Mirena and joint pains

I'm 45 I had the mirena inserted 5 1/2 years ago for heavy and painful periods that made me acutely anemic. I had the second Mirena 10 months ago. Until i read this site and others like it I thought I was going mad. Only advantage for me has been super light periods. Have had weight gain round stomach, thighs and butt and cannot shift it despite doubling exercise and halving food intake. Have constant headaches and reccurrant sinus infections and memory/concentration problems, water retention nearly all month long and feel depressed most of the time. also oily skin libido is non existent! also joint pains and insomnia. Doctor said it was menopause but tests came back negative. Have an appointment next week to have it removed. A bit anxious about how heavy periods will be as they were pretty awful before but can't handle these side effects. Any one else my age whose had mirena removed how long before periods back to normal?

I cant thank you all enough THANK YOU. I am 45, have 4 older children and have had the mirena for twelve months. the nurse who encouraged me to have the mirena and fitted it told me to ignore the booklet , that side effects were very rare as the drugs don't go into your blood stream. I cant believe i fell for that, i mean it doesn't make sense. since having it in i haven't stopped bleeding bits,im covered in a rash that the doc says is a viral infection, i have incredible mood swings, joint pains, cramps, depression which i have been taking st johns wort for, shakes,headaches,dermatitis on my hands, forgetfulness, crying, numb hands and feet,weak ankles that tend to just go all of a sudden which makes me feel really stupid. Blurry vision and feeling a inner hotness behind my eyes,some mornings i feel like ive got a hangover even though i don't drink. As for sex forget it i mean why would my hubby want me!! and its the last thing i feel like. I cant believe hes put up with me and my nasty moods. Ive been married for 24 years. I never thought that all these systems were due to the mirena, until i looked it up and stumbled onto this site, i must of read all of the posts, and look twice a day to see if there are any new ones.I have had to wait 2 weeks to get an appointment to have it taken out, but thank god i had it taken out this morning. I couldn't believe how easy, quick and painless it was, maybe i was lucky that the strings were easily found. I feel sooo relieved to finally have it out and only feel slightly crampy. I cant wait to get back to normal. This is the fist time i have ever posted anything on the internet so please forgive me if my typing isnt up tp scratch, its taken half an hour to write this. I feel i have a lot to make up for with my family and my very lovely hubby and hope that these systems go quickly. I will let you know and please keep up the posts i need the encouragement, and im sure others do too.!!

I came to this group and posted my bad bad side effects on July23rd.
I got the IUD removed. Felt a lot better immediately, I had my periods, regular flow stopped after 4 days, feels good that I don't spot anymore. I feel great as a person, No more mood swings , no more snapping at the kids. Fog is lifted, lost weight, no more joint pains. I am glad it works for some people but for people like me it just does not work, for the 4 months I had it was the most horrible period of my life.

Now I feel good, but my mood swings and attitude when I had Mirena had already made a dent in my life . Relationships with my loved ones are spoiled. They are coming back to me and I am at loss to explain that the mood swings were not My character but Mirena. Nobody believes me and they probably think I am haughty and crazy too... Ahh ...... What do I say...... I used Mirena to help inturn has turned my life upside down, I wish somebody had told me before I got that. the 4 months I had it has altered my life permanently........Somebody has to raise this awareness and make it known that some women do get affected very badly..... Not worth it for women like me. Not at all.....

OMG! I thought I was losing it. Have had the Mirena since April and have gained weight (an entire dress size) for NO REASON, been foggy, moody, no sex drive, joint pains, cramps, etc.I thought I was alone, Did I mention EXHAUSTED all the time and acne on my face and back-sever enough to get antibiotics from the dermatologist?
I also suffer with PCOS--does anyoen else on the Mirena suffer with PCOS? Would be interested to see how it has affected you. Tried BC pills and after awhile they stopped working then switched to the YAZ--DO NOT GO THERE--the worst Pill ever--so not many options for those of us with PCOS. Just can't wait to go to the DR and get this thing out.

