Mirena and arms and legs

For all of the poor girls who are searching "mirena experiences" because you are looking for a sure thing contraceptive-
This site is only for people who have had BAD experiences. Read them all if you want, but take into consideration they are the 3%, or whatever number, that had problems. None of these women deserved it, asked for it, needed it, or wanted it, but unfortunately their bodies responded to it in such an ugly manor.

Here's my experience so far....Had it inserted 8/06/08. Insertion was fine. Felt that speculum more than I could feel the actual insertion of the mirena.
Slight cramping afterwards...not immediately-went home and for like 20 minutes had cramps lighter than my period cramps.
For the first week bled lightly, second week had an actual period, week three and week four just spotting. The doctor told me this can go on for up to six months...kinda worth it if you think about it.
No acne problems so far, my hair is fine (and trust me, if my hair was thinning, falling out, or anything like that I would take the mirena out!), muscles and joints feel like they did before pregnancy, still breastfeeding (I know that they say that the mirena will make you produce less breast milk-tell that to my breastfed 13 pound 24 inch long 2 month old. he would disagree)
My breasts are a little tender and at first I was slightly bloated (less than if I were on my period) but that has subsided. Abstained from sex for a month after insertion per my doctor's orders, so I will come back and post if there were any problems with that...NEXT WEEK! yay!
Know that I understand the side effects could show up later.

Now again, EVERYBODY will experience something different. We are interfering with nature. Birth control is one of the most unnatural things we could do to our body.

Again, since this site commonly comes up when searching the mirena, I want for women to know that it might work for them better than it did for others.

I am so relieved to have found this site. I suffer from PCOS (Polycycstic Ovarian Syndrome). I am also morbidly obese, but I have been on a diet for 3 years and I enjoy the diet, sounds funny, but it is true. I lost 30 pounds the first year. Now, I have gained it all back, I can't do anything, I am in so much pain. I have back pain, knee pain, I have swelling in my legs they are so huge (the calves) They have grown three inches in circumference since I started the progesterone therapies. I have pitting edema in both my legs and my hands swell all the time. The only way to reduce the swelling in my hands is to hold my arms over my head for about 15 minutes and that seems to help enough to get my rings off. Mirena was supposed to NOT cause any side effects. Well let me tell you I got them all. The same way I did with the pill form. Only Mirena took longer to enter into my system. I am waiting for my Doctor to get back from vacation and I will be insisting on its removal.

Here is my list:

Pitting Edema in arms and legs
Headaches
Severe abdominal pain
Severe backache
Heart palpitations
Constipation
Lack of appetite
SEVERE WEIGHT GAIN (how can this be, I have been a diet for three years...and I am sticking to it) MY PANTS won't fit anymore.
NO energy
Fatigue
Nightmares
Nausea
Dizziness
Unable to concentrate
Slight double vision (right eye only)
Anger
PIMPLES ( I am 38 for Pete's sake, I didn't have pimples as a teen!)

My Doctor lied. Plain and simple. He told me there would be no systemic side effects. Either Bayer (Mirena) is lying to him, or he is lying to me....either way...I see a class action lawsuit coming if they don't remove this thing. I will kill me if it stays in any longer. I just know it! For those it works for good. I am pleased. For those of us who is don't, I truly feel your pain!

I am so relieved to have found this site. I suffer from PCOS (Polycycstic Ovarian Syndrome). I am also morbidly obeses, but I have been on a diet for 3 years and I enjoy the diet, sounds funny, but it is true. I lost 30 pounds the first year. Now, I have gained it all back, I can't do anything, I am in so much pain. I have back pain, knee pain, I have swelling in my legs they are so huge (the calves) They have grown three inches in circumference since I started the progesterone therapies. I have pitting edema in both my legs and my hands swell all the time. The only way to reduce the swelling in my hands is to hold my arms over my head for about 15 minutes and that seems to help enough to get my rings off. Mirena was supposed to NOT cause any side effects. Well let me tell you I got them all. The same way I did with the pill form. Only Mirena took longer to enter into my system. I am waiting for my Doctor to get back from vacation and I will be insisting on its removal.

Here is my list:

Pitting Edema in arms and legs
Headaches
Severe abdominal pain
Severe backache
Heart palpitations
Constipation
Lack of appetite
SEVERE WEIGHT GAIN (how can this be, I have been a diet for three years...and I am sticking to it) MY PANTS won't fit anymore.
NO energy
Fatigue
Nightmares
Nausea
Dizziness
Unable to concentrate
Slight double vision (right eye only)
Anger

My Doctor lied. Plain and simple. He told me there would be no systemic side effects. Either Bayer (Mirena) is lying to him, or he is lying to me....either way...I see a class action lawsuit coming if they don't remove this thing. I will kill me if it stays in any longer. I just know it! For those it works for good. I am pleased. For those of us who is don't, I truly feel your pain!

