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Women's health

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Mirena Coil and thyroid problems

12 replies

SleepWhenAmDead · 23/08/2022 07:55

I have been unhappy with my Mirena and the GP said it's all my imagination.

I have now been diagnosed hypothyroid and to take pills for life.

I was googling self help to keep myself as well as possible and a link came up including about a lawsuit in America.

Has anyone else heard of this? Did removing the coil help?

OP posts:
TwinMama6 · 13/09/2022 19:41

I’m having lots of symptoms with it. I’ve been really unwell since it got put in

yikesanotherbooboo · 13/09/2022 19:45

Hypothyroidism is an autoimmune condition so apart from doing your best to avoid xcess stress there is little you can do about it.The good thing is that for the vast majority of people , it's very common, once your thyroxine dose has been optimised you should be fairly symptom free.
It's unlikely that removing your mirena will help but of course if the mirena doesn't suit you then you can have it removed if you wish.Why is it in and what side effects are you aware of?

SleepWhenAmDead · 20/09/2022 13:42

@yikesanotherbooboo thanks for getting back to me. I was quite unwell when I wrote that and am feeling better now.

I have pain. That's currently my main grievance with the coil, and I can't find the strings. I've had a run of kidney infections and thrush which I never had previously. I got the coil in Nov 2019. The GP says if it had moved, I would be in a lot more pain. I don't think I express pain in a conventional way. When I told the midwife I was in pain, she would only give me paracetamol until examined and then said I was a hero as I was fully dilated with no pain relief...🙄

It was personally and professionally very stressful during the COVID years and last Nov, I was so exhausted I couldn't get off the sofa and realised I had put on loads of weight, having been size 8 - 10 all my life. My clothes didn't fit. They said it was PTSD/anxiety/depression. I asked about menopause. They said I should be accepting of a mental health diagnosis.

I tried exercise and diet to shift the weight (still exhausted). I couldn't manage without an afternoon nap and I had to be careful not to fall asleep when driving etc. I went up three bra sizes in two months. No matter what I did, I could only slow down the weight gain. My gran died of ovarian cancer at my age so I went back to ask GP about that. Then they did blood tests and came back with the hypothyroidism.

I have had the tablets for over a month now. Still doing the diet and exercise and my weight is going down slowly which is very pleasing. I am still very tired and not able to hold down my job which is very worrying.

There really is a lawsuit in the US though.

I've got a smear test due, so I was thinking maybe I could ask to have the coil checked when that is done. Hopefully it will reassure me. It was difficult to put in. Doctor couldn't open the cervix or something. Had to use a special knitting needle type thing!

OP posts:
SleepWhenAmDead · 20/09/2022 13:44

It's for contraception.

OP posts:
yikesanotherbooboo · 20/09/2022 16:48

Ouch.
Yes , let the practitioner examine you.They may not be able to tell much but it is the first step. If you have long-standing discomfort and examination and swabs are normal your GP might organise a scan to look at the state of play of the mirena.

Isaidnoalready · 23/09/2022 10:33

Your thyroid is dying off nothing will reverse that sadly but if your in England you now get free prescriptions so congratulations for that

You dont sound suited to the mirena not everyone is have you thought about getting it removed? Copper coil is supposed to be good with no hormones

Tdcp · 23/09/2022 11:06

Not quite the same thing but I had the mirena for 6 years, I couldn't lose weight, not matter what I did I put it consistently. I took it out a month ago and I've lost half a stone. It could be water weight but I'll keep an eye on it!

Chewbecca · 23/09/2022 11:17

If you've only been on thyroxine for a month, your dose might not be quite right yet. Hopefully you are due another blood test in a couple of weeks to see how your levels are now and if the dose needs adjusting?

I do have both a mirena and have developed hypothyroidism since having the mirena but I think the chances of a link between the two are very slim, there is a lawsuit in US for almost anything, and would treat them as two separate issues. Hypothyroidism is pretty common in middle aged women.

CaptainSamCarter · 23/09/2022 11:20

Interesting. I've been diagnosed with hypothyroidism since having the Mirena.

However, as the Mirena tends to be given more to women post child birth and hypothyroidism tends to develop in older women, I'm assuming it's one of those "correlation is not causation" things.

VeeK999 · 25/01/2023 16:22

This reply has been deleted

Sadly petitions are not allowed on the Talk boards.

TwinMama6 · 01/08/2023 09:47

I know this is an older post, but I’ve been unwell since I’ve been fitted with my mirena coil, and after 1.5 years been diagnosed with thyroid!!! There is definitely something fishy going on isn’t there? No one in my family has ever had thyroid or do I know anyone with thyroid except a lady from my school run.

SleepWhenAmDead · 02/08/2023 07:21

I'm really sorry to hear that. Hope you're feeling better now.

Are you having the coil removed?

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