[jandtmoorehead]

I have had my Mirena IUD in for just over a year and it has caused me everything from weight gain/inability to keep weight off, acne, severe mood swings, memory loss etc.

When I had it inserted by a Doctor who was not my primary OB-GYN because my OB-GYN didn't do insertions, she cut the stings off. Not too short, just plain off. When I went in for an appointment with my regular OB-GYN about a month later, she told me about it. She was a bit perplexed as to why the other OB-GYN cut the strings off completely but said we would deal with the removal when the time came.

This year, I had my PCP do my annual pap because my regular OB-GYN passed away unexpectedly. My PCP also told me that there were no strings and told me that it would most likely have to be removed surgically. Enough for me I thought and scheduled an appointment with a new OB-GYN to have it removed.

I had my appointment today and guess what??? SHE CAN'T FIND THE DARN THING!!! She couldn't even feel it when she did the internal exam. So after 10 minutes of probing she said she wouldn't torture me and scheduled me for an ultrasound to see where it is.

She said if is still in there then we would have to go to a surgical center to have it removed. yippee!!!!!

Having this thing inserted is one of the biggest mistakes I have ever made!

[saddieD]

hello.. i have had the mirena iud since august 2006, and have always had regular periods. usually ranging 5-10 days, not to mention sometimes severe cramping. my exams after getting it in were always normal until september 2008 i had dysplasia and required cryotherepy. so i had that done in october 2008, and sense then i have had 10-12 day periods with spotting after sex and sometimes just spontaniously throughout the day. I had a follow up pap in april and everything was normal except now they could not find the strings to my iud!!! i just had a 10 day period that ended April 29 2009 and now am on another heavy period(bleed through my underwear and pants) this is the second day of it. (may 8 2009) Any thoughts!!!!!!!

[WildChild]

I've wondered over and over, what is the purpose of a chemical laden IUD? I had a plain old fashioned 7 for years with nary a problem and know other women who've had them too without trouble. It seems on here that there is nothing but complaints about these chenically ones. With such a good success rate on the plain ones what is the reasoning for these newer ones? Is it to make your periods shorter? I'm just curious. Personally I hold to the theory that the less I mess with what my body does as it was made to, the better.

[uptowngyrl]

I'm currently going through the same thing as you did in the past with you iud. I went to the doctor to acutally have mine removed at which the doctor advised me she could not locate the strings (after 45mins of her attempting to do so). I have an appointment scheduled for this Friday for a Pelvic Ultrasound. I've been advised by my physician that if the iud had moved its position and is futher up then should be, I will have to have a "Simple Procedure" to have it removed. Meanwhile at the currently suffering from symptoms as if I were pregnant. Although I would welcome a baby at this point in my life its rather diffucult to be happy with so many obstacles. All of this has been an emotional roller coaster and I strongly advise any one thinking about getting an iud (Mirena) to serioulsly think about it. What may work for you today can cause for you tomorrow.

[lauraloo333]

My husband and I decided that since my 30th birthday is around the corner we should start trying to conceive out last baby. We both want another child. So off the doctor I went to have the mirena removed. I had in put in after the birth of my two year old. That was in July of 2007. It has worked wonderfully. I stopped having periods and didn't have to remmeber to take my birth control. Well after much discomfort and alot of fishing around inside of me, the doc says she can't find the strings! "What do you mean you cannot find the freaking strings?" She says we have to schedule you for surgery. "DO WHAT?? SURGERY!" I was told this is a simple outpatient surgery. Well my sister who is a nurse practioner says did they find it on the ultrasound? What ultrasound? They didn't do an ultrasound. Ok how do they jnow it is still in there and where its located? OMG I am freaking out. I definitely want to have another baby. Will this affect my chances for conceiving? Pre-op appointment is Thursaday and I will see to it that an ultrasound is done before they go exploring inside my body to find the darn thing. VERY NERVOUS ABOUT THIS!! Will update after appointment Thursday

[JulyMama06]

I have had the Mirena IUD for 3 years now. I have heard of a lot of people having problems with it. Many online (in forums like this) and many people I have talked to in person. Personally I have never had any problems with it. I had a small problem after it was put in because the strings were new and still stiff, my boyfriend said he could feel them and they were uncomfortable but after continued use they lose their stiffness. I had asked my Doc. to cut them shorter when the bf complained but she didn't want to cut them too short and said they'd get better. I haven't had a period since I had the IUD put in (doc said because it tells my body there's no reason to build up a lining) which is fine, I'm not complaining, lol. There are 2 things I'm concerned about: 1. I have heard a few stories, at least, about women getting pregnant with Mirena in (especially in the last year or two of having it) and 2. when I had it put in it was approved for 5 years, my ob/gyn told me a few months ago that the company is considering extending it to 7 years so I have 4 years left instead of 2...Has anyone else run into this? I am concerned with the stories of pregnancy in the 4th and 5th year and now it might be approved for 7 years...can I have it replaced at 5 anyway? What if they don't let me and I get pregnant? I have birth control for a reason - because at this time I don't want to get pregnant.

