Wow, I'm so glad to have found this site! I feel better already just knowing that I am not alone. I have so many questions!! So many of you share the same symptoms that I have been experiencing for months. I never thought the pain in my elbow that is radiating down my arm could be from my IUD. I'm 46 years old and feel like I'm 90 today. Ten months ago, before I got the Mirena, I had good health and energy. The Mirena was suggested to help with continual bleeding due to fibroids in my uterus. Thought I could coast into menopause without worrying about periods and birth control. I have numbness in my right foot, my skin itches all over, have joint pain in my back and hips, gained 10 pounds and have experienced cycstic acne that required 30 days of strong antibiotics. My eyelids have been swelling up too. Anybody have that one? I've had erractic lenghty periods since I had it inserted. My doc said to give it up to a year for everything to balance out. I don't know if I can wait another two months. I attributed the lack of libido to having a period every 2 weeks, and the same with the slight depression and mood swings. I have attributed all these symptoms to other causes, but it suddenly hit me the other day to check the literature I received from my doc on Mirena, which was all in Spanish, (I don't read spanish and understand now that the literature doesn't list many of these side effects), which led me to this website. It all happens for a reason. I wondered if the joint pain was sudden or built up over time? Anyone have the itching? The numbness seems to be isolated to my toe and my right hand, anyone? Does the numbness move around? Has anyone else been told to wait up to a year for everything to even out? Any ideas on what else to use for birth control that wouldn't make the fibroids continue to grow? Any help on any of this is appreciated. Thanks, Mickey
wow mickey, lots to reply to there, and i am not known for my brevity anyway lol:)
firstly have you checked the independant sites for info on mirena? i will post a couple of links here for you..
i too had mirena due to heavy continual bleeding, not for contraception reasons. i had polyps which had been taken out already but grew back. I also had thickened uterus which was ablated but came back too - the specialist said that mirena would sort out my problems, had no side effects (except in people already prone to headaches and depression, which i didnt have, so it seemed ok), he said it didnt go into the blood stream, just stayed local. I had never had any form of hormone treatment before, i had never even taken the pill, having known someone who had died from taking it, and others who had had blood clots etc and other health problems, so i was sceptical of mirena, but it was that or have a hysterectomy, so in view of there being virtually no side effects i said YES - for which i will always be regretful. why i didnt research it on the net first, is beyond me. anyway, side effects started slowly and without me realizing, till i got the numbness and severe head pains - hard not to notice those lol. numbness will be different for everyone. for me, it came only at certain times of the month, then took a couple of weeks to phase out almost completely, then would come back again after a couple of weeks and do it all over again. It was only when my hubby said that it seemed to come every month or so, that the penny dropped - duh lol. i had pain from the back of my head all the way down my left arm, and the numbness was in my face on the left side - it felt like i had already had a stroke, because the left cheek felt like it was being dragged downwards. the numbness went into my arm and leg and toes, all on the left side. i did have it a couple of times on the right side too. Any numbness at all, should be reported to the doctor and the doctor should get the mirena out there and then. in my opinion it is dangerous to leave it in. my doctor initially said she had never heard of anyone getting numbness from progesterone - estrogen yes, but not progesterone, although she did say progesterone could cause headaches. (this was a clue for me, but i missed it at the time - the mirena was actually causing estrogen dominance in my body!!) I showed her the print out i had of the side effects from the net doctor site - the bit where it says to inform your doc immediately if you get numbness or severe head pain. She was really worried by that and asked my permission to take it out right away. I accepted her kind offer!! numbness and head and other pains started to go by the same night and by the following night, was all gone. She booked up other tests for me anyway, to cover all bases, they came back negative, but i appreciated her doing the responsible thing. There is NO way she would have asked me to wait a few more months and see if it gets better. (it was already at 13 months usage by the time i went to her) And there is no way i would have done that anyway, because every time i got the numbness and head pain, it was worse, not better. Things were building UP in my system, not DOWN, and i really thought that the next time i would have a stroke - my doc thought so to, in fact she wondered if i may have already had a mini one. Either way, she was not going to take a chance!! I would advise you to do the same!
