Has anyone had a High White Blood count due to the Mirena? I was...

Wow - yet another side effect to Mirena that I experienced. I had Mirena for almost three years. Great for first two, then the trouble started: weight gain, moodiness, back pain, joint pain, thinning hair, major bloating, very sore boobs, exhaustion, etc. I never thought it could be the Mirena because my GYN said the hormone dose was too low to cause side effects. I got a blood work-up done to test my thyroid and to see what else might be wrong with me. All came back totally normal excpt I had a high white blood cell count. I need to go back in a few months to get it re-tested. I got Mirena removed almost a month ago and am feeling TONS better (happy, sex drive is back, bloating is down, weight is starting to drop, no more back pain, hair is no longer falling out, joint pain is still here but improving.... still some headaches and moodiness, but I have read that's normal for a few months as the body readjusts), so I'm guessing white blood cell count will be normal when I retest. Good luck to you!!

Now that you mention it, mine was a little high, but not too bad. Ordinarily it indicates that there is an infection going on in your body somewhere. It's possible that you have gotten a pelvic infection due to the insertion of the IUD. Definitely have it checked out. I've never tried a copper IUD, but perhaps that is an option for you? Obviously, in light of the side effects from the Mirena, you might want to check it out first just to see what women are saying. Good luck and I'm sorry you have to go through this.

It's not an infection from the IUD, so they say. I've had it checked twice and both times my Ph levels have come back okay. We'll see what happens because I'm waiting for my next round of blood tests to come back this morning, so I'll know whether it could be the IUD or not. Thank you for the replies.

I had a Mirena for almost 4 years and now at 33 my husband and I have decided to try for baby #2 so I had it removed at the end of January. When I originally had it put in it was after trying that stupid birth control patch which fell off all the time and gave me a rash and then going back on BCP, having constant breakthrough bleeding, and unfortunately getting pregnant and losing the baby at about 6 weeks. The Mirena at the time sounded like a godsend. I have to say, from what I remember of the insertion, it was like the worst contraction ever. I had to lay on the table for a bit before they would let me get up- and driving back to my office was awful- I had this creepy feeling that I could feel the Mirena inside my uterus, and since it is a foreign object, I kept thinking that my uterus was cramping up trying to push it out of me....ugh. Regarding your mention of elevated white count, while I had the Mirena in I had elevated leukocytes on THREE different blood counts with no plausible explanation. I also began having mood swings, irritability, low sex drive, and weight gain in my belly like I was peri or post-menopausal. This started gradually, probably about 9-10 months after having the Mirena put in, with no diet or exercise changes on my part. Like another poster in this forum, I had liver, metabolic, and thyroid testing and all came back perfectly normal. At one point I weighed 13 pounds MORE than I did at full-term pregnancy with our first baby. My skin looked tired, I started getting gray hair and waking up with a puffy face and getting breakouts like a teenager. I didn't have periods anymore after about 6 months, but every few months I would have 2-3 days of this yucky brown discharge- like old period blood. Uck. All I wanted to do was sleep- and yes, that included no sex with my poor hubby- and the most obvious explanation for all of this was depression. I went on Zoloft which seemed to help my mood and sex drive somewhat, but the rest of the symptoms kept up. Since then we have moved to a new city in a new state with my husband's work and my new physician here said I could expect to get pregnant right away... but I haven't had a period yet- some bright red spotting the day they removed it and the day after, but nothing since. The removal wasn't fun, but it was a walk in the park by comparison. Around Valentine's day this year, about 3 weeks after getting the Mirena pulled, I realized that I felt like my old self again...thank heavens!!! However, it's gotten to the point where I take a box of tampons with me on all business trips just in case- who knows when/if it will show up- and I am paranoid that sushi and margarita night with the girls or that second glass of wine at dinner isn't a good idea because I just MIGHT be preggers...I have been watching my cervical mucus and had the telltale egg-white consistency a few days ago which usually indicates ovulation, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that maybe soon we will have a bun in the oven. I've also sent hubby on more late-night runs to CVS and Walgreens than we ever did back in the good old broke days when we were in college together, ha ha.
I wish now I had put this all together sooner- I found these postings while googling on the words "Mirena and fertility". Maybe at only 6 weeks out I am jumping the gun, but with no period (not even spotting) and going on a "babymoon" trip with my hubby to the Keys I guess I was more than a little disappointed to have yet again a negative pregnancy test. I've read on other sites that Mirena can have a negative effect on fertility and that it may take up to a year to ovulate and have a normal corpus luteum because the slow progesterone release apparently can screw up lutenizing hormone and your body's natural progesterone production...I truly hope this is not the case...for everyone out there who is trying for another bambino after Mirena- I am sending the "fertility goddesses" your way- please also send some good babymakin' mojo to us- I will keep this forum posted.

Thoughts and prayers to you all- and thanks for sharing!