Great man symptoms and conditions

extreme hair loss, no sex drive, mood swings/ anger outburst, hot flashes, headaches, tired, depression, etc....

I am 39 yrs old, have been married for five years and have two children with my husband and one from a previous marriage. I am finished having children and after my daughter was born, I decided to have the Mirena inserted (being and labor and delivery nurse, I had heard good things about the Mirena....especially the no periods!) I have had my Mirena since 2/08, didn't have a problem getting it put in, actually was fairly easy. Had bleeding on and off for 2 months after and eventually no periods. I was also breastfeeding at the time. Once I quit breastfeeding I had a period almost a month later and have some break through bleeding here and there (never know when so can't say for sure it is a true period).

Since having it inserted I have had NUMEROUS side effects: hair loss more then I would equate to normal post pregnancy loss and still loosing hair, no sex drive (poor husband, can count the number of times in the last two years on one hand), tired all the time, insomnia to the point I have to take benadryl or ambien to get to sleep, anger/ severe mood swings, weight gain and just over the past few months, my sense of smell is abnormal (almost smells like I have a cigarette/ rubber tire smell constantly and is driving me insane) almost to the point I have convinced myself that I have a brain tumor or something. This may not be related to the Mirena, but nonetheless a "weird" symptom.

My mood swings are awful, almost to the point where I feel bi-polar at times. I was never this way before and was pretty much even tempered. I hate the person I have become, my family takes the brunt of my anger, which is totally not fair to them....I feel like a bad wife and mother. Thankfully my husband is a GREAT man and loves me no matter what. I mention all these things to my OB when I went for my yearly exam, she tried to pass it off to me having four children at home and being a working mom, etc... and prescribed me paxil. I debated back and forth about taking the medication, because I just have a thing about taking antidepressants...this is not me. I am a member of another website called ****** and there is a Mirena side effect support group, so many women have similar complaints and I can't think that this is all just inside of my head. I swear I am going to go crazy or have a nervous break down. I think I will just take my chances and have this Mirena removed. I agree with a previous poster, I would take the symptoms from having a monthly period any day over this, cramps are nothing compared to how I have felt the last 6-8 months.

Those of you that may think this is a bunch of crap, I am glad you are not experiencing the side effects, but I didn't at first, it took almost a good year for the major things to start coming to the surface. I would give anything to be my old self again.

I'm 39 yrs old and I had the Mirena inserted in Sept.of 09. Since I've had this put in, I have a period every 2 weeks and it last for 2 weeks if not longer!!!!! Very annoying....... It seems like I'm always bleeding or discharging and I can't stand it anymore. I've also experienced hair loss, I have always had thick hair and now my hair is getting thin and it hasn't been growing. I'm also experiencing insomnia, my sleep has progressively declined since this was inserted. Now I'm on my second medication to try and get some sleep. I'm tired all the time, extremely moody. I get pissed off all the time over nothing. It is affecting my relationship with a man I'm totally in love with and if something doesn't change I'll end up losing him. Before the Mirena things were great and now they're getting worse and worse. I don't do things with my friends anymore cuz I'm tired all the time and moody and my boyfriend gets the grunt of it all. He has a 5 yr old and I have no patience with her and I've always been really good with kids and I never had such a lack of patience before the Mirena was put in. Needless to say I have an appointment on July 7th to get it out. Oh and did I mention the 15lbs I've gained since I've had it put in. I've never been overweight or had weight issues in my life. Since this has been put in, it seems like I keep gaining weight and it doesn't seem to stop. I go to the gym and do weights and I do a lot of cardio and nothing seems to stop the weight gain. I'm praying that after this evil thing is taken out, I can get back to being my happy self and treat the people around me the way they deserve to be treated. I know some people haven't had any problems with the Mirena, but for me its been a living hell!! No birth control is worth all these side effects. I'm thankful I found this site because I didn't know what the hell was wrong with me until I started reading all the things that other women have experienced that are similar to what I've been going through!

As with others on this forum, memory loss is a side effect I'm experiencing with Lamictal. In fact, it's THE only side effect. I began taking Lamictal three years ago, and have maintained a dose of 300 mg a day. My short-term memory is practically non-existent. I have to write EVERYTHING down, and sometimes that isn't even enough. I've been known to forget what I've read only minutes before. I used to pride myself on my impeccable spelling, and now I'd say I'm at a fifth-grade level. In fact, I feel like I'm about ten years old. I've been taken to task over and over by employers who are frustrated with my poor performance. I've lost one job and due to lose another any day. Sure, my mood is stabilized, but for what good if I can't even support myself? I would definitely go off this medication if there was a good chance I would get my memory back, but I haven't come across anything in my internet travels that indicate this is a possibility!

