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bluekarin

Mirena - need unbiased opinions please.

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Apologies chaps, this is for ladies.

 

I had my hospital appointment to check out and remove my polyp. Sadly too large and needs an op to remove :( Dr recommends when it's being removed to have a Mirena fitted. Been reading about it, pros and cons and the cons are quite scary. So, do any of you have one and how have you found things? I have friends who have had them and not got on with them at all, and whilst being asleep and having it fitted is ok with me, if it doesn't work out I will have to be awake to have it removed :(

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I am in the final months of my third Mirena and I can't recommend it highly enough. I had my first one fitted about 8 months after YD was born, she was my third and last child, I knew that I didn't want more, but didn't want to do anything too final. My periods were awful after she was born and at first I was fitted with a normal coil and that made things worse, this was removed after about three months and the Mirena was fitted. During the first 6 months or so after my first one was fitted I had spotting quite often and light periods, but after that I had a blissful 4 years with no periods what so ever :dance: they only returned as it came to the end of its life. With the following two I have had periods on the light side of normal getting worse recently, but I am approaching menopausal age.

 

My doctor has told me that when this one is replaced in the spring next year I will then keep that one in place for life.

 

I haven't read up on side effects, but can't say that I have had any at all. I was about 32 when my first one was fitted and I am now 46.

 

My ED, 20 had a normal coil fitted about 4 months ago and has been fine with it, she suffered with heavy painful periods as a teenager.

 

I hope this helps, good luck with the op.

 

Just editing this to say that fitting is no worse than a smear and removal is a little uncomfortable but over very quickly and easier if you can force yourself to relax.

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I'm not sure I can be unbiased because I love mine and will tell anyone who has the misfortune to ask!! I am half way through my second one, and I too have no side effects and no periods - well to be 100% accurate sometimes, very rarely, I see the signs that I would be having a period but it doesn't ever materialise into anything.

 

I do know a couple of friends who have tried it and not gone on with it but removing it is no big deal. Yes there is pain but nothing extraordinary and lasting. Quite frankly the dentist is worse for me and if you've been through childbirth why worry.

 

What are these horrid side effects? I don't remember and it certainly wasn't something that stuck with me and I'm normally a right nervous neris. Then again if you read the potential side effects of anything it's scary.

 

For me I'd never know it was there other than the very odd occasion during (how do I say this on a family forum) moments involving my other half! I hope that helps

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When they work well, they are great, however a 'frequently encountered' complication is migration of the device, either through full or partial expulsion or very occasionally embedding in the uterine wall or perforation of the uterus. You do need to be very aware of the possibility and get any unusual symptoms checked out straight away.

My gynaecologist wanted me to try one rather than go for hysterectomy for fibroids, but having worked on a gynae ward and seen my fair share of perforations, I refused and went for the hysterectomy. You do need to carefully weigh up the pros and cons of your options. :?

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I have endometriosis and had one fitted a number of years ago to try and help. They made me keep it in for 18 months and told me that some women experienced issues in the first 6 months.

 

My experience was I was in agony for the majority of the time, it was like horrendous period pains but constant. I also gained weight which is another potential side effect which a fairly rare. I still had periods, only they would last for 3-4 weeks and had terrible migraines.

 

After going through this hell for 18 months, I sobbed to my sympathetic GP saying either she could take it out or I'd try myself, I really has got to the end of my tether.

 

Now, I have a quarterly depo injection and am fantastic, no pain, no periods, no weight gain (even though it's quite common on the depo).

 

I'm still hopeful that when I turn 40 they will consider a hysterectomy for me.

 

A friend with endometriosis suffered the same issue I did with it, but equally I know of several women who have it and are fine with it.

 

Hope this helps, I wanted to be honest.

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My first was fantastic, no periods and no side effects. I had it about 8 years.

 

My second was expelled after ten weeks of almost constant havy bleeding - it moved into my cervix and basically I went into labour, my GP removed it and I now have a third which is settling well.

