I got the Mirena IUD on November 16th (so about a month ago.) Insertion went fine and a few days later my period had started.
The period was a little more annoying, but that's what they had warned me of so I ignored it.

However, I haven't stopped bleeding. They said that I'd be spotting, but it's a little more than spotting, but not quite heavy... more like the end part of a period, so a light bleeding that's constant.

I've checked the strings and they are where they are supposed to be.

Is this considered normal or should I contact the dr I've been told by a friend who had something similiar that what I'm experiencing is normal and it should straighten out, but I need more input I guess.

I would wait a little while, I have heard from almost everyone I've talked to that there is intermittent spotting or longer periods after an insertion and I had on and off bleeding from the time of insertion to about a month later.

Give it time!

I have been on mirena for 2 years now and i have been having mood swings, nausea, cravings, weight gain, hair loss, and irregular periods. i just wanted to know is anyone else having these same symptoms and have u gotten pregnant with the mirena iud in place?

I had an awful experience on the Mirena. I had it in from August of 2008-January of 2009. The problems didn't start until September.

I had terrible cramps that lasted for hours at a time.
It hurt having intercourse.
I had really bad acne all over my face, back and shoulders.
Very moody and sad.
My hair was falling out in clumps.
I lost my sense of smell and my vision changed more in those few months then it had in 3 years.
My skin was very itchy.
I gained about 15 pounds.
I retained a lot of water.

AS soon as I pulled it out (myself) in the middle of the night. Within about 2 weeks all of the symptoms went away, Except for the damage on my vision and my sense of smell comes and goes. I called Bayer and reported my case. I hope it works out for you, but if you feel like something isn't right - don't wait, take it out!

OMG you pulled it out yourself????

With my husbands help of course. But yes we did it ourselves. It was like pulling out a tampon(once we found the wires)

I think IUDs are one of the worst ideas for a woman's physiology ever invented. Glad you aborted yours before it aborted you to death.

I agree Olderman! Thank you! I am so glad it's out! That thing was a nightmare. I felt bad for my hubs because he could feel the wires. Defiantly on the top ten mistakes list.

Yep, I had a girlfriend in college that had one of those. I couldn't figure out what the hell was poking me up in there! She finally said, oh, yeah I have an IUD, um, maybe the wire is hanging down.

Another girlfriend had one of those sponges in the early 80's. I had to spend about an hour once getting it out of her when it got stuck up inside.

Really only one thing meant to go up a woman's vagina.

@(PLUMBERRY) you said u reported ur case to bayer, so wat did they say

Msdesjones - I called the company (Bayer) along with the FDA. They wrote down all of my symptoms, I also faxed both companies documentation from my midwife and my eye doctor. They basically took down the info and I became a number with a list of symptoms and complaints.

@PLUMBERRY- So nuthin could be done about it? Its sad how the doctors try to giv u false information saying that mirena is good and that there wasnt any major side effects. I've been on different websites where other ppl where having discussion saying that they had gotten pregnant while on mirena and the baby was growin in their fallopian tubes and how dangerous it was. I think doctors really need to stop lyin when ppl ask em if its a good choice or not because i feel that them lyin to patients is a very big gamble on other ppl lives.

To be fair, OM--for those of us who are unable to use other methods, getting an IUD was the difference between never having sex again and...well...getting to enjoy our partners.

Just like my (nightmarish) experience with hormonal birth control, there will be women who have bad experiences with IUDs, both copper and hormonal. This forum is a safe place for all of us to discuss our experiences and learn about alternatives to what didn't work for us.

I know tons of women who do just fine on the hormones in birth control. There are plenty of positive stories on this board about the Mirena and the copper IUD--there are also plenty of negatives.

I disagree with blanket statements such as the one you made.

Just as an aside, as well, since there are a lot of myths about IUDS--it's a string, not a wire (a stiff string, but one that softens with time). They've also been found to be very safe and effective as compared to other methods. The incidences of PID reported in the 70s were largely corrolated to unprotected sex with multiple partners, resulting in STIs travelling up those strings (could have been wires back in the day) and infecting a woman's uterus.

If you're in a monogamous relationship or are careful about using protection against STIs there is no reason an IUD wouldn't be an option. That being said, if you are having a bad reaction to your IUD, or what you think might be a bad reaction, you need to be taken seriously.

I think it's fair to point out that the chance of becoming pregnant while on the IUD is about the same as when on the Pill--about 2-3 percent when it's used properly. Although an ectopic pregnancy (one that occurs in the fallopian tube) is slightly more likely with an IUD, it is a small chance and one that becomes even smaller when you compare it to the number of women who were likely to have an ectopic pregnancy naturally to begin with.

Many women have ectopic pregnancies and present themselves to the emergency room all over the world--a very small percentage of those are due to an IUD. So it's true that there is an increased risk, but compared to the risk that already exists it is almost negligible. The problem is, most women don't know what their risk of having an ectopic pregnancy or getting pregnant on their current method of birth control actually IS, and attribute that risk or the actuality of getting pregnant on their method of birth control, which might not be accurate!

