Spells symptoms and conditions

I was literally in tears when I found this site and read all of your posts. It was as if I was reading something I HAD WRITTEN. Having just returned from getting a CT scan of my head, I started researching "causes of severe headaches not related to migraines" and lo and behold this site popped up in my search. What caught my attention was the word "Mirena". Up until today I had never even considered that all of the issues I have been having since the birth of my daughter in August 2008, were in any way related to Mirena. When my daughter was about 2 months old (after my 8 week check up and insertion of the implant) I became extremely moody, sad, social anxiety kicked in, I cried for no reason, had no desire to talk to anyone, not even my husband - VERY unlike my personality. After talking to my doctor it was determined I had post partum depression so I was prescribed zoloft. Didn't work. Was still irritable and lethargic but maternity leave was up so I went back to work. I was exhausted, couldn't process my thoughts, was constantly dizzy and had blurred vision and it was all attributed to the "baby schedule (nightly feedings, no solid sleep, adjusting to schedule, etc.). My mood swings were out of control and it got to the point that I even through a knive (albeit a butter knife) at my husband. I began seeing a psychiatrist who determined I had mild bipolar disorder so he put me on medication for that. It has helped some but still doesn't control my crying spells or occasional outbursts. Recently I was so dizzy that I saw my ENT doctor who said I had vertigo. I was prescribed something for that. Still, I am dizzy and feel off balance. Most recently, I have had severe, severe, severe headaches and though there is a great possibility it is a viral issue, I was ordered to have blood drawn and to obtain a CT scan. Nothing much revealed so we set an appointment to see an neurologist next week. So, because of the worry over it, I started doing an internet search and her I am. Reading these posts brought on an overwhelming sadness because my poor family has had to endure my wrath for past 12 months. I am so angry that I didn't see this sooner and moreso that their !@#@#$% side effects didn't list ANY OF THESE discussed here. Additionally, my hair has been falling out in clumps and I can't seem to lose weight despite my 1500 calorie diet and exercise.
I made an appointment TODAY to have it removed. If I could yank it out myself I would. Thank you all for your posts. You may have just saved my marriage and my life.

So I've been reading all of your posts here and finally decided to share my experience. When I got the mirena put in about 7 weeks after my son was born back in the beginning of September the procedure went easy. It just felt like a little cramp then it was over. Before it was inserted tho, they gave me 2 Advil. The Dr. also had me quickly read the pamphlet about the mirena. All that I read sounded like it would be all good so I said ok to having it inserted. After the insertion I went home about an hour or 2 later I started cramping and bleeding. I figured it was ok until it only got worse. I cramped really bad like I was in labor again for about a week. I wanted to call, but stubborn me wanted to stick it out. Well after that calmed down a bit I had irregular bleeding for months after that. Each time I bled or had my period it hurt really bad. Each period also lasted for 10 days about. I finally made an appt. with my regular Dr. and she just gave me Tylenol 3's. This was at about the 6 month mark of having it in. Also by then I started suffering severe anxiety and depression. I had terrible mood swings and crying spells. Well about a month after that I went back because I needed something for all that stuff and the pain had gotten worse. My whole body hurt. So she gave me percocets, valium and effexor xr 150 mgs. I also noticed when they took my vitals this time and the last my temp was 99.4 and my blood pressure was in the 130's one time and the 140's another time. My pulse was also 111 once and 118 another time. Well about two weeks after that second appt. I developed a urinary infection and after I went in for the 3rd time and my urine was tested it came back severe infection. My vitals were 99.6 and 156 for pressure and 109 for pulse. Mind you each time my vitals were never mentioned or even a concern to the docs. Just I noticed it seemed. Well after I took the 10 day antibiotics the urinary pain went away but not my fever and I had really bad body aches. I went back to the Dr. and was given vicodin and was ordered blood tests. My vitals were all high again. I did the blood tests, made an appt. for 2 weeks later to get results and went home and suffered still. When I went back for my results the only finding was my B12 level was low. I wasn't told how low or what to do. So I got all my meds refilled and went home. I went and bought B12 vit.s. I decided to look up B12 online. Then I made an appt. to go back and get more details of it. She told me the level was 168 and she decided to get me a shot that lasts for a month and refilled my vicodin. A week later I felt a little better, but still had symptoms going on. That's when I thought about the mirena being the problem and stumbled on this site and other sites about mirena neg. side affects. I have severe acne, a low grade fever for 4 months, high pulse rate, high blood pressure, mood swings, depression, anxiety, bloating that looks like I'm pregnant and have been asked 3 times when is my baby due. I am 5ft 3in and weigh 129 so I am not fat all over just my stomach is so bloated and fat that it makes me look pregnant. I bleed for 10 days, I have NO libido, I feel strange sensations in my stomach like a baby moving, but I am not pregnant, Iove had nausea, loss of appetite, yet I can,t lose any weight, I am tired a lot, body aces, joint pain, nerve pain, tension in my neck and shoulders, headaches and low B12 levels which don't normally happen to anyone until they are over 50. Well 2 days ago after reading on this, I decided I have had it and couldn't take it anymore and took the damn thing out myself. It didn't hurt at all, in fact I couldn't even feel it coming out. It came out so easy. I don't recommend anyone doing this themselves, I am simply telling my story. I started what seems to be a period this morning. It's very normal so far. I plan on going to my new Dr. I'm getting soon and getting a check up and a pap since I'm due for one. I feel pretty good so far. No problems and I'm relieved that piece of plastic is out of me and look forward to getting my life back. Good luck to all of you!!

