Mirena Coil and Joint Problems

[AA47]

Hi. I have had a mirena now for 5 years. I had one for four years and a year ago I had it replaced - so that's five years in total. I have experienced aches and pains over this time. First I had a severe hip pain that had me limping and unable to roll over in bed as it was so severe. This was first diagnosed as a labral tear, i had physio that didnt work. I was then told osteoarthritis but scans showed similar joint damage on both sides but pain only on the Ieft. This has now settled from the initial accute pain but i still have hip troubles. I have lower spinal pain. Knee pain. Neck and shoulder pains both sides and weak upper arm muscles. I was very active and a keen swimmer clocking up over 5k a week. I can no longer swim as I can't rotate my arms without pain or kick without aggrevating my hip. I was treated for a frozen right shoulder last year but even now I have movement in my shoulder I am still in pain. Getting in and out of coats and jumpers is a task! I have just turned 47. I am not overweight. I have a healthy diet. I struggle now with exercise due to my joint and tendon / ligament pain. I used to be extremely flexible but not hypermobile. The gp has run blood tests for rheumatoid arthritis but all is negative. I have researched that mirena can be linked by some women to this kind of pain. I am planning to have it removed next week as I am so desperate for some relief. There may not be a link at all but I can think of no other major change in my life in the last 5 years. Only aging and possible perimenopause but surely the pain I am experiencing can't just be age related. I feel more like 80 in the mornings as I struggle to roll out of bed! Any ideas or similar experiences. Many thanks

Have you had your vit D levels tested? Low vit D seems to result in hip pain, back and neck and shoulders. It seems to be more prevalent around menopause. Worth a try.

Also, if you take vit D, you need K2 and magnesium with it.

Like you I find it very strange that as soon as I had the coil I started with all these aches/pains & was going to the gym 4 x a week. Since October I've no longer been able to go & even walking takes its toll. Please keep us posted how you are after you've had it removed as I'm thinking I will do the same.

Hi, mumsnet seems to have just sent me a barrage of updates on this thread after no notifications from my original post. However I thought you'd appreciate an update.

In the end I had my coil removed and within a day my back/hip pain had gone, it was almost miraculous. The physio I had been seeing was over the moon, she had tried all sorts to help the pain and was supportive to just have it removed and see what happened. I could sleep again without waking up in pain, I also noticed it had been affecting my mood for quite a while and I'd been quite lethargic/brain fog which again a day later just seemed to lift. I can't explain it, maybe it was affecting a nerve somewhere or I'm more sensitive to the hormones in it than some people are. Either way I'd say if you have some unexplained pain, it can't do any harm to have it removed, if you feel it doesn't help you can always have another one inserted?

Are you all taking oestrogen as well as having the coil?

Thank you for your update. What a relief for you to feel like yourself again. Just shows you that you know your own body when I had my review with the gynaecologist about how I was going on with it I told him about the pains & he said it had no connection but I wasn't convinced especially with doing my research about other ladies experiencing these kind of issues.

I have come across this thread doing a Google search….
I’m a healthy 44 year old, I don’t smoke - I do drink - but I generally live a pretty healthy lifestyle with plenty of fresh air and exercise…..However I recently had a Mirena coil fitted - 6 weeks ago, and I seem to have developed shoulder pain. At first it came and went in both shoulders….But now I seem to have full blown frozen shoulder in my left shoulder!! I’ve never had joint pain before, but now I’m climbing the walls with it!!! Am really thinking there is a link with the coil - but reading other threads seems to say that having it removed doesn’t improve the symptoms!! I want to persevere with the coil for contraceptive and preemptive hrt reasons…..But I’m beginning to think there is definitely an undisclosed side effect going on here! X

So I'm 7 weeks into my first merena coil, I'm 42 and its supposed to help with endometriosis pain however since having it I've had nothing but trouble! Where to start.... leg pain, knee pain, hip pain horrific backache, so bad I went to A&E for an Xray as I was convinced there was something server happening but all normal, bloating, feeling sick all day, headache, dizziness, weight gain neck and shoulder pain and constipation the list is endless and it's only been 7 weeks ! Dr says its very unlikely to be linked to the coil so has taken bloods from me today, however I'm convinced its the coil ! I'm so convinced I've booked to have it out at the earliest opportunity which is the 16th December, I'd rather put up with the pain of endometriosis than live like this a moment longer. I think GPS should educate themselves and research the coil a little more rather than dismiss these common symptoms with a lot of women. Good luck with you journey ladies x

