Personal decision symptoms and conditions

Late last year my husband and I got pregnant while I was taking birth control. After much discussion we decided to terminate the pregnancy (you can judge if you need to, that's ok but it was our own personal decision) because we had decided long ago to not have children. So, while he is working up the courage to get a vasectomy I decided to get the Mirena. That was 2 months ago and over the past two months the emotional symptoms have crept up on me gradually, but the physical ones have been there since day one. I haven't had a period at all--which is actually what led me to this little site, I was trying to find out if that was normal because I thought maybe I should have had some semblance of a period by now because the doctor said so and then I discover all these other things that are happening to me that are also happening to other people because of the Mirena. Anyway, I spotted off and on for six weeks straight and then for the past 2 weeks--nothing. Every day I get up and take 2 Alleve and hope they get rid of the cramps that feel like they are about to knock me down. Aside from that, for the past 3 weeks emotionally and physically I have felt like I did when I was pregnant. And when I was pregnant it was not pretty. Apparently, I'm one of these people that pregnancy does not sit well with (which furthers my position that pregnancy and children are not for me). My mood is horrible--I hate absolutely everything and absolutely everything gets on my nerves. I cry at the drop of a hat and forget about sex. I don't even know what that is anymore. It is so similar to my brief pregnancy that I actually bought a home pregnancy test last week because I was convinced I was pregnant. I figured if I got pregnant on birth control (and yes, I took them religiously for 14 years never missing a pill) why not Mirena, but fortunately the test was negative. After reading what everyone has to say I definitely want this thing out ASAP. The hubby has an appointment with his PCP next week and I think he will definitely be talking vasectomy options. Oh, by the way just to be clear I have asked to have my tubes tied several times since I was 23 and no one will do it because I am "too young and you might change your mind." I'm now 32, I've always known I don't want kids and I'm not changing my mind. I guess for me, my horror story is that the medical community let me down and refused to do what I asked so that I became pregnant and ultimately had an abortion--there, I said the dirty word. I even thought that maybe just maybe that after I terminated an accidental pregnancy someone might see that I wasn't going to change my mind and do the tubal, but no instead I get offered the Mirena. Thanks to everyone who has shared, it has helped a lot. Maybe I can stop taking pregnancy tests now. Good luck to everyone who still has it and to those that are thinking of getting it.

Hi, I was diagnosed Sept 06 with a small breast tumor following a routine mammogram I had a Lumpectomy and 4 lymph nodes removed in Oct 06 In January 07 I started 15 sessions of radiotherapy and then was started on ARIMIDEX which i have taken religiously each day for a year even though I have felt WEAK ,slight ACHES in my knees, TIRED, and WEARY, SINUS infections, BOWEL PROBLEMS, METALLIC TASTE all of which eventually in December got me down so much my GP signed me off work with depression and I am now taking fluoxetine to lift my mood I am convinced the Arimidex affected me and has played a big part in the way I was feeling for the last year I told my breast care nurse about this she advised me to stop taking it for 1 month I have not taken it for 4 days and feel a different person already having more energy and feeling like I can cope with life and full time work again Has anyone else experienced the same side effects as me? from Rose SNY

I was put on Lipitor in 2004 and didn't realize what was happening to me-I thought I was just getting old. (I'm now 66) I went from a very active person to one who struggled to get out of the car and my entire body ached. I was constantly tired, I had trouble putting thoughts together. I would sit at the kitchen table and cry because I felt so awful. I started losing my balance and falling down. In one of my falls in December 2006 I injured my left hip. I went to a chiropractor to see if he could help relieve the pain in my hip. While going over my symptoms and medications he pointed out that the Lipitor I'm taking could cause most of my symptoms. He suggested I call my doctor and talk to her. I did and she said that Lipitor could cause severe muscle aches-she wanted to do a blood test and said that I could just go off the Lipitor. My blood test was normal. That was in March 2007 and I have been off the Lipitor since. The fatigue and muscle aches have gone away. I still have the hip pain (bursitis) and have been going to physical therapy for that. My memory is improving but I still have to concentrate, repeat names and write things down trying to remember. I'm trying to lose weight (most of it gained around my middle). I go to the gym and exercise to try to build my muscle strength. I'm not tired all the time, I've read that the symptoms can last a long time and sometimes may never go away. I've been told by the doctor that if my cholesterol is up at my next visit that she wants me to go back on Lipitor. She also said that if it had been the Lipitor, the symptoms would have gone away right after I went off the Lipitor. I will absolutely refuse to go on any Statin-I cannot take the chance of feeling so badly again.