Mirena...yay or nay?

[newfiemountiewife]

Back story: been on the pill for 18 years. Tony is DONE having kids, I want one more, but since he's not on board, I have to respect that. I want to finally stop these stupid pills, so my doctor has been asking me to try Mirena. I have been hesitant until now, because the thought of something sort of implanted gives me the heebie jeebies.

I went to see the doctor today to start the process of getting my eyes fixed, and I brought it up, so he gives me a prescription to pick it up. I can't get it in until 3 weeks from now, so I still have time to mull it over. I know we've talked about it here before, but it was awhile ago, so I wondered if anyone had anything new to add.

If you have it, do you love it? Hate it? Anything I should know?

[Leah]

I used to have the Mirena but had it removed after DH snipped.

It was really nice and for the most part comfortable. I would ask that they cut the string shorter rather than longer.

I would absolutely get it again if I ever thought I'd need it.

[lauren grier]

i'm one who had a bad reaction to the hormones in the mirena.. or to the iud itself whatever..

Lots of pain. Constant. Pain. and cramps.. the entire time i had it. intense pain
Gained 30lbs..
Did i mention pain? haha
I don't remember what other problems i had with it at this point tbh.. but those were my two big ones.

My dr assured me that the hormones being IN my uterus meant they would not have an affect on me. She was wrong. I've heard tons of horror stories about iuds and they make me afraid to try them ever again (copper or horomone) .. Of course, for every bad story, there's a good story. It depends on your body and no one can really tell you how it's going to work with you one way or the other. Just make s ure you read up all the pros and cons.. and make your decision.

[Julie Billingsley]

I'm a huge fan of the Mirena. I talked about it recently in this thread and several others also did too. If you have any questions, let me know!

[newfiemountiewife]

Oh I didn't realize we had a thread that recently!

I am liking the idea that my period might stop or slow down...that would be nice. Watch me go completely crazy or something LOL

[xboxmom]

I have the 10 year Paraguard. For the most part I love it. It does give you heavier periods than the Mirena one but I wanted the longer lasting one since we are done having kids and the Man wont "Man up" and get the old Snip snip. I can't take birth control because the hormones cause me to get high blood pressure and then I end up taking a pill for that too. So the Paraguard was my best option. With everything there are risks involved, same as taking the pill, so I say go for it, its a quick procedure to have it inserted and you do feel a bit crampy that day and possibly for the next 2 or 3 after that but nothing a little Advil can't solve. GL in your BC choice!

[DawnMarch]

I tried it but didn't like it. I had spotting every day for over 6 months straight and I felt like my hair got really brittle and thin on it. The hair thing could be coincidental, but I had it taken out because I just couldn't take the spotting anymore.

[carriesmom]

I'm another Mirena Fan! Like a lot I'm done with kids but DH won't snip and I refuse to have such an invasive surgery. The Mirena is brillant. The procedure was not difficult at all and my periods have now completely stopped and they did about 9 months or so after I had it put in. It is a wonderful choice for BC.

[kresta]

Okay, for all you Mirena lovers ....... the questions was asked in the other thread how it affected your sex drive. I'd love to know this too!! Please tell..........

[Julie Billingsley]

Originally Posted by kresta

Okay, for all you Mirena lovers ....... the questions was asked in the other thread how it affected your sex drive. I'd love to know this too!! Please tell..........

I may not be the best one to answer that since I've had an IUD from the time I was 21... and I'm now 40. The only times I've not had one was for a 2 years while trying to conceive and while pregnant with Logan. But I'd say I don't notice an effect at all.

[kendallt]

Another advocate of Mirena here! A few months ago, I was advised my my doctor to get off BCP's because the hormones were doing wacky things to my body.

I was TOTALLY freaked about getting an IUD, mostly because I'd only ever been on BCP's and didn't know what to expect. Plus, for some reason, I thought it would hurt really badly to have it put in. Thankfully, I was wrong. Having it put in wasn't bad at all, and it's one of the best health decisions I've ever made.

My periods are almost non-existent, my drive is better (which, needless to say, hubby is happy about ), and the health problems I was having before have improved dramatically.

I'm usually pretty wary of anything permanent (With me, there's always gonna be a what if; it's just how I'm wired), so I definitely recommend going the IUD route.

[deepounds]

This is a bit of a sidetrack, but I keep seeing people say they're finished having children but their husbands won't 'get snipped' - why are so many men unwilling to that? Is it because they feel they won't still be a man if they "shoot blanks" or are they not SURE they don't want more kids, or what? Just curious . . .

[kendallt]

Originally Posted by deepounds

This is a bit of a sidetrack, but I keep seeing people say they're finished having children but their husbands won't 'get snipped' - why are so many men unwilling to that? Is it because they feel they won't still be a man if they "shoot blanks" or are they not SURE they don't want more kids, or what? Just curious . . .

Well....this is just my opinion, but I think it's because most men are just big babies and don't want to go through any kind of medical/surgical ordeal.

[chastml]

Originally Posted by deepounds

This is a bit of a sidetrack, but I keep seeing people say they're finished having children but their husbands won't 'get snipped' - why are so many men unwilling to that? Is it because they feel they won't still be a man if they "shoot blanks" or are they not SURE they don't want more kids, or what? Just curious . . .

