My Story

First let me say thank you for coming to my site. With this blog I'm going tell you my story, and what's going on after getting my Mirena IUD out. This is going to be my online journal. Here's my story.

Let me say I've always had problems with hormonal birth control. I've tried several bc pills and always felt like I was pregnant (even when I didn't know that was what I was feeling) and I've also tried the patch hoping it would be not as bad as the pills but of course it was no better. So my husband and I just used condoms. After having our second daughter my ob-gyn asked me what I was going to do for bc, I figured we would just use condoms like always, at my 6 week appointment he mentioned the Mirena IUD. I was very leery because I had heard all the horror stories about the old IUDs. I asked all kinds of questions and I specifically asked about the low dose of hormones entering my body because I'd had such a problem with both the pill and the patch. My ob-gyn said I should have no problems because it's so localized. I should have known better. I thought about it and checked out the Mirena website for about 3 or 4 months. I finally decided to get the Mirena IUD inserted, lighter periods and no worring about condoms. I wish I would looked up side effects instead of believing the website and my doctor.

So in September 2006, six months after my second daughter was born I had my IUD inserted. I have to say the insertion was not that bad. I did have some cramping and spotting like my doctor told me to expect. One problem I had was the feeling of being poked, I told my doctor about this when I came back for my 2 week check up, he told me I was feeling the strings, he clipped them shorter and I had no problems after that. After I had it inserted I continued to have a period but was much lighter than what I would consider my normal period. The only thing I did notice was that the spotty period seemed to last longer than my normal 5-7 days before, but it was so light and I only had to wear a pantie liner it didn't really bother me. I'm not really sure when I noticed my sex drive going down hill maybe 9 months to a year after I had it inserted. I actually remember saying to my husband I'm sure this is being caused by my IUD. We decided to just let it go for then. I'm not really sure when the other side effects started but I would say about 1 1/2 years after I had it inserted. Even up to 1 year after having the IUD inserted I was able to loose 20 lbs of my baby weight I was only 5 lbs away from pre baby weight. I was so excited. Like I said about 6 months later is when I started to gain weight, I thought it was from having 3 birthdays in 3 weeks and just eating too much cake & ice cream. So I started watching what I was eating and trying to exercise more. I even joined a gym and was working out 3 days per week eating better and nothing. Staying the same or gaining some weight. I've now gained 10 lbs. Along with the weight gain I've continued to have major lower back problems. I did have those before I got the IUD (I did have a 9 lb 3.5oz baby naturally) but my back problems were not getting better. I also started having these terrible mood swings right before my period. I was fighting with my husband all the time, I had no patients for my kids, I was crying over nothing, I felt like my life just sucked (it did not), fatigue and on top of that I had this crazy acne on my face, neck, back arms.

In September 2007 I started seeing a Naturopathic physician for IBS (which I had before my IUD). We started working on the IBS and the fatigue. The IBS has gotten better, I can't even remember the last time I had a problem. We've been working on the fatigue for over a year and I would feel better but I was taking a lot of natural supplements and my Naturopathic physician (NP) thought I should be stepping down what I was taking by now. She did not know what was going on with me. So about a month ago my NP and I were talking about why I was not loosing any weight. She asked me if I thought my IUD was causing me to gain/not loose any weight. I was like I'm sure it's not I lost weight last year and I had the IUD in. So after talking to a friend that also has the Mirena she said she has gained weight w/ her IUD. I starting thinking maybe my NP was right. So I looked up Mirena side effects on the web and I couldn't believe what I found. All these women's stories were so similar to my own but a lot were worse. I actually felt lucky that my mood swings and crying was only once a month and that I had only gained 10lbs. After reading tons of women's stories I talked to my husband and decided I should have my IUD taken out.

I had my IUD removed on February 26, 2009 and I'm so happy I feel so much better knowing it is no longer in my body. I have to say the Nurse Practitioner at my ob-gyn's office was great. I told her all my symptoms and she actually said I was the 3 or 4 patient she had that has come in and said the same thing but I was the only one to connect it to my IUD. She was happy to remove it for me and asked that I let her know how I'm feeling in 6 months.

A few days after I had my IUD removed I had an apt w/ my NP, she was very glad I had the IUD removed. She told me it would take at least 3 months for my hormones get back to normal. She has given me some natural supplements to continue to help w/ the fatigue and to help support my liver.

So far I don't feel much different. On day four I had one day of period like bleeding, nothing on day five and then another period like bleeding on day 6. Yesterday, day 12 I had brownish discharge (like what you would get at the end of your period) that changed into period like bleeding today. So I'll see if this is the beginning of my period or just another one day period. It is almost time for my period to start. I did notice over the last week or so I've been moody, crying and my face has exploded. I will say that the moodiness and crying doesn't seem as bad as other months.

Please feel free to comment on this blog or share your own story.

~Lori