Has anyone felt better after having their Mirena coil removed?

[CeciliaMars]

Has anyone considered having their Mirena coil removed due to moodiness and mood swings? I've had mine in for 3 years now to give me progesterone - I also use the estrogen patches. I love that it has stopped my periods. However I am extremely tired and grumpy a lot of the time. I hate my husband! I'm finding it so hard to separate what is going on in my life from my emotions. But I am super grumpy, snappy, irritable, not really enjoying life, and I'm starting to wonder if the Mirena coil is having a negative effect. Has anyone come off it and actually felt better?

Unfortunately not.

I feel better mentally since I removed it but it turns out it was suppressing the agony of new fibroids and suspected widespread endometriosis. So now I’m in screaming agony a week every month, needing surgery for both fibroid and endo and needing a new one refitted to supprsss both.

i really really regret removing it over spotting and being a bit grumpy. My life is currently unmanageable and some days I can’t look after my children safely as I need opiods

The mirena was an unmitigated disaster for me, physically and mentally. I hated it and would never touch another with a ten foot barge pole.

It was put in to solve heavy flooding periods but I bled increasingly heavily every single day with it right from the day it was inserted until I absolutely insisted on its removal 13 months later. I'd have had it removed sooner except that Covid and lockdowns meant I couldn't get appointments.

It was also meant to shrink fibroids but it didn't and they actually grew. It also caused horrendous and constant PMS. I know we are told that the progestin remains local only to the uterus, but I no longer believe that bollocks because of the effects I had. How can it not spread, unless my uterus is on a separate blood supply to the rest of me?

Awful thing. I was so glad to get rid of it. It blighted that entire 13 months of my life and doctors were generally very reluctant to remove it initially, saying I should give it more time. I didn't want to. The NHS needs to stop touting it as the panacea to absolutely everything.

Once it was removed things quickly improved for me, and after the removal of the troublesome fibroid periods stopped and I finally went into menopause.

@Topseyt123Did you have any pain and did the fibroid removal improve or end it? How old were you when you had it out? I’m absolutely desperate to go into menopause now but I’m only 44 so I imagine it could be up to a decade. I can’t go a whole decade in this state - Mirena doesn’t really suit me well but the alternative is being unable to work due to the very severe pain I’m in when the endo flares up

Why don't you have another one inserted?

I tried two within six months in my 30s and GP was very happy putting in and taking out.

@LUNELLE1111 havent you add in some oestrogen to balance it out?

I hated mine so much that I pulled it out myself 🙈

It really affected my moods and I wasn’t myself for the year & half that I had it.

I had a positive experience and it shrank my fibroid. I’m mid 50s and GP insisted I had it removed (out of date.) However have had some heavy periods since. Had a biopsy, all good. Just waiting it out now.

I realised with the Mirena I was intolerant to progesterone.

within 2 weeks of removal I was back to “myself”.

progesterone gives me very severe mood swings

it took a long time for gp to believe me to the extent they altered my hrt to be progesterone free and I had to see a specialist which I waited over a year for. Specialist prescribed tibolon and I’ve been on that for a month now. It seems to be working well & no mood swings etc. 🤞

I got my sex drive back after it was removed. I liked not having the mess and fuss of periods but it flattened the good parts of the monthly cycle as well as the bad. I am happier hormone-free (not ready for HRT yet but I'm going to be cautious when the time comes)

@WhatNextImScared no pain at any time but the bleeding was heavy and constant, as was my PMS and generally not being myself.

I was 55 when the god awful mirena was removed. A couple of other things were tried such as zoladex injections to try and put me into menopause but with limited success as periods always restarted with a vengeance a few months later.

I was 56 when the fibroid was removed under general anaesthetic (so no pain there). It did help. Things began to ease, periods became less heavy and the one that I now know was my last one came just before my 57th birthday.

I'm 60 now so my perimenopause dragged on for a long time.

I reacted very badly to the combined pill and also the mini pill and was quite happy with a copper coil for contraception, for many years. When that needed to be renewed, I was put under intense pressure by the hospital to have a Mirena. I refused it on the grounds that I believed I had a problem with synthetic progesterone and was told that I didn't need to worry because the hormones in the Mirena were not systemic and would stay within the womb. I still refused it and I'm very glad I did reading some of the posts on here, but if the hormones in the coil stay within the womb, how can it be used as part of systemic HRT?

