Very disappointed...I became Hypoglycemic!
My story: I became Hypoglycemic within weeks of having the Mirena inserted. My symptoms were; anxiety, shakiness,irritability and nightmares.
I went to a primary care doctor and then to a endocrinologist complaining of that my blood sugar was becoming a problem. I was aware of the feeling of low blood sugar because when I breast feed my two boys (ages now 7 and 10) I then easily became hypoglycemic. However, I have not had this problem since.
Both physicians thought that i had reactive hypoglycemia because my fasting glucose was within normal limits.I have a healthy diet but i changed my eating habits even further (e.g. gave up all caffeine, sweets, alcohol. I started eating more whole grains and had small meals every 3 hours).
Even though I change my eating habits the side effects still became worse.I was starting to get panic attacks, I had never had these before. During one of my worst panic attacks (9 months after I had the Mirena inserted) I called my sister. I kept saying "I don't know what is causing me to be so anxious, I have never been like this before." Well, that statement sank in, I started to think about what was different. The only thing was the Mirena. That night I look up side effects of the Mirena and came across several blogs all describing their disappointment and many speaking about anxiety related issues.
I have to say I felt relief. It was not going crazy. The following day I read the official FDA Mirena web-site and that is when I found out about the effects on blood glucose. It is stated that Levonorgestrel may effect glucose tolerance and the blood glucose. However, my gynecologist never mentioned this side effect so I was not aware of this potential reaction. Btw, I had told both the primary care doctor and the endocrinologist that I had a Mirena IUD but neither of them new about the effects to the blood glucose.
The other interesting thing I noticed on the official FDA Mirena site is that when the list the Adverse reactions (depression,nervousness, weight gain etc...) they say reported by 5% or more subjects...hmmm, MORE...i think that is a key word!
I had it removed one month ago and I am starting to feel better. From what I understand, it may take up to 3 months to get the Levonorgestrel to get completely out of the system. however, my hypoglycemia is starting to diminish, I recently had a cup of coffee without getting the shakes and I can now enjoy a glass of wine at night too. My anxiety is almost completely gone.
What a relief to have figured this out!