Pre pregnancy symptoms and conditions

My 3rd child was born in November of 2008, because I'm very fertile (having 3 children in less than 3 years) and not sure if I'm completely done, but not wanting any more any time soon, I opted for Mirena. I didn't want to deal with Depo because of the constant stories of weight gain, so Mirena sounded great. I hate taking pills because I'm forgetful. Anyway January of 2009 at my 9 week check up I had the Mirena put in...within a month my periods were virtually non existent, some of it could be due to breast feeding, but I still pretty much have no periods. Last month however I went in to the ob/gyn to have him check some pains I'm having in my lower abdomen, an ultrasound confirmed cysts (i read the tech type this out) and then the doc lied and told me there weren't any. Before Mirena, I had gone down to 175 lbs within a month of having my son thanks to weight watchers, after Mirena weight watchers wasnt working. So I quit paying for it so I of course gained back 10 lbs. I'm still eating less than 1500 calories a day, I chase 3 kids around all day, eat decently, don't exercise a whole lot but still don't sit on my butt all day and weigh about 190 lbs. If I even consider eating a piece of pizza I gain weight. This is ridiculous. My doc said he'd remove it if I continue to have pains because that usually helps, well that just one of many reasons I'm calling as soon as Im done typing here. I'm tired, my face is worse than it was in high school, I wear my husbands clothes all day, my wedding ring won't come off, I snap at everyone for everything, I'm sad, and I'm fat too boot. I would love to get back down to pre-pregnancy before the third baby 172lbs, but no matter what I do it doesn't work. Hopefully after removing this thing I can lose that and then some. I'll actually want to work out and have sex again! Not to mention have the desire to play with my kids rather than chase after them and fuss at them for everything they do.

WoW! Sounds just like my symptoms also! Been on NuvaRing for one week now and I feel bloated, depressed....all of the above! I have also noticed this dark brown spotting! I had a baby 6 weeks ago and my Dr. and I decided that this would be the best method of BC for me....WRONG! I thought that the spotting and bitchiness was just my body adjusting back to not being prego...guess not! I also noticed weight gain..I was down to my pre-pregnancy weight and I have gained 3 lbs in the past 7 days with no appetite! WTF! Bloating has been a major problem these past fw days too! Guess it's off to Mirena for me! We'll see how that goes!

oh my Gosh!!! reading all these posts makes me want to cry. I don't even know where to start from. Before I had Mirena inserted, I thought I'd done all my research - and I asked a lot of questions too. I even knew people who had it. I saw the changes in them and didn't think much of it.
I had the Mirena put in 3months after my son was born. My son just turned 1 (2 days ago) so within a matter of 9 months, I've gained 20 pounds. The sad thing was I was trying to figure out what's causing the weight gain? The thing is that I am such a "eat right freak" that I knew it was definitely no extra calories or fat...and I work out everyday. I breastfed my son until he was 8months...I did every xtra thing I needed to do to make sure that I would not gain any weight.
Less than a month after my son was born, I went back to my pre pregnancy weight (5 pounds lower) and I couldn't wait to show off my body to my friends. I heard about the Mirena and talked to a few friends who had it at the time. I talked to 3 different OBGYNs to make sure I get different perspectives before deciding to have it inserted. I researched online (I obviously missed this website) and did try to get as much info about this plastic thg before I have it done. Its has been the WORST decision of my life.
I have experienced terrible mood swings, no libido whatsoever, depression, severe headache (where i had to find a dark spot and hide because any light just made my head want to explode), tiredness, became very forgetful, tingling feeling in my legs abd arms, and SEVERE BLEEDING for days unend. This came with cramping (which I never experienced until I had my Mirena inserted) and the bleeding was so heavy and clotty. Sometimes, I will have these bleeding episodes more than twice and month and one can last for a minimum of 4days. It has made it very hard for my husband and I to mate and frankly, I'm tired of wearing sanitry pads.
I have become so depressed about my weight (which is my biggest deal) and feel like I have been doing everything but just haven't lost the weight. i now know why. Even as I'm typing this, I'm on hold with my doctor's office to get this damn thing removed. My husband and I have always been good with condoms...at this time, it's a no brainer that we'll go back to my true and trusted source of protection.
I don't recommend this for anyone - whether you've had all your children or whether you're yet to start, don't use Mirena.
Thanks to everyone who posted their experiences here. Reading through your predicaments was like a light just went off in my head...
I can't wait to get this thing removed.

