I am 41 yrs old and have been suffering with very heavy, clotting...

I am 41 yrs old and have been suffering with very heavy, clotting periods for the past 5 years. During those 5 years, I tried several different hormone therapies to control the bleeding, but every one of them caused extended periods lasting 10-12 days with only a week or two of no bleeding in between. I went to the GYN and her recommendation was to try the IUD as a way to lessen the bleeding and help treat migraines I also have during my cycle. I had the IUD inserted on Feb 12, 2008 and have experienced the following ever since: very sharp pains in my abdomen, constant minor cramps, extreme bloating so that my clothes do not fit, nausea just enough to not want to eat, constant light bleeding forcing me to go through several pantyliners a day, and very sore and full-feeling breasts that remind me of the days of nursing my baby, night sweats which I've NEVER experienced before. I do not have any desire for sex, but that is partly due to the constant bleeding. I went to the ER for the sharp pains in the abdomen to check for IUD perforation, but all their x-rays and CT scans showed it was in place. The CT scan showed a small spot near one of my ovaries that was 'explained away' as probably a result of ovulation. In all my years, I've never felt ovulation to that degree, this pain was a stabbing feeling from the inside. I decided to follow the GYN's recommendation to keep the IUD in at the time, but I now have an appt in two weeks to have it removed. I thought I had researched all there was to find about this hormonal IUD before my decision to have it placed--if I had come across this forum at that time, I would have said no. I was a little hesitant to go this route, putting a foreign object inside my body, but didn't listen to my own instinct at the time. I wish I had now, and I will definitely share my story with others so that they will be well informed before making this decision. My next options (as I am finished with having babies) are either thermal ablation or hysterectomy--at this point, I would welcome the hysterectomy because it would make all this bleeding/cramping STOP!