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[Flossieteacake]

Hello there
I have been longing to contribute to this thread, but the admins have only just approved me.  I had the Mirena fitted on 16th May, a couple of weeks before you Nas, and I am having it removed on Wednesday! 
I have a history of terrible PMS prior to having my children, so the Mirena was recommended as the gold standard for me.  My main perimenopausal symptoms have been depression and anxiety which were solved by being on a 100mcg evorel patch and doing two weeks of vaginal Utrogestan.  As the Mirena was supposed to be the most convenient way of keeping the womb lining thin and has very 'low systemic effects' I booked myself in for a fitting.  Literally the next day I was completely flat and the day after I cried all day which I don't think I have ever done before.  Then I continued to feel very flat, depressed, tearful, occasionally OK and intermittent  terrible brain lethargy.  I saw a private menopause specialist and she said stick with it for three months, but after reading all the stories on mums net and elsewhere on the internet I decided that I'm not going to risk it never getting better.  I also thought that the progesterone component was a body identical progesterone like Utrogestan but actually it's the same synthetic progestin that is in the pill I took in my twenties which took away my libido and probably contributed to depression and pms.  Clearly the Mirena works brilliantly for most people but the psychiatric side effects are well known and listed on the leaflet that comes with it and if you've had a history of pms then you are more likely to be one of the unlucky ones who finds it a struggle.  I will let you know if I notice any changes when I have it removed.
Thanks for reading and good luck to you!

Welcome to the forum. Thank you for sharing your experiences. I am constantly being told by GPs to try it and I always refuse as I have depression anyway and fear it will worsen it.

[sas67]

Thank you Flossieteacake! 
My GP said that she would be rich if she had a £ for every time she'd heard a gynaecologist recommend it.

I wanted to add that I really feel for you Nas, it is absolutely horrible to feel this way and to be trying to manage day to day life feeling so bad is a nightmare.  And if you have issues with heavy bleeding, I can see it is a less easy decision to get it removed...

[Nas]

Thanks for your input you lovely lot! 
I swear ( and I do a lot of that !) that I would go insane without this forum!

Well, today has been a good day ( surprisingly) and I feel quite normal .
This is how it seems to go. A couple of good days, followed by feeling like I’ve been dug up!

I emailed my specialist this am. Of course, she said stick with it, I need to give it more time and that the alternatives are not so good? Whether she meant bleeding, provera or norethisterone, I don’t know.

Admittedly I feel a bit under stress at the mo. I work on a SEN school and it’s sooo busy right now. To top it all, I’ve been told I’ve got to work on the production and do the lighting ! WTAF.. I am a TA working in the 6th form and know NOTHING about lighting! Plus, I’ve got to negotiate my pay grade, which is lower than I should be on!

Anyway, will see how this weeks goes. Any more nonsense and the thing is coming out. My surgery don’t do removals, so I’ve found the phone number of two local clinics who may do. I plan to call them this week to find out what the score is re removal of coil. In truth, I would like it to work as utrogestan doesn’t do the job for the amount of Oestrogen I need ( medium dose). I’ve tried and tried but to no avail.

Thanks again ladies,you really are my saviors during what is frankly a shite time of life.

Xxxxx

[Flossieteacake]

Thanks for your input you lovely lot! 
I swear ( and I do a lot of that !) that I would go insane without this forum!

Well, today has been a good day ( surprisingly) and I feel quite normal .
This is how it seems to go. A couple of good days, followed by feeling like I’ve been dug up!

I emailed my specialist this am. Of course, she said stick with it, I need to give it more time and that the alternatives are not so good? Whether she meant bleeding, provera or norethisterone, I don’t know.

Admittedly I feel a bit under stress at the mo. I work on a SEN school and it’s sooo busy right now. To top it all, I’ve been told I’ve got to work on the production and do the lighting ! WTAF.. I am a TA working in the 6th form and know NOTHING about lighting! Plus, I’ve got to negotiate my pay grade, which is lower than I should be on!

Anyway, will see how this weeks goes. Any more nonsense and the thing is coming out. My surgery don’t do removals, so I’ve found the phone number of two local clinics who may do. I plan to call them this week to find out what the score is re removal of coil. In truth, I would like it to work as utrogestan doesn’t do the job for the amount of Oestrogen I need ( medium dose). I’ve tried and tried but to no avail.