Lurking

Initially no, I had the Mirena inserted to help with the horrific monthly luteal phases I was experiencing. Three months post insertion, I was at the end of my tether and went back to the GP. We had discussed HRT previously but I was 40 and didn't really know if I wanted to go down that road. I started Oestrogel in December 2025 and it did make a difference, but I still never felt 100% right on the Mirena. I ran out of Oestrogel in June and was planning to have the Mirena removed, but between being a mum to a toddler, work and business trips, my husband breaking a bone and being off his feet, and looking after two elderly parents I have put it off as I was nervous of the "crash". It's a case of I can't go down, because then who looks after everyone else! 😑

Get some patches and then it won't matter if you forget!

The oestrogen totally balances it out. If it didn't on the gel it's likely you needed more oestrogen.

I am delighted to hear you are well and mood swing free, long may it continue!

I definitely think I am intolerant to progesterone too. I feel like a different person on it. And every day feels like the way I used to feel a day or two before I get my period. Bloated, in bad mood, snapping at everyone and cannot stop eating!!

I didn't tolerate it well, I felt really flat and empty emotionally. Luckily it slipped down so had to be removed and I didnt want another one put in.

On the other hand my sister loved hers, had 3 in a row.

The mirena and pill were absolutely awful for my moods, I really could have done criminal damage when I was on them. I didn't recognise how much impact they had on my moods until I had them removed when ttc.

I've been using the copper coil since I went back on contraception and periods last a bit longer, but I feel like a normal person so it's worth the inconvenience. I'm so old that they told me I can just keep it in until menopause (which shows no sign of coming, despite being late 40s).

I had a fibroid too at one point - fortunately it caused no pain, just lots of bleeding. Had it removed with a myomectomy and haven't had any issues since.

I am going to at the same time as my fibroid removal. They won’t put one in til it’s out. It will be done while I’m on the table.

I have to meet nurse on Friday as my 4th one is due to be taken out.
If I decide not to have another fitted what are my best options, doctor told me today I can't use my menopause spray until I have ur removed and decide what I'm doing next.
Dh and I are in separate beds so don't need it for contraception

How did you persuade them to give you HRT without progesterone?

@TheRealSmurfette I was prescribed tibolone - good summary from AI below.
I was prescribed this by the NHS HRT specialist - I waited over a year for the phone call consultation. I don't know why my GP couldn't just prescribe this medication years ago as it seems to be uncontroversial and a good option for those who are progesterone intolerant. Surprisingly its a synthetic hormone - so much focus is on "bioidentical progesterone" which sounds good, but that is what was really bad for me resulting in out of the blue intense mental health episodes.

I've only been taking tibolone for about a month but I've not had any mood swings & I'm starting to feel excellent on it. No hot flushes or disturbed sleep for two weeks now which is a mighty relief and huge quality of life improvement. Still early days but I'm optimistic. Tibolone isnt hormones but precursers that stimulate my body like hormones would.

I've had a couple of pimples since starting it (I'm 59) but that's OK .

AI Overview

Tibolone (often sold under the brand name Livial) is a synthetic hormone replacement therapy (HRT) used by postmenopausal women. 1, 2]

What Tibolone Does
Replaces hormones: Your body breaks down tibolone into metabolites that act like oestrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. 1, 2]
Relieves symptoms: It reduces hot flushes, night sweats, low mood, and vaginal dryness. 1, 2, 3]
Protects bones: It helps prevent postmenopausal osteoporosis (thinning bones). 1, 2]
Womb protection: Because of its progestogenic activity in the uterus, women taking tibolone generally do not need to take a separate progestogen. 1, 2]

Dosage and Usage
Standard dose: One 2.5 mg tablet taken orally once a day. 1, 2]
Timing: Usually started at least 12 months after a woman's last natural period (or immediately after surgical menopause). 1, 2]

I had mine removed after 6 weeks. I felt murderous impulses towards my then husband which were scaring me.

I have a progesterone intolerance. Didn’t know at the time.

There's no progesterone in the coil, it's a synthetic progestogen, they have the opposite side effect of each other, apart from keeping the uterus lining thin they are very different, progesterone reduces anxiety and balances mood, synthetic increases anxiety and lowers mood, for example.

I had a Kyleena coil fitted during my c-section 2 years ago and have just had it removed to ttc.

I’d had weird abdominal discomfort, kind of like a tugging feeling if I stretched too far or when I rolled over in bed which I attributed to the c-section and just thought I’d healed funny, but it’s completely gone now it’s out. The coil was bent when it got pulled out as well, more like a J shape than a T so somethings definitely wasn’t right.

Having it in PP masked the negative side effects for me I think as I wasn’t starting from my usual baseline. I hadn’t realised how flat my mood had been, alongside the physical effects.

it also affects some women VERY badly causing depression etc.