Why do I think I landed here, I have been having very bad mood swings mostly relating to anger and dissatisfaction in everything and everybody. Put the mirena in April 2008, braved it out for 4 months with the
1. spotting and all the time kept thinking that my
2. fatigue and no interest in everything was due the stress of having 2 kids, work and the pregnancy weight that I have to shed.
3. I am hungry always (maybe since I am breast feeding the baby)
I had a copper IUD between my first and second son,
4. I don't remember how that was ( am I in a mental fog?). must have been better than this one. I never wanted anything hormonal. I don't want pills. Dont even know why I went with this then. I know the doctor convinced me saying it has very little hormonal effects

Yesterday, I just lost myself over a silly issue, now I feel I am going to lose my wonderful relationships with people. My 3 yr old asks me If I am not angry any more uh!!!. Why cant I call the doctor to get it removed when I doubt it could be the IUD.
5.I am lazy( another symptom).

Do I have to wait a little longer or take it out and maybe get my self back.?
(What a question to an obvious answer)
Confused!!! lazy!!

I had Mirena inserted after the birth of my 2nd daughter - November 07. Things were going ok (at least that was what I thought) until about two months ago. I really did not think about the Mirena much. Maybe that was because my sex drive has been soooo gone that I have only used the benefit of the Mirena about 3 times. The problems I guess really started when my period disappeared. That happened 3 months after I got in inserted. I thought that was going to be great because my periods usually last 7 days from start to fully finished. But with this thing, I did not bleed but I definitely was still having a period. Bach aches, mood swings, headaches, bloating, etc. I started to think something was really wrong when I got a headache that lasted about a week, and I don't normally get headaches that last longer than a few hours. I could not figure out what was wrong with me. I even went to the emergency room to have them tell me that there was nothing wrong and it was probably just stress. I started to think that maybe it is the Mirena. I started doing searches on the adverse side effects of the Mirena and thank God I found you guys. I have most of the symptoms described here and other Mirena side effect pages. I will be having this awful thing removed in about two weeks. I don't know what my husband and I are going to do about birth control. We both do not want anymore kids but I am only 28 and do not want to have my tubes tied.
Headaches
Joint Pains
Low Back Pain
Mood Swings
No Sex Drive
Massive weight Gain (I have not lost any of my baby weight plus i put on a few more pounds)
Breasts Double in Size
Fatigue
Dizziness
Depression (low self-esteem)
My feet have even grown (probably because of the weight gain)

Hi, I decided that I would write as this site has been really helpful to me. I too have had most of the side effects as a lot of you have listed. I had my mirena in for almost 3 years and I have experienced weight gain about 15 to 20 lbs, hair loss, definite lost of sex drive, bloated stomach (and I never had a stomach before), joint pains, very bad acne on face and back, constant bladder and yeast infections, I read where someone else had rough skin on feet and I also experienced that and never had it before, palpitations,chest pain, bad back pain, dizzy a lot, and tired a lot. Well I had mine removed 2 days ago and it hurt really bad. The doctor could not find the strings at first and had to probe around for a while and eventually used clamps to find it and pull it out and I was in severe pain but the doctor did find it and got it out.When I left the doctor, I was feeling pain down there but I could deal with it and started cramping right away in office. yesterday I was cramping bad in the morning and early afternoon and then it stopped. I also felt like I was about to get a migraine for the last 2 days. I have not had any bleeding yet and at first, like the day of removal I felt "funny" in my body but now I feel okay. I think if I would have left it in longer that I would have had to get an operation to get it out. The side effects just got worse and worse.Also I posted here a few months ago maybe around 6 months ago and at that time I was having a lot of these symptoms too but didn't think it could be the mirena but the bad acne and bloated stomach and weight gain =, I knew that was from the mirena. I too, like a lot of you have been to the doctor countess times for other problems just for them to say all tests are normal. I know that my problems came from the mirena, Well good luck everybody, I will post again later after its been out for a while for an update. God Bless