Thanks again ladies,you really are my saviors during what is frankly a shite time of life.

Xxxxx

You are so welcome. No wonder you feel low with all you have going on at work. I am very happy to hear today has been a better day for you. 

[joziel]

Yeah it's difficult sometimes to know whether stuff is due to life itself or hormones. There is also a lot of pressure on women to be unflappable and never angry about anything and caring and loving always and to feel like there is something wrong with them if they are not. Whereas really that's just not realistic in terms of being human.

Not to say that's what's going on for you Nas, but do be kind to yourself as well 

[Nas]

Joziel you are right, the pressure on women in particular is really quite immense at times.

Well, last night my mum messaged to say my dad was in hospital having had a mild heart attack. That threw me completely ( I live 150 miles from parents) .

Today I went to work, cried lots and came home! I feel like death.

I rang a nurse at a local sexual health clinic and she said only a very time amount of Mirena hormone enters the body. So maybe the Oestrogen isn’t right still? Feel very low and tears, yet yesterday, absolutely fine!

I just don’t understand 

[Flossieteacake]

Joziel you are right, the pressure on women in particular is really quite immense at times.

Well, last night my mum messaged to say my dad was in hospital having had a mild heart attack. That threw me completely ( I live 150 miles from parents) .

Today I went to work, cried lots and came home! I feel like death.

I rang a nurse at a local sexual health clinic and she said only a very time amount of Mirena hormone enters the body. So maybe the Oestrogen isn’t right still? Feel very low and tears, yet yesterday, absolutely fine!

I just don’t understand 

I am really sorry to hear about your dad. I can understand how awful it was for you to hear that and be so far away from him.

[joziel]

That is awful news about your dad. I hope he recovers. I think medicine is amazing when it comes to heart-related conditions now...

But in terms of your own response, it's perfectly normal if you have bad news like that, to come home and cry. I would, whatever else is going on. I think there is a trend in today's society to pathologise all negative emotions. Like we shouldn't feel angry, sad, upset, frustrated etc - and there's something wrong with us, if we do feel these things. But these emotions are often a perfectly normal response to external life events - as with you at the moment Nas. So I wouldn't assume it is something to do with your coil if you came home and cried x Just a reflection of how much you care about your dad.

It is true that the hormones in the coil are much less than in the POP or in other forms of HRT and are delivered locally. So they are less likely to cause systemic effects like PMS. BUT... they still can and do, for some women. That's known, as well. However, in many cases they will settle after the first 3-6 months. If you can stick that out.

[Blue Kingfisher]

Sorry to hear your news about your Dad Nas & hope he is ok. You’re bound to have your coping mechanism very challenged at the moment with the change of HRT to settle down. Think lining up what the score is with clinics is wise re removal even if you don’t have it removed. It always helps me to know I have a plan b, c, d, e etc! Hope you have a better day tomorrow x

[Nas]

Thanks again everyone.
I’ve totally written off today, just a hideous nightmare!

My dad has been to the theatre and had heart surgery. Mum is going to update later.

The Mirena nurse rang back today. She said that only a small amount of hormone enters the blood stream ( which is what you said joziel) and therefore it is unlikely that the Mirena is causing my mood swings etc.

It must be low Oestrogen causing the issues  I think. Mainly because I’m very noise sensitive, jumpy and snappy. Nurse recommended upping the Oestrogen. I’ve only got 75 and 50 patches, so may try x 2 50 patches.

It’s so odd, as yesterday, I felt  so ‘ normal’ and today, well, just awful. Or is that ‘ Mirena mood swings’? God alone knows!

[sas67]

