New mother symptoms and conditions

I had my baby girl in March 2009. Six weeks later, after consulting with a good friend and my OBGYN, I had the Mirena put in. I have not had a period since before I was pregnant, which is nice, but I am still breastfeeding, so I am sure that plays some role. Over the last four months, several things in my life have changed, but I chalked it all up to being a new mother. I think my husband literally thought he had just lost his wife and best friend to motherhood.
- I am tired all the time, regardless of what time I go to bed, and speaking of going to bed...That never happens before 2am! And there are some nights I can toss and turn until 4 or 5! Even when I do sleep, it's never very restful. I chalked this up to being a new mother, and having a baby that didn't sleep thru the night, but she has been sleeping thru the night for almost a month now, and still, I get no sleep.
- I have been having a lot of lower back pain, which I blamed on my mattress. After some careful thought, I realized, I have had the same mattress for over 2 years now and never had any problems! In fact, it's the best mattress I have owned to date.
- Moodiness....don't even get me started on this one! I can start an argument out of thin air! And still think I have just cause! My husband and I are going to Jamaica next week for vacation, and I got mad at him because he wants to take some scuba diving classes. Now, how I managed that one, I have no idea. I will be cleaning the house in pure silence, and just have constant angry thoughts running through my head.
- As I said before, I am still breastfeeding, which is also a great way to burn calories. I have consistently lost baby weight over the last 5 months up until about a month ago. My weight just froze, and then started going back up. I put on 5 pounds in less than 2 weeks! Nothing has changed! I have started working out and keeping a closer eye on what I eat, but it hasn't had any effect. (My best friend had her Mirena put in 6 months before me, and she gained 40 pounds in 6 months. I am nipping this one in the bud!)
- Water retention! Now this one, I have never paid much attention to. I don't really keep an eye on my water intake versus out take, but I did one day last week. I had lunch with my sister, and drank literally about 5 glasses of tea. Any normal person would need too pee most likely prior to leaving the restaurant, right? Well, I left the restaurant, went to the grocery store for about 1 1/2 hours, then drove 45 minutes home, all the time never even having an urge. It wasn't until after I had gotten home, unloaded my daughter and all the groceries, when I finally made a trip to the bathroom. That same night when I was getting ready for bed, I noticed my lower abdomen was swollen up like I was about 4 months pregnant again!
- Sex drive....Let's just say I would rather lay in a bed of nails than have sex, and I used to be a very sexually active individual. And, it has definitely taken a toll on my marriage!
- Absent mindedness....One of my best qualities that I "used to" possess was organization. I prided myself in it, and over the last few months, my husband tells me I am just all over the place. I can't think straight, I jump around in conversations, my memory is shot! I will start doing a load of laundry, walk away and wash some dishes, then 10 minutes later realize, that I never finished loading the washer or put the detergent in!

Now, if all of this isn't enough, my OBGYN tells me that there is a small chance that the Mirena can get displaced, and if it gets too far gone, have to be removed surgically, but she said in all her time as a Dr., she had only seen it happen one time! So, I thought great! The chances of it getting dislodged are slim to none right? Well, I was talking to one of my girlfriends from high school the other day, and hers got misplaced! Now, she might be pregnant!

I realize that the Mirena affects everyone differently, but after finding this website and reading posts for hours about all the terrible things women are going thru with this BC, all my symptoms seem to make sense, and I don't feel like such a crazy beast any more. I wanted to share my story in hopes that it may help another woman who thinks she has just gone nuts! I had my Mirena taken out yesterday. I was in bed by 11pm last night, still didn't get the most restful sleep, but it does take a few days to get the hormones out of your system. My lower abdomen is already noticeably flatter, and I just feel an overall sense of relief. I just wish I had researched this birth control before I went out and spent the money on it. There is an old saying that really rings true for me in this case, "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!"

