Taking charge of your fertility symptoms and conditions

No anniversary sex because of Mirena... this is super fun!! I got the thing inserted on 5/8/09 and today is 5/21/09. It was painful for a few days and friends and doctor said it was normal, but I felt really bad. I couldn't sit sometimes. I feel this thing inside me even now. I started getting headaches the last two weeks and I never have headaches. I haven't been working out because I'm tired. I have cramps, irritation, and constant bleeding since I got this. I also felt a lump inside my vagina that was not there before-- it was not my cervix I know where that is. I am disappointed because I have had problems with other methods of birth control and really hoped this would work. I am going back to Natural Family Planning/Fertility Awareness in which I chart my temperature (oral), cervical fluid, and other stuff. Read Taking Charge of Your Fertility if you want to try it.

wow, guys, so...i have had mirena in since April 08, and experiences minimal side effects that i was told would happen. slowly but surely though other things kept coming around, including:
-10-15 day periods
-constant cramping, extremely painful at least 2-3x a day on either left or right side
-no sex drive
-high irritability at unpredictable times
-muscle cramps
-headaches about 2x a week
-nausea at least 3x a week
-fatigue about 2x a week

When i first got on i thought all these people complaining were whiney, whusses. but now i see that all these little annoying things add up, and aren't good.

so i am getting mine taking out tomorrow, and the only form of birth control i will use is the easy fertility awareness method. charting your cycles is natural and fairly easy, and can help you avoid pregnancy, or get prego. Taking Charge of Your fertility, by Toni Weschler is the book i use, It is totally the fertility bible! Man-made hormones are just going to screw you over eventually, why not try just educating yourself and knowing when not to have sex, or to be protected? It worked enough for me before i got prego, i got pregnant exactly when i wanted to. I just went on mirena cuz it was easy, paid for by insurance, and i didn't have to avoid sex with my hubby that one week a month, haha now i don't even want it. funny stuff, eh?

I will try to up date after i get it taken out to see if i get the same relief that many of you felt!

What a relief! I've been on the nuvaring for 2 months after having the mirena for about a year and a half. The mirena caused aching pain in my abdomen during and after sex, but that seems very minor compared to what I've experienced while using the nuvaring. My sex drive decreased dramatically, I've had headaches like no other, and to top it off I've gained almost 10 pounds while decreasing my diet and running about 5 miles 3 times a week!!!! This thing is coming out today!! Not to rejoice in any one else's suffering, but I'm soo glad to have found this site and realize that I'm not absolutely nuts for thinking the nuvaring is responsible for the changes going on in my body! I'm not sure what b/c to use now - I've gotten pregnant twice while taking the pill religiously - condoms aren't really an option, my husband hates them. Anyone have any suggestions?

I got Mirena 10 weeks after having my second Child. That was in December 2007. Since then I have absolutely NO sex drive at all!! I get irritable about sex and angry at even the thought of it. I have had low abdominal pain for the last 3 months and feel like I have put on weight around my belly and Butt and hips that I don't remember having even after my last child was born hmmm. I was told to get this because it is a low dose hormone that is localized to your uterus and not your whole body but now I am having major thoughts of getting it OUT! My hands have been sore and feel swollen in the morning and my joints have all been hurting for the past 4 months or so. I am young but feel as if I am aging very rapidly because of my health issues. I feel the same way as some though that if I get it out I don't have any options of birth control because I am nursing and I got pregnant last time while taking the mini pill and breastfeeding. I don't want to do anything permanent either because we may want to have another child in the distant future. After reading all the complaints from others though I am going to call my Doctor today and see what she says.

I must say I love the NuvaRing. I've been on it for almost 3 years. It is extremely convenient. I do have some issues with weight and depression, but I've had those for a while so I don't think I can blame them on NuvaRing. I was previously on Depo for 3 years, and before that various pills (which I could never remember to take). I loved the Depo for it's convenience, but I think it caused a lot more weight gain and loss of sex drive than any other birth control method I've tried. I also tri-cycle my rings (I only have my period after every third ring cycle). The less periods the better in my opinion. I have very very light bleeding during my period. The only drawback is I have one day of horrible cramps that I never used to have. I just take some Ibuprofen and remember that it's only one day every three months.

Unfortunately I have crappy health insurance that won't cover NuvaRing, so I'm thinking about switching to Mirena. I'll miss the Ring, but hopefully Mirena will be good to me.

I had the Mirena removed on August 30th. I immediately felt a sense of calm and knew I had done the right thing. My midwife was very supportive and understanding. She said that some women are just extremely sensitive to the hormones from it (and other forms of bc). The removal was not painful, only slightly uncomfortable. I have had some bleeding since, but nothing bad. I just cannot express how much better I feel-it's as though a huge weight has been lifted from me. The anxiety, anger, all of the horrible side effects are GONE. Another thing I noticed (TMI warning) is that the first time my husband and I had sex after it was removed was that I no longer had any pain when he hit my cervix. And he says it's much better for him, since he is no longer getting poked by the strings. Getting it removed was the best thing I could have done. I will never take a chemical form of bc again, so I have decided to commit myself to FAM (the Fertility Awareness Method). I just bought the book Taking Charge of Your Fertility, and it is AMAZING. I highly recommend it. If you are suffering Mirena side effects-LISTEN TO YOUR BODY. Don't let a doctor tell you that Mirena is not the cause of what is happening to you. Best of luck to everyone.

Okay, I recently made a post on July 26th about how I loved Yasmin and have not had a problem with it. I would now like to revoke that post. Since I wrote that I have been feeling totally crazy! I snap at my 2 year old son, my fiance and my coworkers. That is not me! I do not do things like that. I'm usually a very happy person and very strong emotionally. Lately the most stupid stuff has me crying my eyes out. I seem to pick fights with my fiance, which I don't do. We never fight. And it was only last night that I sat down with him and told him that I feel like I'm going insane. We thought about it and the only thing that has really changed in the past 6 months is the fact that I started taking Yasmin. We discussed it and I have decided to stop taking this BCP for at least a month to see what happens with my mood. I'm hoping it works. If anyone has any suggestions about how to do this smoothly, please let me know. And good luck to you all!