My Mirena Story

A little over 6 years ago, I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy at 38 years old and our 6th child we new that we were done having kids so Connor was our caboose. I wanted to have a tubal ligation done immediately following my c-section however the hospital that I had Connor at was a catholic hospital and they do not allow tubal's unless the mother's life is in danger. I knew I wanted something more permanent so I decided to get the Mirena IUD at my 6 week check up. It was extremely painful during insertion and I was told that it would not be. I bled for the next 6 weeks and spotted on and off for a very long time, I lost my libido I found it very difficult to lose the baby weight and I felt like I was pmsing all the time. I hated the Mirena however I decided to leave it in because I was not ready to have a tubal while my little one was so young and still needed me and I did not want to be unavailable to him or my other children because of a surgery. I eventually was able to lose all the baby weight by doing HCG this was my last resort because I tried everything else and nothing worked. fast forward 5 years to may 2013 it was time to have the mirena removed and starting planning for my tubal ligation so when I went in for my annual check up I discussed my option with my doctor and discussed my options she told me that I did not need to rush to a decision because they have found that the hormone in the Mirena can be effective for up to 7 years. She gave me a referral to see a surgeon to discuss all my options. Because of life and my husband having to travel a lot I was unable to get into see the surgeon until August if 2013 from May to August I had started having even more severe symptoms rapid weight gain, vertigo, and depression I literally felt like I was pregnant and took several pregnancy tests for 5 months I put off going to the doctor and scheduling my tubal because I felt so ashamed of the fact that I had gained over 60 lbs. Finally in January the depression had gotten so bad that I made an appointment to see my doctor and she ran a blood test to check my thyroid however she said she did not want to check my hormones until after the Mirena could be removed because she believed that it could possibly be the culprit. She also gave me a referral to see a psychiatrist. I came home that day and made and appointment to have the tubal done on February 19th. Went into my surgery thinking that I was going to have my tubal and while he was in there he would also remove the Mirena. However apparently he did not have a referral to remove it so he would have to remove it at my post op appointment. While I was coming out of anesthesia I over heard my surgeon talking to someone saying she really wants it out because she has had lots of problems with it and it is the worst I have ever seen. He called me the next day to explain to me that while he was performing my tubal he found that the Mirena had completely perforated all the way through my uterus and that he would have to do another surgery to remove it. He also thought that he might have to do a hysterectomy to get it out. I had my surgery on March 24th and I awoke to the good news that he was able to remove it without having to do a hysterectomy. I am not sharing this story because I want people to feel sorry for me I am sharing this story because I want people to be aware that this can and does happen so before you decide to have an IUD(mirena) inserted do your research I wish I had done more.