I am 28 and have been on Alesse for almost 3 years and just now realizing my depression, raging hot flashes, crying spells, tiredness, general crabiness and a host of other negative traits may be due to my B/C. I am going to my doctor on Friday to see about changing B/C and also testing for primary ovarian insufficiency as I have never had a regular cycle since I started menstruating when I was 17. I was on Yasmin for a short while before Alesse which gave me severe paranoid episodes so I switched to Alesse. The current changes came on so gradually I didn't notice them. The hot flashes have pushed me over the edge so that finally caught my attention. I hope to find some relief somehow, and some answers.

today is my first day off doxycycline. i was prescribed 100mg twice a day for 14 days for lyme disease which it got rid of. i already had some nausea and fatigue from the lyme , but this drug is wicked. while taking the drug i have had heartburn even with the glass of water, extreme nausea( lost 6 pounds in a week and a half) having to force myself to eat, depression with spells of wanting to cry and not wanting to go out and be active or talk to anyone which is unusual for me, and no appetite at all , seeing this site is a big relief for me , but how long does it take to make these side effects go away ( that the doctor says rarely happen) and any suggestions for helping them go away?

I've been on NuvaRing for 4 months. In those 4 months my mood has disintegrated. The mood swings weren’t that bad the first month, but my mental state has deteriorated to horrible crying spells, headaches and horrible mood swings. It got to the point where I thought I was manic depressive. I started crying for no reason at work. I didn’t realize it was the ring until I searched for side effects. I had no idea all these problems were a result of the birth control. I thought I was going insane. I stopped taking it immediately and am looking forward to going back on the pill and for the side effects to dissipate.

I have been on lisinopril for over 3 years - 5 mg/day. I am a 52 year old female in great shape and exercise daily. For over a year now I have had muscle aches, muscle weakness, heart palpitations, foggy brain feeling, insomnia, fatigue, some tingling in extremities. I also sometimes get these spells where all these symptoms come on at once. It's very strange. Been to numerous doctors including, PCP, 2 neurologists and a rheumatologist and after many tests they all come up with nothing. After reading posts at this site I think it may be the Lisinopril and with my PCP's permission stopped taking it 11 days ago. My blood pressure is fine - I am monitoring it daily. My symptoms still remain. Does anyone know how long these symptoms may continue? I am grateful for any additional information you could provide.

The only side effects I am having, and I have only been on Effexor XR for about 2 weeks are: bad headache, anxious feeling (but getting better), and I loved my vivid dreams (good or bad) I have had all my life. For the past 2 weeks, IF I DO dream, I don't remember a thing about them. My family is probably happy about that because they get tired of hearing about my silly dreams everyday, but I enjoy retelling them since they have always been so real and deep! But now, nothing! Before Effexor XR, I was on Zoloft for 14 years! It was great, and no side effects, but all at once, after all these years, it was like it just QUIT WORKING. NOTHING. It was like the drug store had begun giving me placebos or something. I so hated to change, but had no choice. Depression, crying spells, and "going off" had come back after 14 years with a vengeance! Wish me good luck because I am going to try and tough this out and give the Effexor more time. Otherwise, doctor is going to put me back on Zoloft and just up the dosage from 1 100 mg tablet to 1 100 mg in the morning and 1/2 tablet in the afternoon. Too bad they don't just make a plain, "ole" happy pill!!!

