Mirena and low sex drive

I have had my mirena for about 9 months now. I thought it was great at first. I moved away from my family to be with my fiance and ever since then I have had such bad anxiety, depression, mood swings like crazy, very low sex drive and bad acne like I never had before. My skin was always very clear. I always have had depression and anxiety but never this bad. I just feel like I hate the world! I thought that it was just that I was homesick and taking it out on my fiance until I had stumbled across this sight. The only thing is that I am not having pains anywhere or excessive weight gain although I am bloated and I look like I am 5 months pregnant. Now what I would like to know is if this is really all caused by the mirena or if it is all in my head? I have a 17 year old and an 11 year old and now I am living with his 3 kids and the last thing I want is to have this removed and find out that it was not the mirena that was giving me all these symptoms. Can someone please help me with some answered questions? Thank you so much!!

I had my Mirena put in last December. That was the worst mistake I could have made. The insertion was a horrible feeling, lots of cramping, bleeding, lots of pain. I got dizzy the day after I put it in. I was dizzy every day until a week after I got it taken out... 2 Weeks ago! I had a low low sex drive, crazy mood swings, irregular periods, and weight gain. The dizziness almost led to me loosing my license. It was pretty bad and none of the Dr's. could figure out the problem. It wasn't until I went on the web and found other women had this same problem. I suggest if you have any of these symptoms that you get it taken out asap! You will feel 100% better!

I had my 2nd child in June '08 and had Mirena placed on 8-8-08 with no discomfort or problems of any kind. I had already heard great things about it from two co-workers who LOVE theirs. This past weekend I finally started poking around on the computer because of my husband's constant complaints of the "whiskers" poking the head of his penis when we have sex. Lo and behold, I find this page and am BLOWN AWAY. I felt so relieved. I have never been one to have headaches, nausea, back pain or low sex drive. I had been attributing those things to a combination of being significantly overweight, having two babies under the age of 19 months and being on Prednisone (for rheumatoid arthritis). I also have been experiencing a lot of fatigue, night sweats/hot flashes, weight gain, swollen breasts, dizziness, swollen hands/feet, and crazy mood swings. I know that all of these symptoms can probably be explained away as being due to the prednisone, my weight, my life right now (two babies and working full-time) and any number of other things, but there are so many women who have Mirena who are reporting the EXACT SAME SYMPTOMS. I can't just be a coincidence. So anyway, I went to my doc today to have it removed and he, of course, told me that he doesn't believe that any of my symptoms are due to Mirena. I had it removed anyway, but he did tell me something I didn't know: the tiny amount of hormone is delivered locally, as opposed to oral contraceptives' systemic delivery in a larger amount. Go figure. In any case, I am disappointed and have mixed feelings, but I cannot wait to see if my sex drive returns and my lower back pain subsides. I also want control of my moods, weight and breasts again! We discussed the Essure, but I'm just not sure I'm ready to put something foreign in my body again right now. I don't want anymore kids (I'm 40 and have two already), but the options for 98%+ are limited. Everything seems to have a drawback. Oh well. I'll just be glad to see if the symptoms were related to Mirena. If not, I'll get it put back in.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I thought I was totally crazy and something seriously wrong with me: Absolutely No Sex Drive, Horrible acne all over my face (really bad under the skin huge ones) and on my chest, neck and back, back depressions and mood swings, bloating, upper back pain, and weight gain! I am an active person and have been on dance teams for years now and I have never gained weight the way I do now. I have also always had energy to do everything! And I don't have any to even get up off the couch right now! :( I thought that my upper back pain was just from everyday/coaching stress but my massage therapist says that the tenseness in my back is unlike anything she's ever seen! I feel like my stomach is going to explode after I've eaten the smalls meal and then my digestive system doesn't work like it used to before my IUD. I've become a completely different person than before I got my IUD! I am going to call my doctor today and make an appointment to go talk about options. I REALLY LOVE NOT having a period and not having to worry about taking a pill or using a condom. My husband likes that aspect too so we will see what the doctor has to say and if they have any advise or suggestions on what to do. I will keep you all posted!!!!