I had mirena put in 9 months ago after I had my baby. I began bleeding and cramping immediately and it never stopped. I had no energy and breakouts on my back and face. I couldn't take it anymore so I had it removed yesterday. I'm trying the nuvaring, well see. I'm still bleeding and cramping and had some numbness all over last night. I'm sick of this why can't they invent a bc that doesn't have so many crazy side effects.

I had my Mirena inserted about 4 months ago and I have felt like I'm falling apart ever since. I have experienced the following symptoms: numbness/tingling in arms and legs, EXTREME fatigue, depression, anxiety, acne on back, my hair is thinner, bloating, sore stomach, lower back pain, etc. Most recently, I have had a lot of heartburn and my voice is kind of hoarse. Also, when I went to the doctor, they did a urine test and found that I have a trace of blood in my urine. Along with this I feel like I need to pee all the time, but I seem to have no bladder infection. I am fed up with this device and feeling like total crap all of the time. I have no energy and can't seem to get enough sleep. The only thing good about this thing is that I don't have a period. Of course, my doctor swears all of these symptoms can't possibly be due to the Mirena, but I don't see how it could all be coincidental. Please let me know if anyone else is experiencing these weird symptoms like the bladder issue or the heartburn/hoarseness.

I am soooooooo glad to have found this site. I, like many, many of you, also thought there was no way in the world all my symptoms were being caused by the Mirena IUD, because all of my doctors have told me time and time again that the level of hormones being released by this thing is SOOOOOOOO tiny that it couldn't possibly be causing all that's happening. I had the Mirena inserted in February 2007... by August of 2007 I started experiencing hives all over my body that began as a burning/tingling in my hands and feet, and within a matter of a few weeks had spread to my entire body. I now have had this on-going rash (hives) that never has fully gone away for the past 9 months. My doctors all could not tell me at all what was causing it. I have been taking antihistamines like crazy to keep it "in check" but some days even those do no good. My grandma and mother kept telling me to get this IUD out, but I told them it couldn't possibly be from it due to what the doctors had told me and because I'd had it in since February and didn't get hives until August. However, I truly believe this MUST be the cause, as it's the only new thing in my life during that time period... I've always used the same soaps, ate the same foods, and NEVER have I had any outdoor allergies. It MUST be the Mirena. In addition to the hives, I CANNOT LOSE WEIGHT, have stayed at 174 pounds since having this inserted. I have tried exercise, dieting, etc. and notice NO changes. Due to the ongoing hives my body is going through a constant fight against this allergy, and as a result, my neck has a giant cluster of enlarged lymph nodes that will NOT go down in size. Probably because my body never gets rid of this foreign body so it's continually tried fighting it and just can't so they stay swollen. I had my lymph nodes biopsied and I do NOT have cancer... I am going tomorrow morning to have it removed immediately and I will be absolutely STUNNED if it turns out to not be the cause. I am THAT certain the Mirena has caused all of this. I would NOT recommend this IUD to ANYONE. It is absolutely the worst thing I've EVER experienced in my life. I plan to get in contact with the attorney mentioned in an older post below about the class-action lawsuit. I have spent 9 months of living in pure misery with burning, itching, red and swollen hives all over my body, living in total anxiety not wanting to leave my house and have others see me and think I have a disease. Not to mention all the time and medical costs that I have incurred from seeing doctor after doctor that can't diagnose me.

I don't know if seeing all these posts help me or scare the crap outta me even more (none the less very helpful), I have no insurance and really want to get my IUD removed. I had it inserted when my daughter was 8 weeks old that was about 11 months ago. I have had nothing but problems, severe cramping, nausea, periods that last a whole month, one month it will be icky brownish discharge with a lil blood here and there, I will stop for about 2 weeks and get it again this time lasting about 3 weeks then i will go about 6 weeks and have it again this time with severe cramping and bleeding for a whole month straight. then i may not have it again for 6 weeks etc... I have really nasty blood clots that look very fleshy. I also have had very thick yellowish stinky discharge everyday i don't have my period ( I have NEVER smelt this bad) I feel like im losing my mind Im so absent minded i forget the simplest things, my arms and legs go numb and tingly, my hair is falling out in clumps, im extremely moody and very impatient. and the tiredness is really starting to bother me, no matter how much i try to stay awake its almost impossible, i literally need to take a nap every 3 hours it seems like just to function...I feel like im falling apart. Has anyone else had a lot of these symptoms? And what should I do about getting it taken out....I don't qualify for Medicaid so I was wondering if i should just go into the hospital the next time the pain gets bad and see if they will remove it any advice will be helpful! And good luck to anyone else going through problems with this IUD.

