Obs symptoms and conditions

I am 28, have a 15 month old son and had Mirena put in at my 6 week check up, a little over a year ago. My periods are light and manageable, some what regular. I do have a little spotting here and there throughout the month. All my symptoms are manageable, but all together they do suck.

I have gained weight since stopping breastfeeding about 4 months ago. I am bloated ALL the time, which is not normal. I hate having a balloon belly! I eat well, exercise and have never had a weight problem. I have sporadic cramps, constant lower back pain, some joint pain, pain during sex and no sex drive.

As for the headaches, mood swings, depression and anxiety, I struggled with all of these before Mirena, while on the pill, but still have them now. I dont know if they are worse or better. Mainly the weight gain, bloating, back pain and weird cramping (which makes me worry that I have a cyst or something else freaky) are my concerns.

Probably Mirena is still on the market because these symptoms are not lethal...and when they are, they must be within acceptable ratios. Pharmaceutical companies dont care...they just want money.

I do think its really weird how so few OBs will admit that these symptoms can be caused by Mirena. Also, they must have to fill out a brief question are why women have it removed...maybe they get "docked' if there are symptoms attached as the reason.

I'm 21 and I have never been on any kind of birth control method. I decided to get on the Nuvaring because I had a pregnancy scare. My boyfriend and I have only ever used condoms, but one broke and that was enough for me. I've been on the Nuvaring for about 2 weeks. I normally get my period every 35 days and the only cramping I ever experience is the first and second day of my period. After the first week I noticed I had some light cramping and thought nothing of it, but as time went on the cramping only seemed to be getting worse. I told my doctor about it and she advised me that it was probably my body trying to get used to the ring. Never having used birth control before, I tried not to worry. Then, I noticed some other changes that concerned me since it wasn't like me to feel that way. Aside from the cramping, I had been feeling very depressed about my life and where I was headed for some reason, and my sex drive was depreciating. My boyfriend noticed of course and I had no idea why I was feeling that way. It wasn't until I came across this website that everything started to make sense. I thought I was the only one experiencing these changes. I'm definitely going to change birth control methods. I just don't know what is the best out there. Can anyone help me?

I had my Mirena for 18 months (12/07-4/3/08). My Doctor urged me to keep it in and when I finally went to get it removed, I had retained the strings and the pain when he dilated my cervix was so painful I had to get anesthesia to get it removed.

After about 6 months of the iud, I started experiencing heart palpitations and shortness of breath. And for the last few months and even two weeks post removal I am experiencing shortness of breath at rest. And tightness in my chest. It's very scary. ALSO, I only have heart palpitations mid-cycle (ovulation) and during my period. And my shortness of breath gets worse during that time also. It is painful to exercise bc I can't breathe, I actually got a bronchial inhaler from my doctor and it's helped SO much during exercise. I would be yawning and have so much extra saliva and after 50 running paces I'd have to stop to rest because my chest would be so tight and burning. I was tested for asthma and do not have asthma. That isn't to say I don't have exercise induced asthma. I never ever had problems before this Mirena.

I haven't had any hair loss or trouble sleeping that I can pinpoint either. Mostly I looked 3 months pregnant and haven't been able to drop 5 lbs. I'm ideal weight for my height and have cut out most sugar and limited carbs and nothing has changed even with exercise. I DO notice that I was soooo nasty and couldn't control my temper. I can't positively contribute that to the Mirena but I'll see as time goes on and this wears away.

I wouldn't advise the Mirena to anyone. Not with all these women and myself having the same effects. The Dr tried to tell me that it couldn't be the Mirena causing heart palpitations but I'm 28 years old and entirely healthy.

I also felt when I was ovulating that I was having contractions. My Dr kept telling me it's not supposed to help cramping but won't make it worse and I must have said 100 times that I NEVER HAD CRAMPS before in my life. My ovulation/periods were always very uneventful and painless. And the pain I had during ovulation and my period wasn't traditional cramping. It was a wave of extreme sharp shooting pain that would shoot down my thigh and I'd actually do careful, controlled breathing during that pain. The pain would be so intense I'd stop in my tracks and grip whatever was nearest to me while standing perfectly still and doing breathing exercises.

Also, I should note I have never been pregnant before and my midwife that I go to now was saying that my body could have been trying to expel the iud bc I had never had anything pass through or in my cervix before and that the pain during ovulation and period could actually have been my uterus contracting because it was trying to get the iud out!

I hope that the chest tightness and shortness of breath go away. It's very alarming.

I am taking Lupron as I had horrible endometriosis, two large-grapefruit sized tumors and several smaller implants removed. I lost my right ovary, and part of my left in the process. I am 28, newly married, otherwise healthy, and I want to have children, so I went on Lupron that my surgeon/OB suggested- monthly for six months. I read a lot of side effects and was TERRIFIED to go on it.

My own husband is an M.D. and I made him call different doctors in his hospital to see what they had to say...in a few days he called about 5 different OBs. Thankfully, they said that those that had side effects that were extremely severe was pretty rare. Still, I was scared.

I am now into my second month on Lupron and I have to say that the side effects aren't nearly as severe as I thought they would be. No hot flashes, no hair loss, no crazy depression, no anything else. I DO have fatigue, but it's manageable with coffee and extra sleep. I have some mood swings- mostly I feel more grumpy. The most noticeable and bothersome is the lack of sex drive and vaginal dryness. I also have trouble achieving "the big O."

Still, so far, very manageable. I'm not sure if it'll be worse if time goes on. But I feel like everything on the internet is really negative. I'm not discounting the tales of people who have had a bad time, but I wanted to put out there that it isn't always the worst thing in the world.