Contraception :: Mirena IUD Removal

After 5 years and 7 months I’m booked in now to have my Mirena IUD removed on the 24th of Feb.

A bit of background,

I’m currently 34 years old, Single, have no children and never been pregnant.

I have a top OBGYN, after many years and many problems I had the IUD inserted via a laparoscopy and D&C under anesthetic to help with Menorrhagia.

For me having the IUD inserted was never about birth control it was about assisting to reduce the extreme excessive bleeding I was having nearly every two weeks for 9 odd days at a time.

It took a few months for the IUD to settle and function correctly for me.

I am pleased to say that having the IUD did help with dramatically reducing the Menorrhagia.

However,

During this time I have suffered dramatic hair loss, weight gained (40 kgs) approx. 88lbs twice and shed it again now twice, fluid like swelling in ankle and knee joints, developed both food intolerances to avocados and bananas, and also food Allergies (head to toe hives) from what exactly I’m still not totally certain of.  

About 3 years after the insertion I started to suffer bad cystic acne, on my body and face. I never suffered from pimples and bumps as a teenager so this has been an ongoing struggle that I thought was something to do with just growing older.  I’ve tried every over the counter product, spent thousands of $ nothing works.

Over the past few months I’ve been on 100 mg per day doxycycline it has helped slightly but nothing dramatic.

As I’m due to have the IUD removed I started searching information about the process, what to expect etc.

I know there has been a huge amount of negative press about the IUD over the past year or so and one has to air on the side of caution when exploring information on the net.

Here’s the thing I have read a lot of information about women gaining weight after the IUD and not being able to lose it.

To them I simply suggest the blunt honest truth, they are simply not trying hard enough to shed the weight.

That might be a hard fact for many people out there to swallow but people don’t need any more sugar coating.

While hormones do play an active role in potentially having an effect on a person’s body weight, in my instance they clearly didn’t prevent me from losing the enormous weight I gained twice.

As for the rest of my symptoms, I had attributed them to the symptoms of the dreaded aging process, that was until I started to research what I could expect after the removal of the IUD.

I’ve read about many people suffering similar symptoms.  I’ve also read about the “Mirena Crash”.

Personally I’m not currently sexually active so I’ve decided I just want to have my IUD removed and I want to stay off birth control and all hormones for a few months to see how my body copes with things now I’m older.  

If my Menorrhagia continues and my other symptoms do not go away after the IUD is removed then I will definitely consider going under anesthetic again and having another IUD inserted.

I’ve started this thread for a few reasons,

1 – To learn more about what other women experienced once they had their IUD removed ?

I expect there will be a period of bleeding (either a few days or weeks) after the initial removal.

I also expect that it will take a few cycles or months before my body returns to a normal kind of cycle.



2- If other people had the IUD removed and suffered any similar symptoms to the ones I listed above, did those issues clear up for you and go away after the IUD was removed ?  

If so, how long did it take for you to notice a difference ?

Clearly I cannot say for certain that the IUD has caused all my symptoms, and equally I don’t expect all my symptoms to magically disappear or be fixed once the IUD is removed.  

But I’d really like to get some feedback from others regarding their experience of life AFTER they had their IUD’s removed and I’ll post on my progress after my IUD is removed here as well.