I hate Mirena!! I went right from the DEPO shot to MIRENA and thought it didn't have any side effects. I did horrible on the shot, gaining a lot of weight and very very MOODY to where i wanted to crawl out of my skin. I've had Mirena for almost a year now, and I totally hate it. JUST LIKE YOU, ive gained weight in my stomach to where i look 5 months pregnant, and my boobs went from a smaller d size to a large DD and the DD don't fit. When i have a shirt on they look even bigger, and from my head to my boobs, not seeing the lower portions of my body you would think i was very obese. I also have hypothyroidism, and the mirena does not help with the hard time losing weight. But i will tell you one thing, for about 5 months of my life, when my son was about 1, i was off birth control. My body did so well, i lost a lot of weight and i was never bloated. i felt great about my self. birth control is horrible for anyones body, and i have really thought about just using condoms and risk getting pregnant. i have been with the same man for 2 yrs and do not plan on being with anyone else. so i made the decision to not be on birth control. every time i have sex i get severe cramping, and i have such a low sex drive i can hardly get excited. I HATE MIRENA!! AND I WANT THIS THING OUT OF ME!!! IM GLAD I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE! LOL

I had my Mirena implanted after my son was born in May 2006 and at first it was okay but now I am ready to get rid of this thing. My hair started falling out really bad and it is not as bad now but I still have spells where I think I might go bald if it doesn't stop. I am always tired, always bloated, and I cant seem to get the scale to get below 160 no matter how hard I try. But the biggest problem with the side effects is the low sex drive, it is affecting my marriage. There is no way for my husband to understand what I am going through mentally and he has been very patient but if things don't get better after I get the Mirena taken out, Im afraid he might leave me.
We had a disagreement this morning and of course I was in tears most of the morning and could cry now.
Can anyone tell me how soon they got back to "normal" after having the IUD removed, especially with regards to the sex drive problem.

I had Mirena implantewd in June of 2008. The first day was horrible for cramps, but then the next day everything was back to normal. 1 week later I started bleeding, extremely heavy, but that is what is mentioned as one of the side effects. My bleeding went on for almost 2 months before it finally stopped. Now my periods are a little irregular. Some times they last 2 days others go for 5 days. Other than that it's not been that bad. I had the standard side effects that my doctor covered with me and that were also mentioned in the pamphlet on Mirena.
I'm sorry to hear about the everyone misfortunes below, but I really think that you doctor should have explained it better to you, because some of the things listed below are common side effects that were mentioned.

I have had the Merina IUD for almost a year now ,, when I got it put it I thought I was gonna faint it was so painful,, I have had severe cramps non stop since I have had the IUD,, I have made several trips to the ER and they try to make it out like ive just got an infection ,well things never got any better so i kept on going until they told me something that was worth hearing well sure enough about 6mnths after having my IUD I got told that I had a 3cm by 3cm mass on my uteras that some women experience with an IUD and still its in my uteras right along with the IUD ,, and like all the other women out there having problems ,, I have experienced low sex drive , sever irritability, weight gain, and im just plain oumit miserable. I have been having an awful fishy smelling discharge for the past 3 months, and like most women my OBGYN tries to throw the truth of the matter off and try to make it out like im crazy,, heck no!! im not crazy and I know my body and I know this just aint normal,,so I made me an appointment at my local Health Dept to get this thing out of Sooo!!! to all the women out there that want an IUD I don't recommend it,, Its dangerous and all it does is destroy your body and your life :(.....I hope all goes well with all of you , best wishes and good luck!! Im ending my miserary ASAP!!!,,

I am the husband of a women with a Mirena, it is not fun. I am living with someone that I was not married to. I love my wife and in the name of love and a Christian marriage I wil stand by her for better and for worse. I am not saying that I haven't thought of ending it all by leaving home, I have done that several times. But I am thinking of my children and the woman that I was married to 15 years ago.

The lord created women to protect the baby in the womb and that is exactly what is happening. The Mirena is touching the side of the womb, imitating pregnancy, so the woman will protect the unborn and "kill" of everything that come close to the "baby". That explain the low sex drive of all the woman on this site.

I hope Bayer receive all this emails and take responsibility for all the broken marriages they created with this device straight from hell.

Thank you for this site

DJ

Hi all I am so glad I found this site. I had my Mirena in for 3 yrs and could not figure out why I was falling apart. I had a constant headache, lower back pain , night sweats, insomnia,weight gain(30 lbs.,), low sex drive I thought I was getting ready to go thru menopause then I found this site. I called the Dr. that inserted the demon and .they could not give me an appt. for 1 month . I found another Dr. and he saw me right away and removed it no questions asked other than ,"Why did the Dr. offer you a BC loaded with progesterone knowing you were already depressed...this was just making you feel worse" Having it removed was the best thing I actually feel a lot better a week later . No weight loss yet but no more headaches , back aches ,night sweats that is a blessing already.

