Mirena users?

[mystery]

Well I hope after 3 weeks your body does give up trying to eject the foreign body and you and Mirena live together in perfect harmony! You've survived a few days so far and Mirena has too so there is light at the end of the tunnel!

[mm23292]

Well just thought I'd give a little update...spent all of last week feeling fluey and had no appetite at all.. the pains came and went just the same, but started to feel a bit better after the weekend...and then yesterday, out of the blue, had the most debilitating side splitting pain...had to stop the car and pull over. I couldn't bend, sit or move without it making me want to scream. Rang the secretary of the dr who inserted this thing, and was told again...that as this is only one month now...it really is all just the norm, and perhaps I should just take an extra nurofen or something. I feel like this is becoming a joke....apart from the other 'minor' side effects..e.g. the fact I can't even hug my child close and have to keep my arms well away from my upper regions (which on its own is enough to make me want this thing out, never had that ailment before, why on earth would I want it now?!) I cannot believe that women are expected to endure this sort of settling-in ****. Ok, I can live with these 'minor' explanatory side-effects, it is the ones they can't or won't explain, that are not acceptable. Oh if only they could devise an equally amazing contraption for the male species...when my male Dr laughed at the imaginative way I had described my 'little niggles', I replied that if men were told that one of the after-effects of a vasectomy would be an extremely sore 'package' for 3 to 6 months, there would be zero contenders guaranteed! That soon shut him up..
Anyway...the side splits are taking a break this afternoon, so maybe there is light in that very long tunnel just yet...

[Y]

Sounds like time to see another doctor or A&E. Have you seen this?

http://www.rxlist.com/mirena-side-effec ... center.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Get emergency medical help if you have severe pain in your lower stomach or side. This could be a sign of a tubal pregnancy (a pregnancy that implants in the fallopian tube instead of the uterus). A tubal pregnancy is a medical emergency.

The levonorgestrel intrauterine device may become embedded into the wall of the uterus, or may perforate (form a hole) in the uterus. If this occurs, the device may no longer prevent pregnancy, or it may move outside the uterus and cause scarring, infection, or damage to other organs. If the device embeds in or perforates the uterine wall, your doctor may need to surgically remove the device.

Call your doctor at once if you have a serious side effect such as:

severe cramps or pelvic pain;
extreme dizziness, feeling like you might pass out;
heavy or ongoing vag inal bleeding, vag inal sores, vag inal discharge that is watery, foul-smelling discharge, or otherwise unusual;
severe pain in your side or lower stomach;
pale skin, weakness, easy bruising or bleeding;
fever, chills, or other signs of infection;
pain during s e x ual intercourse;
sudden numbness or weakness, especially on one side of the body;
sudden or severe headache, confusion, problems with vision, sensitivity to light;
jaundice (yellowing of the skin or eyes); or
signs of an allergic reaction: hives; difficulty breathing; swelling of your face, lips, tongue, or throat.

[mm23292]

Thank you Y, went back to see them last week and they had to concede there must be an infection going on, (but quick to reiterate once more, that it couldn't possibly be anything related to the glorified Mirena! ) Had also added dizzy spells and the rather irritating problem of hives, to my growing list of gripes...I think this thing, is just not for me. Why they are so intent on me sticking it out however, I would really like to know! I am convinced there is an 'early removal' restriction, official or not! Anyway, nearing the end of another dose of antibiotics and an ultrasound booked for follow up. So things are moving at last...albeit slowly.. and when my 'stick it out' time is up, I will still insist on returning their wonderful contraption, because for me, first impressions really do matter

[Amber]

A friend of mine had hers removed after two days - she said she didn't feel 'right'. No one at the doctor's tried to argue her out of it. I think you can ask for that if you really aren't comfortable with it. Not everyone feels they want a device inserted inside them which secretes hormones over a matter of years - personally I wouldn't and while I know many hail them as the best thing ever, this really is a personal issue and if you don't want it, you don't have to have it.

[mm23292]

A friend of mine had hers removed after two days - she said she didn't feel 'right'.