I'm trying to determine some sort of pattern based on each woman's experience with different brands (estrogen/progestin levels) of birth control... Recently my gyn prescribed Loestrin 24, I have yet to begin a cycle but am trying to gauge possible side effects.
Generic Ortho-tricyclen: AWFUL!!! Reeked havoc on my emotional stability. Bitchy, moody, impatient, weepy (constantly), and weight gain. I did not notice any sexual side effects though.
Yaz: Better than Ortho... Random periods (heavy one month, non existent the next). Emotionally and sexually I feel fine, but hard to measure after taking Ortho and Cymbalta.

Please share thoughts and experiences

I am so glad I found this posting! Hi everyone my names Vanessa..I am 20 years old and was prescribed doxycycline for mild adult acne in Jan..5 months ago...and never knew how much the side effects change someones lives. Experienced: insomnia, nightmares, hot/cold spells, difficulty breathing, paranoid, swollen face and tongue, crying spells, severe mood swings, inability to concentrate, weakness, fatigue, suicidal, shakiness, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, irritability, feeling outside of my body.....it wasn't until I started to stop drinking coffee and drinking loads of water and exercising..that I realized it was the doxycycline side effects. I would wake up have a good breakfast....and water....than take the pill and start to get blurred vision...shaky..feel depressed. and confused...than I would start drinking more water and trying to sweat (knowing that water flushes toxins out of your body and sweating) and by 2 ish? the side effects subsided...and I could see clear. Today my first day not taken the pill...and from what I read it takes a few weeks to get it completely out of your system. But I get a kick out of doctors who prescribe all of these medications to people thinking it cures things..not realizing that it really can disrupts someones lives who's sensitive to medication.

This is the second time i'm writing on here. I posted my Mirena side effects a few months ago and thought i'd update my side effects....

before i had the mirena put in i was doing GREAT losing weight right after my 4th baby. i actually lost 15 lbs and weighed less then when i got preggo. within a 3 week period of getting the Mirena put in, i gained 11 lbs! and my dieting and exercise wasn't doing much good. my doc recommended that i watch was a eat a little more carefully and exercise MORE.... how much more do i have to watch was i eat and exercise?? anyhow, its been almost 6 1/2 months since i had it up it and im just experiencing more and more side effects. now i had what looks like a really bad case of eczema all over my body. especially on my knees, elbows and my knuckles. my scalp is really itchy, i've GAINED 30 lbs, my hair is falling out like crazy, by bones are killing me especially my lower back, ankles and shins, my mood swings are horrible i feel like im PMSing all the time and when i get my period which is still messed up and lasts for 2 weeks i get even moodier! i am always really tired, i feel like my chest is about to explode, whenever i eat i get really nauseous, i feel depressed all the time and have bouts of crying spells.... i've always had migraines but the mirena seemed to make them EVEN WORSE now. IDK, i've just about had it with the IUD. the only good thing about it is...im not pregnant!! and i don't understand why doctors keep brushing all these symptoms off as if we are all crazy when we say we are experiencing something that we know wasn't there before the IUD...

Hello,
I posted earlier and here is an update "POST MIRENA"
It hurt for only about 20 seconds and it was over. EASY You can do it!
I had the mirena put in Oct. 2007 and nursed my daughter for a year until Sept. 2008. Just the last 6 weeks started having these symptoms and went to my MD/Osteopath because when I called my OB-GYN she said it has nothing to do with the mirena and to see my regular MD. He has been fabulous and I have had several tests that I have listed as well as taken the mirena out!
My symptoms:
Lower back pain
tingling in my arms, feet and lips
cramps
low energy
I had my mirena taken out on April 30, 2009 and am just starting to feel better post mirena. I had these tests:
* MRI on back/spine
* MS test(Vision Evoked Potential)
*blood work
*Thyroid (it's been low since Oct. so I'm taking Synthroid)
*Vitamin D
ALL NEGATIVE ...Thankfully!:)
You never know....I just pray I continue to improve and get my life back and feel healthy!:)) From other posts it sounds like it takes a little while. Does this sound familiar? Please respond....