Hi Nas
That's very frightening news about your Dad, I really hope he makes a good and speedy recovery!
I'm having my coil removed this afternoon after five weeks of terrible mood related symptoms, depression, brain fog, lethargy.  I was told by the menopause specialist that I should give it three months to settle down.  However, I can not live my life this way and I was fine on the Utrogestan vaginally with a 100mcg patch so am not going to take the risk that it may not settle. All the health professionals do say that only a small amount of the progestin enters your body and therefore it is less likely to cause problems but it is now acknowledged in all the scientific literature including the leaflet that comes with the Mirena Coil that there are psychiatric effects in approx 6% of people.  Here is the link to the Electronic Medicines Compendium info about the mirena coil, which lists everything about all medicines in the UK and includes the patient information leaflet that comes with it.
https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/product/1132/smpc
If you look at section 4.8 you can see that all the things you mention are listed under undesirable effects. 
If you look at section 5.2 pharmokinetic properties it says that it initially releases 20mcg of levonorgestrel a day into your uterus and that goes down to 18mcg a day after 56 months, (these measurement are calculated from measuring blood samples (or plasma levels) so I was not optimistic that there would be a huge difference after 3 months. 
if you look at the patient leaflet that is included, it warns you about psychiatric symptoms. 
I know the Mirena is brilliant for lots of people, but for some it does cause mood problems.  I will let you know how getting it taken out changes things for me and I will also ask the nurse removing it what she has found to be the common reasons for removing it prematurely.
I hope you have a calm day and you hear good news about your Dad.
Good wishes to all!

[Nas]

Hi sas,
Thanks for your input on this. Have you had your coil out yet? Please do let me know how you get on going forward. It will interesting to see if your symptoms do subside.

I’ve decided to ditch the patch and and swapped to sandrena. The patch was curling at the edges too soon and I’ve a feeling absorption wasn’t great. I need to know if this is the progesterone or the lack of Oestrogen causing the mood swings. I do know that my symptoms were bubbling prior to the coil being fitted.

The nurse did say she would remove mine when ever I wanted, which is better than the local clinic I contacted,  who said 3 months, end of!!

I know progesterone in general can be a nightmare to tolerate for many women, but IF this coil thing CAN work it would be great for me. I’m going to keep a mood/ symptoms diary to monitor. Today has been much calmer, Dad has had surgery and recovering... phew!

If tomorrow, I’m back to a blubbering irritable wreck, then I think that’s the end of the Mirena, as it isn’t conducive to work and home life at all.

I bet loads of women end up having it removed prematurely, due to side effects. But then utrogestan isn’t always tolerated well and  I get on great with that !

Thanks again and do keep me posted 

[Kathleen]

Hello ladies.

I don't want to add to the confusion but mood swings continue to be a post meno feature for me and I have never had the coil (though it has been suggested) in fact I am on a very low dose progesterone (Cyclogest) but two sachets of gel which I think equals four pumps, so a hefty dose. I now wonder if  my emotional ups and downs are the result of too much Oestrogen?

Nas - I feel your pain, I had a much better day yesterday, felt lovely and calm. This morning was good too but about 10.30 am the jitters etc started and I have been on edge and tearful most of the day. It is a complete mystery as nothing has changed. Thankfully my recent bleeding has stopped but I still have breast tenderness so hormones are still messing with me.

Wouldn't it be great if there was an easy formula to work out the best way to balance our hormones so we could all just get on with our lives. As they say in scientific circles 'more research is needed'

Take care everyone.

K.

[Marchlove]

Hi Kathleen

I’m sorry you’re still having these mood swings.

From personal experience having tried 4 pumps, 3 pumps and on down I’m far better off on the lowest dose possible. This of course impacts how much progesterone you need so it’s a difficult one to achieve.
I’d sort of thought I was really getting somewhere in April then covid came along and upset everything.

Nas - sorry to hear about your Dad, but you must feel relieved that his surgery went well. Another big stress for you which is horrid when you have so much going on.

Hugs to everyone xx

[sas67]

Hello there Nas
I hope you are feeling OK and that your Dad is recovering well?
I had the Mirena Coil out 4 days ago and I definitely feel much better.  I don't feel desperately down and depressed in the mornings anymore and I have much more energy.  Time will tell whether this is a permanent change as you always wonder if it is just your imagination.  It is a relief to have it gone.  I also met an old friend of mine on Friday who I knew had the Mirena Coil and I asked her about her experiences on it.  She had worked out that substantial weight gain had occurred shortly after having it put in five years ago and that she'd been down and lethargic ever since but had put that down to just being at this difficult stage of life and had accepted it as normal.  She needs to have it taken out so she will also be able to see if there is a difference.  Of course, most people seem to do well with the Mirena and I don't want to put anyone off trying this method, but it does need saying that there can be mood related problems for some people (which are said to mainly resolve after a few months).
Have a lovely Sunday everyone!