Mirena & Depression - Five Fucking years of my life!! AIBU to have the rage?

[BeMorePanda]

I've been depressed for 5 years now. I've had depression in the past and have learned how to manage it very well, I know what signs to look out for and how to look after myself etc. Or so I thought.

Then shortly after DD2 was born I became fairly depressed. Not PND, more a general depression. And it became worse once I stopped BF. This was also around the time I left my abusive XP. So I attributed the depression to be living with an abusive arse (and suffering from gas lighting, very abuse, emotional abuse and a bit of financial abuse for good measure for several years).

I did have a wee surge of happiness after leaving him, but generally the depression continued. It was different than I had suffered before - more of a flat line depression.

My self esteem was rock bottom. None of my usual coping/self care tactics worked. I've been feeling so damaged. I've had 2 lots of counselling - nothing has really helped or got to the bottom of it.

Before having DD2 I was in a very happy place in myself, despite my rubbish relationship and difficult pregnancy. It now occurs to me that the only times in my adult life that I haven't been using hormonal contraception, coincided with me feeling normal, myself, happy, in charge of my life and not depressed.

Just last week I had a penny drop moment after reading about the Mirena coil & it's link to depression. And I realised I started feeling this way shortly after having it inserted after DD2 was born. I didn't notice the connection - at first I was BF and had all those happy hormones, I believed the doctor who talked of "localised hormones" etc, my relationship was rubbish and home life difficult and it simply never occurred to me that my "wonderful contraception solution" was actually an evil fucker, messing with me from the inside.

I thought I was one of the people who had got along with it - I loved having no periods, no hormonal fluctuations etc. I thought I had no side effects.

So I've been doing some reading around and I'm pretty sure that the Mirena is contributing to or even causing my unliftable low level constant depression.

It's been like living with a rock around my neck for all my daughters life. What a fucker.

And I just had a new one put in a couple of months ago. I'm making an appt to get it removed asap. Not once at any stage of the process of having TWO Mirena coils fitted did any one mention depression. When I talked to my GP about my ongoing depression Mirena was not mentioned or questioned.

I have read many threads where women have had acute reactions with the Mirena.

But AIBU to think I am not alone in this and there are many other women with similar revelations after a period of time being otherwise happy with the Mirena???

AIBU to think there is no joined up thinking in healthcare?

Progesterone is the bad mood hormone! It's just coming to light about thr pill etc too now. Makes sense really. Extra hormones will mess with your feelings. You only have to look at pregnancy and how we feel allover the place! Good luck sorting this OP

You can report the side effects via the Yellow Card Scheme Panda

Arrrgh.

I've had Mirena for ages. No periods has saved my life. I had terrible pain and PMT.

I'm now on anti-depressants. I don't know which is worse. can't take the combined pill because of migraine.

What age are we in that contraceptives are still so bloody difficult?. Not just contraceptives, but women's menstrual health. I have so many friends who are now in our early forties and having fibroids, endo, cysts, and in constant agony. I'm thanking my stars that's not me... yet

Thank you for that link Fairy. I will definitely report side effects once it's out and if I see a change.

Ironically I've been one of the people who have raved about how brilliant the Mirena is in the past. Some connections are hard to make.

I've had my Mirena for almost five years and had an epiphany a couple of weeks ago reading the Danish study which stated LRCs as being the worst for depression etc. I've had bone aching fatigue, anxiety and weight gain. Amongst other things..
I got it removed on Friday.
2 days later and I feel better already, despite my period starting with a vengeance in the middle of the night. I was actually glad to be having a period, it felt like my body was working properly, doing what's it built for. No more hormones for me.

papaya that is very encouraging. That is the study I read too.
Will you report via Fairys link to Yellow Card Scheme?

I must remember to buy some pads/tampons - it's been so long since they have been necessary.

It was only after stopping the pill I realised just how much it had effected my mood! I never saw GP about stopping it, never reported it.
I had the mirena for all of a few days before I removed it myself because I felt so odd having it there. Again, never reported the effect.
I now refuse to ever have hormonal contraception again! We've used condoms successfully for years. DH will have the snip once DC2 arrives.
I do feel we don't yet truly know the long term ramifications of hormonal contraception use, it's only been widely used since the 60's. And there must be many people like me who don't report side effects, and if doctors aren't believing it's related they aren't reporting it either. Yes it works for many, but there are more who just put up with it as they don't feel they have any other choice!

the center I need to book with is "experiencing an unprecedented volume of calls" - except if they have recorded that message I'm guessing it's not entirely unprecedented.

but there are more who just put up with it as they don't feel they have any other choice!
I'll put my hand up to this re the pill.

I've got a removal appt for tomorrow.
I'm pleasantly surprised by this as I had to book a month in advance to get one in!

Excited!!

Ahh I really feel for you OP. I had the same with both the pill (I was in this for 8 years) and then I tried the implant. On top of feeling really low and anxious I had severe nausea which was linked to any contraception that had a hormone. Hence why I stopped the pill and implant and tried the copper coil. GP tried to convince me to try the mirena but I was having none of it. Since having the copper coil nearly two years ago I've not had any issues. I know people see the copper coil as fairly old fashioned but apart from heavy periods to begin with I'm so happy I decided to go with this form of contraception. No hormones, no nausea, no migraines, no anxiety. Xx

There's a reason women are much more likely than men to suffer from depression and anxiety.
Hormones.

The killer is that we are all made up differently. Some women cannot tolerate progestins. Mirena, Cerazette and all combined pills do not contain progesterone, which is what we produce ourselves. They contain progestin, the manufactured version.
Others "lucky" folk like me have brains that really don't like any hormonal fluctuation. Hence severe PND, PMS and a horrible perimenopause in terms of mood.

