IUD Mirena causing Vaginal Infections

I have had the Mirena for three years and I have been battling with the B.V and the Yeast Infections consistently for the past year and a half. I read this and called my doctor to schedule removal of my Mirena... I am really hoping that My uterus and cervix aren't damaged due to this because I may want more children some day. Thank You so much for sharing your story with us.

I have had the mirena for four years now. I loved it untill the past 6 months, I have been getting bv and yeast infections non stop. One or the other is pretty much always present. It is horrible! It is so embarrassing and frustrating! I have seen a few doctors who all say its not the Mirena but I just know it is. It's so unnatural! After reading tons of posts from ladies having problems from Mirena I realized that the infections arn't the only side effect I'm having, I alo experience hudge lack of energy, bloating, weight gain, depression, irritability, and memory loss. I blamed those symptoms on other things but when I read of other women having the same symptoms, it all made sense! I decided to get this horrible thing taken out of me two months ago and have been put through a long drawn out process of getting an appointment with my family dr who had to send a referral leter to the dr who put it in so i could get an appointment with him to take it out and they couldn't fit me in untill a month later which seems a bit strange and unfair to me! It didn't take long to get an appointment to get the thing put in but when I want something out of my body I'm forced to wait and put up with the horrible smell. There are so many women all having so many problems from this thing yet the company or the doctors won't admitt anything is wrong with it. It is so crazy! It should be taken off the market! Thank you to all who have shared their stories it's a big help!

I got my Mirena back on 4/17/2011. Since I got it in, I have been having bad cramps and spotting (which I was told was normal). Since I was told that it normal for all that to happen, I just brushed it off. Now I am starting to have the discharge and smell. The smell isn't overpowering, it has just a slight smell to it (almost like a pee smell). I am so glad that I came across this site. I am 24, no kids and thought this is the best thing on earth. I was overjoyed when I was able to get it. I thought to myself "yes! no kids for 5 years!". I started thinking that I was not sure what the long-term effects of having this in me (it is a foreign body inside my body). It can't be good for my body to change it like that. Even though it's only been 6 months, I am going to get this taken out ASAP. Thank you ladies for all your input! It is really appreciated.

ok i have had mirena for 5 yeats now and i am just now finding this stuff out after at least 20 bvs the constant oder and getting a bv every time i had sex. i finally mafe my own solution to just not have sex .. for 4 months now. everytime i would go to dr they eould tell me how bvs wrre not totally known n the only fix was the jell or pill and if that didnt wotk theyd order me another batch. constant medication has me to the max-pissed. this is comming out and im going to try a similar bc using copprr imstead of plastic but thx everyone for sharimg im glad im not alone anymore 

I have had my 2nd Mirena for nearly a year...since its insertion my hair has been at its unhealthiest, regardless of what I do to make it healthy ~ falling out, lacking moisture, breaking, refusing to grow...I have had vaginal bacterial infections and countless persistent yeast infections. The 1st Mirena caused a 30+ lb weight gain and depression as well as ovarian and uteran cysts which led to fibroids and surgery, NONE of which have EVER been attributed to the IUD...as so many of us have been told by our OB/GYN...these are NOT related to the device ~ despite what we've ALL experienced.

I think I have finally come to my limit with this Mirena and will most likely have it removed and go back to pills very soon.

I have had the mirena since 3/11/08 it its now 11/10/11 for the first year of having mirena it was great no periods no weight gain. I started out at 115lbs when i gave birth i weighed 200 and i went back down to 135lbs after. i slowly started spotting now its to where i keep panty liners in my purse because its so unpredictable. I have headaches everyday it seems. i can sleep for ten hours and wake up feeling exhausted i toss n turn all night. i have bad cramps all the time. sex is painful when hits cervix i get bloated afterwards and dont feel sexxy or in the mood anymore. my weight has gone back up to 165lbs and i am always bloated i look about 5 months pregnant and nothing helps excerise, diet pills, diets nothing works. for the past 3 years now i get BV every month it seems and when i take the antibiotics which make me sick it goes away for a few weeks then i get a yeast infection... and on and on..... and doctors visits and medication is expensive and i have no health insurance. I have no patience for my son whatsoever and if anyone slightly gets on my bad side i nearly rip there heads off. after reading these post i am positive im not just a crazy person i am having my husband take this out of me tonight... dont need a doctor!!! obviously they are clueless.