Well, it's been 2 weeks since I had the Mirena removed. I am sooooo glad I did. My side effects, as I had posted a couple weeks ago included, constant spotting, moodiness, head fog, dizziness and (the worst one) 25 pounds of weight gain. All of these things have cleared up except the weight gain, but even that is getting better. I have lost about 10 of those pounds already and feel much less bloated.
My doctor also tried to urge me to give it more time and insisted that my symptoms had nothing to do with the mirena. Well, if that were true, I would still have them, but I don't. Doctors should just accept the fact that Mirena isn't for everyone. I was also under the impression that you wouldn't even conceive while using the Mirena. Well, now I find out that that isn't necessarily true, that some women do conceive and then miscarry. Well, that isn't what I wanted in birth control. I want to prevent pregnancy not expel it. Well, I have a few years and then menopause will set in, that will be good enough.

I know that so many of you have said it but I will say it again: THANK GOD I'M NOT ALONE!!!! I thought that I was going mad! Im a 27 year old mother of 3 and decided to get the Mirena because it seemed soooo easy. What was not to like??? 5 years of worry free sex?!?!? Sign me up!!! Well, I had it inserted Sept of 08 and it did not hurt as much as I anticipated (that was a relief). First of all, I bled what seems like nonstop for the first 5 months. Right when I was thinking about having it removed due to the bleeding, it stopped! Suddenly! That made me very happy. But yesterday, as I laid on the couch, in pain, watching my kids destroy the house and helpless to do anything to stop them due to pain and lack of energy, I started thinking really really hard. I said to myself 'self, something is not adding up here'. It suddenly dawned on me that my chest pain, intense lower back pain, my right side hurting so bad that sometime I can hardly stand it to walk, coincidentally started shortly after having the Mirena inserted. The more I thought about it the more it made sense! You see, I have never been a sickly person (thank God!) hardly ever had a headache. But for the first time in my life, I felt as if my body was falling apart!!! I woke up every morning feeling as if I was ran over by an eighteen wheeler! I mean, sometimes I can't even function well enough to get through the day. This is causing so much stress on my children, my fiancee, my school, and work! Everyone (including my DR) thinks that its just stress and that I have too much on my plate. I accepted that for a long time and struggled to simplify things. My Dr. has tried Naproxen for my chest pain, muscle relaxers for what he thinks are pinched nerves causing my backache and stiff neck. But dude, seriously... its getting worst! And besides I do not want to take 50 pills everyday just to function! SO here I am researching side effects and BAM!!! So many women are experiencing the same symptoms. So 1st and for most, thank you all for sharing your experiences. Now I know what is ailing me. But Im not sure that I want to take it out because I love the freedom that comes with the Mirena. I will talk to my doctor about ways to manage or eliminate my symptoms if possible. Does anyone know of another worry-free birth control method? Other than abstinence :-)

I am a 56 year old female & have been on toprol for 7 or 8 years. I was a small business owner & under a lot of stress. I had couple of times where my heart would race & pound & I felt really strange. I went to the ER where they of course checked my blood pressure. It was a little high, but I was stressed out! After the second time this happened they put me on 50mg of toprol. I have since weaned myself down to 25 mg. I think I was having a panic attack, which I had never had before. I regret the day I ever started taking this poison. I have had such shortness of breath that I can hardly walk to my mailbox & back. I feel like I can never get enough air in my lungs. I feel a tightness in my chest all the time, sometimes my heart feels like it is beating abnormally. I am always aware of my heart beat which I never was before this med. I have gained about 20 to 30 lbs, which is very hard to lose when you feel like you are dying if you exercise. I have pain in my left shoulder, which I don't know if it is from the med or not. I do not sleep well at night & am so tired all the time it is hard to get through the day. I just overall feel like crap! It seems doctors are no help they just want to try you on other meds, I have tried that too. They are all poison I felt even worse on some of the others. I don't want to go through the rest of my life like this. Has anyone successfully gotten off this stuff? I would love to hear from you. Thanks, K. L.

