I recently had the Mirena IUD removed after extreme joint pain. There were days I had to hold up my right arm to even comb my hair in the morning, and I can relate to the lady who wrote she went down the stairs on her butt. And finger joint pain and swelling was a daily occurance. After having the IUD removed, it was only days before I noticed those symptoms gradually disappearing. I could bend my fingers again! It took a few more days for the swelling to subside but within a week I was nearly back to my pre-Mirena state of no pain or swelling.

A side note that no one really talks about is the bleeding you will likely experience after removal. I was fine for a few days after removal, but then about 40 hours after removal I bleed a lot, enough to soak through a tampon in an hour at some points in the day. And not to be graphic, but is was stringy and clumpy blood. I just wanted to share it with others so they don't get worried like I did. I guess a person should still call their Dr. or better yet, do what I forgot to do...ask your Dr. what kind of bleeding to expect, what is normal and what is worrisome. The heavy bleeding lasted for about 5 days. But in the end, I'm glad it's gone and I feel about 90% better than I did a week ago!!!

The Mirena seems to work for some people, but it appears there is a small percentage of us whose systems reject it, so follow your own bodies cues, just because a friend doesn't have any trouble with it or a Dr. tells you it can't be that doesn't mean it isn't true. The pain is real and you need to find the cause...in my case, I'm truly convinced it was the Mirena. Thanks to all of you who shared your experiences on this site, without it I wouldn't have even considered it could have been a Mirena side effect. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!