Natural rhythm symptoms and conditions

I had mine removed this week - thank the lord above!!! However, it has been rough and be forewarned that I experienced horrific cramping and HEAVY bleeding for nearly five days. I also had terrible back pains and some pain down my legs as well as some mental fogginess. I only had it in about one month and had gained 3 pounds and outgrown my bras! So now, two boxes of tampons later, I finally stopped bleeding altogether about 24 hours ago and the cramping has subsided. I feel mentally clearer and, believe it or not, have some semblance of libido - my husband is thrilled!

I am exploring other options for managing hormonal changes in perimenopause - including evening primrose oil and am still doing lots of yoga (even during the pain periods I did lots of yoga to help me manage)...Mainly, I feel so betrayed by the doctors (two women half my age) who insisted my symptoms were "all in my head" - to those of you planning for removal I encourage you to tell the medical professionals you work with that you are NOT crazy and NOT the only one experiencing these side effects. I personally believe that many women get too much progestin in the Mirena (which is not Progesterone, either) and this, in addition to overloading our estrogen, is enough to make us completely insane and miserable. I say let nature work its course as regards my own perimenopause and to those out there using Mirena for birth control I managed to avoid pregnancy with little concern using natural/rhythm methods and condoms as well as a diaphragm, conceiving my two beautiful (now teenage) sons without any intervention from hormones except my own. I am going to do peri and menopause the same way here on out. !!!!

Would love to hear how long it took for weight and stomach fat to go away after the removal from anyone who has been there - I eat very healthfully and exercise daily so I knew the pregnant look I got after that month with the Mirena was not due to one too many cookies )as my doctor seemed to infer !

I had the Mirena inserted in May 2008 after having my 1st baby in March 2008. I felt confident in my decision after much research as well. The insertion process was definitely painful and I had a weird sensation in my uterus for the next few days. It was like I could definitely tell where my uterus was because there was this dull pain there. That soon went away, and I thought that Mirena was cool. In November I had an episode of something that looked like the stomach flu...It came out of nowhere and felt different than any stomach flu I've ever had. No-one else in my house got this mysterious sickness, so I was curious. Then a few weeks ago, the same thing happened and I ended up in the emergency room. They told me it was stomach flu. I told them that I had Mirena and that this had happened before and I felt like it might be related. The male ER doctor looked at me like I was crazy and sent me home throwing up. I am ready to get it removed because I feel like my natural rhythm has been interrupted. I thought no period sounded great, but I feel like I am interrupting my body's natural rhythm. I am glad to know that I'm not crazy and other's are experiencing weird side effects too. I am ready to go back to the pill, which served me well for over 10 years!! One more embarrassing side effect?!?! Hemorrhoid flare up?!?! My OB told me I didn't have these after my son's birth...but in the middle of all this they all of a sudden became a HUGE problem!! Also had my 1st yeast infection in over 7 years!!