I got my Mirena in October of 2005 when I was 37. Prior to that ...

I got my Mirena in October of 2005 when I was 37. Prior to that I'd had two surgeries to remove fibriods and had severe heavy bleeding (life threatening, actually). My new husband was scared to death that he'd married a truly defective woman! ;-) So when my doc suggested the Mirena, I was thrilled with the idea. Insertion was painful, but bearable even though I'd never had children. I had a rough couple of months with cramping and such after insertion, but I attributed it to going off a high-dose BCP after 17 years. My body had an adjustment period to get through. After insertion and a little spotting, I never had another period. To this day, 4 years later, I haven't had a period. After all the bleeding issues, I think I was willing to accept a few other side-effects to be flow free. Fast forward 4 years - my symptoms? SEVERE lower back pain (I had no idea that Mirena could cause this until about a month ago), weight gain despite picking up a new sport and being much more active than previously (I've put on 40 lbs in 4 years despite trying to lose), and vanishing sex drive. I've not been abnormally moody, but I have seriously lost my ability to multi-task. I would never have connected that to the Mirena until reading this site. I've got an appointment with a new doc tomorrow (we recently moved) and my hope is that I'll be able to get the Mirena out at the same appointment. The back pain has gotten so bad that I'm actually occasionally missing work. If I bend over, I cannot stand up again without using my arms to push off something because my back is so weak. For the past 4 years, I've basically changed the way I function in the world in order to deal with it without even thinking about what I was doing. At this point, it's bordering on being debilitating and it has definitely gotten worse over time. The weight gain has really been difficult. I've always had to fight my weight but in the past, I was able to maintain at the high end of 'normal'. Now, not so much despite eating a much better diet and getting significantly more (and more consistent) exercise than I ever have in my life. Looking back, I'm trying to come to terms with why I've ignored these symptoms for so long. It's hard for me to truly remember, but I was so distraught with the blood loss and problems I had back then that I know I was willing to remain blind to other factors to be 'cured' of that. Honestly, as much as I can't wait to get this out now, I don't think I made the wrong choice at the time. Let's see how I feel in a couple of months post Mirena.