I'm not trying to demean anyone's experience but I think it's important to be giving true information to other women looking for help choosing a method of birth control.

well all i have to say is according to my experience and a whole lot of other people experiences mirena is not a good birth control method. I personally wouldn't tell anyone to get it. It's terrible regardless as to wat anyone says. I Know so many ppl using mirena and they all say the same thing, i've even been on diff discussion forums and read a bunch of reviews and ppl keep saying the same thing so no (raunchy row) my statement wasnt a blanket statement its just the truth!!!

Again--true for YOU, and for other women, for sure. But just as many women have no problems with hormonal BCP (which turned ME into a complete raving lunatic, as they did with other women on this board), many women have no problems with Mirena. They don't post here because they don't have any reason to, just as I don't start threads about how happy I am with my CopperT--people generally post when they have a negative experience, but not when they have a positive one. So it's important to remember that for every bad reported experience, there are several women who are using the same method without any problems at all. That's all I'm pointing out!

................

well said Row!

well raunchy row and juicy-juls take a look at www.womenshairlossproject.com

Look Row has been very diplomatic with you in her attempts to get the point accross that just because it effects one or a million a certain way there are another one or one million it doesn't.

We get yours and others are bad, but damn, seriously I hope you realize the above..

i get the point juicy-juls. Mayb people like u dnt need to b apart of a discussion forum like this if u feel like ur being attacked!

I'm not sure I understand--what's on that website that has to do with Mirena?
msdesjones, you are utterly welcome to post your own experiences with Mirena, and I believe that it wreaked havoc with your health--birth control with hormones did the same to me. The reason I have a copper IUD instead of the Mirena is because the hormones made me nervous, even in small amounts. But I also realize that there are many many other women out there who have had a great experience, and I encourage everyone to try a method that works FOR THEM.

OMG are you serious...

Let's not forget that Aphrodite Women's Health is a site for discussing personal experiences. Some people in this discussion (self included) have never had a Mirena. Those who do, or used to, are best qualified to participate.

Sure, someone who has, or used to have, a copper IUD, or has used hormonal birth control, may have some similar experiences to Mirena users, and may be able to relate based on that. But Mirena is different from both of those methods. The most weight should be given to the experiences of those who've used it.

And writing whole posts in netspeak abbreviations is not appropriate for this forum. Not everyone here can read netspeak. Please use correct English, to the best of your ability. You don't have to have perfect spelling and grammar, but it does need to be readable.

Let's take a step back here and relax everyone. Let's keep this thread going in the right direction and refrain from rudeness please.

I am having my mirena taken out this week. Hooray!! But I have had it for the full 4-5 years and it did its job. I have never had any major problems such as bleeding, hair loss, etc. But I do think it is responsible for my swings in sex drive and dark skin on my upper lip and hopefully my inability to lose weight. Seriously, my kids are like mommy it’s time for you to wax, you look like a man but it’s not hair. I also used to have great skin too, but that may just be age. I have fantasies about my big ass just melting down (not off but down) after I take it out,but I digress. My hubby had a vasectomy so I can get rid of the hormones but I am not looking forward to having real periods again. I don’t know if Mirena is really evil but it probably isn’t good for you.

I got the IUD about three months ago. I am eighteen and have never had a child. I had cramping for probably the first month. Now three months in I have very large, very hard lumps in my breasts? I dont really know what that is caused from.. but I'd like a reply to from someone who may know whats going on!

Hello all. I had mirena put in right after my daughter was born 3 years ago. i chose this one because i am planning on another baby soon so it seemed a better choice then the copper on which is 10 years. At first, i had a lot of bleeding (not just spotting) it was really frustrating. the dr said it was normal to have spotting for some time but this was like having a 3 month period! so, things seemed to level out a little bit after that 3 month period except, i had no sex drive at all, was moody just like when i was on hormonal bc and, i was crampy and had tummy trouble (which is not that umcommon for me i have always either been constipated or have diareah). but, i was still willing to deal with it cuz it was keeping me from getting pregnant and i didnt have to take a pill everyday. well, after about a year on mirena, at my daughter first bday party i got very ill and threw up 2 times. I just passed it off as nothing but then 3 months later it happened again. i started thinking about it and both times, the next day after being ill i started m period. well, this continued to happen every 3 months like clock work and i was getting really frustrated because the dr just kept telling me thats not one of the side affects so i might be picking up a bug somewhere... well, its been about 8 months now and it seems like mirena has finally leveled out a little. im not throwing up anymore but still have all the other bc problems. so, i am hoping to have it pulled sometime this year and hope to get pregnant and i can tell you all this, i will not have mirena put back in.
I did read somewhere about a year ago when i was trying to find a connection to mirena and my throwing up that, the makers of mirena were giving the dr's a different copy about mirena then the one we are getting and that all of these crazy side affects are on the drs copy and not ours! i will not go into all the side affects but, most of the ones that you all have complained about were on there.
well i hope m story helps some one that is thinking about mirena i would say try something different.