I had Mirena inserted after my first child was born on April 28, 2008. It has been approximately a month and I have complaints. Some of which are cramps all day everyday which has me resorting to taking 1600mg of Ibuprofen a day, low sex drive, crying at anything and everything, and bleeding non-stop, heavy to spotting. To say the least, my relationship is suffering, because rather than having sex four times a week, it is barely once a week. I contacted my GYN today as to discuss the aforementioned side effects as to determine if this is normal. I admit to not doing my research prior to inserting Mirena as I assumed that it was the most effective and safe form of contraceptive. See, I have tried several different pills and it was not effective and the side effects were more then I could bare. I decided today to research Mirena and realized I might have made a big mistake...Will write again when or if I have the Mirena removed after consulting with my GYN.

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 the Mirena put in in Feb 07 and while at first it was all great and a great thought of not having to take a daily pill and such a good form of bc I thought why not? I have adenomiosis which is in the inner lining of the uterus (like endometriosis but inside instead of outside) which causes many issues like extra pain/cramping, my body bloating even more during ovulation, and then irritating all of the other organs in there since the uterus is irritated which leads to more swelling and discomfort, as well as pain during intercourse. This was prior to my last pregnancy which was in May 06. I've been pregnant 6 times and have 4 children. We aren't in a position to have anymore right now. Since Oct/Nov 07 I have begun gaining weight - mainly at the times I am probably 'ovulating' and the bloat can last about 3 weeks out of the month - I'm talking 15+ pounds. Mood swings out that wazoo and pain during intercourse which I think is what has led to my very low sex drive. Also, and I don't know where this is coming from or if there is any normalcy to it, but my breasts are leaking (I haven't breastfed since Dec 06). My GP put me on Prozac and I tried them but didn't find myself any better, just more tired. Now I'm taking some vitamins, but don't know what else to do. I had an ultrasound last week that showed all is fine and that the Mirena is in its right position. I re-meet with my Ob/Gyn the 19th to see where to go next. This sucks.

My symptoms are the same as all (anxiety, mood swings, low sex drive) and I plan to have this thing taken out ASAP. It has been so bad lately that I cannot function. I've had more panic attacks than I can count in the last couple of weeks. What I want to know is how people fare on the other side of things. I would imagine it takes a while for your body to regulate after removal, but how long. And to echo- no more artificial things in my body.
Side note- has anyone tried cold shower therapy, apple cider vinegar or lemon balm for the anxiety? (******)

I have three kids and this is my second time on Mirena... first time was great other than bleeding non-stop for a month and half, this time same thing, but I also bleed brown after sex. Low sex drive, lots of mood swings, lack of motivation, fatigue, apathy. But it's still better than the pill or Norplant...plus the ob-gyn cut the string too short and it irritates my husband when we make love. If this continues past one year, I will ask my husband to get a vasectomy.

Has anyone had a High White Blood count due to the Mirena? I was given the Mirena to help with the Progesterone because I'm so young and I didn't want to have a hysterectomy. I haven't had children and want to try even though I've been told it's not possible. I have a 1% chance which is why I want to give it a try, but I'm almost 34 years old, so I only have a little time since I'm already in Pre-Menapause. I have had horrible headaches and also bloating, but I thought it was from my GI problem I've been dealing with for over a year now. I had the Mirena insert on February 11th, but my White Blood Count has skyrocketed to the point they want me to go on to a Hematologist. I was on Seasonable and I almost had a heart attack because my blood pressure went up to high because of the side effects. Just be careful. Now reading this website has me suspicious, so now it maybe hysterectomy time. This was my last chance to try something.

Hey I'm 20 years old and ,I just had Mirena inserted in me September 07.I was skeptical to get it ,but I got it because I had 2 children in a row by c-section.I didn't want to get pregnant again right away .I notice that I never knew when or if I'm going to have my period.So that kind of freaks me out but that isn't my problem all that much .Lately after my husband and I have sex it seems like I will have throbbing sensations right after in my vagina.Ive been trying to see if anyone has this problem too,but haven't had any luck yet.I'm going to get Mirena taken out soon but I don't know when.My sex drive is like dead and Ive want to sleep more than I want too.-Courtney (Tn)

I have had my Mirena for almost a year now. I have not had a child and got the iuc because my blood pressure was high and this was a better alternative then the pill i was on. But not I have acne like i have never had before! I don't even know how I got to this sight I go online to look at how much proactive would cost because I break out every month right before i spot for a few days and it take my skin three weeks to clear up, just in time for me to break out again it sucks. I see that a lot of you have had a low sex drive, which I have experienced also, and just brushed it off as stress, or whatever other reason, but now am beginning to wonder if it is my Mirena. these are pretty much the only side effects I have, but the acne is driving me crazy!!!! I still have somewhat of a period. I never really know what to expect one month i might not have one at all the next month i might spot for a day or two, then stop for a day, then spot again for a few days. It kind of sucks because its not enough to use a tampon and its on and off for about a week and a half. I don't know what to do, right now I am really missing my ortho tricyclin!

