I had a Mirena inserted Sept. 2006 since it was low dose hormones and no estrogen. I had too much weight gain, swelling, and melasma (dark patches on the face) with traditional birth control pills.

At first, the Mirena seemed wonderful. The swelling from the "pill" went away along with a few pounds of the extra weight I had gained. The insertion procedure was much more painful than I expected though, with uterine contractions so intense I actually thought I would faint. After reading more on the subject, that may have been because I haven't had children.

There was some mild cramping, like the first tell tale signs of getting a period, for about a month. I also had spotting and watery discharge that required wearing pantyliners for about three months. Some minor swelling returned, especially after sitting or standing for extended periods of time. After reading all the side effects on various medical websites and doing a significant amount of research, I assumed that it was all normal. I also developed acne on my neck and back, which became much worse as time went on. At first I thought I could live with it, but it actually got to a point where nothiing I did topically seemed to make any difference. I had never had an acne problem before, even as a teenager....just an occassional pimple.

Along with these side effects, I noticed that my "scent" had changed yet again. Since it had changed with the "pill" I assumed it was a direct effect of the different hormones. (The doctor ran the "usual" STD tests before insertion and I never got a call saying anything was amiss.) I hated it, but again, was willing to live with it for the other benefits which after 3 months included barely any period at all! :)

Then however, I started to notice my hair was a LOT thinner than before and must have been falling out a lot. By 4 months of use, I was starting to see a LOT more of my scalp showing through and began to worry that I was going bald! I normally take very good care of my hair and don't even blow dry it to save it from damage. My hairdresser gave me a niacin shampoo, conditioner and treatment serum to help, so we'll see if that does any good.

I just had my Mirena removed January 14, 2007. After 3 days, the acne has improved a bit and so has the water retention. I now seem to be having a period however, even though I'm not due yet. And I am desperately waiting for my hair to grow back!!!! If anyone has a journal of how their side effects went away and the timeline, I would love to know your experiences. Especially if your hair grew back....and if anything you did helped!

By the way, I saw a different doctor for the removal and he thinks that the different "scent" was actually caused by bacteria around the strings of the Mirena, which had curled around the cervix. I'm now taking Flagyl to prevent or treat any possible PID.