I had the Mirena for about 2 years, and i loved it. i did have the spotting and bleeding within the first month, an DH did say he could feel the strings, but both problems were easily resolved. The bleeding stopped after about a month, and i went to my doctors and actually got the strings trimmed. It help so much! I had never had any children previous to using and will be getting it replaced in a few months. I can't really use any other forms of bc, so it was a great choice for me!

Im looking at getting Mirena because I've heard mixed reviews but nothing that makes it seem like a bad choice. I do expect the first month or so for it to be a trial and error type period lol but honest after reading this forum im scaaaared. I think I might just suggest he gets a vasectomy lol j/k. Oh dear all of the worries of women.

dude mirena is great. i had mine for 4 years, got it taken out in february bc i wasn't losing weight despite exercising and eating well and i suspected it was due to the mirena since some hormonal birth controls make you gain weight. well 3 months later i only lost 3 pounds, so after much internal debate (tubes tied/essure/adiana/centchroman?), I decided to get a new one; just got it a week ago. hopefully i don't gain weight. here's how much i love it: my insurance won't cover it, so I bought it myself. paid for the mirena and the insertion fee all on my own.
when i got the first one in, my insurance covered so it only cost me $20 so it pained me to fork over $500+ but I decided it was worth it. my reasons:
-it makes your periods soooo much lighter. i will probably save hundreds of dollars in tampons over the next 5 years. well maybe not hundreds, but you know what i mean. those 3 months of regular periods SUCKED so even though the copper IUD and centchroman appealed to me, i decided i just couldn't in my right mind choose a birth control that would either worsen or keep my period the same when I had the option to have it be WAY lighter
-it's effective and hassle free. it says in the brochure to check the strings once a month but i never even did that. basically you will get 5 years of next-to-nothing periods and no pregnancies. and your period will be so light you can even have sex on it.

important: the price is going up to $700+ in may so if your insurance doesn't cover it get it NOW!

Sweetest--just keep in mind that we tend to only get negative feedback here, and for every person who has a problem with Mirena there are probably about 20 who don't have any problems at all! If I had read the thread on CopperT on here before I got mine I would have thought twice too, but I've had my CopperT for 5 years and am completely happy with it...Was considering getting a Mirena next but didn't realize that the CopperT was good for 10 years so ended up just leaving it in. I know lots of women with Mirena in real life (including a good percentage of the OBGYNs I work with) and they're all very happy with it!

Thank you for the feedback. My Dr declined to place it because he felt like my uterus is still large and he didnt want to risk it getting "spit" out and having to place it again. It gave me a great opportunity to ask about the comparative differences between Mirena and Paraguard. lol My Dr plainly told me he stopped placing Paraguard because he was removing more of them than he was placing, but if I really wanted it he would refer me. He said a lot of women opt out because of the heavy periods and cramping and its more likely than not that will happen. I decided to give Mirena a try and I'll really get it placed May 12th.

Good luck!

Oh Im up wide awake, striken with Mirena fear.

I got it placed and it didnt hurt AT ALL. Not even a pinch. And I didn't bleed during insertion. Probably about 15 minutes later I felt some cramping and 45 minutes later I had some spotting. I do have some crampy pain that Motrin seems to be controlling...but I cant even relax to sleep for fear of the side effects. I almost want to just get it out for fear of what might happen :-/

ive had my mirena now since dec 10th 2009, and the first month kinda sucked (i wont lie, just the constant spotting was annoying!) but now i LOVE IT! no more periods to deal with, not having to worry about BC at all, not having to pull out or put on a condom or remember a pill everyday (since i CANT LOL!!) its awesome! i will only have mine removed when we are ready for #3, which i believe will be before the 5 years when my mirena expires, but even though i will remove it early and only have it for 3 years probably, its STILL worth it to me!

see, not all horror stories haha

I know Penguin (YAY @ dwindling countdown!!) Im just such a worrywort. My sister has had hers for over a year and its been great for her, no crazy side effects after the crazy periods at first. Im thinking I'll also have mine for about 3 years as long as I dont get any adverse side effects. Im trying to relax and just tell myself its like all medicines: you use it when you think you can benefit and if the side effects trump that benefit you stop. Because most of the side effects are reversible and go away when its taken out Im a little more relaxed

Even with my Paraguard I had a few days of spotting and cramping after, and then now have some cramping a few days a month and the occasional spotting (even with PCOS). I would give it some time to settle, don't worry! Ibuprofen/Naproxen should do the trick, warm compresses and whatever you use for period pain. Cramping is a totally normal effect, as is spotting!

Im using some motrin to keep the pain light. I havent been cramping all day and I havent spotted at all today. Yay, I hope it settles in fast

Day 3, still no more spotting and cramps have definitely eased up, altho its early to say because they seemed worse in the evening yesterday.

About a week and a half in and everything is all good. I have started some AF-like bleeding but its been lighter than normal I just hope it doesnt last for months on end .

Yay ST! good luck!