I am a 45 year old woman (NOT a new mother) who had the Mirena inserted in January of 2009. I had gone off of the pill in 2003 after 16 years of being on it - told my hub I was DONE with hormonal birth control (weight gain, headaches, etc). After the pill, the weight fell off, headaches were gone, and my brain-fog and forgetfulness vanished. 6 years later I couldn't stand the heavy periods after so many years of light ones and decided to give Mirena a try since the hormones supposedly stayed in your uterus (YEAH RIGHT!). In my head, those 5 years of Mirena protection would buy me time until menopause and my doctor agreed it was a good choice. Fast forward 7 months. The weight came back (over 20 lbs) with NO change in diet. The headaches are back. The almost constant discharge is still there - and is not pleasant smelling by any stretch. I am not a new mom and am very in-tune with my body (thank you very much to the rude posters on here who have suggested it is all in our heads) - yes I did the research and expected some side effects, but the worst side effect I have and can't stand any longer however is hip joint pain. It is so bad that I feel like an 80 year old woman in the morning that can hardly move! It gets a little better during the day, but is constant. I can't lift my grandchildren without severe pain and this is NOT NORMAL! This did NOT happen before the IUD was inserted and I just now put 2 and 2 together that Mirena could be the cause. I also have virtually no energy - my house has fallen apart since January and my husband is beside himself. I just sent an email to my doctor asking her opinion on my suspicions and will more than likely have it removed SOON! Ladies, I want to say that this is NOT IN YOUR HEAD and the people who suggest otherwise should be ashamed of themselves. If you have Mirena and have no problems, good for you - just don't criticize those who do. It works differently on different people.

Im reading these stories and crying... So many lights keep going off the more I read... Im 30 and had my first child last June. They put the "thing" in 6 weeks post-pardum and it made me dizzy and sick to my stomach instantly, hut like hell, and I spent a couple days in bed on pain pills. But I figured a week or so was worth five years of freedom... HA!!! I had barely stopped bleeding and getting energy back for a couple weeks since before from having the baby, but this started that back up with a vengeance. I have been walking around like a b*tchy zombie for almost a year now. I actually went to the doctors in November to ask them if a pain I was having in my pelvis and my grumpy, irritable mood could be from the Mirena. I was told I probably had post pardum depression and possible a cyst, instructed to wait until after 6 or 7 months post pardum to see if my mood improved and get a follow up ultrasound if the pain in my pelvis got worse. Well that particular pain did go away, so I figured they were right, I let the "thing" do it's job and tried to forget about it as I was instructed to do. But the moodiness NEVER went away! I forgot who I was altogether, could not go to work any more, and attributed it to being a new mother, things change! Another 6 weeks later I actually split up from my fiance as I had driven him crazy... I spent Dec-Feb alone with a tiny baby, depressed out of my mind, and TOTALLY out of it everyday. Zero energy, but I figured I was just depressed. My fiance and I have since gotten back together after I practically had to tear him out of the arms of another woman, and convince him I could change. Still in all that time I never thought about the IUC. I still feel sooo freaking tired all the time, which has progressively gotten worse, and would have kept on except that about two months ago my back started hurting. I thought I pulled a muscle, so I stayed layed up resting. I thought I needed a new mattress so I went out and got another one, no change... Then I started thinking I might have some sort of infection, because Ive never had any muscle pain that lasted 6 weeks for no reason. I remembered the Mirena having PID warnings about people with multiple sex partners. Even though I have only had one, he had another, so I'm thinking I must have an infection and set up an appt to see the OB and get tested... In the meantime I came to this site after my mother sent me link of side effects... I read a few more each evening and have become more and more convinced that this is the problem, not only with my debilitating back pain (which has progressed into abdominal pain shooting down my legs as well), which has now progressed from irritable to severe, and not being able to function day-to-day. But also the moodiness, angriness, depression, foggy headedness, dizziness, headaches, lack of sexual desire, bloated feeling, insomnia - big time, I can be tired all day and it takes me two hours to fall asleep at night, then I sleep 10 hours and spend the next day tired all day - its not any way to live and I'm fed UP!!! - And then the hair thing... this topped it off for me, just too weird that all these people have the same problems, convinced me that I was fixable! It would have never occurred to me before I read this, but one day about 5 months ago I woke up with a weird new layer of very short hairs at the front of my scalp, not noticing severe hair loss, but my hair is VERY thick, so I cant really tell, but I did notice the short ones popping up. I actually thought my fiance cut my hair to use for voo-doo or something, I also thought my mother in law gave me something to dry up my breast milk, because shortly after having the "thing" installed my milk inexplicably dried up while we happened to be staying a week with them, now I think it was the Mirena. I have an appointment Thursday to take the "thing" out, and I am nervous about the pain, disappointed because the "thing" was so expensive, and I'm unsure what else to do about BC. But REALLY looking forward to finding myself again, I miss me, I know my fiance does, and I think my child would like to meet me too ;)
... Even if it isn't doing all these things, the paranoia and psychological trauma Im feeling just thinking about it is enough to convince me that this IS NOT for me! Wish me luck - I will follow up in a few weeks

