To think if I want a mirena coil removed, it should be removed?

[Momentumista]

I had the face 'well...no I don't think we'd want to be removing it yet' routine when make appt to ask. Was told 'Come back in 6 months when it's settled'... etc etc

This is not a 'how was the coil for you' thread as I know some people love it and swear by it, but really I know my own body by now and I know how I feel and I was

(a) crazy;
(b) gaining weight while eating the same;
(c) spotty as hell (really nasty acne);
(d) depressed;
(e) migraines;
(f) just feeling really heavy and uncomfortable.

And yet while presenting all of these symptoms I get told they will settle and migraines are not dangerous.

I pulled the bloody thing out myself and am already feeling better (1 week on) and skin is clearing, and lo and behold the jeans I could not get anywhere near done up are now done up.

I am really disappointed not to have been listened to though. WIBU to take matters into my own hands?

manumission please read my posts. There are not incentives.

Very few people have said how long they've had their coil in before they wanted it removed. I would be reluctant to remove a coil before 6 months, because in my experience (fitting coils for 20+ years) many symptoms settle after that. If someone still had problems after 6 months I'd remove it without question.

Oh okay, sorry. I only read half before answering.

I gave mine until exactly 12 months to behave itself but then I was straight on the phone to book a removal because I'd had enough.

I wasn't allowed to book one. I was told I had to "have a little chat" with the GP first. So I made that appointment and was deflected for another month. Went back a month later and saw a locum....and so it went on for four months until I snapped and did it myself.

It did feel very patriarchal and dictatorial at the time. Very "there, there, we know best". Like nothing else I'd ever experienced in medical or obstetric care before.

I suppose PCTs and training vary?

Actually is it a case of incentives having to be repaid if the device is removed within a set time? Is THAT why Drs are reluctant to remove them?

www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-health/11678916/IUS-hormonal-coil-The-troubling-truth.html

www3.imperial.ac.uk/newsandeventspggrp/imperialcollege/newssummary/news_7-4-2014-11-14-13

www.researchgate.net/publication/236923474_Improving_the_uptake_of_long_acting_reversible_contraception_A_review

Don't try and claim there's no incentive.

I think part of the focus is on preventing unplanned pregnancy and this goal is seen as the priority. Condoms and pills require compliance with instructions and willpower to be effective. Coils and implants don't.

All my conversations with doctors when I asked if I could have my coil taken out focused on dismissing my concerns that it could be causing issues and promoting its contraceptive benefits. The focus on a strategic approach to preventing unplanned pregnancies was far greater than on the pain and difficulties I was having as an individual. I do think that it is a sign of structural inequalities that my health was of less importance than the possibility that I would have an unplanned pregnancy if left to manage my own fertility.

I'm not known as a shy and retiring person and I put forward my view that my pain was caused by the coil repeatedly. But they preferred to undertake surgery (and the associated risks) rather than consider whether removing the coil would help my symptoms.

And looking back I should have been firmer and insisted. But it really is a former of gaslighting that makes you doubt yourself.

Minty

I know you can't give full medical info on here, I appreciate that. You said you'd be unwilling to remove a coil before 6 months because they settle after that.

Would that be different for someone with a mood disorder such as bpd who was stable and unmediated and is now suffering huge mood fluctuations that are possibly attributable to hormonal contraceptives? I'm just wondering how much resistance I'm going to come up against. Mines been in 5 months. While the other symptoms like bloating, spotting and skin issues have got a little better as time has gone on my mood fluctuations have been getting increasingly worse, marichin my cycle too. This month has been unbearable misery, anger, frustration and self hatred. My depressive moods are normally a 'dead inside' feeling which is not what I've been getting. This is anger. I have also had a few fleeting suicidal ideation thoughts during this time. Now I'm out of the pmt fortnight I'm absolutely stable and happy as Larry (as much as I ever am with bpd)

Like I say, I know you can't give out medical advice but would those sort of symptoms in a patient with fairly complex mental health issues be an exception to the 6 month rule?

I think a medical professional who refused to remove a coil could be on very dodgy ground. The patient has withdrawn consent for having the device in her body and whether it is 1 day or 5 years and whatever the reason it has to be removed. I say this has a someone who has 3 mirenas and for me personally they are perfect contraception and menstrual problem cure!

I got mine fitted in June. That was after a mammoth period that had started in April. I've bled practically every day since. I am phoning on Monday for an appointment to have it removed. Can't do it myself as have never been able to feel the strings. At the 6 week check, the gp couldn't feel them either with fingers - had to use another instrument. I haven't even been able to have my smear test this year so late with that too - all because of the bloody bleeding (see what I did there?!)
I'm utterly miserable with it.

Minty - well i was absolutely desperate- and much difference that made.

