read and re-read the pamphlet which contained all the possible side effects, etc. But, as I stated above, my life changed dramatically very shortly after insertion so it never occurred to me that some of my problems may be related to the Mirena.

If this device does accelerate a woman's body into menopause, this should be well publicized as it would be tragic for young women who use this as a form of contraception early in their life to only find out later that they are no longer able to conceive due to their body going though "the change".

I discovered I had endometriosis in March 2000 at which time I had surgery to remove what was there, then the gyn followed up with the Depo-Lupron shots for six months. To help with the hot flashes, mood swings etc. My doctor put me on a very low dose of Estrogen which helped. I was having fertility issues before this and when I finished up the shots and the time had ran out and still had no period, my doctor put me on fertility drugs to give my body a jump start, and in April 2001 we found out we were pregnant, during which time my teeth started deteriating and by the time I have my second and last child in March 2003, I had to have major dental work done. I blame the lupron shot for this issue, apparently my calcium level dropped. I told my gyn about it and he said he had never heard of any such thing before as a side affect of the drug. I pretty muched laughed in his face and told him to advise future patients to increase the calcium while on the drug. Then recently I discovered like a lot of you that there are some really serious side affects from Lupron. Since this after having my last child I went on the Depo Prevera shot for 6 months, gained unsightly weight, so I got off of that and got my tubes tied in 2004, then by March of 2006 I knew my endometriosis was back full fledge and in June 2006 I had to have a hysterectomy. My only long term affects from the Lupron and Prevera shots is still trying to lose some of the weight and living in pain during every meal but due to the extreme affect it took on my teeth, I can not afford even with insurance to get all the work needed done!!!! If I had to do it over again, I would have had the surgery and then worked on getting pregnant immediately, because long term..... It isnt worth the "preventative" HaHaHa!!!!

I was recently switched from Toprol XL to the generic form of Norvasc. I have been on it for a little over a month now. I am feeling less tired although i do notice more frequent headaches and some constipation. I don't have any swelling yet but I haven't been on this medicine that long. But I am 2 weeks late with my period and am wondering if this new medicine has something to do with it. I have fertility issues so pregnancy is unlikely although not impossible. Has any other women had any other similar experiences.?I was never late or missed a period and now this is freaking me out.