Inital symptoms and conditions

Hello everyone. Like most of you, I have been glad to have found this site and realized that there are so many other women experiencing the same symptoms as me and I am therefore justified to come to the conclusion it may be my Mirena causing these problems.
I had mine inserted in September 2005 for contraception. I am divorced and my ex-husband had had a vasectomy after our third child arrived in 1998. I had never been any good at remembering to take the pill and having always fallen pregnant very easily, I was after a reliable fuss-free birth control. I was a single mum dating a fellow on and off and couldn't afford the risk of an unwanted pregnancy.
Everything was just fine after the inital settling in period of about six months as suggested by the Gyno who put it in. Several of my friends had had them and we all seemed to have pretty much the same feed back. Lighter periods, breasts that we had never had before (I went from a lifetime of being an A cup to being a C cup almost over night and am now a D cup!). I had always suffered from really bad PMS - cramps, mood swings, etc. One great effect of the Mirena was I didn't have these mood swings and things were great with the kids not having to duck for cover every three weeks and lay low! I have suffered depression over the years, post-natally and after my marriage break down. I was more positive and started to enjoy life. I slowly went off anti-depressants and coped quite fine.
I am now 41 and have had the Mirena on board for almost 3.5 years. I remarried last year but also in the past twelve months symptoms have started the same as most of you have described. I am back on anti-depressants - only a low dose but my GP believed I needed it just to keep me "stable" - that is working. But the worst thing for me is the weight gain. I have always been reasonably slim, never had any problem losing weight after each of my three children. I am active and eat well. In the last year I have cut out so much fat and sugar in my diet, I walk 4 days/wk, swim once a week and was (until recently) going to the gym several days a week also, yet I just keep putting on weight. I feel bloated all the time, have fluid retention in my ankles and feet and I have this horrible gut - I have never had a gut! I've always had this lovely flat tummy. I know you put on weight once you hit your 40's but this is ridiculous. It is now starting to get me really down.
I am so glad to have come across all these postings because I know I'm not the only one. The other thing I have noticed is that my old pre-mirena premenstrual symptoms have returned - cramps, bad moods, dragon-like behavior, lower back ache, etc. All these went initially with Mirena - and I sang its praises to everyone and convinced several of my friends to consider one - now I think I better warn them of what they could be in for and to visit this site for themselves.
A lot of my other symptoms I have related to my under-active thyroid and have been considering returning to my GP for blood tests (although they were normal 6 months ago). I get dizzy, like a feeling of low blood sugar, get the shakes, heart palpitations (all normal hypothyroidism symptoms). I read with interest though about the thrist issues - I get really thirsty, especially during the night and now suffer really bad breath, mainly in the morning. And the comments about changes in eye sight I can also relate to. And forgetful!! I just thought it was motherhood, teenagers and age! I have also had a decline in libido - and I'm a newly wed - that can't be healthy! And I get pins and needles a lot - especially in my arms and feet - they often wake me at night.
Maybe Mirena has other things to answer for! That's why I am booked in next week to have it removed. This sight has convinced me its the right decision. I will re-post in a month or two and update you. Lots of girls ask for feedback on how long it takes to get back to normal - I will try to remember to leave some feedback.
Thank you to you all who have taken the time to share their experiences.

I have been reading all the comments and I can't help wondering if I am atypical, but I have not had any of these side effects. In fact the only thing that Lisinopril has done for me is to lower my bp. I was 130 over 90 and now 116 over 78, so it sure works for me!

I'm a 23 year-old college student from Michigan. I started taking doxycycline on 3/3/07 and was instructed to take it for about 2 weeks. I started taking it because i was experiencing a skin rash on my chin, and was told that it was due to a bacterial/fungal infection. i stopped taking it on saturday 3/17/07.

When i first started taking the medication there weren't any inital side effects. I then found that i was breaking out it tiny little red hives, and had red patches of skin on my stomach, neck and gentials. at first i thought it was just a food allergy, and then i started to get really tired and naseauted. then i noticed that the gland on the right side of my throat was constantly swollen. during the two weeks i was taking the medication, i lost about 5 pounds. i found myself weak, tired and with no energy. i had no appetite, had blurred vision (i have 20/20 vision so i though that was weird) and i was in a constant state of anxiety. My stress and anxiety got so bad that i seriously thought i was going to die.

i freaked out so bad that i thought i might even have HIV (because the side effects for doxycycline are similar to the symptoms of HIV: fatigue, rapid weight loss, diarreah, swollen glands, muscle soreness, rash etc. ) so i went and got tested for STDs and HIV. The doctors at the clinic said that everything seemed normal, and while i'm still awaiting the results from the tests, i found that all of my symptoms are in fact due to the antibiotic.

Since i stopped taking the antibiotic i've been suffering from sharp pains in my abdomen. I have very bad cramps and foul smelling gas/stool. I get dizzy very easily and find myself in so much discomfort that it's difficult to concentrate or do much of anything.

I was wondering if anyone knew how long this side effects tend to last, or how long it takes for the body to go back to normal? because this really sucks. I was self conscious about the rash i had, but the rash seemed a lot better than the side effects from the antibiotics.

anyone else feel this way?

I have been on Yasmin for 3 years. In the beginning, my biggest problems were acne and nausea (during the first 3 months). Although I did experience some migraines, I did not attribute that to the Yasmin at the time, because I had migraines prior. About a year and a half ago, I started experiencing numerous health problems. I visted with numerous doctors (3 PCPs, 3 GYNs, a urologist and I have just been referred to a Gastroenterologist). Because I just started a new job at about the same time (I am a social worker), most of the doctors I spoke with attributed my health problems to stress.

So, although I cannot (nor is any doctor willing to) say for sure that Yamin has caused all of my health problems, my mom (a nurse practioner) is concerned that Yasmin is the root of most of my health problems. She recommended I list my symptoms on this site to see if anyone else has similar symptoms.

Here is a list of my symptoms to date (based on which symptoms are most bothersome/concerning):

-IBS (alternating diarrhea and constipation)
-anxiety/depression (loss of social life)
-increased frequency/urgency of urination (accompanied by bladder and urethral spasms)
-vaginal dryness
-severe vaginal pain (unable to tolerate pelvic exam and/or tampon)
-nausea
-migraines
-leg cramps

Thus far, the pros of this pill are improved acne and lighter, regular periods accompanied by less severe cramps (the inital reason I went on the pill).

Has anyone else gotten an IBS diagnosis or vaginal problems (bladder problems, vaginal dryness/ pain, etc.) since starting this pill? Everyone is telling me to get off of this pill. I just want to make sure this isn't "in my head" and that the pill could actually be the cause of some of these health problems!!! I am not the same person I was when I started this pill. I just want my life back!!! Any advice would be greatly appreciated!