Today is one week since removal. I am feeling much better mentally-calmer-no more interterminal. I am gaining energy little by little and the joint pains are slowly going away. I have been spotting off and on for the last week and a couple days after removal i had put on 2lbs (most likely because i was having a "period"). The spotting seems to have stopped and the 2 lbs are gone today. Hopefully, more weight to come off in the future. At least now I feel like i have the energy to work at getting the weight off. It is funny how people react to you when you tell them that an IUD cause all these issues. Most people just nod and smile and think you are crazy. It's ok. I know that we can't all be crazy-we tell the same story and now documentation is coming out from other countries that perhaps there might be a problem with this product.
Something to note- the test studies on this product were done in Finland and Sweden on a group of women ages 18-35. I had this inserted in my early 40's. Am I the test study for my age group????
Have faith ladies-we will all get better soon.

I have had the mirena in for almost exactly one year now. I too had bad breakouts, low sex drive, fatigue, mood swings and cramps but they were all less than what I had had on the pill. However, I have LOST weight because the dizzy spells that I have been experiencing lately make me loose my appetite. I also feel like my sense of smell is much more sensitive (especially to gross stuff) near my period.
I would just like to hear from someone who stopped experiencing these adverse effects after having the Mirena removed or someone whose symptoms went away with time before I choose to remove my own.
Every form of birth control has some sort of side-effect, you just have to choose the one with side-effects that you can deal with I guess.

i had my Mirena put in on the 13th feb 08, oh boy what a killer, I've only had 1 period since, but i have spotting all the time with a terrible discharge and the bleeding was brown, sorry if this all sounds disgusting. i have joint pains and lower back pain but none of the depression yet, i have my appointment on may the 16th to see my genie and hope she will take it out but i don't think she will have much choice with the way I am feeling right now. like a few people have noted already i feel about 4 months pregnant i am so bloated

I just got back from an appt. to check my Mirena inserted almost 2 yrs ago
I mentioned some S/E's I thought could be from it & he said no possible way HUH????

I've had NO sex drive
poss. painful sex Can't 100% prove that yet though
vision-floaters
an attack of extreme muscle/joint aches in my legs that lasted 5 days (came out of Nowhere) assuming it's the mirena
also have anxiety seems to have gotten worse since being on the Mirena??
lazy feeling no energy

I am really surprised to see so many women posting the exact same symptoms I have. I had the Mirena inserted August 15, 2006. I have been married since September 15, 2006. It was all good at first. Had the regular symptoms of the Mirena with the bleeding and pain and so on. Great birth control, besides the two scares I had. Then about a year ago, it all started to change. major mood swings, irritability, severe joint pains, severe fatigue, insomnia, weight loss (I am 30 now; was anorexic from age 21-23; anxiety will jump start the anorexia; another battle!), and many more symptoms. the worst by far has been the fatigue and joint pain and severe lack of sex drive. I still consider myself a newlywed. I love my husband but I never thought I would get to the point of not wanting him to touch me in any way. I researched, like some of you, and did my homework. It was all gravy at first! I have been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and starting to think it may be the Mirena instead. I can't take the drugs cuz they knock you out. The symptoms sound too familiar on this site. It's like listening to my life story right now! I have a beautiful 4 year old and not sure if I want another one. My husband is to the point of getting a vasectomy so I wont have to worry about birth control any longer but my 4 year old wants a sibling. Economy is nuts. Having another one would hurt us. I just can't do the permanent thing yet cuz I don't want to regret it.
I only want to be back to normal. My husband has been begging me to take the Mirena out. For those of you who are Hispanic, he calls it La Morona (the Moron). I have battled depression and bad anxiety attacks. It is unbelievable!
If anyone out there is planning on putting one in, THINK about it first. Do extra homework. Don't just take one person's word for it. Look at both good comments and bad comments. It was all good at first for me but things can change. You have to be ready to make a choice quickly once things change before letting it go so long like many of us have done. It has cost us our sanity at times, our health, happiness, husbands and much more. Listen to your instincts. They are usually right.
At my husband's pleas and for my daughter's emotional well-being (she has suffered too), I am making an appointment to take it out. if I do get pregnant, I will take that as a sign that it was meant to be.
I refuse to let my marriage and my daughter suffer for a piece of plastic in my uterus.
I wish you all luck!