My DH is a big baby and he doesn't like going to the doctor, ever. So, just making an appointment is a huge deal for him, then the thought of needles freaks him out even more.

[Kat Stokes]

I've had mine for just over 3 years now and LOVE it! AF is virtually non-existent - maybe a little spotting every now and then but nothing I can't handle. No cramps either. The only symptom I seem to have is that my big ole b**bs get soooooo sore! And the drive is much better than when I was on the pill and Depo Provera (which I HATED).

[Stacey42]

I've had a Mirena for 3 years now & I think it's great. DH had the snip but I have endo & have the Mirena to treat it. I haven't had a period in all that time. Not once. Only recently did I start having a much much milder couple of hours version of the searing agony the endo caused me for days on end. My sex drive is normal I suppose. I had about 10 years of low desire prior to the IUD for a variety of reasons that have all worked themselves out one way or another the past couple years so I can't say if the IUD really changed anything

[litabells]

I have it and at first thought it was pretty good - Aunt Flo didn't show up for the first two years, whats not to love? lol
But it's now been almost three yearsand I am having major issues. I had weight gain and skin issues right from the start, and over the last few months it's gotten worse. I've also been getting alot of pain and AF is back with a vengeance (I'm talking 3 weeks here, 4 days away, and then back again o_0). I actually have an appointment next week to have it removed.
So, basically, I have mixed feelings with it. The convenience factor was wonderful, but now the issues with it have outweighed the good. I guess it's like any bc, you never really know until you give it a go

[lovely1m]

I absolutely love mine. Have had it for 2 years. My periods are so light now. I usually only wear a tampon for a day or 2 when before I had heavy, long AF. I can't talk about drive as I had other issues affecting mine before.

[Ginger_79]

I have an implant in my arm. I believe Mirenas is a contraceptive coil/spiral, right?

Regardless, if you've been on the normal pill so far, you very likely will notice differences. Most pills contain oestrogenes, which most implants don't. So you'll instantly notice all side effects of those are missing. Good ones (like cleaner skin ect.) as well as bad ones (in my case psychic problems and being sick in the morning).

I cannot say much about sex drive. I have always noticed my hormon cycle pretty heavily and as my implant still allowes egg cycles, I see more effect of natural...uhm..fluctuations than by the artificial hormons. Then again, I didn't go from pill to implant, but from nothing to implant. Stopped taking the pill ages ago because of the problems mentionerd above. So I have no idea if it is different otherwise.

Btw, not sure for the Mirena, but for my arm implant my doctor actually had me on a pill version with exactely that hormons (only higher dose, implants use the lowest dose possible) for 6 months. So you can kind of test first, how you react to it.

[joelsgirl]

I cast my vote for your DH getting snipped. If he's the one so committed to only having 3 kids, shouldn't he be the one taking care of making sure it stays that way. Does your DH count my vote?

[ColleenSwerb]

I feel like I'm the only person on the planet to still use condoms, lol.
I was on Yasmin for at least 8 years (I lost track), and have been off it for 5 months now. I'm still waiting for my drive to come back.

[nanienamou]

Originally Posted by ColleenSwerb

I feel like I'm the only person on the planet to still use condoms, lol.
I was on Yasmin for at least 8 years (I lost track), and have been off it for 5 months now. I'm still waiting for my drive to come back.

we never used anything other than condoms and calendar here. I've never been on the bc pill. However, if a "surprise" occured, I'd be happy. Since I'm turning 30 this year and DH, 33, we are still to young (in our opinion) to consider permanent solutions.

[aggiefamily]

Originally Posted by ColleenSwerb

I feel like I'm the only person on the planet to still use condoms, lol.
I was on Yasmin for at least 8 years (I lost track), and have been off it for 5 months now. I'm still waiting for my drive to come back.

Not the only one.

I can't take any type of hormonal birth control. My doctor did offer to try Mirena but for my own personal reasons the only type of bc I will have is one that stops ovulation. I kinda do that on my own since I have one ovary that likes to skip its turn.

[newfiemountiewife]

Originally Posted by deepounds

This is a bit of a sidetrack, but I keep seeing people say they're finished having children but their husbands won't 'get snipped' - why are so many men unwilling to that? Is it because they feel they won't still be a man if they "shoot blanks" or are they not SURE they don't want more kids, or what? Just curious . . .

Mine isn't really this problem. Tony would get it done, but in our province, we are severely lacking in urologists. They are only doing priority cases like prostate cancer and whatnot, so vasectomies are way down on the list for them. Not only that, but I think part of me is hoping he'll change his mind

[ColleenSwerb]

I will also probably never go back on BCP ever again. I'm off it so we can TTC later this year, and I'm at war with my body making the adjustment. I didn't even have "side effects", so it kinda scares me to go back onto something down the road.

[Jengerbread88]

I hated the pill... DH and I are pregnant right now, and we still want more kids, so we don't plan on doing anything preventative after this one. When we're done, though, I think Mirena is definitely something I'd consider.