Weight gain on Mirena

[StuntNun]

I had a Mirena coil fitted about 18 months ago (for heavy bleeding) and since then I've gained a pound and a half every month. My GP says the Mirena doesn't cause weight gain and won't remove it. Has anyone else experienced weight gain on the Mirena? I'd honestly rather flood every month than deal with this uncontrollable weight gain. I'm so hungry all the time. I can eat my dinner and still want another dinner even though I know I've eaten enough.

I had what you had on all hornone contraception. Not weight gain as such but incurable anxiety and insatiable appetite. I didn't gain weight. But I was a hangry nervous wreck.

I can't cope with this any longer. I've gained 15 kg in two years. None of my clothes fit. It's one thing buying new t-shirts and jeans but I need new coats, a dressing gown and shoes. And I assume my weight will continue to go up. I'm going to see the GP again next week, I really hope she agrees to take out the Mirena. I'd rather have the periods every 21 days and the flooding back than keep gaining weight like this.

This must be so frustrating. I was put on ketotifen fumarate for severe asthma, and OMG, the hunger. It doesn't matter how much you are determined, the hunger takes over. I feel your pain.
Mirena is sadly famous for the weight gain. Your GP is stupid .

Stopping the drug for me was not an option, but an overhaul change of diet did help . On advice of a dietician, I kept a small container of brown rice that I had cooked with a couple tablespoons of red lentils. Both boil for 40 minutes. When the hunger was driving me nuts, I would have 30 gr of the rice/lentils mix. It was less than 50 calories and it would placate the hunger screams.

Instead of fighting your hunger, try to concede a bit of whole grains. Small amounts that are enough to trigger the hormones. It might help. Try it for week and hopefully your GP will take the Mirena out.

Ugh. This happened to me on the pill. It was horrific. My boobs grew two sizes too. I was miserable. Sympathies OP.

I have a Kyleena coil which is much dose progesterone. It’s not prescribed for heavy bleeding like Mirena but does still reduce it (my four day normal periods are now one or two days of spotting. Anyway, don’t know if it’s worth looking into.

much lower dose

I just said I didn't want it any more and she took it out no question

Yes, I'd have thought it's your choice whether you have it taken out, not your GPs?

I had one fitted in January and have definitely put on weight and feel hungrier. I lost around 3 stone doing 5:2 about 7 years ago and had been maintaining-ish. Am now gaining though and really struggling to keep to 5:2.

I've got a follow up appointment with Gynae at the hospital (who fitted it) next month and am in 2 minds about whether to have it taken out, although I am enjoying no periods (I'd had 2 very heavy, very prolonged bleeding episodes over a couple of years, but other than that just normal periods) and not thinking about contraception.

Thanks, both of you. I'm going to have another go at getting it removed.

That's a good tip, @KingIrving better than having a quick unhealthy snack.

The GP was very sympathetic but reiterated that there's no way the Mirena causes weight gain. However she is happy to remove it so long as I can get hold of some micronised progesterone which is apparently like hen's teeth around here.

I had two, caused me all sorts of issues - including weight gain. Lost 5kg in the month I had it taken out mostly water retention) and lost another 5kg without really trying over the few months after.

If you tell them you no longer consent to it being in your body they should take it out. Tell them it's making you so miserable you've seriously considered trying to remove yourself because you just want it gone if they still resist.

Your GP has a bias that ignores the Mirena Patient leaflet.

https://www.mirena.co.uk/sites/g/files/vrxlpx42356/files/2022-11/Mirena-patient-information-leaflet%28PIL%29.pdf on page 9, in the Common side effect (less than 1 in 10 women)

• ovarian cysts
• painful periods
• weight gain
• depression, nervousness
• headache
• migraine
• dizziness
• abdominal, pelvic or back pain
• nausea
• acne
• increased growth of hair on the face and body
• reduced sex drive
• increased vaginal discharge PIL & TIL v038_0

Weight gain is listed on the common side effects. So how can she say it doesn't . And conditioning its removal to you securing a hard to find drug, is absolutely not on!

It's because I'm on a high dose of oestrogen so I need adequate progesterone to support that. So she doesn't want to remove the Mirena until I have a replacement source of progesterone. I went to three pharmacies yesterday: two don't have it and don't know when it will be delivered; one only had two boxes left so they were saving them for people who are already on the medication rather than just starting it. I wouldn't mind but this HRT shortage has been going on for years; you would think the NHS bureaucracy would have caught up by now.

That's what I thought @KingIrving I assumed I was in the small percentage that had weight gain as a side effect. All the information online says it can cause a small weight gain of 4 lb a year but I've gained 18 lb a year after a lifetime of being a healthy weight. That's an excessive amount by anyone's standards.