 

When its good its wonderful but some women really don't seem to tolerate it well, and even after my first going so well, my second was a total pain. I went for a third because I was reassured that I could go back to my GP and talk about other options at any point - she is a gynae specialist and is realistic!

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I am on my second Mirena. I haven't given birth, so that caused some issues when having both of them fitted.

 

It was recommended that I switched to it because I had had a DVT and embollism, and carry a genetic risk of having another clot. This meant that even the modern progesterone only pills were out for me.

 

As suggested, I took some nurofen before my first one was fitted. It was awful. I suppose I thought it would be like having a tampon inserted, but it wasn't. It didn't take long to get it inseted, but it was painful. I even said the F word out loud at one point. The nurse who fitted it said that because I hadn't had children, it was worse. I sat in the car park wondering how the hell I could drive home.

 

I then spent the next few days with pain that felt like the worst period pain I have ever experienced, and I actually spent part of a day in bed (which I've never done with period pain before).

 

Once that was over, it was fine. No pain, no problems, no periods. The lack of periods was fantastic, and I decded that the pain I experienced in the first few days was well worth it, considering I had no periods or period pain for the next 5 years.

 

When it came time to change it, I got my DH to take me to the clinic and to wait for me, and I timed it for when I wasn't goingto be very busy. I expected that it would be easier the second time, but I didn't want to take any chances.

 

I thought that taking it out would be relatively quick and painless. Once again, I thought of the tampon analogy, and once again I was wrong. I swore a lot. Inserting the next one was just a painful as before, and I think I cried this time. (I feel cery sheepish at being so pathetic, but it really did HURT).

 

Once again I had 5ish days of discomfort. Actually it was probably 1-2 days of really severe discomfort, and then four days of a nagging discomfort. It probably seemed worse than it was, as I hadn't had period pain for years.

Since then, it's been fine.

 

This one will last for 7 years, and it may be that I don't need another.

 

In spite of the pain of insertion and removal, and the few days of extreme discomfort, I would definitely have it again.

 

Hope that helps.

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I am a huge fan. I am on my second and the relief from a lifetime of heavy periods and anaemia is wonderful. I had no issues with insertion the first time - it was done by a gynae consultant - but she said that my gp might have struggled because I have a kink (I didn't ask where....) the second time the nurse at the well woman clinic removed the original, (absolutely fine - not as bad as a smear) but because of said kink couldn't get the replacement in - which was a bit uncomfortable but I was dosed up with ibuprofen! I made an appointment to see the consultant and bingo - no problems.

 

So if you are having it inserted and you won't know anything about then I would go for it - it is the work of moments to have it removed if you don't get on with it - and the well woman clinic will always be very sympathetic if you don't.

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I had one fitted 3 years under GA when I was having a cyst removed from my ovary. Prior to this I had suffered years of heavy periods, anaemia and loads of other symptoms associated with the perimenopause and menopause. Overnight all these symptoms disappeared and I felt that my GP had wasted loads of time with all the other treatments I had. Because I was previously on HRT I do continue to take Elleste Solo, but I am dreading what will happen when it's time to have it removed as I know I will be too old for another one and am worried all the menopause symptoms will return.

 

Obviously it's a decision only you can make, if it works well it is great but there can also be problems for some.

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I agree with Snowy; I had gynae problems after I had Rosie 15 years ago.. heavy, non-stop bleeding etc, turned out that I had massive fibroids, plus my hormones seemed to be haywire, so none of the pills suited me after a lifetime on them.

 

After a botched fibroid op caused a massive internal bleed that mucked up my ovaries and the rest of the tackle, I had ongoing problems, mainly due to an incompetent junior GP who dithered about. I begged her to send me to a gynaecologist who insisted that they wouldn't perform a hysterectomy (despite being a 45 year old single mother with no desire to conceive again) until I'd tried a Mirena, I fought against this as I'd been advised that coil would be almost impossible to fit as I'd had a C section and had a very tight cervix. I have a legendarily high pain threshold, but the pain when they tried to insert it was terrible, in the end I threatened to hit the gynae if he tried again.

