my experience with the mirena iud

I've seen this forum several times and just now decided to make my comment. I had my mirena inserted in june of 2007 after my son was born. At the time I thought it was the best thing in the world. I'd been on seasonale before and new that I could have a light period for the first 3 months. I figured that it would be ok if I didn't have to worry about another period after about 6 or 7 mos of having the IUD. In november of 2007 I started getting the mood swings. They weren't all that bad at first. I'd had the light period for about 4 months straight and then everything went normal. In december my period didn't come. I was some what freaked out that maybe I had gotten pregnant. Everything went down hill from there. My mood swings went crazy. I didn't know if I would start crying at any given moment or if I would start screaming at someone. It was really putting a toll on my marriage. It was also making me have thoughts of suicide. When I was a teenager I'd been diagnosed as a manic depressant and also with post traumatic stress syndrome after my dad died when i was 16. I'd had thoughts of suicide then and with the help of some meds I was doing fine. I went off my meds several years ago and was perfectly fine. I had pretty much felt like a normal human being. I knew there was something wrong with me when the suicide thoughts started back in. It was horrible. I was a mother of 2 beautiful and wonderful children and I wanted to take my own life. In January I said enough was enough and did what I would have had to pay a doctor to do. I pulled it out myself. I don't have health insurance and was in the process of filing for bankruptcy so there was no money to spare for anything. It was either live with the symptoms I was getting with the IUD and risk the chance of my loved ones losing me to it or take the chance of some other side effect from pulling it out myself. I obviously went with the chance of the side effect from pulling it out myself. I don't recommend anyone doing this and you should go to a doctor. The IUD was practically implanting these thoughts into my head that I would get pregnant and my child would be aborted or come out with some sort of birth defect. I'm strictly against abortion and it was haunting me that I could be participating in something that could do something like that. I had to take it out before I went crazy and killed myself. About a week after I took it out I had a period and it was a heavy one at that. The heaviest I'd ever had. Most painful as well. The next 3-4 mos were the same. Then I had a regular period. It seems like every other month I have a heavy period with moderate to painful cramps. My mother had a hysterectomy at 40 because of menorrhagia. This was at least 15 years ago. Unfortunately I don't know what caused it and don't have the option to ask her. I'm just glad I have taken it out. I'm thankful that I'm doing much better now and wouldn't change my decision to remove it. I have told anyone and everyone I know not to get the Mirena IUD. I'm sure that not every woman has the same problems but I don't want anyone else to go through what I had to go through. Tweet