This is my second time writing in. I wrote about symptoms in Feb. and now have MORE to add. I have had Mirena in for a year and a half and things are starting to add up! I still get a period though it is a little lighter than before. I am still spotting (even after all this time and there is no knowing when this will happen), heart burn, hair loss, heart palpitations (even have gone in to ER and had test run with no conclusion except I need more sleep and less stress - ha - been a mom for 9 years and haven't slept forever, why would this happen only now?) dizziness, back pain, constipation, bloating (my stomach will not go back to pre pregnancy size), gas, fatigue. My doctor says no way related! More needs to be done to make women aware of these side effects! Especially when they tell you before that there are no side effects!!!

I had my mirena inserted about 13 months ago before Christmas after the birth of my 2nd child , I was naturally shedding the baby weight until Mirena came into my life and then I gained 10lbs effortlessly within 2 months! even though my diet is always the same (I am coeliac). I had to start working out running 4 times a week and gradually have lost 8lbs but its been a huge battle.
Last May I woke up one morning bright red covered in a sunburn type rash all over my body it was scary, my joints ached so bad and my hands and feet were really swollen as if my body was reacting to something.. my gp did some blood tests and nothing it kept happening for 2 weeks and then the rash went,..I put it down to a virus at the time but felt as weak as a kitten and suffered night sweats, anxiety and flu like symptoms for months.

Ive had to really fight to keep up my running because most of the time I feel tired and depressed and run down and I have awful PMT the past few months have been dreadful I feel rubbish most of the time..everyone is getting on my nerves, I have little sex drive too and I am sure its down to the Mirena..its side affects remind me of the mini-pill which I took once for a few months it sent me so extremely loopy (paranoid and anxious) that my husband flushed them down the toilet!! well I think its the same/similar type of synthetic hormone that my body DOES NOT agree with.

I saw my Gp the other day and asked her about the side affects and she still said that I shouldn't have any after a year and it was very rare but after reading about it on here I cant believe it... its obvious and Im getting it removed. Ive had over a year of feeling terrible and various ailments so much so that I think my immune system (which is already sensitive) has suffered.

Wow! I finally have answers to all my questions. I had a baby in 6/08 and 10 weeks later had Mirena Inserted. I only had 5 lbs or less to lose to be back to pre pregnancy weight, all my clothes still fit. Today I am 15 to 20lbs heavier. I have a bald spot on my left temple(Christmas time). I thought that my husband pulled my hair out I woke up and looked in the mirror and couldn't believe it, it didn't look shaved it was out by the roots but it wasn't painful whatsoever or any redness, now I know after reading,on top of that, thinning of the hair.
My vision especially at night is just horrible I cannot see. Dizziness. My moodiness is almost unbearable I am so hateful and stay mad at my husband. I do not get out of bed until around 11 am and don't even feel rested (fortunately my daughter sleeps in late) so I have to force myself to do the bare necessities.
Now the discharge has been around about a month after I had Mirena put in. Like others have said old blood, white non smelly discharge, and I bleed after sex every time it isn't painful but its almost like it hasn't healed.
I do not want to get my tubes tied and I absolutely do not want anything with hormones in it so after more research I'm thinking about getting the Essure Coil as a form of sterilization.

Like many others on here, I am happy I found this site last week and no longer think I am going crazy! I had the mirena inserted 3 months ago. I have gained 6 pounds (which stinks because I had the mirena inserted two months after I had my baby and at the time only had 5 more pounds to lose in order to be pre-pregnancy weight) and I am very moody and depressed. I was thinking that maybe I needed to see a doctor about my depression, but then I realized that it all started back when I had mirena inserted. Then I googled and found this website. I made an appointment to have it removed this Wednesday morning - but I admit I want to try to remove it myself like two other women who have posted. I just want to get this thing out! I'll post again once I have news....

Major hair loss, gobs and gobs of hair loss, stomach pains and MAJOR bloating. I had lost all my baby weight and was back to pre pregnancy prior to insertion. Yesterday my husband asked if I was pregnant again. Now that is pretty bad. I look like I am 3 months pregnant. what in the world is going on here?

