mirena coil makes me feel like sh*t - anyone else ????

[lunachic]

hello mners
had one fitted about 3 months ago and im slowly sliding down a wave of depression there are other factors too (not major) but im feeling cr*p and im putting it down to the coil as i felt great before - ready to deal with anything sort of attitude. i have a ds nearly 3 and a dd 16 months and what im feeling is deffo not pnd .
have breastfed or been preg for the last 3 years so i thought the mirena and no periods (ive nearly forgotton what they are !) would be an easy option (turns out its not )

i just wondered if anyone else had felt like this after having a mirena fitted ?

ps i would love another baby but circumstance difficult at the moment so hence coil

Anytime you introduce synthetic hormones into the body, they could or could not have some effect on you - regardless of how long you've been taking them. I took the Pill for 10 years w/no problems, then started to experience - on the same brand I'd always been on! - breakthrough bleeding, mood swings, etc. My body was 10 years older and maybe that was it. But I got off those pills and everything went back to normal.

Toothache, you don't know how relieved I feel knowing that someone else gets random cramping on it too (well, not that I wish it on anyone, but you know what I mean!).

All this reminds me, I haven't been for my year's check yet - should have gone in July!

GeorginaA - I was cramping so much last night that I sat and worked out if my period would have been due! The cramping is no where near as bad as I used to get before the coil though. But my AF (now really light but lasts about 7 days!) was only about 3 wks ago.

Expat - I turned into a right loonball on the pill.... changed to another brand and put on 2 stone in 3 months!!!!!! Bloody hormones eh?

Fair point expat - I have been leaning towards having the coil taken out and going 'natural' for a while - this is my second Mirena and was on the pill for 15 years before that. Part of me thinks enough is enough. BUT - I had awful periods, even on the pill and no I have none! Plus with a DH who abhors condoms, it looks like my only other choice of contraception will be abstention!

Fantastic! I shall make that docs appt now!

Anyone considering a mirena coil, I'd say go ahead and try it. It really is hassle-free and wonderful not to have periods. I'm sure the sort of side effects we're discussing are a) not typical and b) no worse than side effects of other hormone-based contraceptives. It's easy to have it removed and you are back to normal in about a month (apparently).

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Oh certainly spacedonkey - I didn't do well on the pill at all (felt completely uninterested in sex for one thing, let alone feeling shit and PMTish the whole month instead of just a few days of a month) so I obviously don't react well to hormones in general.

I do think it's useful to hear other's experiences though and realise that there's variations of "normal" reactions. I don't think the official literature was that helpful in that respect. And it does help to weigh up the pros and cons a bit better - is this worth it for me to not have to think about periods or contraception for the next four years... at the moment, on balance... probably still is worth it.

MoH, I think they can slip, move and even come out, and some people do get pregnant with them in. But these seem to be extremely rare. If your GP not willing to do it why not see if there is a womens health clinic near you, or family planning? I am so glad my friend talked me into having one fitted. I think it is fab and plan to have one fitted at my 6 week check and hope that that will be my contraceptive until the menopause hits (realise will have to change it every 5 years obvioulsy!). So glad we can finally ditch the condoms as the pill and I never got on.

hi new to this. due to have one fitted on weds, after finding this site now very worried. 46 very heavy periods 10 to 25 days at a time. advised this or the next alternative a hysterectomy. any advice?

hello thanks for all your repilies
i started this thread because am am pretty sure that the way im feeling at the moment is due to the coil/hormones
i have been on one long high since the birth of ds 3 years ago and have fell off the cloud very soon after having the coil although my mood would have maybe changed anyway as my cycle came back

i havent really had cramps and i dont feel too bade just over emotional and weepy but i am stilll judging the pros and cons as it is very convenient not to have af 's .wondering if my body will settle to it

my doctor recommended it to me personally saying she had one and it was great
it obviously very different for everyone

malachishaz i would advise that you give it a go -hope it suits you it may be fine

Have just had it removed and will keep you updated on any interesting changes over the course of the next few weeks. I am hoping for a huge surge in energy levels and an end to the mood swings/anxiety/devil woman persona! Oh - and at least a stone in weight loss!

