I am a 39 year old mother of two teenager daughters. I had my or...

Oh yeah, decreased (aka none whatesoever) sex drive is a big issue for me as well. This may have been one of the determining factors in my husband wanting a divorce as well. I have been separated from him for over 6 years now and haven't missed having sex one bit - very very frightening actually.

I had a similar experience....the Mirena did indeed thrust me into premature menopause. I have a fantastic Dr, fortunately, and am now marking one year on HRT....quite a journey, one I didn't expect to have to make just yet! Please feel free to private message me...I would be happy to share my whole experience. Like you, I feel very badly for those who were looking for temporary contraception and then ended up facing fertility issues. I went from thinking I needed birth control to menopause, just like that!

I too am 39 yrs old and recently started having the hot flashes and waking up at night sweating (despite using a/c, ceiling fan and a fan on my dresser)....I asked my OB about early menopause and she said it was more likely hormonal surges. Then I asked my mom when she started going through menopause and she said 39-40 yrs old. I have had the mirena for about 17 months and my symptoms are getting worse, I really want to have it removed. Although I am done having children, it is scary to think that this can happen this early. The sex drive is an issue too, the thought of sex is so unappealing, my poor husband is a saint to have put up with me over the last 2 yrs.

Do you wonder if the Mirena made your marriage problems worse? I finalized my divorce early this year, and after realizing the Mirena was causing many of my emotional problems, I started thinking back and getting very scared/worried that I may not have gotten divorced if it hadn't been messing with my emotions. I felt so hopeless and my final decision came down to "if I can't stand him touching me, I have no business being married to him." I felt that he deserved to be with someone who wanted to be near him. And now I worry that it wasn't him or ME, it was this little plastic thing in my uterus that was wreaking havoc on my emotional well-being. I'm just wondering if anyone else has wondered this...or if I should just move on :) I'm still trying to work past the whole thing, but I second guess myself (I'm the one who wanted the divorce...) I'm sorry to hear about your early menopause. It really helps to hear your story, though, because I just had my mirena removed and it makes me feel so much better about having done it. Thank you for sharing.

By your own admission, you had abnormal hormone levels before Mirena. I think your genetic / physiologic makeup is more likely to be the cause of early menopause than Mirena.

I love my Mirena (on my 2nd one) due to the positive effects you mentioned. I can't imagine that Mirena is able to affect overall hormone levels enough to affect moods and sex drive. Just my opinion, though.

Also, 'tnsunshyne' noted that her mother went through menopause at the same age as she is experiencing it. That makes genetics / physiology much more likely as a cause of symptoms than Mirena. Think about it, if women choose Mirena as a solution to "heavy periods" or "long periods", then the women with the most abnormal cycles are selecting to use this contraceptive. Then, if more women with Mirena have early menopause compared to women in general, you can't make a causal relationship between Mirena and early menopause. You would have to do a double-blind study with a control group. This would be difficult because most women would know whether they were being affected by Mirena due to positive effects. But, at least the "self-selection" would be removed from the analysis. I am assuming that the drug company has done these studies. I will look online to see if any are available.

As a side note, I am not a supporter of pharmaceutical companies. I think most of their products are either unnecessary or poisonous. But I like this one product.

To Feelinsick..... I don't know if having the Mirena contributed to you wanting a divorce but if you are thinking it did have something to do with it, I would suggest sitting down with your ex and talking it out. I know for me, a large part of my marriage ending was to due with the fact that I wasn't interested in having sex. He was the one who decided to end our marriage as he didn't think I loved him anymore as I showed no affection, etc. Here I am, 7 years later, haven't been on a single date in all that time! I am sure none of this really has to do with the Mirena and is just a stage in my/your life that we are going through. Like I said - if your husband hasn't "moved on" and you are thinking that you still love him - TELL HIM!!!!! and see where things go from there. If I have learned anything in life, it is to be upfront and honest and do whatever it is you need to do to be as happy as you can be.