OMG...Seriously...People do NOT know of this site and are just beginning to put together all of these life altering side effects and look for answers. Again I am open to and have tried all sorts of new and innovative medications because I truly believe in the science.

My Daughter just turned 17. I have been a single Mom her entire life as her father is deceased. I have done it all carrying 3 or 4 jobs to pay for college tuition and the costs of raising a child. Carried a 4.0gpa for 4.5 years while raising a highly spirited red head single handedly in a college town where I knew no one. She is an amazing high honor student who is community and civic minded and is truly the most responsible person I have ever met.

I now work from home for the first time with a home daycare. I have little one's leaking or spewing on me daily just to be able to still enjoy the things my daughter now deems *gay* or ...*totally gay*.

For the first time in my life I have found a great man and truly in love but have ZERO desire to start over...this is perfect...I get to play with kids all day and send them home at night. all the fun and i get to sleep in and not worry about rising college tuition costs.

I'm 37 and about to have my life to myself for the first time...in...well...MY LIFE. My daughter will not be lingering she has plans and goals and is headed off to start her life soon after graduation next year and I have an account I have been stashing away since she was little for someday for...ME.

I would absolutely in a heartbeat rather deal with an unplanned/unexpected pregnancy than spend one more second of my life with that device inside my body.

My fever finally broke today...thought it was that *flu* i'd had back in February.

Listen to your body and do not let any Doctor try to make you continue to take a medication you don't want to take. I went through this way back when the Norplant made me gain 75lbs and bleed for 2 years while i fought with my insurance company because I had signed a contract stating I did not want children within the 5 year period for them to pay to have it put in. It requires COURT ORDERS to force you to take medication against your wishes.

when I came to this site I was still believing it was something else or I just needed to give it *more time* to adjust or whatever. No. just as some people tolerate medications and others have allergies. I believe my body was *allergic* to this device and was REPEATEDLY openly telling me to have it removed. I was lucky my *family practitioner* was booked solid the morning I finally did the math and *freaked out*. I got a doctor who turned my 15 min check into almost 2 hours of *what should we do * and *these are your options* she handed me to oxycodone and left me for 5 minutes to *prepare* for the removal, has had enough experience in last 6 months she said to know I needed some time to prepare myself for if nothing else the pain. let alone...omg...what might come next...after removal. she also told me she would only give it two *tugs* as I hyperventilated and if it didn't release she would reschedule and SEDATE me.

I'm venting and i'm sorry. It's the first time my brain has been clear enough to think since Dec 4th of 2008. I thank goodness I found this site and took some time to think about all of this and have it out first chance I got.I fear the long term effects and i'm certain my easy removal was due to it's short time and my body's good sense to try to get it OUT. I thankfully had no infections and again, removal is so NOT the *Want to kick your Doctor in the face* ordeal the insertion is.

I can't wait to see the responses from those who are nieve enough to believe that everything works the same for everyone, and I hope they hold on to my email address to keep me updated in a year or so when they too are finding themselves at a complete *loss* for their sudden lack of desire to live...or daydreaming of maiming those they once cherished.

sorry for the rambling...gotta love hormones !

Dear friends,
After being on the NuvaRing for nearly two years, I just took my last one out two weeks ago and haven't replaced it. This site made me realize I wasn't going crazy and there wasn't something wrong with me. I really liked the Ring for the first year because it was easy, convenient, and maintained the secrecy of being unmarried in my culture and having sex. I'm 27 years old and am in an amazing relationship with a great man who is really understanding. This was my first form of birth control and maybe my last.

Here are some side effects I experienced:
Numbness in the legs
Loss in desire to have sex
Pain while having sex
Sinus issues
Feeling sleepy and tired all the time
Anxiety and emotional problems

I know people react differently to medication and I was fine until year 2 but if you're taking this or considering it, please do all the research you can and also pay attention to your body. You're not going crazy and you have to know that so you don't medicate for all the symptoms caused by the Ring.

I saw a Neurologist for the pain in my legs. I had an MRI taken. I never took the prescribed medication but there are women on the Ring going through surgery and countless medication treating the very things caused by the Ring. It's an endless cycle.

I don't think there is any form of hormonal birth control that is safe and symptom free. Just be careful because it's not worth losing your loved ones, your work, or your sanity over.

I'm Ring free for 2 weeks and I'm afraid of what that will cause but hopefully one day my body will be back to normal and hormone free.

I'm still tired all the time and am experiencing some spotting. I hope that's the worst of the after effects.

Take care of yourselves....