experiences with mirena

I had my mirena put in Aug of 2006... I had my son in April of 2006. I had all my baby weight off and was doing great. Then in Oct of 2006 I started gaining weight; my mother kept telling me to stop overeating and I was still going to the gym 6 days a week. I figured my body was going out of whack and I was gaining because of my age. I was only 28, but figured that I was just getting older. By Jan of 2007 I had gained a total of 35 lbs! I was killing myself with diets and exercising. I started to see a Personal trainer 4 days a week and still working out 6 days.... I started gaining a pound a week. I started seeing dietician to write up a food plan for me to get my weight down. I did lose 10 lbs but then it stopped after one month. Then I started gaining one pound a week after the initial 10 lbs... after 6 months the dietcian told me maybe your body wants to be heavy. I finally gave up and quit exercising; and stopped watching everything I ate.... I havent gained a pound nor have I lost a pound. Makes no sense. I have held at 165 for some time now, when I put mirena in I weighed 130.

Little things that I did not bother me before I over analyze and have anxiety about. I did have the headache problems; those have subsided in the last year and I have had the bleeding the whole time. I have thinned the lining of my uterus so bad my doctor asked to remove the IUD; I argued with him because I do not want another baby right now. Maybe down the road, but not now. The other night I was talking to my friend and she mentioned she gained a ton of weight when she got the mirena put in; I told her you cant gain weight with the mirena... she corrected me and now I know why I gained. I thought the reason so many women used mirena was to avoid the weight gain, but I am mistaken. Now I know where all the issues have stemmed from and assumed it was just me. My mother has been yelling at me telling that is why my husband cheats on me is because I have gained so much weight... She is convinced I am eating all the time and doing nothing about it. I just can't do anything about it; the weight won't come off! I now want to get my Mirena removed to see if the side effects go away! Hopefully yes and I can get on with my life.
Thanks for sharing your stories.. it has helped with my decision!

I had my Mirena inserted about one month after my son was born. I've had it about a year now. The insertion wasn't painful just a little uncomfortable. I've had a child without any meds for god's sake, nothing comes close to that pain!! I did have REALLY bad cramping after it was inserted. my doc gave me vicodin for that day. I stayed in bed but after that day I was fine. For the first couple of months while it was placing itself, I had some poking and bloating. My periods have gotten SO much better. No cramps at all, very light bleeding lasting only about two days. Of course I still get PMS. I think that's inevitable. I love the security of Mirena. My husband and I don't have to use anyother form of birth control, which he loves!! If you have awesome insurance, you don;t have to pay much for your Mirena either. I only had to pay $75 of the $750 for the device and insertion. My husband and i had discussed wanting to wait a while between children and this seemed like the most effetive and fool proof way. We wanted the security of knowing that one day I wasn't coming to him saying " Guess what, I'm pregnant again". I recently have been wanting to become an egg donor and found that you cannot keep your Mirena in. I think I will be willing to have it removed for this but after donations will have another one inserted. I love it and think anyone wanting to make sure they do not have any slip ups gets this.

I've had 2 mirena's i received my first one in 03. Me and my usband decided to have another baby so i got that one removed and after the baby was born i got another one put in. I never put my bad feelings and symptoms together until a few months ago. I never relized how much this little piece of plastic was affecting my life....and how long i have allowed it to! I was doing research on the mirena and was reading some of the other ladies posts and found out that I'm not alone!
I would like to share with you some of my side effects. Note ---I am 23 years old and a healthy person! Soon after i had my first IUD removed i did get pregnant and where i had gained so much weight while i had the IUD i lost weight my WHOLE pregnancy!!! I have also since having the 2nd I have gained a ton of weight, had extream hair loss, Battled with severe panic attacks. anxiety, I have felt so "weird" at times i have convinced myself of having every life threating diesize out there! I have chest pains, rapid heart beats, headaches, dizzyness, mood swings. numb ness, These are the main ones - I have sechedled to have this one taken out, even though my GYN has assured that the IUD is not causing any of my problems %-) I think me and my husband have decided that he will get a visemecty. Just waiting to save the money!