I was fine on the combined pill in my 20s. A bit flat, perhaps, but no severe mood issues. Cerazette mini pill sent me to the edge of a cliff. For that reason I'd never get a Mirena.

So much of our brains, neurotransmitters, are affected by hormones. Oestrogen and progesterone affect serotonin, noradrenaline and goodness knows how many other things in our brains. And what's right for one person isn't right for another. Some thrive on combined pills, others love their Mirena.

I wish medical professionals were more clued in to this.

Oh, and my gynae has a non-hormonal copper coil. Won't have a Mirena in herself!

You've read a few headlines and decided to blame all of your issues on the Mirena, with no evidence at all that this has any relevance to you. Yes, depression and hormonal contraceptives are linked (this isn't news) but that doesn't by any stretch mean that everyone with a mirena gets depressed. And it doesn't mean that everyone with depression and a mirena wouldn't have been equally depressed without out.

I do hope you feel better without it, but even if you do, it could just as easily be because you have decided thats the cause.

She'll have the evidence if the persistent low mood lifts when it's removed. If not, then it's not Mirena. But you ain't gonna know either way until it's out a few months.
If only depression could lift "because you decide" to allow it to.

And I didn't see her suggesting every woman is negatively affected by synthetic hormones?

I've been on hormonal contraception for twenty years Looking back with retrospect it is so obvious the effect it has had on me. I too am really,.really angry. My life could have been so much better if HCPs monitored people on hormonal contraception for increases in depression and anxiety.

Stopped.using it and I now have a libido, and it's hard to describe but everything kind of seems brighter and cleared rather than a constant low level fog over everything.

Class action anybody?

2 days after mine was removed I felt the black cloud I had been living under for the last 18 months lift. I got the whole localised hormone thing too when it was put in. I visited the Dr in tears after I had considered throwing myself down the stairs after convincing myself nobody cared about me, the Dr made an appointment with herself a week later to remove it for me.
I have stayed away from all contraception since and Dh had the snip so I would never have to go there again.
My body doesn't do hormones well, even my own, pregnancy with boy/girl twins was hell on earth for me and again after 2 days the cloud lifted. These days I maintain an even keel with exercise but what works for one doesn't always work for all.

She'll have the evidence if the persistent low mood lifts when it's removed. If not, then it's not Mirena. But you ain't gonna know either way until it's out a few months. If only depression could lift "because you decide" to allow it to

Thats missing the point. If you are convinced you have found an external cause of depression that you can then remove, its a powerful placebo even if its not actually the cause.

The depression lifting is not proof of its cause, only that the belief in that cause was strong. And the placebo effect is far more powerful than "deciding to allow it to". It's not even a concious thing, you can't simplify that much.

You've read a few headlines and decided to blame all of your issues on the Mirena,

Yeah that's it exactly

Hey, I'll take the placebo if it's that powerful and miraculous. Who wouldn't.

As for "all my issues" please DFOD.

I am bipolar and the combined pill works wonders for me. Made my horrendous periods light and cleared my skin up. Side effects occur with any type of drug.

Yeah I'm really not looking forward to getting my periods back. I have loved over 6 years without them, and no PMT either.

I was experiencing a really tricky peri Menopause because I am highly intolerant to Progesterone, and always have been. That is why I have always suffered with PMS and had PND after DD was born. I also had permanent PMS for the 9 months I had the Mirena fitted. And within 24 hours of having it removed the PMS disappeared.

During peri Menopause your oestrogen and progesterone levels can fluctuate wildly, causing havoc with your mood and emotions.

I paid to go and see the top man in the field of Menopause, HRT and all things connected, Prof John Studd. He is a consultant gynaecologist, with rooms just off Harley Street. Women come from all over the world to see him.

He was amazing. He confirmed it was my hormones causing my problems, and explained that I was highly intolerant to Progesterone, an intolerance that was getting more severe as I got older.

He said he treats hundreds of women, with hormonal depression. Women who have been fobbed off with ADs, and even incorrectly diagnosed with BPD.

Progesterone intolerance does exist and can cause severe mood swings and dangerous levels of depression in some women.

For more information can I direct posters to his website www.Studd.co.uk and strongly urge them to have a read. It is eye opening stuff.

I became very anxious and depressed on the pill. Avoided hormonal contraception for many happy years but GP persuaded me that Mirena was safe as hormones were localised and couldn't cause depression. Mirena was inserted in June last year and immediately everything annoyed me and made me anxious. I kept thinking I was just ebbing suggestable but DH begged me to get it removed for the sake of him and the kids, if not myself. Out in came in Oct and I haven't had a day of anxiety since.

Of my six adult friends who I know have tried Mirena, three had it removed after mental health decline. Yet doctors deny a link.

Combine that with the fact my mother died of a type of breast Cancer only seen in long term pill users.

I bloody hate hormonal contraception and they way is pushed on young girls and women without the full facts.

Actually MaQueen your posts on that other recent thread were one of the reasons I decided to blame all the issues in my life on the Mirena coil the sparks that helped me start to join the dots of the last few years.

thanks.

Glad to have helped bemorepanda.

Since seeing Prof Studd, I have become evangelical about making more women aware of progesterone intolerance, and how dangerous and life changing it can be.

So few women know about this, and even fewer GPs. And thousands of women suffer unnecessarily, sometimes for years.

In my first appointment with Prof Studd he specifically asked if I had ever had the Mirena, and how I reacted to it. He told me that if I'd said I had a Mirena in, right then, he would have asked if he could remove it immediately.