I have had it out for about 6months now. My sex drive has completely come back, so now I feel a bit more human! Also, I am not the depressed person, with the mood swings, that I once was. But the acne is the thing which won't go away. Its left my skin all marked and discolored and I keep getting weird spots on my back, chest and face. It makes me feel blue. I NEVER had spots before the Mirena, which I had in for 2years. This thing sucks.

I do wonder how many woman go through life feeling depressed, with low sex drive and mood swings due to their contraceptives, just getting added to statistics. I reckon that so many people would be so much happier if it wasn't for hormonal contraceptives.

I use condoms now, I don't think that we should muck around with using hormones-they cause so many problems.

I've had my Mirena for about 15 and a half months and I am having it removed today at 2 o'clock. At first I had sharp pains when I would sit down and I felt like the cords were poking me and irritating me. My OB/GYN requires patients to come back one month after having it put in so he can check it and make sure it is still in place. At this visit he also trimmed the cords although he acted like he didn't believe me when I told him that I could feel them poking me when I sat down and that it hurt. At first I didn't notice any bad side effects, but I did have one good one: my periods stopped, but I still had occasional and sporadic spotting. I didn't think to look for any bad side effects because I got the device under the impression that it had no bad side effects. I thought it only had a rare complication of perforating the uterus, but since mine was in place at the one month check, I didn't think about anymore until I started thinking about having another baby recently. I went online to see if I had to have a doctor remove the Mirena or if I could do it myself, and I found out that it's best done by a professional because bad things can happen and then you'd have to go to the doctor anyway. Plus, I didn't want to hurt my chances of having another baby. While online I discovered this whole world of message boards where women were having a lot of the same problems I'd been having in recent months and they all blamed their Mirenas. Some claimed that their problems had gone away since having it removed. I never thought to link my circumstances to the Mirena, but when I saw how many women are having the exact same problems as me I knew that I needed to go ahead and get mine out ASAP. Here is a list of my side effects, and I've found other women have had them as well with Mirena: weight gain, bloated stomach, depression, short temper with husband and daughter, acne, low sex drive, spotting, cramps, constipation, and back pain. There may be more, but I can't remember them all right now. Some of them may not even be related to the device, but I've read of so many women with Mirena who are having or have had the same issues, so I suspect a link between my problems and Mirena. I hope this helps someone out there looking for answers. God Bless!

Chest Pain, Cramps in arms, vertigo, thyroiditis, aggression, depression, severe headaches, itching,nausea, ovarian cysts, hair loss, low sex drive.

I have had the mirena out for about 6weeks now and I feel better than ever! I had had it in about 2years and was experiencing acne, period pain, low sex drive, tender breasts, mood swings, depression, joint pain.

Its almost all gone! Still have the odd weird joint pains-in my fingers, but its getting less and less frequent and my skin is clearing up at last. My sex drive is back to normal. Well, better than normal and it atually feels good when my boyfriend touches my breasts. this had been a huge problem for me. I am not using any hormones and to be honest I never want to again. I will just use condoms until they invent a non-hormonal contraceptive which is effective. If I have to, I will carry on using condoms as long as I have to. Hormones just mess up my system, esp. mirena.

I decided to get Mirena after the birth of my second son. I seemed like such a great idea. I had it put in last Sept. My doctor is very good and warned me about some things that might happen after it was inserted. What I didn't expect was just how bad I bled after getting it. I know it sounds like I'm exaggerating, but there was a point where I was running to the bathroom every 15 minutes to change. It was horrible, but my doctor assured me that everything was normal and I should see some improvement within the next few months. Including the heavy bleading, I bled for about a month and a half straight. About a month of that was the annoying spotting. Since then, I haven't had a period, which I love...the only thing I love about it. The past year has been rough, but I never associated it with Mirena until now. I was starting to lose my baby weight but now I weigh about 5 lbs more than I did just after giving birth. My stomach looks bigger than my sister's and she's almost 7 months pregnant. I was put on anti depressants, but associated that with post partum depression...now I'm not sure what caused it. My husband and I have been fighting more and we even considered spitting up. I'm just not ME and he has even said it. I have acne like a teenager, weight gain (no matter what I do), very low sex drive, BLOATING, cramps, my memory is pretty much non existent, nausea, horrible sleep pattern which causes extreme tiredness all the time, sore body, constant discharge, and blurred vision. I've actually taken pregnancy tests because I felt worse than when I was pregnant. I've talked to my husband about the Mirena and wanting to get it out, but he's just worried that I'll get pregnant again if I get it out. He doesn't realize how bad I really feel cuz I'm not telling him. We decided that our marriage is worth saving so I'm trying to do my part by not getting mad at him for every little thing and not complaining about how awful I feel. He just started a new job, too, so insurance hasn't started at the new place and his old place of employment has already stopped it through them. I can't pay for a regular doctor's visit without insurance, so I guess I'm stuck with it for now. Sorry for babbling, I just don't have anyone to talk to, so once I start, I just keep going.