Many strange things have been happening to me for the last year and a half, that I did not ever experience before. I just turned 38 years old. I am now suspecting these are side effects from the MIRENA. I want to get opinions about what I'm experiencing and what happens when it's removed.

The most profound thing is the feeling of being in a mental bubble. Even though I'm aware of it and I try to be alert, I feel cloudy minded and can't even rely on myself to remember things or commit to things because I never know how I will feel when I wake up each day. Some days are okay while others are completely LOST because I may have struggled to sleep the night before, sweating and soaking my pillow case and waking up with a rapid heart beat, panicking for no apparent reason right out of sleeping. Or, I'm irritable due to discomfort which takes several forms like these:
- major moodiness, like feeling totally peaceful one minute and then something small triggers me and I'm angry for hours, later realizing that I was overreacting
- visibly shaking hands, especially when I drink just 1/2 cup coffee.
- increased oily skin and acne on face, back, shoulders and even in ears, along with thinning hair around face
- fatigue and stiffness in the morning, so it takes me forever to get out of bed
- off and on fatigue that has me uncontrollably dozing off during the day
- bloated tummy (visible), gas and menstrual cramps in no predicable pattern, but I never go more than a week without these things
- strange libido, one day I wouldn't care if I ever had sex again, the next night wake up horny as heck at 2 am
- ears ringing, jaw pain, mystery pains in back and joints regularly

All along I've been assuming these odd things were stress and age related but the more I think about it, there's just too many things, and these things don't necessarily represent the stress of a typical stay at home mom.
Sure, I have had stress and anxiety in the past, but they could always be connected to something large going on in my life. Now, the anxiety and moodiness hit unpredictably and indiscriminately, it seems. For a long time now I feel like I'm a total mess physically and mentally, even more so because I realize something is wrong
I am pretty sure as of right now that I should get this removed. If the symptoms go away I'll then know what caused them in the first place.
I am wondering what happens upon removal, will it also be a roller coaster of physical and mental anguish???????? How long will it last?

side effects from Mirena
dizziness, pins and needles in arms and legs, heart palp, ear ringing, numbness , joint pain, and a lot more this thing is horrible 10 weeks post removal and still getting symptoms.

I've had the Mirena b control for a year now I suffer from skin infections , back pains I have scars on my belly arms and legs. Has anyone else had this side effect?

My experience with Mirena in the beginning was okay. I experienced alot of pain, cramping, bleeding for long periods of time, so on and so forth. I've never had a child so I figured it was how my body was reacting. Well now the depression has set in, the fatigue, the acne has been around, and I've always had great skin, the weight gain, the numbness in the arms and legs, the migraines, the discharge, the abdominal pain. I've become cold and distant and can't feel anything. So I'm going to get it taken out. I'm far to sensitive to this it seems. I just want to know if anybody else couldn't feel anything. For instant, I can't feel the love I have for my boyfriend. I know I love him but I can't feel it.

I had my Mirena IUD put in about February 2006 after I had my second daughter. A friend told me how nice it was to just put it in and forget it since I had a hard time remembering to take the pill, and the patch was awful for me. Not even a month after getting my IUD in I started experiencing a lot of problems. Stomach pains all of the time, extreme weight gain, above and beyond what I had gained and lost from the pregnancy. I visited my regular doctor many times in the search to find what was wrong, and also visited the ER a few times and after many tests, ultrasounds, and blood work, they couldn't find a thing wrong with me. The most they've ever found is a little low potassium, which I solved with a banana. Not too long after that, I started experiencing leg and back cramps and my legs, arms, feet all started going numb on a regular basis. Now, all this time later- I will wake up in the middle of the night with my arms and legs having no feeling at all, not even be able to move my body. I have again, seen my doctor over 100 hundred times since February 2006, complaining of pains and everything else that I've experienced- for check ups and tests, and have gotten nowhere. My doctor has claimed that my IUD would not be a cause. I have also seen my OB-GYN and had him check my IUD, but the first time I went to visit him about it, he couldn't find my IUD and I had to get an ultrasound done to find the IUD, after the ultrasound - they told me it was right inside my uterus and there were no problems. Both of my doctors have denied that the IUD could cause problems like this and I am sick of it. I decided to get my IUD out because my husband and I are going to try for our third child. I didn't think to look up anything on the IUD until I looked up information about removing it and what the process included. That is when I found this site. I am having my IUD out on Sept 5th and hope that my problems will stop and go away. I will keep you all posted as to whether or not I can actually have another baby, and whether or not my problems go away.