It's been a while since I've added a post. I had the Mirena removed on Feb. 14/09. I have been feeling great, except for some bad spells while PMSing and ovulating. My last PMS wasn't half as bad as the first one without Mirena. I think next month I will be 100% again. My hair is growing back, have a sex drive again, my joint pain is gone, I am no longer depressed and anxious, I don't hate my husband anymore.. (maybe just 1 or 2 days last month..LOL), and I'm not binge eating anymore and have lost 16 lbs! Not sure about the insomnia yet, as I am taking sleeping pills still.. But I am so happy to be me again!

I started taking OMEPRAZOLE on April 1 and stop taking it on April 9 due to my heart started feeling like it was in my throat. I'm of balance, high pulse rate, dizziness, and rapid spells of burping. Before taking this medication I was having some stomach problems and was prescribed this medication to clear them up but once I started taking it, I started feeling even worse. I ended up in the ER and had multiply doctors appointment within a week of taking this medication. I had a EKG and everything was normal but I feel like crap.

I was perscribed Valuim for anxiety and depression but i think that the valuim is helping very well for my anxiety but it seems to be makeing my depression a whole lot worse i hade crying spells and once i started crying i couldnt stop.

I have been really stressed out about the behavior of my 5 year old son. He is having uncontrollable tantrums, crying spells, aggressive behavior towards me, his dad and his 2 year old brother. He does fine at school according to the teacher. So I thought it was our structure at home. We has a very well kept schedule that we don't change very much even on the weekends. So in the last month it has gotten worse including bed wetting, restlessness, and crying episodes for 20 minutes.
My sister told me about a news piece that she saw about negative side effects of Singulair in children. So here I am on this blog. I have now had an AHA moment. This is the problem. I will be calling the pediatrician TODAY. Now I know what's going on. Thanks to all of you for sharing your experiences. I will post again with an update.

You sound just like me! My joint pain was so bad i thought I had a really bad case of arthritis. Some nights i felt like my legs and wrists were broken! ... and this makes it hard to look after 2 kids under the age of 3. My husband and i have been in marriage counseling for months now, and I have been for solo counseling for depression, anxiety and an over-eating disorder... all of which has been pretty much cured since the removal of my Mirena on Feb. 14th! I was forewarned by the women on this site that, after removal, I would have some bad spells during PMS and ovulation time.. which I have had. And during those times i started to doubt my diagnosis. Looking back now, the puzzle fits so perfectly, I don't see how I could have doubted it. I just never understood PMS until this Mirena came along. I never had it before. Get that evil thing out and look forward to getting better. No birth control method is worth this kind of sacrifice. I'm so lucky my husband stuck it through. A lot of men would have given up on me long ago...

i can't believe all these posts, i come on here everyday now, i'm so glad i found it. i had my mirena fitted in oct 08, and have completely changed since. before i was a happy, energetic, optimistic, fit, healthyish, now i'm in counseling for anxiety and depression, in the doctors evrery other week (not kidding) i'm so glad hes nice and understanding! here are my symptoms in 5 months

aching joints, (been referred to a rheumatologist),
depression and anxiety (been referred to a councilor),
head aches,
tired,
smelly discharge,
excessive bleeding, (8 weeks),
painful periods,
pain underneath ribs (not sure if its related),
dizzy,
don't feel like me any more,
forgetful,

I am a male in my 30s and I am predisposed to situational anxiety hypersensitivity and phase of life triggered depression. 90% of the year I am fine with no problems with depression or anxiety. I have had 6 treatments of amoxicillin over the last 2 years for sinus infections and wisdom tooth extractions. In each case, within 72 hours of the start of treatment, I experience constant depressed mood and hopeless and experience evening crying spells as a release from severe depression all day. In all 6 cases, within 48 hours of the last dose of amoxicillin, the depression subsides and my mood reaches a normal state. My doctor at the time did not attribute the depression to the antibiotic since I suspect it isn't listed in his PDR and did not show up with statistical significance in clinical trials. I don't go to that doctor any longer due to this and have a new doctor that has 20 years of experience and noted a lot of anecdotal evidence of amoxicillin triggering depression in those that might be predisposed to situational anxiety, panic attacks and/or stress/phase of life induced depression.

