I have been extremely happy with my Mirena actually. I had it pu...

I have been extremely happy with my Mirena actually. I had it put in after my second child in Dec. 2004 at my 6 week appointment. The cramping and bleeding didn't last that long actually but then again I was still bleeding after having the baby anyway so it was a good time to have it done. I stopped having periods after 3 months of having it in completely. That was the absolute BEST part. I haven't had to use a sanitary pad or tampon in almost 5 years! Now for the other aspects...in hindsight I don't know if the issues I had during the first couple years with the Mirena were side effects of the device or postpartum. That's the problem with having an IUD put in right after having a baby. Side effects like baby blues, postpartum depression (in my case I was almost postpartum psychosis), hair loss, weight issues, etc. can all be related to post-pregnancy. My biggest side effect was the hair loss. I have fine, thin hair to begin with so it's VERY noticeable when I start to lose hair. However, this happens after birth. After 2 years it was such a problem I went for a physical and requested a blood work-up. Everything came back normal. I was told it could be aging (I was 31 years old then) or stress. I tried absolutely everything from changing my diet, taking tons of biotin pills, multi-vitamins, etc. Every year I kept noticing it getting worse. I went to dermatologists who said it could be age, stress, hereditary (I have NO female pattern baldness in my family) and so forth. I started taking Women's Rogaine last fall. Still no difference and I'm losing hair still. I've even lost 25 pounds and within excellent weight range, changed positions in my company to a less stressed job (since last year) and STILL have hair loss. My husband started doing research on the Mirena since I need to make a decision on birth control in the next 6 months. We both noticed that other symptoms were "wearing" off. I have increased sex drive (a significant amount - let's face it...14 years in a monogamous relationship doesn't all of a sudden just start to increase in the sex drive area normally), started spotting a little bit when I guess would be my period (remember I haven't had a period for 4 years now since I had the Mirena put in post 3 months) and this last month I had a REAL period for a couple days. He thought the hormones were wearing off. I made an appointment with my GYN to discuss but thought I'd share my experience. Again I've been super happy with the no periods aspect of the Mirena. LOVE IT! But I don't know if the other symptoms I've been having over the past 5 years are related. And now I have to make a decision. My husband wants me to switch to the Paragard Copper IUD (we love the ease of the IUD so much) yet I hate the idea of heavy periods and cramping after a decade without either. Do I take the hair loss (if it's related) but have no periods? Decisions....