[Lecky]

Hi there i have had rollercoaster with this iud business, copper iud was inserted 30 july 2009 ie just 5 weeks ago but it gave me nothing but grief, cramps, pains, spotting , HEAVY periods that made me stay at home bedridden going thru a super tampon in an hour
anyways yesterday amid heavy flow it starting coming out and today it was 1cm out had the nurse remove it and m GLAD its out!!!! l dont think its worth it overall, yes u dnt gain weight but the price u pay is high,dnt recommend it noooo.so for me IUDis a thumbs down

[sunflowerbeing]

i cant believe that seems that a lot of our doctor visits are the same

I am a little suprised but not sure why. I got my iud put in after my third child and the doctor didnt really give me a lot of info either. They didnt talk about it much while i was pregnant or anything. But at my 6 week check up the doctor asked me if i had thought about birth control this time. And I said not really because i have bad side effects and she suggested this miracle birth conrol-or so it sounded. She told me how it was not like the others and same stuff you were all told basically. Then my medical coverage was ending in 2 weeks so she told me that they would not be able to get me back in to get it if I left without it today. So basically if I wanted to do it I had to make the decision in 5 minutes so that she could let the nurse know and they could squeeze me in between other appointments. So I should have just said no and went home, but I called my husband and asked what he thought and we dont want to have anymore children right now or maybe not at all so he said do whatever you gotta do. Not much help so I just made a hasty decision and got it done. The first time my husband and I tried to...well the wire strings were scratching and stabbing. It was kinda horrible so I went back in and had to pay $150 for them to cut the strings shorter. So occasionally my husband could feel the tiny poke of the strings so we just had to deal with it because we can't afford $150 everytime. Within a couple weeks I noticed I was not producing enough breast milk for my baby and I couldn't figure out why. I had no problems breast feeding before. When I finally had to break down and buy formula I started talking to people and realized, duh, it was the iud! The doctor knew I was breast feeding and that is what I have always done and she also knew that birth control can dry up your milk. Well she didn't tell me that, but I am sure she knows, she has to know because my children's pediatrician knew when I talked to her about my milk supply. Basically everyone I talked to knew.
After that, the heavy 20 day periods and mood swings and pretty much feeling like a basketcase half the time in the first few months made me decide to get it taken out. But my medical coverage was gone and when I called the nurse to find out if the things I was experiencing would go away she informed me that all of this was normal and that at around 6 months everything would even out.
So now it has been a few months, I am on month 7 and I am still having pms worse than ever and moodswings, the periods have lightened up but the cramps and pms is enough to make me want it out. Today I am feeling like I may have the symptoms of a bladder infection but of course part of me is concerned that my iud has moved because i think the strings have came off it or it is moved. So I was looking for some symptoms of iud problems to see if I could maybe diagnose myself and I found this so I had to tell my story because if anyone is looking this up prior to getting a mirena iud, I SAY " DON'T DO IT!!" It has been way more trouble than it is worth for us, anyway.

[laurajones]

Mirena

These things are a total hassle. I have epilepsy so I'm not really supposed to take anything but my regular meds. I told my gyn this, I even told him that epilepsy medication makes birth control ineffective. He just went ahead and put it in. Now I'm having abdominal pains and I'm pretty sure the little bugger has crawler up in there somewhere. I got the mirena because having babies with epilepsy is terrifying. I have seizures the whole pregnancy, and there is always this really big chance of the baby having brain damage. The one child we have now is PERFECT. I don't want to chance it again, but nothing else had the statistics like Mirena. Is there any other birth control that really really works? Should I just give up and get a diaphragm? Does anybody have any suggestions?

[joliemay]

Agh! I got my Mirena IUD about ten months ago and it has been amazing. My doctor prepped me for all these horror stories but I guess I'm just lucky. I've never been pregnant or had a child, but have a severe phobia oh pregnancy and childbirth so my gyneicologist told me that this would be my best option for preventing pregnancy. It was awesome because my insurance covered all of it, I just had to pay the fifteen dollar copay for the doctor visit. I had one day of cramping and light spotting for about two weeks. Then I didn't have periods from then on, no cramping or spotting, and I've actually LOST about seventeen pounds since then, but then again that could be coincidence. I never had trouble finding my strings but today I woke up and got my period! AHHH. I checked for my strings and can't find them for the life of me! I called my doctor and she'll see me Friday. I haven't had sex in about eight months so I'm not worried, but my insurance was just bought out by another insurance company and I'm scared they might not cover it any more if I need a new one! Egad. I definitely want to stick with Mirena, I don't want a Paraguard. But oh God, I'll cry if I have to go back on the pill. My doctor refuses to give me the shot or the implant because I have such severe mental health issues. I don't know what to do! I should probably just wait it out and see what happens...