my mirena experience was a nightmare to say the least. i had it inserted about 1.5 years ago and finally had it removed last week. the insertion itself was a nightmare. i passed out. i had horrid pain but then was fine within a day or two. the following week, i near passed out. then, i felt lightheaded for about 6 weeks and was convinced it was mirena. i went for my followup. I was feeling better so i decided to keep going.
in the "getting used" to period i had very painful breasts. eventually i had a painful breast lump that stuck around for a few months. off to the doctor for mammogram and ultrasound. they found it was not the bad kind of lump. it cleared up in a couple months.
about 4 months after insertion, i had a couple of near passing out incidents. off to the doctor again - this time for EKG, echo cardiogram, holter monitor. all normal. they suggested i had either panic attacks or vasovagal syndrome.
i also found that i was extremely alcohol sensitive. one drink was a huge problem for me! (in retrospect, i believe the near passing out and alcohol sensitivity were due to becoming hypoglycemic. it turns out progesterone is tightly coupled to insulin response! who knew!).
my next problem was cystic acne. this is really bad acne that goes deep in the skin and is impossible to get rid of (never had that before!). so i was off to the dermatologist.
oh and did i mention that all this passing out ended up giving me terrible anxiety? so now off to the shrink.
overall, it has been 1 year of a near constant feeling of lightheadedness, numerous near passing out / vasovagal type of episodes (probably due to low blood sugar), anxiety about passing out, throbbing head feeling (which i just realized is a migraine), unable to sleep through the night, mid cycle cyst pain, terribly tender breasts just before my period, did i miss anything?
now, let me mention that all the doctors to whom i mentioned that maybe mirena is the cause of my problems said "nah, that is not it." i also mentioned blood sugar and no one bought that either - "nah, you are too physically fit, eat too healthfully, and your blood test from last year is normal."
finally, the psych nurse believed me. she said to get the mirena removed since it appeared all my problems started after the insertion. if it was psychological or if it was physical didn't matter. just get it out!
i've had it out about 6 days now and i would say i feel 70% better. the throbbing head sensation at night is gone and i am sleeping much better. the lightheadedness is improved. i feel much less hungry than i did on mirena so i can only guess my hypoglycemia is improving.
only time will tell if my problems were caused by mirena!