Wow! Two days! Yes, it certainly didn't feel 'right' for quite some time, but it's all the other effects that have ground me down more. And because they don't seem willing to accept it is directly related, they keep urging me to give it more time. Get the infection (if it is an infection) sorted, and it will all be better then etc... and as for all the other problems, well 'everybody takes a little while to adjust', it's as though I go in gung-ho, and I leave meek and defeated. I find that incredible compared to my experience...either your pal must be somebody they didn't want to mess with , or she just had a far more understanding and agreeable doctor than mine. Thanks for sharing! Must remember this on my next visit

[mystery]

Yes, I'm afraid I don't really understand why you are having to put up with the "put up with it period" if you definitely want it out, and I'd definitely have tried to get myself a scan or have it removed before now. It sounds like it has been unpleasant for a long time now. Are you still on the antibiotics? Hope so if there is still a chance of infection (which presumably there always is by the very nature of an IUD).

Think I'd be changing GP too if I were you if I lived in an area where there was some choice within a reasonable number of miles. Round here there's no choice unfortunately. Have you tried going to a Family Planning clinic or a genito-urinary clinic and bypass the GP and his fob off the patients with her medical ignorance secretary?

A family member goes for a very specialist and expensive scan tomorrow on the NHS -- there has been a lot of confusion and messing around over the appointment time. The administration of it is appalling. Today the actual radiographer phoned up to sort out the mess - amazing! Very nice and helpful but why it was him phoning I have not a clue. He gave an all day choice on the timeslots as they were "pretty much free all day". So in some places there are people waiting weeks and months for the scans, and spending hours on the phone to admin staff trying to get it sorted while the radiographers are twiddling their thumbs. In other places everyone including the radiographers are run off their feet 24 hours a day.

It's a shame in some places you really have to fight to get through the system - and when people are feeling ill like you and are also busy with everything else, there isn't the time or energy to fight the system.

I think because the coil cost some money to put in the first place, and quite a few people have a bit of unpleasantness at first, there's an unwillingness to remove it - but you can get through this barrier where it is making you ill (like it is) or by paying, or going elsewhere.

Good luck!

[mm23292]

Today the actual radiographer phoned up to sort out the mess - amazing!

I had the exact same issue a few months ago, when my 3yr old had to have a scan on her kidneys. I turned up with my letter to one hospital, only to be told the admin people had got it wrong, and children needed to go to a different hospital 20 miles away! Naturally I was a little annoyed, my daughter was about to wet herself, and in the end, one of the radiographers actually came out and sorted everything out, and ended up doing my daughter's scan herself?!

[Amber]

I find that incredible compared to my experience...either your pal must be somebody they didn't want to mess with , or she just had a far more understanding and agreeable doctor than mine. Thanks for sharing! Must remember this on my next visit

A bit of both, I think. A feisty girl for sure; and a lovely doctor to boot (male as it happens). I asked my own GP (male) recently why they were so keen to shove these things into everyone and he said 'because they are great' and I said (in a jokey way) 'I think you just don't want a load of pre-menopausal women in here complaining about their hormones and this gets rid of them for 5 years at a time' and he just smiled.

You need to be assertive - not aggressive. Ring up, say you want to make an appointment to have it removed; say you have made your decision and that you have given it a lot of thought but that is the end of it and when can they do it please? I would avoid any discussion of actual symptoms, just say you have changed your mind and that is that.

[mm23292]

I asked my own GP (male) recently why they were so keen to shove these things into everyone and he said 'because they are great' and I said (in a jokey way) 'I think you just don't want a load of pre-menopausal women in here complaining about their hormones and this gets rid of them for 5 years at a time' and he just smiled.

Absolutely Amber, and if it were not for the fact that I had no complaints whatsoever before this thing was inserted, I'd be inclined to agree! The point is, they do think they are great contraptions, and I am sure they are, but the side-effects are not sufficiently acknowledged, neither before, nor after having it inserted, and looking at the literature, and the number of people who do seem to have had issues, they seem to have been under played as well. That's what I don't understand. And while funding is an obvious issue on the NHS, I had mine inserted privately, and will have to have it removed privately as well! The crucial difference in my case I suppose, is that unlike most people who have this, mine was not really by choice, but was recommended for controlling hyperplasia etc. And as my family has Lynch syndrome, which makes for higher risk of uterine cancer, if this was not controlled, it could be hysterectomy as an alternative. I guess it is being forced as the lesser of two evils, but regardless of the reasons why women either opt for or are recommended to have this thing, the unwanted effects need better consideration and acknowledgement, and that's where I feel I've been fobbed off. Yes I could have it out today if I really wanted, but when there are good reasons for giving it more time, and the experts are telling you that more time, is all that is needed, it is hard to argue otherwise. In short, if I had this inserted purely for contraceptive purposes, I don't think I'd have lasted one day, let alone two