As pp have said if I want the damn thing removed- it needs to be removed - regardless of waiting for symptoms to settle (that old chestnut again)

If I have changed my mind and no longer want this device in my body, that's my decision and is why I took the decision to self remove. I find it outrageous that women are patronised and told to wait. For what?

'I think a medical professional who refused to remove a coil could be on very dodgy ground. The patient has withdrawn consent for having the device in her body and whether it is 1 day or 5 years and whatever the reason it has to be removed.'

Yep. As I said, this would never happen to men.

Minty you say its more hassle than it's worth* - do you regards patients asking for a coil to be removed as a nuisance?

I think saying rather than saying 'I want this thing removed', people should spell it out and say 'I no longer consent to this treatment'.
Might focus a few minds.

Expat, I agree.

Whoever posted yesterday about the a&e thing - men can women / appendicitis etc (was it you?) had a valid point too - worrying unequal & sexist.

Momentumista agree that verbal withdrawal of consent (worded as such) likely to work better! One can only hope, anyway.

And yes, more hassle than it's worth for whom? Clearly not the patient, who wants it out. And yet it takes a matter of moments to extract for the HCP. So precisely what and where is the hassle?

Even were it a hassle, that's not even close to being a justification for forcing somebody to retain a contraceptive foreign body against their wishes.

How about

'I am withdrawing my legal right to consent to this device being in my body'

And yes the endemic misogyny in the medical profession needs to be addressed.

In my experience it's affected getting treatment for migraine, a gynae issue being diagnosed (therefore many years of pain, symptoms and the loss of 3 babies), pain management (why are women expected to tolerate more pain than men - I'm not just talking pain with 'women's issues' either), how we're treated when pregnant (hormones make us apparently lose our cognitive processes ), as mothers taking our children in for treatment (my sister ended up hospitalised with a serious condition as my mother was dismissed as 'neurotic' 'over reacting', my daughters own disability went undiagnosed for years as I was also apparently 'over reacting' and my daughter over exaggerating her symptoms), my disability going undiagnosed again I was apparently exaggerating the symptoms

I too strongly believe this wouldn't happen to men. With my daughters disability within 5 mins of an appointment with a female dr we had a referral to a consultant after years of male Drs fobbing us off despite VISIBLE textbook symptoms.

I'm also now wondering if the cost of an unplanned pregnancy is a factor that those pushing LARC are taking into account (whatever the mothers decision regarding proceeding with the pregnancy or aborting).

Mirena has been touted to me at my GP's surgery as the miracle cure for problem periods. Told that at the then age of 48 (I think) that I need never have periods ever again if I had one and all would be hunky dory.

So far I have resisted having one on the grounds that I am a sceptic and just do not like the idea of having a foreign object embedded into me.

Having read this thread, I am glad I resisted it. I am now even less likely to ever consent to it.

I truly cannot believe that GPs are refusing to remove these devices. How DARE they say to women: 'I get to decide what devices stay in your body, and what hormones you are subjected to. You have no right over your own body, and must put up with the unwanted effects of this, on my say so'.

I mean, if somebody complained, how would they have a leg to stand on?

To those who have been refused removal: were you warned prior to insertion that you would have no right to decide on its removal (whether in the initial six months, or otherwise), and that the HCP might refuse that request and force you to live with it against your will?

To those who have been refused removal: were you warned prior to insertion that you would have no right to decide on its removal (whether in the initial six months, or otherwise), and that the HCP might refuse that request and force you to live with it against your will?

No. I was told it was a fabulous contraceptive and virtually symptom free. Removed easily when requested and cycle goes back to normal quickly.

Somehow, Soubriquet, I had a suspicion that would be the case. Makes it even worse: denying patient autonomy, ignoring removal of consent, and lying about process to remove it, in order to sell the treatment. FFS.

'In order to sell the treatment'

Perfect phrase it's being SOLD not provided for women who have requested it - how many of the women on this thread who ended up with it actually asked for it?

Extremely distasteful, isn't it Graphista?

I did actually ask for it. And when I queried side effects I got told it was one of the best because it was so localised, the effects wouldn't affect the rest of the body

Which might well be true on a population level, Soubriquet, (or indeed, might not be - witness the Seroxat scandal, though that is a whole other thread). However, once you make clear that you, as an individual, find it doesn't agree with you, why on earth wouldn't a GP wish to help you by promptly removing it? Especially as that is what you asked for. I am so sorry you had to resort to removing it yourself. You were badly let down by your GP.

Wow I had the mirena for 11 years and it worked fine. However after kids I have had it again for a few years and I have a lot of the symptoms described by other posters. I did want to give my body a rest and sent my doctor to GP for snip can you believe she actually dissuaded him because she said what if your marriage does not work out and you want to start another family! Crazy right?