Mirena IUD??

I apologize if someone mentioned that the Mirena is locally acting, I have a newborn and I’m tired! Haha. By rhythm method I meant the temping/charting/etc.

I also forgot to mention that I took the pill for years and had no problems on it or coming off of it. Everyone is different.

I completely agree that teaching abstinence is silly. Teens need better education about their bodies and girls should definitely know about their cycles. HOWEVER since teen pregnancy is pretty detrimental I think young people should use other forms of birth control as well- the benefits of the pill preventing teen pregnancy outweigh its possible risks in my opinion.

Aedine, if you live in the US the only ones available are Mirena, Skyla, and paragaurd (non-hormonal, speaking of which, is there a reason you don’t want the non-hormonal one)?

StephanieMichelle, you may have meant temping/charting, but those studies and other things you site DO NOT. It’s not about this site being down on hormones, it’s the fact that for the most part women are completely uneducated about what their options are in terms of birth control and what the side-effects are of each method. It’s really important to realize that these methods are all grouped together and no one really knows how to distinguish them in writing.

Overall, anecdotes are relied on WAY too much and most women have no clue how effective their birth control methods are or even what the effectiveness rating means if they do know.

Pregnancy v. hormones doesn’t really make sense to compare, since one does not necessarily exist without the other. There are other effective birth control methods. I have never used hormones and never been pregnant.

Re: teens.
There is so much that goes into this I don’t even really know where to start.
1.) Hormones are even more detrimental to teens than older women
2.) When we teach teens to be irresponsible with birth control they will be.
3.) A lot of teens that get pregnant it’s due to a subconscious desire to get pregnant/get someone pregnant, because they don’t have plans for their life or feel trapped, because they are NOT fully informed of their options and if they don’t like on thing they just figure they won’t use anything. Just teaching young women about their cycles but not necessarily for birth control can help immensely.

I think it’s smarter to teach self-respect. Also, condoms. I am disgusted by so many birth control information sites only mentioning condoms as an after-thought for things like party hook-ups. Pregnancy is not the only thing that is a negative consequence of unprotected sex.

Anyway, sorry for the rant.

I think you just have to decide what’s right for you and be well informed. Read studies, check out the numerous mirena lawsuits, actually read the package insert (not that that is necessarily reliable). The fact is, none of this stuff has been around long term and we really don’t know all of the long term effects.

Gotcha. It’s your choice whatever you want to do. I just encourage lots of research :)

This post is a little old, and I’m new here but I thought I’d add my story.

I just had my Mirena removed this morning! I had it for 10 months. I only figured out this week what I believe was causing my teenager-like acne, 25-30 lb weight gain in 10 mo (i’m heavier to begin with, but i’ve always at least maintained my weight), and the biggest issue, the INABILITY to actually LOSE any weight! I didn’t really exercise before and kind of ate whatever. But in January I said enough is enough and starting ‘clean eating’ so to speak. i’m not perfect and had some treats along the way, but surely i should of dropped SOMETHING?! nope, I gained! then i started walking to work and back home at the end of the day (1.4 mi round trip). not only did i not lose any weight, i gained AGAIN! so i doubled my distance…figured i’m just not trying hard enough. I gained even more!!!

I started researching the mirena since i actually didn’t before i got it (which is not like me) but i was supposed to get the copper one, paraguard, but they told me it wasn’t going to be a good fit (once i was already up on the table, legs open, speculum in, cervix clamped (OUCH)). so i said, since i’m in this position, might as well put the mirena in!

10 mo later i’m FINALLY figuring out what it did to me! I also forgot to mention, when i first got it, about 3-6 weeks later, I went bat shit crazy, more than normal i guess since i was already on prozac for depression. the doctor told me in no uncertain terms it was NOT mirena and was happy to double my dose of prozac. I have since come off it altogether, weaned myself properly in january and have been doing great since.

after reading the 1000’s of horror stories of mirena and it’s effects, i believe it is an evil little devise for SOME people, me included!

I am VERY much looking forward to ‘life after mirena’ and getting my body/mind/soul back to where it belongs!!!

I can’t wait to start dropping pounds as i continue eating healthy (and increasing my carbs now!!!) and continue my walking routine!

Thanks for listening!

Oh, and also, prozac leads to long-term weigh gain in a lot of people, so that may have been another contributor, along with the mirena (SSRI weight generally comes off once the medication gets out of your system, so you should lose any weight that was med-related).

StephanieMichelle, what’s been shown in the Prozac research is there is often weight loss at the *beginning* (as in the first 6-12 months). The long-term is a whole ‘nother story though, and is usually weight gain as with the other SSRIs. Of course, some people will react differently.

Another woman on here had a 40 lb weight gain from Mirena, so just because it’s not the “average” doesn’t mean it can’t happen. There’s a bell curve for sure.

As someone who has had serious issues resulting from 15 years on the pill (that I was never warned about), I also really wish teens were not pushed on the hormonal stuff. Condoms are a wonderful alternative for teens (along with knowing your body) that also protect against STDs in addition to pregnancy and don’t carry the longterm consequences of the pill. Too many girls on the pill are willing to skip the condom because they know they’re protected against pregnancy. I would argue AIDS is much worse than pregnancy if we’re comparing risks here.