I had the Mirena inserted in September 2008. I have always struggeled with my weight but since the Mirena I have exploaded another 25-30 lbs! I have done everything to lose the weight, I now run almost 4 miles a day, plus do weight training and even sit in the sauna for 20 minutes at a time just to sweat and I can't lose the weight, the last time i worked out like this I lost 50 lbs in a matter for 4 months, now i manage to just keep even after I ballooned to 205 lbs! I feel depressed and bloated, mainly depressed because i am so fat and bloated and feel so ugly. I have NO sex drive and have crazy mood swings.

The funny thing is before getting the Mirena I asked the Dr if there were any side effects, specifically weight gaind due to my troubles in the past and they said no. No I want to get it removed but they refuse to do so until they do other testing to rule out other possibilites such as my thyroid ect. I just want it out, after hearing everybody elses experiences i am certain my weight gain is from the Mirena, it started right after.

Im sooooo frusterated =(

I agree with most. I decided to google if Mirena causes weight gain and found out a whole lot more on this thread. I had Mirena inserted about 6 months ago..yes it hurt really bad being inserted, I have gained about 15 lbs.. I am constantly moody/irritable...discharges out of nowhere...chest pains/anxiety, major bloating! I just didn't realize this until reading this post. My GYN told me it does not cause major side effects nor weight gain as its not a hormone based IUD like the copper type IUD I used 6 years ago which also caused weight gain. THESE IUD'S ARE TERRIBLE AND I WILL NEVER USE IT AGAIN..I MADE AN APPT TODAY TO HAVE IT REMOVED NEXT WEEK!

I had heard nothing but rave reviews about mirena and so i had it inserted in Aug. 08. And I had it removed 3 weeks ago. I bled more than i didn't bleed and it was erratic, so i always had to be prepared. I think that it caused cysts on my ovaries that actually burst as I was running a week after removal. It felt like water breaking in about 8 little bursts. My mood has been very out of whack and i am very pissed off that i have gained 25 pounds for no apparent reason. Now i am suffering weird hormonal upheaval as the hormone is working its way out of my system. I have read other sites and posts where it has taken some women 2-3 months to a year to feel normal again. What a mistake mirena was for me. Regardless of the 'everyones body reacting differently' c**p, i would never recommend mirena to anyone.

I had the Mirena inserted early Nov '08. Since then, I have gained about 18 pounds (and counting) and have acne. (I'm a skin care therapist in a spa, and it looks like I don't know what I'm talking about with skin!) My sex drive is about 10% of what it normally is, also.
My biggest concern is my weight, though. I went to the doc yesterday to ask him to remove it, and he begged me to just give it until June. Why are they so adamant about not taking it out?
I was curious about how long it took those who had it removed to resume their pre-Mirena weight. I look so puffy and swollen, I almost took a pregnancy test the other day, even though I've also been using condoms!
My purpose to go on Mirena was to control my abnormally heavy and long periods, and this was my last option to try. I'm open to other suggetions, though. I was really hoping Mirena was going to be my answer... Should I (a)have control over my periods and get fatter and have acne, or (b) go back to having debilitating periods with a healthy body weight and good skin? I just don't know what to do... Sigh...

after my husband and i moved to germany in 08, i knew i didnt want to have a kiddo over here (they dont believe in Pain meds...i want drugs ok!) so i got the mirena and it was extremely painful when i got it in ..i had a heavy blood flow for a week then it stop and i didnt have a period for 6 months, then when i did have one the discharge was black and it freaked me out. i also had extreme weight gain, my body started retaining water and my hands and feet swole up like i was pregant again. i also lost hair and my breast hurt all the time. i also had no sex drive with this and a discharge like i was aroused but was not, i would have to wear a pad just so i would not ruin my undies. i had it taken out and within one day i was fealing a ton better, had lost about 5 lbs of water weight. i would say if it works for you then im totally excited fo you...but remember you can get pregnant on mirena, my friend did and she had it in for a year and found out she was pregnant and had to have surgery to remove it or it would puncture the embros sack and the fluid would leak out. i was told by the dr after i had it taken out was that the Mirena only releases hormones to your female organs and that you can also take birth control pills while on mirena. hope this is helpfull to some!!