Issue is OP, it's the progesterone in the mirena that causes the water retention and weight gain. You will probably find that taking the progesterone orally will be much the same as the mirena. It may be a slightly different progesterone derivative, which can alter effects on the body, but ultimately if you put the same amount of hormone in, you're likely to get same response.

I'm really sorry that you're experiencing this, yet it reassuring that I am not alone! I have put on 2 stone in 2 years since having mirena fitted. The consultant told me categorically that there is no link between mirena and weight gain and that it will be solely down to my lifestyle choices.

I haven't changed my lifestyle for the worse and have actually been trying quite hard to exercise, eat more healthily etc. I always want to eat, never feel satisfied, so constant willpower is required not to eat excessively!

Like you, I was having heavy bleeding. I had some polyps removed, but apparently the fibroids and 8 cm ovarian cyst are irrelevant and the mirena is the answer. It is nice not to have the heavy bleeding and associated anaemia, but there is still light bleeding most days, plus the pelvic discomfort and weight gain.

I'm sorry, I don't have any solutions for you, only empathy. While I understand that studies show that, on average, Mirena doesn't cause weight gain, surely it is possible that for some women it does have this side effect so their concerns shouldn't be dismissed by doctors?

Thanks @FlyingHighFlyingLow I'm hoping that as I will only be taking the micronised progesterone for 12 days of the month that it might be less of an issue than the constant output from the Mirena.

That's a lot @giraffesaregreat how have you managed? I'm at the point of having to buy new coats and shoes now which is going to get really expensive. Honestly I'd rather have the heavy bleeding back again.

Had the mirena in for 6 months and put on two stone. I constantly looked 6 months pregnant, big hard tummy. I hated the mirena for other reasons too so GP removed it as soon as I asked.

I put on weight when I had a Mirena. Didn’t really have the choice of removing it (I felt) because it was my last chance to deal with crippling endometriosis - and to be fair, it did do that. But I gained a significant amount and I genuinely don’t think I was massively over-eating. I’d been fairly lean till then but just felt the weight piled on 😟

It's perimenopause itself that causes weight gain and hunger.

Fat cells contain oestrogen so our bodies desperately want to create more and hold on to those we have.

I put on 2 stone in 3 months in early perimenopause and 2 more stone after that. I couldn't lose it whatever I did. My menopause specialist explained the fat cell thing to me, she said that not every woman has weight gain as a symptom but some do.

Fucking menopause.

I gained weight on the mirena coil and it was something I seriously couldn't afford to do as I was already very overweight and struggling to lose even an ounce.

My mirena coil was in place for thirteen months. Against my better judgement, I had agreed to try it because of prolonged heavy, flooding periods which were exacerbated/caused by fibroids. It made the bleeding worse and almost constant. Very heavy. So much so that one night when I had been sitting in the loo for a couple of hours I was seriously wondering at what point I should call an ambulance for myself, though fortunately it did begin to slow down at that point.

I told my GP all of this (telephone consultation only at that point as it was during Covid restrictions) and insisted that it needed to be removed. Fortunately they agreed this time and I went into the surgery for it.

You can need to be very assertive and insistent to get it removed so do stand up for yourself. Tell them bluntly that you no longer give permission for this device to remain in your body and don't take no for an answer. That stuff about the progesterone sounds like fobbing you off to me. I find it hard to believe that they cannot either prescribe something suitable or adjust your other meds somewhat.

My whole experience with mirena taught me a huge lesson - to never again have something that I cannot control myself inserted into my body, especially something that renders me reliant on someone else to remove it if it isn't suiting me. Several times in the first three months I went in wanting it to be removed, and each time was just advised to give it more time to settle!! It never settled at all.

A different gynaecologist has since told me that he believed I had never been a suitable candidate for a mirena coil in the first place because of the size, shape and position of some of my fibroids.

Be insistent and assertive. Get what you want and are entitled to. Don't let them fob you off.

Good luck.

Maybe also a fair point, though weight gain is still listed as one of the most common side effects of the mirena coil despite GPs and some gynaecologists trying to suggest otherwise.

It makes me wonder whether or not it should be contra-indicated for those of us above a certain weight and age threshold, as other hormonal contraceptives already are. That is a further point of debate I guess.

So many women attributing their weight gain to the Mirena when the medical professional thinks it doesn't happen

I had a Mirena inserted in Feb and gained a stone in 2 months despite not changing my eating habits. I'm now on a strict diet and back to my Feb weight and wondering if it's worth it.

The GP not removing your Mirena is very worrying. It should be taken out on your day so.