okay ladies, I'm not sure what you all are experiencing since I'm...

I agree to an extent what you say. I has mirena for 6 years + and removed it almost a month ago. Unlike many women I did not have it post-partum but about 18 months after I had my little one. I did not experience noticeable side effects until 2 years later. To top it up I was not exercising, not eating well and not taking vitamins. I later started taking herbs and vitamin B6 which I noticed improved things dramatically .The one month I gave myself a break, things turned for the worst and so I reached out for my vitamins and herbs. My libido definitely suffered a lot and caused problems between me and my spouse, but prayer and herbs helped. Then I started exercising as well which also helped.

So yes we all have a part to play. I think we have to be reasonable when looking at these symptoms, checking our lifestyle etc, because it’s so easy to blame EVERYTHING on the device. One thing I will say however is that since I remove it, I am 100 times better though. When I had it in I was just managing it; I removed it because I don’t believe that it was God s will for me and a lot of my problems were being enhanced by the device; besides it dangerous if one gets pregnant with it and all the attendant problems that come with it. I don’t rally see why we have to manage the symptoms when we can allow our bodies to function NATURALLY the way God designed.

Blessings

Deegirl, I totally agree with you on every count. It's impossible to have a foreign device in your body and not exerience something. I would love to have my body function "naturally" but my symptoms were so extreme without it that I was considering a hysterectomy and that option leaves far more side effects than the IUD. "Naturally" could have meant death for me. I would be terrified to go without it. Not because of pregnancy but because of my cycle problems. Mirena got me off the roller coaster ride. If I had a choice I would definitely be without it. But my blood pressure is too low to experience the monthly heavy cycles I was having. My precious family needs me and this was close to life saving for me. The way I look at it is that if I needed a pacemaker to go on living and God gave me the chance to have one, I would take it. I'm at an age where the risks for pregnancy complications are increasing as well. Keep in mind that the IUD's first function and line of defense is to prevent sperm from getting to the falopian tubes. The progesterone is only secondary. The pill has far more risks and complications and after 40 blood clotting is an equally dangerous side effect (my grandmother died in her 50's from clotting). Birth control is a laughable term, since I believe God is in control and I know people who have gotten pregnant after diligently taking the pill. If God wants you to have a baby, you will have one. Everyone has to use their noodle to determine what is right for them. In the meantime we can be thankful that there are things out there to help us manage our health. I've always wondered what women did in the old days to deal with their periods, could you imagine?!?!

Hello, thanks for the reply. I am glad you asked the last question because God in his mercy knowing that we females have such a hard time with our cycles and childbirth He gave His wisdom through the the use of herbs! Women back in the day used them to assist them and help them cope. And the great thing is that there has been renewed interest in them and they have helped many women around the world to regulate their cycles One of them was Agnus Castus (http://www.positivehealth.com/article-view.php?articleid=765 )and another is a Chinese herb Dong Quai ( Rich in Iron ad B vitamins , excellent for the blood because it enriches it!) and Mexican Wild yam .In tincture form they are very good . You can do you own research to find out more.

The use of vitamin supplements also helps eg Iron, B6, Magnesium and calcium is also useful.

Maybe you have tried all these already so forgive me if I have assumed otherwise.Let me know if you want to find out more and I am happy to share with you.
Blessings

I really do have to disagree with you. Some people are simply effected by hormonal birth control and others aren't. You are apparently one of the lucky ones who it doesn't effect strongly. I was on the Pill before Mirena and was suffering from the same side effects for years. It was only after I went off the Pill that I began to put two and two together and that it was the Pill that had done it to me. I was off of all birth control for a year and it was like a completely new me. I was happy, I was so in love with my husband, I had a sex drive. I changed absolutely nothing but removing the birth control. My diet has never changed, my exercise has never changed. I got the Mirena put in and now here I am once again depressed, tired, irritable, zero sex drive. I simply can not handle hormonal birth control.

Consider yourself blessed that you haven't suffered the way the rest of us have. I have an appointment to have my Mirena taken out because I will not put up with it anymore. I am not a much of a religious person so I am taking my happiness and well being into my own hands.

Nice to see someone trying to be encouraging and you have provided good advice. However, I'm 39 with 4 children (18,16,14,6). I work full time and exercise every week, in fact i am in the best shape of my life just finished my first 1/2 marathon a few weeks ago. I take good care of myself, always have. My weight has always been the same.

