Merina, the Depressive IUD

This all started many years ago. I had had an IUD placed before my second child. I liked the freedom of not having a daily birth control to take. It gave us the comfort of knowing that there was always something there to protect us from pregnancy. After the birth of our second daughter, we decided to go with the Mirena IUD. It was different from the copper one known as Paraguard. The Mirena is just like an implanted birth control pill. It is time released and goes straight into the blood stream, so a lower hormone amount is necessary. That sounded great! So I went to my appointment, had it inserted, and that was that. 800 mg of Ibuprofen later and I was receiving my first dose of hormones. All seemed to be great. The benefits of this form of IUD you ask. Two no brainers! No to light periods and worry free birth control for about 5 years. Granted the Paraguard lasts for about 10-12 years, it does not help regulate your period and make the flow lighter and the cramps lessened. I had been on birth control since I was 12 due to painful cramps, so the Mirena sounded great.

I went on my daily life not worrying about my birth control. I checked that it was there every so often, and that was that. About a year went by and my periods diminished to about 1 period about every 2 months, which lasted for about ½ the day. I had cramps that would last for about 1 day and they were mild in comparison to anything I had experienced before while not pregnant. It was great, not to mention the money it saved! About a year later I noticed that I was breaking out all the time. I had never had a problem with it before, and now it was like I was a teenager. Ok, well that was annoying but I could deal with it.

Life went on, and I began to realize something that my husband had probably realized right away, I had no sex drive. I would agree to sex, but it wasn't the same. HMMM... What was the cause of this? I just attributed it to getting older, being tired and being a mom. I took it as normal. I think my husband though disgruntled took it as normal also. He rarely complained about it, and usually did not push the topic. Again, life went on. I began to lose my patience with my girls. I became moody. I would get mad at the drop of a hat. My moodiness was partially to blame for some MAJOR rifts in my relationship, so much that I packed my bags and left for 2 months with my girls. I came back and we began to work on patching things up.

I finished my bachelor's degree, and in the mean time began to gain weight, and loose interest in activities. My only high calorie intake is alcohol. I don't eat candy I don't drink soda, I eat some pasta, but not all the time. My bread intake is limited. I am not a super active person, but I would not want to get up off the couch and do anything. I just thought that it was due to lack of movement and beer. My husband would have to force me to go out and ride my bike. Few things could make me get up and actually move. I was happier just sitting at home. Sure I went to work, I did what I had to do, and went home but had no ambition to make dinner, often I would fall asleep on the couch. It was almost a lethargic feeling. It wasn't present all of the time, but for a good part of the time. Enough to make my life and those around me harder than it should have been. I began to have memory loss, more than what I thought was normal for a mostly healthy 30 year old. I would forget where I put something seconds after I had put it down. I lived in a constant fog. Sometimes you even feel a flutter in your stomach that feels like a baby. My life went on like this for about another 3 years.

Summer of '09 rolled around and I decided it was time to get my weight under control. I decided to do what is called the cabbage diet. I lost 12 lbs of water weight and was able to keep it off. I remembered that somewhere I had heard of gaining weight on birth control pills. I decided to look up the side effects of Mirena. I was shocked when I found there were 100's of women out there just like me. They all told of the same story. They all looked like they were pregnant, they couldn't lose that belly fat, or that baby belly as it is so commonly referred to. They all had problems with baby fat areas in the butt and thighs also. There were many women who went to their dr's and were told that they were eating unhealthy, and they possibly had thyroid problems, and didn't exercise enough. These stories were all over the web in blogs and medical forums. Then came the results of taking Mirena out. Women would almost instantly feel better. The weight would drop on a few weeks, women were losing 20 lbs in 3 weeks, all from the baby belly area, thighs and butt. Then there is the Mirena crash. It occurs about 3-10 days post removal of the IUD. The hormones begin to really make women feel strange. The mood swings can be very severe, there can be days when you don't want to get up off of the couch and move. Needless to say, I decided I wanted it out. I made the first appointment I could and had it taken out 3days ago. I am still tired, and my guess is the mood swings are worse now than they were before. I am waiting for my period to return, there are cramps at different times of the day that sneak up on me. I still feel foggy and can't remember where I put things. I don't remember conversations I had 30 minutes ago. I can remember bits and pieces, but not whole conversations. I still feel fat, and don't like that one bit, even though I am now about 160 instead of 175. I am waiting for the hormones to flush themselves out of my system so I can feel like myself again.

To all of you women out there who are looking to get Merina, or have it, read the posts. You are not alone in your feelings. This is bad news, and most of us didn't know the side effects because the dr never told us. In fact many are paid to keep their mouths shut and tell us we are just crazy. How can so many of us that feel the same exact way be making all of this up. We need to stand up for ourselves. Go to this website and make sure they begin to tell us all about the side effects of this drug. Do you want to feel and look like you are pregnant for 5 years? Do you want your body tricked into believing it is pregnant for 5 years? At least make it so we can make informed decisions about our bodies and mental well being. It isn't just for your own well being though, it is for your families. There are some stories out there well worth reading. Divorce, suicide tendencies, depression that lasts for the time Merina is in place. I realize that this drug, but the ones who are, stand up to the drug company, read these posts, affect not all women, http://www.medications.com/se/mirena sign this petition: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/mirena-awareness and make a difference in another women's life.