 

I got my hysterectomy 5 years ago and it's the best thing I ever did, I know too many women who have had problems with coils.

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Hrmmmm ive been mixed with it. Both have been put in whilst ive been asleep, but im ummm narrow and its hard for it any other way (silly genetic anomalies). However mines in because i have endometriosis. The first started to fall out, ouch, got lodged, ouch, so another op, ouch. However, second op they found my odd problem so huzzah!

 

Apart from the slighr water retention caused by progesterone, i love it. I feel great. Will be getting another. Maybe on day they will let me have a hysterectomy but im ten years too early at the moment grrrr

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I'm on my second the first lasted 18 mths. ( had it removed as I didn't stop bleeding and as I had it put in to help with small fibroid dr thought it wasn't good enough.) The insertion of second really did hurt a lot ! it settled quickly and as I am menopausal and only spotted once very recently after years of nothing I am hoping, that when the letter comes any time now ( 7 yrs almost up ) Hoping I won't need another.

For me it has been wonderful, my daughter was so impressed she got one and her pmt settled overnight, she loves not having periods. I had a friend who couldn't cope with Not having a period and was paranoid she was pregnant every month she had to have it removed for peace of mind. Everyone I do know with them like them and will continue to use them as long as they can.

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Seems the general consensus is the same as the reviews I have read online - pretty much split down the middle. Not sure I want to go through all the hassle and pain if it doesn't work out for the possibility of it making things better. I already have 7-10 day periods with spotting in between plus other nice things :roll: A friend has the implant and has had no problems with it,which is what I am considering having. Still have time to mull it over as my appointment could be 3 months away.

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Seems the general consensus is the same as the reviews I have read online - pretty much split down the middle. Not sure I want to go through all the hassle and pain if it doesn't work out for the possibility of it making things better. I already have 7-10 day periods with spotting in between plus other nice things :roll: A friend has the implant and has had no problems with it,which is what I am considering having. Still have time to mull it over as my appointment could be 3 months away.

 

If you are already having problems, I would say try it.

 

You are going to be asleep when they put it in, so the hassle and pain/discomfort for you is minimal. If you already have 7-10 day periods, a few days of discomfort after fitting will not be any different to that.

 

If it doesn't work, you have a couple of minutes disocmfort/pain when they take it out, and then it's over with.

 

But you have the chance that things will be much better.

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I am definitely into mirenas. I'm on my fourth, as I had one removed to have a baby. My next one will be my last. It doesn't hurt having them removed (me), but as I've got older my cervix has got "woody". Which means I have to have loads of local anasthetic to place a new one. No flooding, no period pains. Occasional moodiness. So for me it's win win :D

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One thing I would get confirmed if you do have it is that you can have it removed straight away if you have issues. I wouldn't want any woman going through the hell I went through when they wouldn't remove mine :anxious:

 

The implant (5 years) that your friend has is a slow release of the drug that I have in my quarterly injections. Good to know you have a backup plan. I was going to have the implant, but as I had problems with the coil that's why they tried with the injections first.

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I had one fitted 4 months ago as I had limited contraceptive options. Still early days, periods lighter but still quite painful.

 

Fitted at gps with no anaesthetic no worse than a smear but I worked at being relaxed as I have no children which makes them harder to fit :shock:

 

Fingers crossed the pain will settle in time ask me again this time next week :oops:

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I had two Mirena Coils with no problems and I am a huge fan of these and would recommend one to DD when the time is right! Can't recommend it more highly than that...., but i had no ongoing gynae problems, two babies with no delivery complications etc.... but heavy periods after my second baby....fitting and removal was no worse than a bad period pain and not as painful as a contraction...I don't know what the statistics are for problems versus the number fitted each year but in my opinion it's worth a try, if it works for you it is fab, and less drastic than surgery....

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