I had Mirena put in two weeks ago because I was told this will not affect my heart or give me major side effects like the pill or Depo does. HA! I have not stopped bleeding since, I've had cramps, been extremely angry (more than usual), and now I want to eat all the time too. I had been doing Weight Watchers to try to lose weight and had lost down to my pre-pregnancy weight and then had Mirena put in. Now that I want to eat all the time, I don't have any desire to try to lose weight. I just want to eat. I can't even have sex with my hubby because of the bleeding, and does anyone else still feel the strings? I looked up the Mirena website and it says of the two threads, one is made of some sort of poly-substance and the other is made of iron oxide. Um, that's a metal and I'm allergic to metals. I feel the threads ALL THE TIME. It feels like a burning sensation to a ripping sensation on occasions. Believe me, I even feel it when walking, which makes it difficult to want to exercise. Because I can feel the strings, I don't want to have sex because I'm afraid it will hurt my hubby. I'm calling my doc today to have mine removed. I'll just have to use condoms from now on because Depo destroyed my body last time I was on it and the pills mess with my heart and make me crazy.

Well...I guess I'm not crazy. My doctor assured me this pill was great...I'm finding that not to be the case! I was put on Femcon FE following the birth of my second child via c-section. Since starting the pill I have experienced headaches, depression and MAJOR WEIGHT GAIN. Prior to the pill I was about 3lbs. away from my pre-pregnancy weight. After 6 weeks on the pill I have gained over 12lbs. It makes no sense. I am monitoring my caloric intake which is around 1500-1700 calories per day. I attend a tough "boot camp" style workout 4 days a weeks. How can I be gaining weight? I'm considering just going off birth control all together. I'm 39 and our family is complete. I just can't tolerate this much longer.

My Mirena Removal....
So i posted here a few weeks ago after I found this site. I had EVERY side effect listed and was so freaked out that i immediately made an appointment for removal.
For those of you reading and wondering what the removal is like..
Well, NOTHING like the insertion. I was so so nervous and it was over before we actually started. The DR was surprised that i was back in his office to have this removed. He then proceeded to do an ultrasound to be sure it was placed properly before removal. And yes, all was OK on the position of it. I explained to him my reasons and he looked at me like he had never heard this before. I honestly can not imagine with all the women he sees that NONE of them have complained. But...as I was getting dressed afterwards, I took a good look in his office. There was Mirena literature ALL over the place. In fact, that was the ONLY thing he was advertising. Not to mention...they made me pay up front with the insertion back in Nivember...billed my insurance and I still have yet to receive my reimbursement. Oh yeah, and that...they charge more than the actual Mirena costs, then they bill your insurance for the price they know they will pay and the DR then makes about $150 profit. Nice.
Ok, back to my side effects post Mirena. The removal was not painful at all. I did spot for about a week- nothing too heavy but it was clotty and def there.
A couple of days after the removal it felt like I was coming out of my skin something terrible. I figured this was my body adjusting to the lack of hormones. I also had some headaches.
It has now been 2 weeks and the spotting has disappeared. I also can see the bloating of my stomach is starting to go away. It looked like I was about 4 mos preggo while I was on it. I also have an increased sex drive. And sleep-- well let me tell you, I have not slept this good in a very long time. I am actually sleeping more than 6 hours now and the night sweats have also discontinued.
I can't believe EVERY time I come to this site and look up Mirena ALL the people that have posted their experience as being negative. Yet, the DR looks at me like I am crazy! I have been seeing him for years and I have never complained about something like this. I really am so happy that I have it out and wish I would have done my research on this prior to insertion (which was one of the most painful things ever!)
So..for those of you out there that are either contemplating having it inserted...I say NO WAY. And for those of you out there that are nervous about the removal or not sure..I SAY YES, DO IT! For our bodies to be reacting this way, it is clear to me that it should not be inside of us. Listen to your bodies...they really do speak to you and let you know when something is not right. Forget about the DR saying it is safe or he has not heard of any of these side effects...YOU be the judge.
Good luck! And I promise it gets better once you get that lil' demon out!
Mona

I am having my Mirena removed in 12 days! (and counting every one). I have a question for those that already had theirs removed and were troubled by weight gain while they had it: What has been your experience since its been out? Losing weight now? Staying the same? Are the weird cravings gone? Do you feel less lethargic and more motivated to exercise? I would love to hear some success stories, as my daughter is almost 16 mos. old and thanks to my Mirena, I'm now weigh about as much as I did at 7 mos. pregnant! No matter what I do, I keep gaining. I'm about 50 pounds over my (realistic, healthy) goal weight, about 25 over my pre-pregnancy weight. Anyone with some encouragement?