Hi I googled have mirena coil and limping and this page came up.
I was heartbroken to read all your msges stating the difficulties u have been going through and how Im suffering the same. So my story is I first got the mirena in 2019 after having my son and was told it needs to be changed in 3 years, so last nov 2022 I went to change it and once it was removed the nurse said this was meant to be in for 5 years and then put a new mirena in.
instantly I couldn’t walk properly, was having strong stomach cramps, lots of throbbing in my legs and even a day of diarrhoea and vomiting.
i kept saying to myself it’s new to my body so let me give it sometime to settle. Which it did in 2 weeks time.
Then last week Thursday I noticed I was feeling some groin pain and as it got worst I started limping and having less and less feeling in my left leg.
By the Friday I was in severe pain, crying all day and couldn’t go downstairs atall.
By the night I couldn’t cope so I told my husband he had 2 choices either take me to the busy a&e at the hospital or take it out himself.
He wasn’t keen on the idea of taking it out but once he returned from work he couldn’t bare to see me in pain and made a few attempts to remove it and then finally he pulled it out.
Straight away I felt some ease, the throbbing calmed down and eventually stopped.
But the pain was still there in my groin area and I was still limping.
On the Saturday morning I was anxious to whats going on and decided to go to the a&e and I was seen by a doctor who just checked me and said it maybe be a infection (when I fully feel this pain has come about because of the coil).
So currently im just taking co-codamol and ibuprofen for pain, I’m still limping but I’m trying to either get a scan or X-ray as something is going on and I want some answers.
Just like most of the woman here, im in my 40s actually 41 this year, very active, love running and walking and it’s heart wrenching being in this state.

Update - so I’ve had the coil fitted for nearly 5 months now. It finally seems to have settled. The joint pain has gone. I spotted constantly for the first four months, and I still had periods and period pain…. however the spotting has finally stopped and I’ve missed my last period with no symptoms (am not pregnant!) i’m hoping I am one of those lucky women who have the ideal result my doctor talked about - which is no periods and no problems! Fingers crossed 🤞 x

Hi ladies. I too have joint pain everyday in various areas. Started with big toe and shin after having mirena in for about 1 yr 6months. Ignored it but now at 3 years I am suffering lower back pain. Fingers. Toes. Collar bone. Shoulder . I read a very interesting read by a dr gangemi.com on iud intrauterine damage. I'm getting mine out asap

Hi there - I have had the Mirena coil inserted for 4 years, noticed some mood swings but nothing much for the first year or two, then I started to get some pain in my left hip - groin area . I used to do a lot of jogging and swimming and hiking. Then last year it started to get worse and worse, I had been to the orthopedist, very minor osteoarthritis but normal for my age (47). I stopped jogging and exercising but every time I would stand up, it was really painful and I had started to walk with a limp - I did feel as if I was 80 years old every morning. Then through a conversation with a friend I realized that this pain could be hormonal and that is when I started to google and came across your posts - thank you so much! I got the coil removed last December (4 months ago), there was no infection and no joke - I stopped limping within a week, the pain subsided and I have started back running- however my other hip has started to hurt but its not the same pain, I believe its due to all the compensating that it had to do over the years to support my other hip. Yoga really helps with this. I know for some people the Mirena really helps but for others like me, it almost ended with a hip replacement. I believe hormonal levels should be screened before administering this type of device to women. I did ask my gynecologist but she had never heard of any link between the Mirena and hip pain. There are no published papers or studies out there, so I am not surprised she has not acknowledged it. I am checking if I can report this as an adverse event on the Mirena website. I took my time (4 months) to participate in this website as I wanted to be sure that my pain was gone and it has. By the way I have an identical twin, she does not have a coil and she does not do much sport and she has no pain whatsoever in her hips, perhaps there is a link as I see many of you are pretty sportive. Again thank you to all for bringing up this topic and remember pain is a warning sign that something is not right.

Hi everyone seems we have a lot in common. Well good news from me as my leg, neck and arm pain is drastically reduced and I believe it has got to be due to having the Mirena coil removed. I am so much more mobile and am not even having to take my herbal medicine anymore which was a godsend and ensured I wasn’t taking strong medication with even more side effects. I hope this gives you some hope but it didn’t happen overnight. I had the coil removed August 21 and would say it took about 12 months but I am so much better. I really think Pilates has helped to as I am really working to get my core stronger and really believe in gut health. Hope this gives you some hope x

i'm glad to hear the removal of the coil has helped, I've had the coil fitted for 3 months now to help relieve pains due to PCOS & a fibroid, it's massively helped with this, however, i now have aches in my hands & knees. I'm going to speak to my consultant, can anyone recommend and alternatives to help with the PCOS & fibroid pains? It's so intense, the only pain I can describe it as is my labour pains.
Thanks in advance x

Sorry but look at menopausal issues. Joint pain is common.

I’ve been re-reading this old thread for a number of months after struggling similarly, doing an internet search, and wanting to add my own recent experience - to add to the picture emerging here.