Mirena is well known for the lack of sex drive, and that is the standard joke about why it is thought to be so effective - so many women do not want sex while they have mirena, so no sex, no pregnancy LOL...Depression and mood swings are all part of the side effects too, and mirena causes water retention which can go anywhere, so your eyelids are probably full of fluid - some people get it in the legs and ankles, others the head, which can cause hearing problems ( i noticed i was going a bit deaf too, the hearing has since come back after removal) and some people have had seizures, which may be due to the fluid retention or it may be due to the constriction of blood vessels brought about by migraines etc. any swelling anywhere, again should be reported to the doctor, and the doc if he is wise, will take action and stop your suffering by taking the damn thing out.
Ok, now the interesting bit...
you ask what else can help fibroids and give contraceptive protection. For the contraception i would only suggest non hormonal methods, because your hormones need a good sorting out and they are not going to get it and your fibroids are not going to get better while you are on any synthetic hormone ( i will explain this in a minute)..
so the old fashioned natural method where you get to know your body and abstain from sex for a few days each month when you are most fertile, this seems to be quite popular for people who are really trying to get their health back on track. I would combine it with a condom for extra safety. There are books about this method and i am sure lots of info on the net, and a site that helps you plan things out, link here....
For fibroids, it may well pay you to do what i am doing, because polyps are caused by the same thing, as it seems, are other problems like endometriosis. That is to look into "Estrogen dominance." I have talked at length about this on other posts and have some links a bit further down the page under my post entitled "Estrogen domince for everyone", and on a couple of pages before this page, there is a thread with Heater5000 and myself disussing our discoveries about estrogen dominance and how it is probably affecting all of us to a lesser or greater extent - those of us, who have any kind of hormonal problem or who find that the side effects we had with mirena come back again some months after removal (due to our hormones not quite being able to get back on track after the mirena has messed with them so much). please take time to read these and you can google plenty for yourself via the links i have in the estrogen dominance post on this page - especially Dr. Lam's site. Hormones are a very complicated subject and it takes a while to get your head around them lol, but knowledge is the only way we are going to beat these conditions, and we have to start somewhere! Have a read of everything and start to make small changes in your lifestyle, and see where it leads you. you can get a saliva test done at a pharmacy if you are in the US, which will give you your exact levels of hormones. I would wait till the mirena is out though, before trying the test, because your system will be upsidedown at the moment. well, i dont want you to get a headache from reading all this lol, so i won't write anymore just now .. let us know what you decide to do and how you get on. good luck:) x
hey there mickey.
my name by the way is also mickey.
anyways, i also had he IUD for a year and then finally i found this webside and well i had myn removed and i feel great ever since. iam now using YAS and so far so good. no problems.
anyways, you was saying about the eyelids, other than mine was always heavy , you know like wanting to go to sleep. no no problemes in that way. the itching, no not that eahter. but the say every one is diffrend.even knowing i was always tired, i coulnt sleep. my breath hurt like hell. coulnt even touch theme. lost my sexdrive. and when i did have sex i was in pain and bleeding sometimes after it...just a mess.och yeah headache, backpain wich i did manage t kill with allot of motrin but the headache went away. doc, sayed, no way it cant be the mirena , but it was .
iam almost 40 now and feel like i should be in my 60tes , no not now but when i had the IUD.i know that allout of problemes can come with the IUD and if i was you or any one else who iexperiencing problemes , well i would get it out ASAP...but there are some woman on here who love it and have no trouble with it.i do wish that was me. be nice not to have to worry about sex for years .
anywayes..keep us posted and i hope you get better soon.
mickey
hey mickey69!! really nice to hear from you again!:) So pleased to read that you are feeling better now and that you are doing well:) hope life is treating you good.