I had my Mirena inserted 8 weeks after having my 3rd child. Everything seemed fine for the first 3 months but then I began to develop severe pain in my finger joints, wrists, ankles, elbows, back and neck. I was shuffling around like a 90 year old woman. At first I thought I may have developed arthritis and then my mother suggested I give up the breastfeeding as it might be 'taking it out of me'. Then the other symptoms seemed to creep up on me - foggy brain, severe mood swings, feeling sad and depressed for no reason, SEVERE headaches, night sweats and extreme fatigue. I couldn't complete tasks like washing the clothes and general cleaning of my home and I never felt refreshed after a long sleep. I remember saying to my husband on 3 or 4 occasions 'I feel like I'm going crazy!!' I think he thought the same thing. It was only by chance I revisited a forum I had bookmarked earlier when I was trying to find out how long after initial insertion the bleeding lasted that a post containing some similar side-effects to the ones I was experiencing caught my eye - well what an eye-opener, I would never in my wildest dreams have connected my symptoms with my IUD. The cause of my debilitating symptoms became so clear and that night I squatted down in the shower, found the strings, gave a tug and took the damn thing out myself! That was 3 weeks ago and I've felt a little better every day. I'm hoping to be back to my old self as soon as possible. Thank you so much to everyone who has shared their experiences. If it wasn't for you these debilitating effects on my body would have continued for I dont know how long.

I am so grateful for finding this site! I seriously thought I was losing my mind because of all the things I've been feeling over the past 6 months. Extreme fatigue, moodiness, joint pain (hands, knees), back pain, blurry vision, breast tenderness, NO sex drive, dizziness, nausea and blotchy skin. Since I work in the medical field, I was beginning to think that I had fibromyalgia or rheumatoid arthritis. Since reading all the responses, I'm making an appointment first thing Monday morning to have my Mirena removed.

Thank you ladies!

I've posted on this site once before when I first had my Mirena fitted back in March 2007 (after the 2nd attempt of having it fitted). Like everyone else I have endless side effects to this, none of which my doctor doesn't think this is the cause, severe acne on my chin jaw line and forehead which itches, severe cramps and stabbing pains in my right side, tiredness, mood swings, always hungry, periods from hell, Joint pains, sickness, and illness ever since I've had it, you name it I've had it with this horrible coil. Well 2 weeks ago I decided that I've given it long enough and it was obvious that it wasn't for me so I went to the doctors to get it removed, she wouldn't take it out though as it was only 6 days ago that I had sex last so advised that I come back again 2 weeks later, well today was the day for me and you know what its like you get all prepared for it, and guess what, the doctor couldn't find the threads, she didn't even trim them at the 6 week check, so now I've got to wait for an appointment to have a scan to find out wear abouts it is !!! Just my luck, I've had nothing but problems since I've had this stupid thing.. so what happens after the scan I don't know.. Has this happened to anyone else??

Indeed, some people do have a good experience with Mirena. In fact, I did at the beginning. I began to notice the side effects more and more after about a year, I got v.bad mood swings, acne, joint pains, etc. They have mostly gone-apart from the acne, which as the other lady said, has gotten worse! I hope to god this improvesl. I never had a spot in my life before this damn coil. I got my first 'real' period. It was weird, but ace! It felt proper and as if the build up had left my system. it was really heavy, but only lasted 5days and was right on time. I didn't have any PMT. In fact that was the first weekend that I have gone out dancing when my period was due and not felt depressed and like everything was shit! Wooo. Happy days. I am taking Angelica sinesis or 'dong quai' herb to help balance my hormones. I am using condoms and so far I feel soooo much better for not puting extra hormones in my body, that it doesn't need.