Mirena in for 14 years

[MissRumphius]

I have had the Mirena IUD in for 14 years and need it removing. I haven’t felt able to have it removed /replaced due to past trauma. I was abused as a child, and also raped as an adult. This makes me extremely anxious about any kind of intimate examination. I have also not had any smear tests for 14 years. I had it inserted after the birth of my child, and although it wasn’t an easy procedure for me, I managed. I’m in a worse state with my mental health now.

I am not in a relationship so I haven’t needed the IUD to be effective for contraception.

I know this all needs dealing with and have discussed it with my psychiatrist, who has referred me to gynaecology. She suggested a general anaesthetic or sedation.

Does anyone have any experience or advice? I don’t know if I will feel more afraid if I don’t know what happened to me when under a general anaesthetic.

I am very anxious but know I cannot ignore this much longer. Thanks.

Hi OP. I had one removed under GA as my cervix ate the strings and they couldn't get it out "the normal way". The GA was very light and I didn't have that feeling of having been out of it for ages like I have when I've had GA's for wisdom teeth/ bunion ops etc. I'm not in your position but I think I'd have preferred the GA to being awake while they do it. They recommended the GA over sedation as sedation would apparently have made me feel more groggy.

HTH

I’ve had the mirena coil but don’t have the background that you have. It was put in under sedation and removed without.

It was a 30 second job to get it out, a sharp pain but over with very quickly.

My main reason for commenting is that the Mirena coil affected my mental health very significantly, to the point of at times feeling suicidal in spite of having no underlying mental health issues. Having it removed was life changing. I wonder if there is a chance it might help you with your mental health.

I had mine in for 11 years. I had it removed at the sexual health clinic with a local anaesthetic and using an ultrasound. The dr and nurse were lovely.

I'm actively avoiding getting mine removed OP but I know I need to screw the nut

Hi OP, I don't have your traumatic history (I am so sorry you went through something like that)
I do however have chronic anxiety disorder along with autism and I can honestly tell you my anxiety affected me more than the actual procedure.
My most recent experience was last year having one coil out and then one back in. I had a break in-between them - on removable it was more or less painless but did have some cramping afterwards that was sore for a few days.
Honestly it hurt more going in , it was like a pinching uncomfortable feeling and some cramping afterwards but that was it.

I cannot help you with regards to the sedation needed or the fact yours has been in so long but I can honestly tell you it's not horrifically painful or anything .

I'm not going to tell you not to worry given your circumstances and how difficult this is going to be for you but I do wish you the best with it all xx

Also just to add please please please if at all possible have a smear test at the same time if available, it honestly is so so important xx

Hi I've had Mirena coil for 14 years and I've been suffering really bad cramps..I'm bit scared now looking at these messages..Will I have to have local anaesthetic but got to get out either way I'm 55 now and pain getting worse

Honestly it’s fine. My GP couldn’t find the strings so I had it taken out with a local anaesthetic injection to numb any pain and they guided it out using an ultrasound then popped a new one in. It was done in minutes.

Thankyou for putting me at ease...I'm going to have coil out tmrw yehhh

I had one for 6/7 years that they were finding hard to locate.. I was struggling mentally with the idea of it. Went in to see gynae and he had it out in seconds, it was totally fine.

I'm sorry for all that has happened to you. It was very difficult to get my mirena coil in and I am very anxious about health professionals. I lost the strings and the GP Practice Nurse caused me a lot of pain trying to get it out. This was with an aneasthetic injection. She wanted to keep trying and I said I wanted to be referred to the hospital and she said "they won't do anything different there". I was a wreck, but I also think it impacted my health and really wanted it out.

I went to a special gynae coil clinic with specialist nurses and they were super, super nice and kind (I was intimidated that there were three of them). The lead Nurse took time to listen to all my worries. She then went through all possible options of getting it out. This was by far the longest part of the appointment. The second longest was getting positioned in the chair. One of the nurses was trying to chat and distract me and I was very anxious and trying to see what the other nurse was doing. They were excellent at their job though and after about a few seconds the Nurse went "I got it" and then asked me to take a breathe and she pulled it out. She did not use any anaesthetic - we discussed her rationale for this and it was on the table if I wanted it. I had taken painkillers before going in. This was the quickest part. I hope it reassures you. I don't know about sedation/GA as I didn't need that in the end. For me, having supportive women with me makes a lot of improvement in my ability to cope.

I hope whatever you choose is as easy for you :-)

I've not had mine out yet as it's not due but I sadly do have some of your medical history. I have though had a hysteroscopy where they looked at and biopsied my womb. I've had it under GA as I had private healthcare at the time. Both were fine.

Please seek help with your MH. While it wasn't a cure, I've had EMDR for trauma which did help a lot.

Op i really feel for you.

Though not as traumatic as your experiences, I developed an extreme phobia of all things medical especially gyne stuff due to really poor treatment during a 2 week wait and hysterscopy.

To the extend I haven't had a smear in about 10 yrs and I couldn't cope with going back for the hysterscopy so never had the biopsy.
Now I've developed a prolapse but still can't face the idea of being examined.

I've tried 2 lots of therapy and antidepressants/beta blockers, which initially helped but I still can't bring myself to see a HCP.

I wonder if you could access support due to the nature of your trauma?
I really feel for you, its so difficult as its so incredibly personal and most will never understand your fear.

💐

Hi,
some new posts in this thread that I started have prompted me to reply. Sorry I didn't before.
Well I braved it, I had a general anaesthetic in the women's day surgery unit. Everyone there was lovely, so kind and understanding. I was upset and very anxious, but wrote down a summary of what I needed medical staff to know so I could hand it to them each time instead of needing to explain things repeatedly. This really helped.
The actual procedure was fine, but I underestimated the length of time I would need for recovery. I'm sure not all of it was physical, but emotionally I needed a few days cosied up in bed, sleeping.
The smear result was fine, and I'm glad I don't need to think about more gynae procedures for a while.
I am under the care of mental health services and have been referred to their sexual abuse therapy treatment with a psychologist. Hopefully that will be soon.

Thanks to everyone who posted and gave me support. To anyone in a similar circumstance, all I can share is my own experience- which wasn't as bad as I feared. Communication with the medical team was key.