I'm partial to Mirena. I had it for all 5 years, but still debat...

I'm partial to Mirena. I had it for all 5 years, but still debate as to whether my weight gain, hair loss and joint pain were related. I got it shortly before my boyfriend of 2 years broke up with me, starting drinking a bit more and was in general stressed out. So stress & alcohol equals weight gain. Weight gain (30 lbs in a year) equals joint pain. The hair loss is another story. It might be stress, but I went long periods afterward without stress and I could pull out rat size clumps of hair once every few weeks from my shower drain. I had it removed on October 6th 2009. I immediately started NuvaRing. 3 weeks later, I'm DONE with that. That's another story. Overall, though, I don't think the majority of the side effects were caused by Mirena and the 5 years I had it in were good. I won't get another one, just because I'm still skeptical. I think I'm going to take some time off birth control with hormones. We'll see how it goes. I can't say I'd recommend Mirena due to all of the horror stories I've read. Maybe in a year, if all my symptoms go away, I won't be so wishy washy.