Would you give up on the coil?

[TryingToKeepSmilingEveryDay]

I’ve had a mirena-type coil for exactly six months. I’d say I’ve only had about 3 weeks of zero spotting or bleeding. All other times I’ve had to wear a panty liner or pad due to brown or red bleeding. My ‘periods’ are lasting at least 2 weeks, all other times it is just smears or brown/red when I wipe.

Would you give up on it? I’ve only got the coil because the gynae said my irregular bleeding was due to my hormones being unbalanced and that the coil could mean I have no bleeding for years. My periods before were heavy, with clots but I only suffered for a few days then my period would finish by day 6. I’m just really fed up with it all.

I’m also getting back pain and stiffness that seems to have only started since I had the coil put in. On the days before a period, my lower back spasms and goes weak up until I start bleeding, then it is better. So I’m pretty sure it’s hormonal.

I don’t want to have it taken out after all this time if it is about to start stopping my periods. I’d be gutted. But surely it should have settled by now if it was going to...

Any experience shared would be great. Thanks.

The nurse kept asking me to give it a little longer to settle but mine made me spot or bleed every day for 9 long months!

My periods were always heavy & I had clots too, my sister didn’t have a period for 5 years with her Mirena but her periods were never as awful as mine. I guess it just doesn’t work for some people. I had the same problem on POP too that gynae insisted I try.

Thanks @Totallyworthit

I have had endless gynae issues with pcos, endometriosis, infertility etc. So my hormone levels are not normal. I’m wondering if the coil just isn’t working as it should. I don’t need it for contraception, it was purely to try and have a break from periods while I wait for the dreaded menopause (I’m 43).

I saw the nurse about a month ago, she said it was all fitted fine but was probably just taking time to settle my hormones. Fed up is an understatement!!

Annoyingly my gp does not do coil removals so I’ll have to go to a sexual health clinic, making it more tricky to book etc.

Wish I’d never given in and agreed to this bloody thing!!

My coil was due to issues (endo, fibroids) rather than contraception. I also couldn’t get an appointment at the surgery for the nurse to remove, I had to go to sexual health clinic and beg them to take it out. I believe services are shortly getting back to normal so hopefully you won’t have too long to wait. Getting my hysterectomy was the happiest day of my life and I had to beg for that after 5 years under gynae trying all the things under the sun!
I hope you can get it removed soon

And.....it’s out!! 7 months was a fair amount of time to give it a chance, but the side effects were just too much. It hurt for about 10 seconds being removed but then it was fine. Just got mild bleeding now. I was told it will settle down over the next few days. Thank god it’s out. Maybe I’ll start to feel normal again now.

Hey,

I had my coil removed this week after almost 10 years in (not used for contraception)

I had issues with bleeding and terrible spasms for the first 6-8 months but I persevered and it was the best decision for me.

I went on to have a very light period every month but it seemed to balance out my hormones and 'calm' me down.

Maybe set a limit to how long you will tolerate/trial and if it doesn't improve, get it removed

Well done for getting yours removed.

I was so relieved to get rid of mine in January. I'd reluctantly agreed to try it to tame heavy flooding periods and shrink the fibroids that were exacerbating it. I'd never been keen on the idea of coils of any description.

It was in for 13 months and never settled. There was bleeding for much of that time and the flooding got worse and worse. During that time I made more than one approach to my GP and also the gynaecologist who fitted it to ask for it to be removed. Each time I was met with reluctance and told to "just give it more time" which made me feel as though I wasn't the one in control here.

Eventually, after some particularly horrendous flooding in January this year I called my GP and absolutely insisted that it be removed, so it was. An ultrasound scan a couple of weeks after that showed that far from shrinking the fibroids, they had grown and there were more of them!

So mirena wasn't exactly a resounding success for me. I know it works for some people, but I found it heavily pushed as the panacea for everything when it wasn't. I also disliked being beholden to someone else to have it removed when I no longer wanted to continue with it. I felt trapped.

I won't be having another one, and believe me the idea has already been mooted.