I am 22 years old and got my Mirena in march of this year. For the past like 2 months I have noticed a strange odor and a thin white discharge and like all of you have felt the embarrassment and discomfort of dealing with it. I finally found out I had BV because I was in extreme amounts of pain, spotting heavily and was taken to the ER for fear of something being wrong. I also found out that I have a descent size cyst on one of my ovaries which would account for a small bulge on my lower left pelvic area. I have had bad cramps and spotting ever since I got this thing and am going to ask about getting it taken out when I go to my follow up appointment in January. In my experience it was the worst idea I've ever had, I would not recommend this to anyone. Hopefully this will take care of all my pain an discomfort issues most of all no more embarrassing BV!

Wow, Thanks for the information. I have had the Mirena for a year now. I had my first BV in March 2 months after having the Mirena. For the past 2 months I have had BV 4 times. I went to see my OBGYN and it will get removed next week. I have researched about Mirena and BV as a possible side affect but no where on there website to they say this is one of the side affects. I think they need to updat their website.

Ladies! Mirena was the worst medical choice I ever made. I am a college educated professional mom of three.....husband. Had been taking the pill and ring for birth control between children. Then decided to make things "simple", right? With Mirena....wrong. I had many issues immediately. Loss of desire for sex is the worst. Blah feelings. The cramping was constant, bloating continuous, bleeding brown and regular. Pantiliners constant companion. It sucked. ..... I was subtley encouraged to stay with it .....after 1 month then 6 months.....then this condition became the norm. My husband eventually complained to me that he could feel the strings. My ob acted liked that was odd. But not so if you have a well endowed husband i guess. They felt like pokey wires to him:((......how awful. I thought i would get my moneys worth....just keep swimming, just keep swimming...haha...what a mistake. Mirena may be beneficial to some, but it made me a little crazy. This product had a temporary hold on my life. GET IT REMOVED. I just did after nearly 11/2 years, and a diagnosis of BV. I am mostly getting back to normal. EXCEPT for the BV. I never had Bacterial VAginitis in my entire life until it showed up after mirena. I was treated for BV with antibiotics on mirena. I also was advised to take a probiotic lactobicillus pill which helps vaginal flora get back to normal. I highly recommend fem dolphilis regularly........try amazon...... Dont stop taking it like i did, though. My BV came back, although i had the IUD Mirena removed when i was first diagnosed. Immediately. I was soo mad. Disgusted. Pissed. Ill never know how long I had BV it before it was diagnosed....maybe within the first three months. I spotted and cramped continuously so how was I to know this was not the norm? Anyway....I am currently treating my second bout of BV. it came back within 2 months, although I had iud removed. Thanks Mirena. I pray it is my last, but I have read too many posts here which indicate I may not have a happy BV future. Happily, my other awful side effects have mostly gone away. Initially, however, I had awful clotting upon removal of Mirena. It was like I was having a miscarriage, tremendous amount of clotting for a week on, then off, then on again. This was not expected, and my ob was again blind. (No matter what symptom i had, it always seemed to be ok). Ladies, mirena must be pumping a lot of money into womens practices nationwide. I believe this money is overriding the patients; us. I thought perhaps the makers of mirena would want a follow up survey when i had it put in or removed....maybe to follow the product? But NO. I have never been contacted to give feedback. WOW. I guess they dont want to hear from us. How did this product get approved by the FDA....?. I have read many bad posts on many sites for soo long about Mirena. I only wish I had read them prior. I regret my decision to get MIrena. It needs a better screening process or removed from the market completely. I expect to see a class action lawsuit someday. Many women have lots to say about this. And a few blogs aren't giving us enough representation. Mirena messed up my life for one and a half years, maybe longer if this BV is my new BFF. I should have been a lawyer.....for all of us.

