I had my first Mirena coil 2016 - 2021.
Apart from the first couple of periods on it, which were very very light, I had no bleeding at all the entire 5 years with the exception of a couple of months after I tried a new herbal supplement which changes your hormones slightly. No noticeable PMS (not that I really had it before), no anything really, the only way I could judge where I was in my cycle was my attention span and slight ovulation pain.
Absolute dream contraception (finally, after murder with the prog-only pill and the implant).
Had it replaced in March, and since then I've had a period/bleeding every month. Apart from the first one since the switch, which was pretty heavy, it's very light compared to how it used to be - a few days, only 1-2 of which are proper bleeding and the rest just brown spotting. I've had proper PMS with anxiety and intrusive thoughts, and really awful breast tenderness for a week to 10 days before.
Is it normal to have such different experiences on the same contraception? I'd put it down to a kind of 'fresh coil = higher hormones' effect, but it wasn't the case first time and it's been 8 months now).
In case it's relevant:
- Weigh slightly more than when I first had it put in
- Am obviously 5 years older (now early 30s, not mid-late 20s)
- Stopped taking citalopram shortly after the coil change (pretty sure not relevant, but just in case!)
- Started taking ADHD medication (Xaggitin) a couple of months after coil change - again, fairly sure not relevant as not hormonal but can raise blood pressure
I also had the AZ jab a few weeks after the coil change (but before my next period would have been 'due' based off my rough tracking of what was left of my cycle before, so could have affected it). Several of my friends who had the AZ jab said they had awful first periods after the jab, which could explain the first very heavy one I had post-coil change and post-jab. A couple of those friends have also had ongoing period weirdness since the jab full stop, so it could also be this - but seems unlikely to still be affecting me now!?
It's not a real issue, in that it's still a very light period, I can handle PMS, and as I'm not getting pregnant I assume the coil is still doing its job!
But I'm interested to know why I'm having such a different experience this time round with the coil and if anyone else has had the same.