Hi- so glad I read this thread. I had Mirena coil fitted three months ago and have been having quite scary bouts of depression, terrible mood swings, puffy face and legs, migraines- I told doctor at clinic and she laughed!-said it couldnt possibly be the coil!Guess were all imagining it then!Have started taking 2000mg Evening Primrose all to help stabilise hormones and decided to try it for a month. If it doesnt work then its coming out. Hate feeling like this- somne days I am so low I could crawl back inmto bed and stay there all day but dd 7mo puts paid to that.

hi bootsmonkey i have had my mirena coil for over 4 yrs. it needs to come out next year. i have never heard ofanyone having trouble until i got on line about 3 months ago.i don,t have periods at all which is good.but some of the mood swings headaches and other things people have talked about on other threads,i seem to have been having & not putting it down to the coil. I don,t know weather to have it removed now or wait till next year.what do you think? Also did it hurt getting it out?

I too loved the convenience of the mirena and not having periods but am very concerned at tne mood swing/anxiety/depression which are a newish thing after 3 years. I too suffer from appalling headaches which I have never put down to anything other than bad luck. Another thing for me to watch out for!

Having it out was v. quick & no more than a crampy twinge - like a smear really. It is surprisingly small - I had built it up to be this huge object in my mind and it was less invasive than having it put in.

I am dreading my first period for 6 years, but if I lose all the other bad stuff then it should be bearable!

lunachic (&toothache) - I tried the mirena after effectively ruling out all other forms of contraception and it was a complete and utter nightmare. I felt so nauseous that I could hardly get out of bed, my boobs were so painful I couldn't turn over in the night and I felt really weird - the doctor could not believe I wasn't pregnant but when I finally convinced her I wasn't, she agreed to take it out. It's been out now for about 6 months and although you're supposed to feel better almost immediately, I did get a substantial improvement but it took months to get back to how I felt beforehand.

Even now, the GPs seem not to believe that such a small dose of the hormone can cause such a reaction - especially as with most people, the mirena works really well.

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hi had a merena fitted two weeks ago have had terrible contraction pains along with heavy blood loss ended up in hospital with anemia this was supposed to help me for heavy periods due to endometreosis have tried most things now just dont know what to do next anyone got advice

is the mirena still in nicola?

hello, i am new to mumsnet and found it cos i was looking for anyone else who had problems with the mirena. I have had mince since shortkt after birth of dd 4 years ago. It was o.k. at first (no periods i thought - great!) then the anxiety and panic started followed by constant (morning sickness type) nausea, headaches, lower backache,extreme tiredness (also similar to pregnancy), night sweats, insomnia. I have now got to the point where i can stand it no longer and my husband has agreed to a vasectomy so i can have this 'thing' removed. Has anyone else had similar side effects to me (the nausea in particular is the worst). My G.P. says its nothing to do with the coil as it is an excellent form of birth control and very well tolerated!(she doesn't have one herself!!). Has anyone had it removed and felt better? if so how long can i expect it to take to feel normal again? please help i am desperate....

I was concerned about having the Mirena fitted and after reading this thread and discussing it with dh have decided to not to have it now.
I am having my pill implant removed next week and will be going back on the pill (oral) for the 1st time in 12 years!!

Stephiemum and everyone else experiencing similar symptoms (including me!) - I think its terrible that GP's really do fail to acknowledge what is causing this!!! If they are refusing to believe it's the Mirena Coil then I'd like to know what their theory is as to what the hell could cause these pregnancy symptoms when we're not pregnant! It is a very effective contraception, but TBH DH and I hardly go near each other now since my panic attacks, mood swings and generally feeling run down have resulted in us not really liking each other at the moment!

i had a mirena fitted about 5 wks ago, so far no mood swings but hair and skin are really greasy and have bled constantly since it went in. can't go on pill, gp won't prescribe it as i suffer with bad migraines, and tried coil without hormone between dd & ds, periods very heavy.

was told it can cause bleeding for first 3 months or so, and have decided to 'ride it out' for now and give it a bit longer as i could easily be mistaking any 'side effects' from the coil, with the hormones getting out of my system from ds's recent birth

Lucykate - I didn't experience any of these symptonms until about 3mths. I also have the 'greasy' problem! It's very weird for me as I've always had very dry skin and hair and had to layer on the conditioner/moisturisers!

Hi Haven't read all of the conversations but thought I'd add my two penneth - don't remember what type of coil I had fitted, but distinctly remember being in the A&E dept of our womens hospital having it removed after 18 months - the pain was excruciating - and whilst being examined they pressed my tummy and I nearly shot off the bed.

Can't take the pill so I went on to use persona - it's available from boots and has the same reliability as condoms, it's a machine that measures your hormone levels and tells you when you're safe and when you're not - used it for 2 years before deciding to have DS1 and then for 18 months before DS2 - then DH went for a more permanent method