I'm so glad I found this web site! I started taking simvastatin (40mg) about a month ago, and I've gained over 15 pounds in the last two weeks. I'm very bloated, very tired, my fingers are going numb, I'm getting BAD headaches, and the hot spells and night sweats are out of control. As others have mentioned, I just assumed it was all due to menopause. But I was so upset at having gained the weight so quickly because I recently lost 35 pounds, and I started getting depressed because the weight was coming back. I feel so much better knowing that I'm not alone, and that there is a real explanation for all the rotten things that are happening. I guess statins do work well for some people, but they're definitely not for everyone!

There may be no way to get Levaquin out of one's body except time. But I wanted to at least try to speed it up. I don't know if it will work for me or others, only time will tell. There is genetics involved since each of us has a unique tolerance for Levaquin. But here is what I am doing:

1. 8 glasses of water daily with fresh-squeezed lemon juice.
2. Lots of fiber - a tblsp of wheat bran 3 times a day with more water.
3. Plain yogurt with live active cultures 5 times a day.
4. A hot bath with epsom salts once a day.
5. Magnesium, Calcium and Iron, a couple of times a day.
6. Vitamins B and C a few times a day.
7. Body Cleanse and Liver Cleanse from the drug store, as directed.

I took 7 Levaquin pills and stopped 10 days ago. Some symptoms have improved. Notably, my appetite is better, the bloated stomach is gone and food moves through normally, anxiety spells are gone, the brain fog is still there but maybe a slightly better each day.

I will be watching my body for any signs of tendon pain in the 12 - 18 months ahead. No pain so far, but Levaquin is capable of doing damage with the pain not felt until later. I will ease back into exercising very slowly over the coming months.

I will be posting updates periodically over the next couple of years. I am a 50 year-old man.

Good luck to all and God bless.

To those with a history of depression or mood swings: DON'T TAKE THIS MEDICINE.

I started taking Loestrin 24fe in January 2009 to alleviate heavy and irregular periods. I managed to stick with it for a month and a half before the depression and mood swings were too much for me to handle. My boyfriend and six or seven other people (some whom I am close to and some whom I am just friends with) told me I was being strangely moody and wasn't acting like myself AT ALL. My moods fluctuated constantly during the day, always tending toward depression, but alternated between being extremely peppy and very depressed and dull, sometimes several times within a few hours. I started snapping at people for no reason, and random crying spells began as the mood swings went even further downhill to the point where those I am close to became seriously concerned about my mental state and feared that I would become suicidal. I could live with the other side effects-- acne, increased breast size & tenderness, nightmares, and spotting-- but not the personality change.

I stopped taking Loestrin 24 two days ago and immediately noticed a change in my personality. One of my close friends called me and two minutes into the conversation, she told me that I sound like my normal self for the first time since I started taking the pill. The mood swings are gone, as is the depression, and I'm willing to live with irregular periods and the hassle they can be rather than become a different person and end up taking even more medicines to treat the side effects of Loestrin.