If you had asked me 6 months ago, you would have thought I sold the Mirena i raved so much about it. Today i will tell you a different story. I have been suffering from anxiety like symptoms, well all but one. I have no negative thougths, or fears, just physical side effects like anxiety. 6 weeks ago i reluctantly started treatment for typical anxiety, but it has only gotten worse, so they changed my med's and still i continue to show no improvement. I find it funny that i can have a poor reaction to an anxiety med and the doc is happy to agree it doesn't agree with me, but somehow my exact story is posted on the internet by dozens and dozens of women and people are reluctant to make a connection.

All i know is as a mother of 4 i have learned to trust my instincts, don't you? Something made me google this website, a nagging feeling, I just couldnt' ignore. My jaw hit the desk when I discovered so many similar stories on multiple websites. I agree, many many individuals blame there unhealthy life on others, rather than getting off the sofa and eating right. As I already stated, I exercise 4-6 times a week. I love it and I'm in touch wiht my body, junk food makes me feel bad so I eat health. My body and instincts told me to get my IUD out, and I did after 2 1/2 years of not having any problems until recently.

Ktull68,
Wow, knocked the sense right into me. I have been complaining of this IUD since I had it put in. I have been consistently bleeding for 4 months and have been moody and have terrible acne. Lost my sex drive and feel like I have PMS all the time (especially since I can't tell when I actually have my period). Frankly, I've eaten like crap since I got this thing in! I feel like I have my period all the time so I tend to eat junk to "feel better" and of course have gained weight. You are absoultely right!!!! Lazy, unhealthy, crappy American habits. I resign to give this thing another try for 2 more months of decent exercise and healthy eating and see if it fixes itself. Plus, maybe my 32 year old, 3 pregnancy butt will get back in shape and I'll still be able to have sex without getting pregnant!

I must say that your post was one of the most realistic (and lucid) of this whole page! Whenever you see "fibromyalgia" posted by someone, followed by a list of erratic symptoms, you know you've run into a hypochondriac. :O) I can spot those mamma jammas from a mile away.

I think that some people, as you said, are just plain old not cut out for this method of birth control. It's great when people can realize that and just remove the darn thing. Why fight with your body? :)

I also appreciate that you called our sistafriends out on having crappy diets and inactivity contributing to their jacked up libido and mood. Well done. I have no children, but I can imagine that those critters also suck the very life out of you, especially when they're young. It's what they do for a living.

I had my I.U.D. inserted on November 13, 2008. I have always exercised and had a very healthy diet (healthy = 1500 calories a day, high protein and low fat vegetarian diet, exercise = 5-6 days a week that include both intense cardiovascular routines as well as strength-building sessions) . I have not gained weight or suffered any of the unusual side effects outside of intermittent mild cramping, and fleeting sessions of spotting. I spotted the first 3 weeks after insertion, and haven't had anything that comes close to a period yet. I'm lovin' it.

My libido is soaring--to the point that it's annoying my fiance. Nice, right?

The only cautionary tale I have to offer is regarding the insertion process. Since I have no children, and have never been pregnant, my poor little tiny uterus put up a tremendous fight. I experienced the most searing, contracting, white-hot pain pulses that I could have ever imagined prior to the appointment. This is very different than a "lady exam" style of cramp. I was in a cold sweat, and was doing "labor breathing." At one point, I almost passed out. It was awful! They almost removed it as soon as it got successfully situated in my uterus because I was in so much pain. After all that, I made them wait 10 minutes, and I was fine. That day, I had the worst menstrual cramp feeling of my life, but that was gone by the next morning.

My healthcare team advised me that I'd need to take an aspirin beforehand, but I reasoned that my pristine womb would not be as amenable to an IUD as they were assuming it would be, so I took half a vicodin. If that helped me, I wouldn't know it. It was a 10 out of 10 on the pain scale. It seriously made me re-think having a child out of that tiny cervix. :( I read on this board that someone had a local anesthetic applied before insertion, and I turned green with envy. I wish I had been given that option!

The moral of my story is that women who have not had children or prior pregnancies (read: pregnancies that did not result in the birth of a live child) should ask for prophylactic pain control. That is my only complaint--though I fully realize that Mirena is usually indicated for women, specifically, who have had at least one child. It's quite clear to me why, now that I've been down that road.

Should I experience some of the other side effects in the future, I'll make a return trip.

As a side note to some of our faithful posters, I interpret birth control failure rates to be exactly that; it's not God signing you up for a child. It's the real-life situation detailed in published literature that is included in your birth control packaging. Some ducks are just not lucky, despite using the pill/NuvaRing/etc. correctly. It's always a crapshoot in that respect. That's why they report 99.7% "when used correctly." I just had to throw my secular humanist perspective into the mix here. (God doesn't make babies, people make babies!) I really do mean that in the kindest way. Our voices are just never heard.

Kindest regards,
Another gal with a uterus