I had a Mirena inserted in October 23 for HRT reasons and have had 7 months of coincidental worsening health and reduced fitness. Within 5 days of insertion my abdomen was swollen and abnormal, resembling a half concrete football, bad enough to impact driving and exercise.

10 days later I was completely incapacitated with a form of reactive arthritis, and went from being extremely fit for my age to struggling to mobilise out of bed, in pain and barely able to walk on the flat plus disabling constant hip pain. It was both frightening and shocking. I tried to work through it and didn’t connect any possible Mirena link until I did a MN search.

As another writer noted upthread, I felt older and suddenly disabled compared to my own 91 year old mother who walks for 3 hours without a rest.

I persevered for 7 months, each yoga class and swim session taking a step further backwards, becoming more and more restricted, deteriorating, literally worsening day on day, becoming finally unable to walk and in the end virtually chair and housebound. I felt like I had lost my life as I knew it in the space of a few months. I resigned myself to a new life much reduced on how it had been before.

I had the coil removed 5 weeks ago and wasn’t expecting such remarkable and positive results. At this point I was physically unable to have a day out, and was frightened to travel. Within 10 days I became totally absolutely pain free, physically active for 12 hours per day, joints fully mobilising, power walking and swimming, my life transformed.
It truly feels that I entirely “lost” 7 months of my life with the Mirena, and now feels very much that I have gained my life back exactly as it was.

So pleased for you and glad that my post has helped so many people.

I am so glad I found this thread. I have been experiencing hideous joint pain and I am considering having the Mirena out. I've had it for three months, I don't know if I can persevere until 6 months. The joint pain is horrific and the GP doesn't think it's got anything to do with it. For me, it's too coincidental!

You have nothing to lose by getting the coil taken out. It will take a few months for it to get out of your system but definitely worth trying. I also started Pilates which helped me also.

I got Merino coil for menopause in April this year! I have had a ridiculously crazy aches, knee issues (buckling) and stiffness, some pain, bilaterally down both legs - my knees are affected most.

I am having it removed Monday - I’m fit and usually swim, yoga Pilates gym etc! I am hardly able to walk… seriously pray the side effects go away because it’s debilitating. I can’t think how much damage this is doing and I feel the FDA must investigate it. I never had these symptoms before Merino and slowly over the course of 5 months effects have accumulated to this sudden buckling that affects how I stand, walk and my confidence - I can’t think of any other reason for the physical symptoms that all coincided with merino starting mildly in an unnoticed degree but gradually worsening over time to an extent it is unbearable

Hi there,
I know this is a really old thread but I've been googling and this popped up. i was fitted with Mirena coil at the end of November 2025. In February, the joint pain started, in all my joints, shoulders, elbows, wrists, fingers, hips, groin, knees, ankles. I was a really fit 54 year old that went to the gym every week and now I struggle to walk the dog some days. I'm considering having the Mirena removed, I really hope I can go back to how I was.

As a side note, I was diagnosed with reactive arthritis several years ago after having a tetanus injection and then after the flu jab a few months later. so i think I've prone to auto-immune type issues. After a steroid injection, all pain went and never came back.
But now I think I've reacted to the coil. Anyone else had any experience of this?

Hi @Julesfulls. Sorry to hear that you're in pain and having a hard time. It is so miserable. You have my sympathies!

So for me, I ended up having mine out. I had had it for 9 months and it caused me no end of side effects, nevermind the fact that I was constantly spotting for all of that time too! But had mine removed and joint pain so much better! I am on HRT - so oestrogen helped and I'm now on micronised progesterone, My specialist has worked out I cannot tolerate synthetics at all (mirena included) and even with micronised progesterone is has been a learning curve. I've just gone from sequential to continuous as it was giving me headaches.

Anyway, my GP swore that the mirena couldn't possibly cause these side effects like joint pain, but for me it absolutely did. That and numbness and tingling. All investigated (brain scans etc) but nothing found. Was absolutely hormones. The annoying thing is you don't know until you have one put in or taken out. So that's my experience really, but we are all different.

I hope that you get sorted. My instinct would be to go with your gut.

All the best :)

I had terrible shoulder pain and aching joints after it was fitted, but I persevered and the pain went away. It took a few months for my cycle to settle, but now I’m period free and only have to use one form of HRT.

Hi I was on the original thread. I had the coil removed and I definitely saw improvements in mobility and less pain. I do think the Menopause causes lots of problems at this age, I am 56 now but I recommend you having it removed so you can know either way. My moto was remove anything that was not natural from my body. It’s trial and error and all of our bodies are different. Good Luck

Thank you for commenting. I really appreciate knowing your experience. I really didn’t want the coil but was persuaded to have it by my GP as it was the safest form for HRT. I knew I was very sensitive to synthetic progesterone and that’s why I didn’t want it. Wish I’d followed my instinct. I’m seeing my GP on Tuesday to discuss having it removed.