Take care:) love Kabel xx
hey kabel ,
thanks for your e-mail.
yes iam doing just fine with out the IUD. i could not belive how much better i was almost right after getting it out.
it took me a while to find some one who would give me a B/C becourse iam over 35 and i smoke ... we are millitary and it was tricky getting it, the told me i can get the depo or the IUD just becourse of my age and iam a smoker . but finally after messing around for a while and getting relocated due to the millitary to AZ. anyways the doc, here in on post in AZ, told me yes it is dangers for me to have B/C and smoke but i never had any trouble bevore so he gave me YAZ . i told him nothing could be worth than the IUD. and so far so good. iam happy feeling good, my husband and son have there mom and wife back. iam ack to normal.iam so very glade to have te IUD removed and iam telling any one whom i hear talking about getting it or even thinking about it, not to.it is bad news.
so anyways, i be on here sometimes and help some one if i can..i had seeng this gils in trouble becourse of this stuppid IUD.
anyways , thanks kabel, belive it or not your impot helped me out allout.thanks
keep in contact.
love mickey69
I too have had swollen eye lids - every few weeks they look like they are full of fluid on my top lids and swollen under my eye. It lasts 1-2 days and slowly goes away but then my eye area is dry for days and itchy - it takes about a week to get back to normal and several episodes of this have left my under eye area lined /wrinkled considerably in the last 3 months and I am only 32 and used to look 23 at most! This swelling has been happening off/on for the last 6 months and I have had my IUD for 15 months. I thought this was an allergy to something thought it keeps happening despite the fact I have done away with anything that could cause it (new softener, face cream etc). I never thought it could have to do with the IUD but now I am not sure as it does appear to be fluid retention as it is only the eyelids not my eyes themselves.
I also am experiencing pregnancy like symptoms - infact I was convinced I might be pregnant so I took a test today despite my husband reminding me you have to have sex to get pregnant (and that is not happening with my total lack of sex drive). The test was negative. I am bloated, gaining weight, eating everything in sight, crampy, often have numbness in my arms/hands when I sleep (not just slept on it wrong kind...all up and down my arms/hands), restless at night when trying to sleep despite the fact that I am tired, loose bowels, rash on my hand that wont go away, headaches, neck pain, crampy flu feelings, short temper, lack of energy, larger breasts and my period didn't show up in October at all (has been declining for the last 4-5 months from a few days of spotting to a day to almost nothing). I feel pmsy all the time though but no bleeding. I have been thinking I may be having a thyroid problem again (had hypothyroidism with my last baby) but now I am starting to think it could be the IUD instead. My husband isn't too happy with the thought of me taking it out because I paid $865 out of pocket for it and planned on having it in at least another year before we try for another baby but if it is the IUD I want it OUT now. I'd rather be pregnant and have a good reason to be miserable ;)
This is exactly what my eyes are doing also. I thought it to be an allergic reaction also. I do hpe the obvious wrinkling is not permanent. Another link provided to me by Kabel, which is the literature that the doctors receive also listed tendonitis as a side effect. I am going to the doctor today, and I will bring this printout with me, with others that also pertain. Thank you so much for your response. I'll let you all know what she says. Mickey7
I went to the doctor last week, and like so many others, she said that some of the syptoms were natural for progestin, and the others were probably not related. She did some blood work, that all came back normal, yes! She said she would remove the Mirena if I still wanted to. I have an appointment for the 10th of December, since this is the only time I will have time to suffer the removal side effects (heavy bleeding) that I am anticipating, after reading others responses in the forum. I am still feeling crappy and look forward to getting this thing out. I feel like I'm alergic to it. Told the doc that this is an excellent form of BC since you never feel like having sex! My boyfriend is so relieved to find that he may have his old healthier woman back soon. I hope so. I'll let you know when it's out how I'm doing. Thanks again for sharing, it makes me feel that I'm not alone in this. Mickey7
My eyes are doing it again today. I got the IUD out almost 2 months ago, and still feel like it is related. My doc is testing for a gluten allergy, just waiting for results. Are you still having this problem? I looked it up on the internet, and it's called angioedema, usually related to an allergy. So many of my other symptoms have abated. How are you doing?
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Wondering if it's from the Mirena 
