Why aren't doctors listening to us?

I had Mirena inserted only 3 weeks ago (god knows how the women who had it for 5 years survived). From day 1 my cramps started and I read all the leaflet info and spoke to doctors and they said it was normal for up to 3 months along with a 'couple' of other mild side effects.

Afte 3 weeks of manic Depression (my job is to motivate people with laughter and so this didn't just mesh with my usual personality), uncontrollable sobbing, zero motivation, constant exhaustion, flip-switch moods, no sex drive (and considering I am still very much in the 'in love' phase where sex is fun and non-obligatory as well as exciting with the idea of a new reliable contraception), anger/irritation outbursts and pains/spasms/cramps that are inexplicable and excruciaring, lasting from 30 seconds to a couple of hours at a time. I felt claustrophobic and suffocated anywhere indoors or around people. Everything became an effort. And I was still bleeding. I didnt want to be alone or with people. I didnt want to be at all actually.

I kept thinking it would lessen up or pass, but every day it got worse. Yesterday it took me an hour to get up, I couldn't stand up straight or stop crying. I ended up getting into the car unshowered and in half pyjama's with no shoes on. I drove straight to my mom 45 minutes away, I wasn't thinking sanely at all and needed to get to someone I knew, I shouldnt have driven in my state at all. I didnt want my boyfriend to see my like that, he'd put up enough living with this monster for 3 weeks.

After seeing me writhing on the floor in tears and pain and popping pain-killer after pain-killer for 5 hours, my mom found this site and rushed me to the hospital an hour away. She had tried phoning my Gyne the whole morning to make an appointment, but she was too busy. On sight of me, she took me instantly.

Turned out I also have a cyst on my ovary, but they didn't do an ultra sound before insertion and so have no idea when it got there and blamed ALL of my side-effects on the cyst. The doctor outrightly refused to believe that any of it was a Mirena side-effect, thank god I'd read this site so I knew exactly what it was.

WHY? WHY DO DOCTORS NOT LISTEN TO ANY OF THIS? WHY ARE THEY SO ADAMANT THAT THE MIRENA IS NOT CAUSING THIS? THERE ARE SO MANY PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN THROUGH THIS? Can it really be because of commission?

She wanted me to wait it out until the cyst shrunk, a couple of weeks or so - but there was no way I could carry on in the state I was in. So I had it removed!
I felt instantly better as if some violent creature had been biting and wrestling with me inside and finally let go. The pain hasn't come back since, it's the longest I've gone without unbearable pain for 3 weeks.

Today I am tired from all of the crying, but feel lighter and stronger, albeit a bit dizzy with a slight headache. Even though I am still recovering, I can feel that I am back to 'normal'...I am bewildered at the effect that this 'thing' had - after all it was supposed to be the final and best solution to years of period problems and contraception.

I cannot believe that something like this is available and legal - but all of our bodies are so different and react so differently...I got the worse side of it, and cannot imagine having had it in a moment longer like some of you had. Back to the drawing board I go? Any suggestions for heavy periods, intense cramps and contraception? I tried Yasmin but reacted horribly...

All I can suggest is that if youre having any of these symptoms, get it out asap - your body will still have to regulate after that as well. This is not just some quick fix as it was sold to me, this was something that hung over me like a black cloud and slowly pinned me to my bed...and it was only for 3 weeks.

Who knows, had I waited 3 months, maybe it would all have passed and I'd be a happy sex rabbit with no worries in all the world, but...it's worth just having my own head and thoughts back.

And if it's working for you - then you are one of the lucky ones! Tweet