I just got my Mirena IUD in on last Monday the 20th of April and I havn't had too many issues yet. BUt i have noticed my sex drive is low, but you gals have me worried on this wieght gain???
My friend put on at least 30 lbs since she was on it and I thought it was her not eating properly???

I am trying to lose wieght not gain it!

I am starting to wonder about it getting it out now????

I cant' get anything else The pill and stuff containing estrogen wants to shut down my galbladder. Nuts huh Very true though!
Anything that contains estrogen can SCREW YOU UP! Maybe some of you gals are sensitive to the progesteren??? Thats what MIRENA is. We will see how this works and I will update you!
Stay away from the pills its actually worse than the Mirena.....

I had the mirena in for about 10 months and definitely saw some major benefits -- no more periods and of course no birth control worries! BUT after these 10 months, I have gained about 10 pounds (after losing all of my post baby weight that is a major downer) and was unable to lose anything more than a pound even though i have been sensibly dieting and exercisin for over 8 weeks. I also had mild cramping randomly through the day.

Sooooo, I got it removed today and was sad that I will now have my period again and will have to figure out birth control BUT and super excited to see if I lose the weight, esp around my tummy and butt!

I will definitely post in a few weeks to let you know how it's going. BTW, the removal was easier than a pap smear.

Also....here's a site I found that lists cramps and weight gain as possible side effects (occured in over 5% of test subjects).:

http://www.drugs.com/sfx/mirena-side-effects.html

I think for 90% of the women out there, this thing is great so I'm not going to totally knock it. It just didnt' work for me like all other hormonal birth control.

Good Luck with your decisions!

Ive had the mirena for a little over 2 months now. So far Ive gained 15 pounds, experienced severe cramping (as in contraction like Im having a baby, time to push, here comes the head cramping), bloating, 2 bacteria infections, and I am constantly exhausted. Never had a vaginal bacteria infection until the IUD insertion, never experienced bloating, and have always maintained a certain weight. Most women in my family have the mirena and swear by it. They've called me a hypochondriac drama queen when I complained about my symptoms. I wish I were making this up. I guess when its good, its good; but when its bad, its a total nightmare. The mirena is definetly a nightmare in my case. The insertion was painful enough and I am afraid of the potential pain in having it removed, but Ive concluded that whatever pain involved is well worth it!

My usual high sex drive hasnt changed, its still there, but there is a constant vaginal discharge which makes me unmotivated to engage in any sexual activity. Im excited too have it removed tomorrow.

I had the mirena inserted March 2008. I love that I get short cramp-free periods every 3 months, but I don't like the weight gain especially around my belly and hips. I look like I am six months pregnant. I have gained close to 20 lbs and for someone that is just 5 feet tall that is a lot. I am always tired and sleep a lot.
I have been trying to lose the weight for past 5 months. I have been using my elliptical machine 30 minutes a day, 6 days and watching what I eat, but no success. I even gained more weight. It does not make sense. I am concerned about gainning too much weight because diabetes and high blood pressure runs in my family.

A couple of months before I got the mirena I started excercising and lost 6 lbs in less than 2 weeks. I thought I was on my way to a leaner body, then I got the mirena. Now I am working twice as hard and even gained more weight. I am convinced that this because of the mirena. My husband also said that he has felt the string a couple of times and it hurted. I regret getting the mirena.

I am making an appointment today to get it removed.

I had the mirena since jan 2009. I had weight gain like crazy I weigh more now then I did when I was pregnant with my second child. Im looking at different bc now because I going to have it remove

i've had mirena since november of 2007 and i've still been having periods since i've gotten it. I have gained alot of weight and i've always been a very skinny person now i weigh a ton. I've had hair loss, bad mood swings, horrible migraines, and no sex drive. I hate mirena i'm thinking about getting it taken out. But im not ready for anymore children and the only reason y i have mirena is becuz my gyno said dat it would be the best thing for me to get. If this were you wat would u do? %-)

I agree, I love mine!! Have had it for a little over 2 years now, ( got it in May, after the birth of my 2nd son) and don't know what I would have done without it. I have a period every 10th of the month and you can count on that, and it lasts 2 days. Small amount of cramping, but nothing bad, I have had no weight gain, no mood swings, no side effects... I love it. I wish that it was that way for everyone. Good luck!