Mirena Coil & continued bleeding. Normal?

[DonttellDH]

I had the Mirena Coil fitted just over 2wks ago after the birth of my second child, who is exclusively breastfed. I had some discomfort for a few days afterwards, pain that the GP confirmed was likely the threads, not yet softened. He said they might need trimming if this did not settle, but to give it a week. A couple of days later i started bleeding, lightly, like a mild period, with some very mild cramps/aches which i put down to the newness of the Coil, but the pain i was experiencing has pretty much gone (but not completely, very occasional twinge).

The bleeding has continued, varying between a mild and very mild period, with slight tummy cramps/aches from time to time, but not often (just like a period). My belly has also swollen. DH and i were chuckling about my excessive eating since DS was born, and he said he had noticed that i had put on weight, and then he asked if the coil could do this, as it was quite sudden, timed with the coil being fitted and is only my belly. After a day or two of this, i realised my wobbly tummy was not really wobbly fat, just bigger (i am very skinny, an have no fat on me elsewhere, nor did i throughout my pg).

GP said that normally, erratic periods were usual with the coil, and after 6 months would settle, but he also said that as I am breastfeeding, this would unlikely apply to me and it would be unlikely that i would see a return of my period as a consequence of this.

So, i guess i am asking in a waffly manner, is this normal? Should i go to see the GP

IME, the Mirena made me bleed continuously for over 9 months. I gained a huge amount of weight and for the first time in my life excepting pregnancy, I have a fat tummy.
Gp's seem to only give a small part of the info they should about the possible side effects. I had loads of problems whilst it was in and it didn't stop my periods even after I'd got past the constant bleeding.
It was put in when my Dd was 3 months and she was and still is bf, it wasfinally removed after 26 months.They don't like removing them.

I do have several friends that sing it's praises, but one is childless and the other was well over having Dc's, so was not bfing.

I bled for all but a fortnight for 10 months before I finally convinced them to take the damn thing out.

And I was only bfing the first 4 months of that.

Nightmare for me. I got every bad side effect going.

oh dear. well dh is not going to like that. He has not had nooky for months poor man! I am really not impressed with the swollen belly, i too have always had a nice flat tummy, and now its almost as big as when i was pregnant! (had a tiny bump). Its not great. I think i preferred the implant.

i felt 'encouraged' to have it. it was set up and organised as soon as i said 'yes ok' like before i could change my mind. I definitely think he was not entirely honest about the side effects, he was particularly keen to stress how i would unlikely have a period before the 6 month settling period finished, and most certainly did not tell me my lovely already flat tummy post baby would disappear (or even might). I had it put in when baby was 7wks.

I bled for about 6 weeks on and off, but have had hardly any since and have not noticed any weight gain.
I would give it a chance,2 weeks is not very long.Good luck

shroeder when my DH has not had sex for over 6 months, every day is torture for him .

I had a few twinges today, so need to see gp on monday as threads might need trimming, so it feels. Shall see what he says about this, but i hope the 'side effects' go away pronto!

I can't see why the threads would cause you to have twinges of pain tbh. If they are too long, they are more likely to just get in the way of the mooncup/tampon or willy(which I guess would be a concern)!

DonttellDH, I had an almost flat tummy by my first HV visit(2 ish weeks)and it is now huge ~ I look bigger than I did at 6 months pg. I did lose half a stone in a week following the removal with no input from myself, but I now can't shift the other 3 stones I put on during it's stay which has made me depressed in itself.

Mirena's are expensive, but once in and for 5 years, they cost nothing further and are much cheaper than supporting a pg woman and further babies! says it all doesn't it?!

Pain is not normal with the coil, but weight gain & bloating is (among others). Also be aware that not matter if the dr told you the hormone in it stays local, it HAS been found in breast millk. So your dc may be being exposed to it.

I would ask your gp to check out the pain, because I had niggling pain for the whole time I had mine (only 2 months) and had an infection, which was only caught on removal. This caused me to have excruciating cramps that doubled me over (almost dropped my 6mth old at one point).

If you have any doubts, I would have it out.

And agree with solo....the threads tickle, or your partner notices them, the won't cause pain.

My husband could definitely feel the threads and he did not find them tickly!

But they didn't cause me any pain.

The GP, and my nurse friend said that if the threads are too long, they can dig in for a while, until they soften, if they are too long, as the cervix, where they should sit, has no nerve endings and thus no pain is felt, if they are longer than that, they can dig into the vaginal wall and hurt a little. (when i 'investigated' on the first day i felt the pain, i felt what had felt like fishing wire poking into flesh, not investigated since).

differentnameforthis about the hormone not staying local. He told me no cross into ebm .

