Mirena and curves

I am almost in tears finally knowing that I am not alone. I had the Mirena inserted in December 07. Over the past 16 months since then I have only had about 60-90 days (very few of them consecutive) bleeding/spotting free. I am cramping constantly at various intensity. At times, I wondered if I was somehow pregnant and having contractions because of the type of tightening I felt. I have been an emotional wreck as I see-sawed within minutes between congeniality and disgust. My sometime-y migraines happened all too frequently. My acne has increased exponentially. I gained 30 lbs! After each child I successfully managed to lose the weight yet maintain a modest, healthy few pounds extra as I embraced my motherly curves. Almost 4 years after my last child, I gained all of this weight during my Mirena saga. I have been living a nightmare!

I am 34 w/ 3 children (14,6,5). I thought this would be one less hassle for my already life. I have never felt so out of control of my health and well being as I have the past 16 months. I saw may doctor 4 times over the past year wondering what I should do. I took birth control pills for 3 months to control the spotting. I took estrogen for 2 weeks. He knew how much I wanted it to work and told me to wait it out if I could. I feel so betrayed. I kept asking him if this was normal. He told me that it would get better.

I can't lose a pound (30 occurring during the 15 hell-ish Mirena months). I am fatigued to the point of uselessness to my family. I am depressed and inexplicably anxious.

Thank you for sharing and letting me know I'm not crazy. I thought it was all in my head because I couldn't find any validation for my feelings. I have sneered and balked at the amount of trust and worthiness all too often placed on message boards, blogs, and websites. While I am still cynical, this site has renewed my faith and spirit in that each of your testimonies has resolved my indecision to have this shackle removed from my body.

I am overcome with so much emotion right now (possible Mirena related) that I am now speechless.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

I had the Mirena put in when my son was a year old....i have had it now for over 2 years...i experienced the cramping, bloating, bleeding, etc.....i did not know that i would probably gain weight.....i chose the mirena because i was already 30 years old, a smoker and was previously on birth control for ten+ years before stopping it to conceive my son. I slowly began to gain a few pounds, but always put it off to work, my routine changing, etc. We moved to Alabama 6 months later and I noticed that I kept packing on the weight. I contributed it to the lack of an exercise routine that i could be consistent with. I realized this , so i began getting back into the gym, eating right and drinking my water. Still no weight loss. I have since started school again and gained more weight. Again, i blamed it on the stress of school and trying to take care of a three year old. But, after a while, I started to question whether it is really those things, or is it the Mirena. No Doctor has ever suggested that it could be the Mirena. My internal medicine doctor even noticed the weight gain and she doesn't even mention the possibility of it being from the IUD. I know that I am not making this up.....something is not right. NO matter what i do, the weight will not come off......and now, because of the extra weight, i have blood pressure problems. I am 5'9 and weigh 185 pounds.....I have only weighed that one time in my life, and that is when i was pregnant with my son.....I am so discouraged , depressed and just totally give out......I hate the way I look and feel. I used to be tall and slender with a few curves, but GEEES.....now i just have curves and alot of them!!! I think that i have decided to get the Mirena removed , also......and i will just have to stay hopeful that the weight will come off, eventually. Any comments, words of encouragement , personal experiences would be appreciated.....thanks .....lmc31