I have had my Mirena since 6/5/06, three weeks after giving birth to my third child. I only opted for it because a paperwork fiasco at the hospital did not get my authorization for the tubal ligation after delivery in time, then went I went for the pre-surgery consult, the doctor highly recommended the Mirena instead of a tubal and even though I told her that I had horrible problems tolerating the pill, I was told that the hormone level was low, and localized, and not to worry about any side effects.

I didn't have pain or cramping initally like a lot of the other posters, and had very light spotting for the first few months, to the point that I couldn't really tell "Is THIS my period, or am I still just spotting?". I thought that would subside, but here, 15 months later, I still "spot" up to 20 days a month. I have tender/swollen breasts almost every day of the month (to the point where even an accidental brush against them is painful and I have to wear my bra even to bed, something I never did before). FORGET about my husband even wanting to touch them! More on that later....

I go to my PCP tomorrow and am asking to have it removed. To help her, I made a list of my symptoms, and have divided them into Physical and Emotional Categories. I am hoping she does not give me a referral to a mental health specialist when she reads it, cause its quite extensive. I am NOT a hypochondriac by any means, just someone who knows my body and knows these are not normal: bloated stomach (still look 6 mos pregnant), weight gain (I am 7 lbs over my weight when discharged from the hospital after delivery. 7 lbs is not alot, but consider that is on top of a considerable pregnancy weight gain that has not come off, add another 7lbs to it despite a rigorous exercise and diet plan, including Alli (orlistat) that resulted in a 2lb. gain). Headaches, blurry vision, acute insomnia in spite of prescribed sleep aids, fatigue, achey muscles, joint pain esp. in wrists and hands, acne, cramping, night sweats, pain during intercourse (when I'm coaxed into having it), a worsening in my hearing and ringing in ears, sometimes a burning sensation in the top of my right foot.

The worst part is the emotional effects. Depression and dispair beyond anything I could have ever imagined. Wild mood swings. I thought "maybe I'm bi-polar?" but no, I don't have manic episodes, I'd say I have two moods: Despair & Self-Loathing and RAGE. I have destroyed almost every relationship I have. I have lost friends, family members that I have alientated with my wild temper, and last week, my husband walked out on me, saying "I just can't take this anymore, what is WRONG with you, you aren't the woman I married". My rage is 99% of the time directed towards him. It can be over something as simple as he didn't push his chair in after leaving the dinner table. I have anxiety attacks, severe daily crying spells, and the thought or suggestion of sex sends me into severe panic attacks. A sexual encounter, formerly a much enjoyed and daily event, has become a MAYBE twice monthly event that ends with me in tears and my husband frustrated and angry beyond belief.

I just hope and pray I am not met with "It's not the IUD" when I see my doctor (not the doctor that put it in, as we have moved across the state). All I can say is NONE of these symptoms were present before Mirena, it just took my husband walking out on me to sit and think and make the connection that maybe there is a coincidence. I started to see a connection to wild behavior while pregnant and years ago being on the pill and then, duh, light bulbs went off in my head. "This is hormonal". Sorry it took me so long and cost me so much pain to figure it out.

I had the iud inserted last September due to very heavy periods. My doctor told me I would have very light periods or none at all. It was very painful to have it insered. I experienced heavt bleeding for 3 months straight which has since become very irregular but heavy periods with spotting in between. There are probably only 6 days a month when I don't have some kind of bleeding. I never know when it's coming. I have had very little acne but defintley experienced cramping, headaches, leg pain, tired all the time, very low sex drive, not that that matters because of all the bleeding. Thanks god my husband is very patient. I have made an appt to see the GYN in August. My only other option is a hysterectomy. I think it would be better than this.