When i had the implant last time, i knew what the side effects were (no period that is all), and was happy with it. I cannot really explain to you why i chose something different, i think it was the uncertainty of long term effects of the implant, but that is all.

I will see how it goes. I do not feel completely comfortable internally. Not painful, just can feel it there. I do not like it.

Oh, and is no libido normal? Or shall i put that down to having 2 children?

Wiki Mirena page

Levornogestrel is found in nursing infants at 7% of the concentration found in their mothers using the Mirena IUS.[7] A six-year study of breastfed infants whose mothers used a levonorgestrel-only method of birth control found the infants had increased risk of respiratory infections and eye infections, though a lower risk of neurological conditions, compared to infants whose mothers used a copper IUD.[28] No longer-term studies have been performed to assess the long-term effects on infants of levornogestrel in breast milk.

Google Mirena breast milk

And yes, it KILLED my libido. This didn't return for month AFTER having it removed. All good now tho

And to agree with herbietea, my period have been horrendous since I had it.

The first few month after removal, very heavy. I am normally heavy anyway, but this was almost unstoppable heavy. Clots & all!

Now they have settled back into normal heavy for me.

BUT, my cramping is horrendous! I am cramping mid cycle, so need an ultra sound to see why. And when I wasn't on the pill, I could pin point ovulation due to pain. Never been able to do that before.

It is something that I will NEVER recommend. My gp actually told me not to consider in IUD again.

Docs get extra supplementary payments for insertion and 'counselling' related to coils and so forth. It's part of a drive to increase coil use in this country and get it up to Scandinavian levels. I've had the coil pushed at me and refused it - I know it's great for some women but I just don't want it. I've been flamed on MN for saying that GPs should reveal that they are getting extra payments for fitting coils "you must understand they get paid for lots of services" (yeah, and..) "why should they reveal that to a patient?" but I've seen enough stories - including on this thread now - about not disclosing all the side effects and reluctance to take them out despite the request of the patient (which to my mind is outrageous - just whose body is it?) to continue convincing me. At least if you don't get on with a particular pill you just stop taking it.

bellissima, couldn't agree more!

My dr didn't remove them, because no one (7 drs & 3 nurses) at the practice knew how...

I had it fitted at the hospital after a termination (which I have since found out is a no no). So I had to pay a sexual health clinic to remove it.

differentnameforthis yes i just read that on wiki too DH has said i should talk to gp this week and if not happy, get it removed.

TBH, i think the lack of libido is enough to want it out. I miss sexual relations with my DH. Due to being poorly throughout my pg, we have not had sex since i was about 4 months pg, so no sex for 10 months. That's a bloody long time and i want it back, as of course, so does he.

If you want it out, be very insistent. A lot of drs don't (won't?) believe it causes the problems it does and can be reluctant to remove it.

If they are stalling, tell them you want to TTC!

yes, i got told to let it settle, it couldn't be the mirena (last i checked, the uterus get a blood supply. that blood circulates all over the body. so tell me, tell me how it is that that hormone simply cannot leave the uterus after absorption?).

i had to tell them i was TTC.

The consultant that removed mine said that all my(many)symptoms were 'usual' for hormone based contraceptives.

So an update.

It had appeared to 'settle' the sharp digging in pain i had, so i guessed all ok. Have not felt 'right' though, slightly achey tummy lower down, very very mild bloody discharge very day, sometimes a little heavier than others. I put this down the GP lying about not getting mild periods whilst i was bf and took this bleeding to be mild periods.

Tummy is swollen. Not bloated, but slightly harder than bloated, a very little tender.

Yesterday i felt a couple of digging pains right on the edge of my vagina and have noted a touch of an odd 'smell' so made a note in my head to make gp appt tomorrow. Today, i have some mild tummy cramps, slight backache, and so i had a check to see what was going on.

There is some 'wire' right on the edge of my vagina, literally just inside, and there is also some swelling there, a hard swelling just on the edge, like a soft lump and made me go .

If i go to see gp tomorow, he won't be able to look without a nurse present so he will send me away and make me make an appt, if i see the female dr, she is not trained to put in, so not likely able to remove either .

Do you think it sounds like it has been expelled out of my womb?

bump

interesting that the information i received from the gp told me nothing about risk of expulsion, or risk of perforating the womb lining, or this happening and it getting lost, or risk of it sticking to the uterus wall, of risk of PID, and all the complications that go with this, or the more minor side effects of weight gain, abdominal pain, constant bleeding even when breastfeeding, or that the hormone gets into breastmilk, or the lack of sex drive. DH said, '100% bloody safe this contraception, never come across anything so bloody successful as this marvelous invention'.

...i am going into the surgery tomorrow morning and I am asking for it to be removed immediately.