Hi Ladies! I had my Mirena inserted in October 08, when my daughter was 6 weeks old. I have been having horrible side effects that I have been blaming on everything from my depression meds, to my job, to just being a new mother.
I have never in my life weighed more then 150 pounds and even when I weighed 150 I was living with my sister that was pregnant at the time and eating fast food everyday with her!! For the better part of my life I have been between 120-130!!!! I weighed 150 when I got pregnant and 180 at delivery! I got down to 164 the day after my daughter was born!!! I am now back around 175! I have been working out EVERYDAY for a hour plus and only eating 1200 calories a day!!! I HAVE NOT LOST A POUND!!! I can not fit into any of my clothes because of this big paunch belly that I have!! I really do look like I am in my 6-7 month of pregnancy!!! I feel so horrible about myself and the way I look!!
My boobs have also grown! I went from a 36D during pregnancy to now wearing a 38DD!!! I love having big boobs but now none of my shirts fit because my boobs are too big!!
I have started getting acne on my face, back, thighs, and buttocks! I have never had acne in my life.
My hair is very oily the next day after I wash it!
I am very moody!! My husband can say something so small and I fly off the handle and start yelling!! I have no patients with my 8 month old daughter and I feel soooo bad!!! I should not feel like this and I should be enjoying her and all of her little quirks not getting mad at her for everything!
I don't really have periods! About once a month a get a short stint of 2-3 days of spotting and that is it!!
I believe that this thing is bad for your body! I am having some of the same problems that I had on the Depo! I have come to the realization that your body needs to have a period once a month so that it knows everything is ok and it doesn't need to start providing nutrition for another living being!

I am getting this thing taken out on Friday and will keep up dates on here!

I had mirena put in October 2008, A total of 17 months. I am a 31 yr. old mother of 4. And I have experienced many side effects. First, of all the non stop bleeding for the first 15 months I bleed over half the month. And my periods prior to this was always short 3 days at the most. Now I would bleed 15 or 16 days at a time. I suffered hair loss, it has fell out in patches is some spots. But, luckily for me I have very thick hair so other people wont notice. But, I know its there. I have also gained weight about 20 pounds. I have lower back pains shooting pains in my lower back, I have had blurry vision at times. And that funny fluttering feeling in my stomach like a baby kicking, tenderness in my breast. But I will say that the bleeding is what that bothered me the most. I have had the brown discharge, the funny odor. But now after 17 months the bleeding has slowed down a little but its a very bright red color which is so weird. Looks like you just cut yourself, not like period blood. I have also experienced depression, and emotional rollercosters from happy to mad to excited to sad in 0 - 60 seconds flat. I was not like this before I had this inserted. Its just that I have 4 children and I went in to get a tubal ligation and i let my obgyn talk me out of it because my uterus is retroverted and supposedly I would have a greater risk of having a tubal done with complications. And she talked me in to this Mirena Now, I am second guessing myself. My breast hurt like Im still pregnant. But, I have problems with the patch, the pills so its like is there any bc that will work for me. And don't want to remove this without some other plan ready. I do not want to have any more children. But I am seriously contemplating TAKING THIS DAMN THING OUT!

Hi all, I have had the Mirena since May of 08. I had twins in Feb of this year and was given the little plastic ring for birth control. That gave me TERRIBLE migraines. i hardly ever even have headaches let alone migraines. It was impossible to take care of twin infants along w/migraine pain. I really shouldn't be on estrogen anyway because of a clotting problem in my family. So my doctor recommended the Mirena. I wanted it anyway because I can't remember to take pills now, (I'm a little busy.) Since I had it put in I have been losing my hair in unbelievable amounts which my doctor attributed to my just having twins. My depression and anxiety meds are NOT working anymore. My fourth and fifth toes on my right foot are completely numb and stiff, almost like I have arthritis or something. I have NO interest in having sex w/my husband. But after taking care of twins, who does?? Just kidding. I am not very happy with this IUD, but have decided the alternative (being pregnant) is not a better option at this time. So, for now I will continue to be a bitchy, balding, arthritic, celbate mother of two. Good luck to everyone else