Omg, I am so glad I found all you women here who shared their experiences. I have one of my own to add and it's not over just yet, mine is only beginning!! In October 2011 my doctor told me about a birth control that lasts 5whole years and is simply inserted into my cervix and I won't get pregnant. Something sounds so simple like that I should have researched the thing before I said "sign me up!" so the day of my appointment I pick up the mirena and am a bit taken at the size of the box, it's huge! I though "what am I getting myself into? I thought it was the size of a match, thats what my mother described it as". Well I found out it is small, but the tube they use to insert it with isn't :( So this doctor that my regular doctor sent me to see to get the IUD inserted asked if I took this pill..what pill?? I was not informed to take a pill. I have never had a child so I should have this pill that relaxes my cervix, So it's not as painful..well, I could have really used that pill. I won't even describe the cramping. I've never given birth, and I think that's as close to birth pains as I ever wanna get. I was breathing more than the women who give birth! Since the insertion, i had approx 17days of bleeding, some days not half as bad as the others, but still uncomfortable to work, sit, sleep, laugh, or make sudden movements. Being with my partners was also a bit more painful than usual. Then one day I had a strange fishy odor from down there..liquid kinda clear or filmy looking discharge. I work out of town and stay in a work camp so I couldnt really go to a hospital since it's an hour away and I have no vehicle so I had to wait a week before I could see my doctor. I showered everyday hoping no one around me at work would smell it. It was so embarrassing. The smell and dis hedge then went away for a few days. I got fully tested blood and all, turns out I have BV, and gonorrhea!! Yuk So my doc gave me meds for gonorrhea, I was actually in shock and too scared to remember to ask her all my questions I thought of hours later once it sunk in I had an STD..like, how do I treat this BV? She surprisingly basically said this is what you got, this is how it can be caused, and here's the prescription for the infection. So once I got my prescription, it was one pill..I knew it was for the gonorrhea but what about the BV? I figured, my doc knows best and this medication treats both infection..I was wrong. She also sent me for an ultrasound which they found a mass on my right side, i think near my ovary? but they are unclear what it is so I have to go back next month to get another ultrasound. I just got back from work again after my 2week work rotation, which I again had the fishy smell and discharge return and go away days before I came back, a bit of bleeding too but most likely from the STD. Also treating gonorrhea with antibiotics can cause a yeast infection which I have never had one before, So I didn't exactly know what to expect for early symptoms. All I got was an even whiter discharge, more like milky cottage cheese without the lumpiness, smelled like bread to me, and I did have some minor irritation, but not enough to scratch. It looked like some bumps right above the hood and between the top creases. Pinkish sometimes dry and more reddish. So I went to a different doc because mine was booked and I wanted this looked at ASAP. She examined me, took a couple swab tests, and gave me a prescription for the BV, and one pill for the yeast. Now I lay here after taking one pill for the BV and the one for the yeast. I'm not sure if Its just my back acting up from all these weird positions I've been laying in reading all these pages the last few days, but my back is having some sharp pains in the left lower side right above my butt and shoulder blades are sore and now neck is sore, and have a bit of a headache..a few days ago I was having chills and was a bit hot but not extreme fever or anything, it doesn't hurt to urinate, but a few days ago I did have some pains on my left side right under my ribs. I just don't feel right. I'm going to wal mart tomorrow to get a uti test just to be sure. I asked about a possibility of PID but the doc said when she examined me it would have really hurt when she pushed against my pelvic area from the inside and out area. wow this is a long long message. If you made it this far then bravo lol but I have no one to really vent to about this, so it feels good to get it out off my chest. Thanks for reading my memoir

Oh and p.s I have also been very unmotivated to do anything and I sleep so much. I'm having a harder time switching from nightshift to days than usual. I just wanna sleep ALL day, I have to force myself outta bed. My housecoat is all I feel like wearing it seems but I force myself to dress as well. This is horrible!

yes im havin that problem, its ben like 3 months now that wenever i pee my pee has a very strong smell, i called my ob/gyn said that mirena has noting to do with it that i need to drink alot of water, but im a healthy person that i love water i drink it alot ... 

Wow.....Reading these posts have really made me feel a lot better about my decision to remove my IUD. I have had IUD for 2 years now, and I must say that I absolutely loved it until now.  I too have experienced the recurrent odor it seems now days I have one more than I don't.  Before my IUD, i used to get a Bacteria infection every now and again, but since I've had it seems as if it only goes away for a short period of time and then its back.  I also was convinced to keep it in when I went to the doctor to have it removed, but with all that I've tried (supplements, waterworks,vinegar...and more), I'm to the point where its the only thing left to try :(.  I have gotten to the point where I don't want to have sex, I'm afraid of oral sex, and I just don't feel sexy.  I loved the fact of not having to worry about birth control, but I'm over at the cost of my health.  It has gotten to the point where I have an ongoing prescription for yeast infections and metro gel, but that isn't healthy.  I have been told that antibiotics can't distinguish between good bacteria and bad bacteria so it wipes it all out which is a problem. 

I got my mirena put in after the birth of my second child; and for two years there were no issues. However, suddenly I was getting recurring yeast infections and BV. The smell was AWFUL. The only way that I wouldn't have the wretched rotting fish smell was if my husband used a condom each and every time... I finally got my mirena out, and haven't had a single BV incident/yeast since then. I asked my Doctor if the mirena was the cause and he said absolutely not; however, the proof is in the fact that SINCE it was removed I haven't had any issues. I won't ever do mirena again.

I have had BV 8 times in 2 years with my Mirena.