TW: suicide: Mirena coil removal sent me mad, really scared about peri/ menopause

[ThatRubyGoose]

Hi,

TW:suicide

1st ever post, long time reader.

I’m 34, 14 yr old DD. I had her very young, surprise baby when I was on the pill. After she was born I went straight to the mirena coil, had this continuously until July this year when me and DP decided to try for a baby. All these years, no periods or negative side effects at all, bliss.

Coil removed in July, first month fine, period came back right on time etc. Then mirena crash, BIG TIME. This was horrendous, horrible bloating, feeling sick, light headed, couldn’t sleep, terrible anxiety, anger, couldn’t concentrate, gave up my hobbies, lost appetite, mood swings, tearful, couldn’t get out of bed some days. Tried everything to pull myself together, as did DP, he had no idea what to do, nothing worked.

Then one day, I snapped and had crashing suicidal feelings, this low, dark mood lasted about 2 weeks getting increasingly worse until I decided to try and end my life. It was beyond awful, I have never felt so terrible, nothing mattered. Luckily, I was unsuccessful but was taken to hospital.

DP and I had a serious chat and decided we would no longer try for a baby it wasn’t worth how I felt. Had the coil reinserted in October.

I feel 100x better but still have odd days where I feel tearful and very dark.

What on earth happened to me!? Why are we not told about this?! And will I go mad again come the menopause!? I am so worried as is DP as he was so shocked and scared by what I was like.

Sorry that happened to you. Sounds awful!

Thank you, it honestly was

I'm so sorry that this happened to you. What does your GP say? Would there be a way of tapering the hormones off using tablets if you decide to have it removed in future?

So sorry you went through this.
Is this a recognised thing following mirena removal ?

It’s apparently a known phenomenon related to sudden change in hormones….I would suggest talking it through with your GP as there may be treatment available, ideally they should seek psychiatric opinion ( did you have a mental health assessment at the time?)…I had a similar horrific experience when I gave birth, given a PND diagnosis but the mood change kicked in incredibly quickly after both of my births. Also relevant to women experiencing pre menstrual dysphoric disorder. Mirena keeps progesterone at a particular level which is really helpful for some people’s mood ( I have it now for HRT so am now thinking about when they take me off it!!) You don’t happen to have ADHD by any chance, mood disorders related to hormones can be a real issue!

I felt I was just super angry when I had the coil, my poor family felt the brunt, the best part was by far its removal, never regretted it the best thing for that coil was to end up as hospital waste.

Never had a termination why the hell would I wake up having dreamt of it first night of insertion, the day after having it inserted by ga I just wanted to cry all the next day after procedure.

Unfortunately I’d never have dreamt a weight loss injection/GLP1 could mess up your periods but that too is possibly apparent.

To be honest I didn’t speak to the GP about this. I spoke to the nurse when I had my new coil inserted and she didn’t really say very much, just told me how awful that was :(

This is so scary. Dd is getting pressured into having the mirena (by her doctors) and she keeps saying no as she's worried about side effects. They all keep telling her the hormones just stay local, aren't systemic and won't affect her in any way! She's very suspicious that they're wrong.

Apparently it can be, a lot of discussion online about the ‘mirena crash’ and some people say a similar thing, sadly I think I copped the most acute end.

I am so sorry to hear about your PND. It’s awful, I never knew I could feel like this. It is so far from what I usually feel like. I declined mental health support because I was paranoid about losing my job! Which is ridiculous now.
I have never been diagnosed with anything before. I actually think I’m a pretty calm person generally. It’s awful because DP is still really shaken by it all.

I would absolutely advocate for the coil when it is in. I have never had any issues with it in, just removing it made me feel like this. I now have another and almost immediately I felt better. I hope my reaction was very adverse, although reading about it people seem to either love it or hate it.

@ThatRubyGoose I definitely think it’s something that should be put on your record and further info discussed…… I’m not sure that they will give me another coil once I reach a certain age, and once you have reached that certain age where it’s not needed for contraception, they aren’t always very proactive about booking you in for the next one! I had a gap at one point as mine came out unexpectedly and they couldn’t book me in a for a couple of months. Seeing as you’ve never had a mental health crisis before, they need to take a situation that leads to a suicide attempt seriously. I never went that far but certainly considered it and had plans, it just shows how much our hormones can affect us mentally. So glad to hear you feel well again now but it’s definitely the time to discuss it when you are ok and can consider the options available. I also think the coil is fab and would recommend it to anyone considering it, it’s been so helpful for me, but like anything, sometimes unexpected things happen.

The Dr’s are incorrect, the hormones do have a systemic effect, albeit at fairly low levels ( less than the mini pill for eg.), that’s why some progesterone sensitive people ( like me!) get other positive benefits such as improved sleep and improved mood as you have a consistent level of progesterone ….it shouldn’t automatically put her off though but obviously it depends if shes being offered it for contraception or for HRT, there are pros and cons of all the treatments available so it does come down to personal choice ,what works for one person doesn’t always suit another.

I am so sorry you also had those thoughts and feelings. It was harrowing. I have never felt like that before in anyway. I am starting therapy to discuss it all as has really taken it out of me, like I was possessed for a couple of months. I had no idea a contraceptive could have this impact. I was 20 when I first had it put in, so potentially a lot of time to consider more children and no one ever cautioned me or advised me that this may be the side effect of removing it. I plan to keep it in as long as possible and then try HRT when the time is right, although breast cancer runs in my family (my mum has it) and had to stop HRT so it all really worries me

@ThatRubyGoose I’m really glad you are getting support, it can be hard to look back when you have come through it but it’s worth it. It can be good to write down a list of warning signs to look out for , both for yourself and for your close family / friends, once you know what happens on the downward spiral then if you ever have similar again , you / your family can get help at an early stage. good luck xx

Thank you 😘

Happened to my daughter.. she no longer needed it because she came out as gay.. but my gosh she sounds just like you.
She's now got it back in and back to her normal self .
It's hormone related.

I’m pleased to hear she is better now; how long did it take for her to feel 100% like her old self again?