Like everyone else, I am completely ecstatic I found this website. My son was born in Nov 2006, when I was 22, and I had Mirena put in January 2007. March 2007 I began to see a counselor because I was so severely depressed. I had terrible thoughts and was constantly crying/upset/anger/emotional. I had gained 50lbs with my son and still stand to lose 20 more that I can NOT get off. In February 2008 I enrolled in counseling again because my depression was so severe that I was at a point that I no longer wanted to be alive (but not suicidal). I have had times of depression throughout my teenage years but had NEVER felt like this. I kept telling my counselor that I didn't know why I felt the way I did but I just couldn't stop these feelings. I did counseling so I wouldn't have to take an antidepressant since I am not big on medicine but last week I scheduled an appointment with my doctor to get on an antidepressant. I just can't seem to get out of this horrible, angry, moody, emotional, depressive state for anything. I believed it was because I was a new mother and assumed my hormones have just been out of whack. Last night I realized that all my symptoms began a month after my Mirena was put in. I am calling my OB today to have him remove it. I'll check back and let you know if there are differences. I'm just afraid I've damaged my body and even more afraid what my son got from the IUD since he was breastfed for almost 18 months.

Ive been on Femcon fe for about 4 months, I was without a period for like 6 months prior to this. The docs then put me on a medication to start my period and then Femcon to keep it regular. This was all done to find out if there was a need to have surgery on the fibroid that is on my uterus. I have experienced the worse migraines in my life on this pill. I get them on and off every hour. The really bad ones leave my right side of my face and arm to where I cant move it. I can barely open my eyes and when I can, the vision is blury. Right now I dont have a migraine, but by the time I finish, im sure I will. They come that regular. I take esgic for the migraines but it does not help. The migraines are too strong. My sex drive has increased a lot since I got on this pill. But what I have trouble with is when i am about to have a orgasm, I get a very BIG migraine. Its very umcomfortable and I am going to contact any office I can find about this pill. My doctor has told me to stop taking this pill b/c of the complications it has caused in my body. I use to have hair down to my shoulders, but now all of my hair comes out in my hand or the comb or brush. I have patches of hair missing in my head and the longest my hair is now is about a inch or two. When I wake up in the morning, its like Im in the early stages of pregnancy. I feel sick to the stomach and light headed. I take my pill right before bed. Ive also experienced a little depression, but not much. I know how you ladies feel and I hope that one day, we can find a good birth control. Thank you.

I was previously put on Lexapro 10mg a day after having my first child with the intention of helping me calm down my new mother nerves. It made me feel aweful and I started having panic attacks. (I have never had them before) My doc then changed me to Paxil 10mg a day for the first week, then 20mg a day thereafter. Well, I am only 2 days into it and I already feel like a shell of myself. I have had crazy dreams and wake up several times in the night. And most frustrating I have been so irratable, biting my husbands head off at minor things. I noticed I am eating like crazy, in fact I have gained 5 pounds since Friday. I know these meds take a while to take effect and the doc said I could experience things like this and even suicide thoughts at first, but now I am terrified that I am toying with my sanity and I was better off before the medications in the first place.

I began taking Paxil CR for postpartum related panic attacks in January of 2004. By mid February I began to really struggle with terrible memory loss. It was impossible for me to leave one room and go to another without forgetting why...My healthy libido was down the tubes, I have gained about 10 pounds and my whole body aches. I honestly wish I would have put more thought and research into taking Paxil CR. However, my panic attacks were so terrible that I would not sleep for days on end. At the time it was so necessary for me to get as much sleep as possible while caring for my newborn. I spoke with my MD in March, during one of my monthly appointments, and she said that the side effects were more related to "being a new mother" than anything. Translation, your nuts! Little did she know I was not a new mom...this was my second child. My first is in his teens. It was at that point I realized I needed to be referred to a specialist. I also attempted to discontinue the medication over a 2 week period of time. That was a big mistake. The dizziness and out of body like experiences were way to horrible. I went back on the meds and made an appointment to see a psychiatrist. After months of this I now believe it is very important to see an MD that specializes in prescribing medications like Paxil. One who understands the side effects and can prepare you for what to expect. I don't believe Paxil CR is a bad medication. It is just like anything else, it works for some but not for others.