Mirena? Mire-NO!

At my six week follow up after having Joshua, my OB recommended the Mirena IUD.  I was hesitant to get it because of the low dose hormones but she insisted it really didn't affect people.  Sounded good to me.  Four weeks later I went to it put it.

I had read horror stories of it being excruciatingly painful.  It wasn't.  It felt sort of like getting an HSG, if you have ever had one, but so much quicker (like seconds) and not that intense.

Within two days of having the Mirena inserted, I put on 8 pounds.  And I was on a post baby diet so I know it wasn't what I was eating.  8 pounds.  And I couldn't get any more than a pound off the entire time I was on it, while dieting.  Next, I realized I was feeling moody.  Just sort of down and that is not my personality.

I went back to the doctor and was seen by a nurse.  She told me that people don't gain weight from Mirena and it something I am doing wrong with my diet.

I left and researched it on the internet and there were lots of other people that had this weird weight gain phenomena.  The common link seemed to be people who got Mirena before they had lost the baby weight.  Next I saw countless accounts of women saying they felt like there were in a fog and then had it taken out and life went back to normal.

Next, I never stopped bleeding.  I had it in for four months and maybe had 10 days I wasn't spotting or having a period.  This birth control works great, because you are never going to want to do it if you are bleeding all the time. I think eventually your period is supposed to stop all together but that never happened for me.

Reading that all these other people had similar side effects convinced me to have it taken out.  Eight hours later, it was just like I read, I felt a fog lift off me.  It is hard to explain in words, but I just felt better.  I wish I could saw I lost 8 pounds over night.  I lost about 2 in a couple days.

Apparently, side effects are rather rare with the Mirena.  I guess I am just one of the lucky ones.