I am 26 years old, 5’6” and weigh 112 lbs. I have had the Mir...

I am 26 years old, 5’6” and weigh 112 lbs. I have had the Mirena in since June 2008. Where do I start? This IUD was suggested to be by my OBGYN after the birth of my second baby. I really trust my OB so I agreed to have it inserted. I made a quick decision with LOTS of emotions behind it (I got pregnant with my second baby when my first was only 5 months old…so I was a little freaked out by the thought of getting pregnant for the third time in the near future). I can only take one other hormone-based form of birth control (the pill with NO estrogen), so this seemed like the answer to me. I was given a Mirena pamphlet from my OB, and it did NOT list several of the side effects that I have experienced over the last year. The insertion was indeed pretty painful. To me, it felt like I was having pretty strong contractions. It took about 20 minutes from start to finish. I had cramping and steady bleeding for the first 3 months. I then had no period for about 6 months, which was nice. I did, however, completely lose my sex drive. I am always tired, moody, irritable, and emotional (all of which are not common for me to experience on a regular basis). I have trouble focusing and thinking of the right word I want say. I have mild but annoying acne on my face and neck, eczema on my hands, elbows and a few spots on my legs. I have knee pain when I run/jog, and I just don’t feel like myself. I am in perfect health otherwise, and no history of the above symptoms that I listed. Currently, I have a normal period every month that lasts a week (before they only lasted about 4 days), then a week after it stops, it starts up again. I called my doctor and they say that’s normal. After intercourse, I have cramping and bleeding (that’s a fairly new symptom). So imagine having sex when you don’t feel like it whatsoever and then knowing that you will have cramping and bleeding afterwards…sign me up!! My husband has been so patient with me, but has finally had it. He wanted me to look into it and make an appointment. I am so thankful that I found this site. I was so worried when I didn’t have a sex drive and I felt myself blaming my husband for things that I assumed he was thinking. I have been praying about it and know that God led me to this site to see what other women are suffering from and going through with this IUD. Aside from all of its nasty side effects, I wanted to let all of you know what I have discovered could happen to an unborn baby if the mother has an IUD. First of all, if you become pregnant, you need to get down to your doctor right away and have it removed. However, there are no guarantees that during the process of the removal, they won’t bump the baby causing either a miscarriage or birth defects. That just breaks my heart. To me, it’s not worth it. The other thing that worries me is that, after getting it removed, are my chances of having a perfectly healthy baby in the future lessened because I had a foreign object inserted into my body? No one can say for sure. It’s just something that time can only tell. I really would discourage with all of my heart, NOT TO GET THE MIRENA or any form of IUD. Anyway, I have an appointment scheduled on August 18 (wish it was sooner). My insurance doesn’t see this as an emergency or life-threatening, so I have to pay my full detectable of $200 to have it removed. That kept me from doing it a few weeks ago. I now know that you can’t put a price on the happiness of your marriage, your health, and the health of the baby that you could very well become pregnant with. I wish you all the best and will definitely update you on the removal and how I feel. God Bless. SAO