24 yrs old, 3 kids
MY SYMPTOMS: Stabbing pains in butt & sides, BAD cramps, WORSE crotch drop, spotting, light frequent periods, normal but slightly longer periods, constant dull headache that won't go away, mood swings (extremely irritable toward my kids), hot flashes (I don't really know what those are but I'm assuming that's what it is), tiredness, ACNE, little discharge, yellowish discharge w/ odor, when I hadn't spotted for a while we got brave & my husband noted a "sour" taste that was never there before, "sweet scent" & normal discharge absent, some lack of libido, pain w/ deep penetration & me on top positions (WHY?), lower back pain (recently worse), uneasy emotional feeling, pressure & bloating in abdomen, slight weight gain, pain & cramping after sex, feeling that something is "stuck" in my uterus (that might just be in my head. :) ), food cravings, increased appetite & thirst.
MY STORY or most of it:
I AM SO EXCITED to have found this website! Of course I feel so bad for all the women who have had such nightmares to live with, but I thank you for sharing! Now I know it's not "just me". I had mirena placed in Dec '07 (bout 2 mos after having my 3rd baby. Placement didn't really hurt, it felt like a pap smear. Well after having a baby naturally I thought how bad could it be? Right away I started having these sharp stabbing pains (u're supposed to have cramps for a few days) but I thought it was weird because the pains were like in my butt. It hurt more when I sat down. I continued to have pretty bad cramps, enough for me to take something which I never like to do. I was scared about the cramps not letting up so I called the nurse & she said that it was normal. ALSO I couldn't feel the strings, had my husband check (his fingers are longer & w/out long nails) & he couldn't feel them either.. When I went back to have the strings trimmed my ob said that they are just even w/ my uterus."they'll probably just have to go into your uterus a little bit when they remove it," she said. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? I have been scared about that this whole time. So it's been about a yr & 1/2 now since insertion & my husband has never felt the strings. I breastfed my son for 11 mos & he SUDDENLY weaned himself. During those first 11 I never had a period or even spotting (after the initial bleeding was over). A few months before I stopped nursing I started getting acne pretty bad, enough to order PRO-Activ. But this acne is not how it was as a teen, It's not in the T-zone, but on the sides of my face (cheeks) and mostly on my forehead.I didn't understand why the proactiv wasn't working because it worked miracles for me as a teen, but now I know. So after CRYING because of my baby's rejecting my sore, engorged boobs for a few days I started bleeding. I couldn't understand WHY I was sooooo upset over my baby stopping nursing. I've heard that it is natural to feel like that because of the close bond that is there and I think that is true. But now I am thinking that the mirena made it much worse because when I stopped nursing my first baby when she was about the same age, I didn't even care. I wanted to stop. So it is hard to remember if I had a real period or not that first month (I soon started writing down my bleeding days so that I could keep track.) But I know that after that I would have a LIGHT period for about 7-8 days which is long for me, then in a few days I would spot for 2 - 3 days, then maybe a week later I would have another light period for about 6 days. It's hard to remember exactly, but I have it written down somewhere and it was about like that for 3 mos. Then in December I had 2 light, long periods with one normal (finally!) and spotting in between. I remember trying to shop the day before Christmas Eve with THE WORST cramps & "crotch drop" I have ever had, only to SPOT the next day. In January I had a normal period (a bit shorter but with spotting for 2 days after) then a week later spotting for 4 days, followed by a light period. I've had mild achy -like cramping pretty much constantly since I stopped nursing. I think I just kind of got used to it. I find this cramping weird because with my pre-mirena periods I didn't really have cramps, just "crotch drop" for the first 2 days. The thing that drew me to look up side effects w/ mirena was the weight gain. I am pretty pissed off because I was down to 125 lbs from nursing (pre-preg weight 130 lbs) and I haven't weighed myself (I don't have a scale for some reason) but I CAN TELL that I have put on a few lbs, maybe 5 - 10 in the past few mos. PLUS there is the bloating and this uncomfortable pressure in my abdomen. I seem to only be fatter in my belly, which has always been pretty flat about a yr after each baby's birth.I would like to gain some in my boobs. I'm barely an A cup - after breastfeeding and saggy! But that hasn't happened. So I was wondering how long does this spotting, cramping, weight gain go on? For the whole 5 yrs? I went to the official mirena site which gives a few study numbers (Whatever the heck those mean). The site is supposed to allow u to log in & chat w/ new mirena users like yourself but I tried that & it didn't work. So then I found a site with like 400 posts from women whose lives were so messed up from merena, but its newest post was from 3 mos ago and most were from 4 or more yrs ago. I wish I had found that site before I got mirena. I didn't really research before getting it. I just trusted my ob & saw the poster on the wall, and read the little misleading pamphlet. Then I googled "Mirena bad side effects" and found this site. After reading these posts I know I am going to have my mirena removed. I'd do it myself but can't find the strings. I wonder what exactly they will have to do to get it out? I said I would give it 6 mos (after stopping breastfeeding) for my body to adjust or whatever and the end of Feb will be 6 mos. I don't want to live w/ these symptoms for 3 more yrs and I am afraid that worse things will happen, Anyway what is the point of having birth control if u don't really need it because u're always bleeding? My symptoms are not severely bad but they are there and are not worth it. I want to feel like me again.