Good News! around 20 months post removal, updates and HOPE

Hello,

This is in response to Ashmaye's (sorry if this is spelled wrong!) which was so positive, asking for more positive recovery stories. I have been reading this forum for almost two years now, and though I have been through so many frustrations and so much pain, and it is wonderful to commiserate and be understood by a group of strong women, I often forget to write here about the GOOD changes that have occurred since Mirena was removed.

The two worst and first symptoms I had with Mirena in were a relapse of severe dry eye symptoms that were unresponsive to medication (my first bout with dry eye came two years earlier also in response to birth control, but before Mirena was under control with medication) and serious digestive problems: i.e. constant diarrhea, weight loss, nausea, and a diagnosis of IBS and food allergies .

I have been one of those who has been extremely slow to recover and faced horrible new symptoms once Mirena was removed, HOWEVER both of my initial symptoms have finally mostly resolved!

Today my digestion is normal and I have been putting on weight for probably the last four months. I am actually back to my weight before Mirena!!! My clothes fit again, and I have been able to get rid of my "scary skinny" clothes. I still mostly avoid my allergy foods, but don't have to worry about running to the bathroom or feeling nauseous all the time.

My eyes are better than they have been since my first dry eye diagnosis in 2006. The medication I use, Restasis, I have tapered down to almost nothing, just one drop every other day. I spent four years before now using these drops twice a day, every day. So actually, my eyes are now BETTER THAN THEY WERE BEFORE MIRENA. Yay!

Other symptoms like joint pain and heart palpitations were minor for me, and seemed to resolve pretty quickly once Mirena was removed. I am still dealing with foggy thinking, and urinary problems, but these are much better than they were a year ago, and honestly were a result of progesterone cream for me and not Mirena. I still have symptoms of terrible hormone imbalance, but they no longer control my life.

I hope this helps some of you who feel hopeless after removal, or like you are not recovering quickly enough. I have taken a very long time to make any headway in recovery, but looking back I can do so much more than I ever could with Mirena in, or in the year after removal. I am enjoying my friends, my boyfriend, and travel again. I no longer wake up in the morning wishing I were dead. I am enrolled in night classes, taking a dance class at my gym, and working full time -- all of which would have been unthinkable a couple years ago! I am going out dancing tomorrow night, and will be staying up late and drinking alcohol: both things off limits to me at my sickest, when I would come home from work, crawl in bed, eat bland food, and try to sleep with painful eyes.

Hang in there! It could take a long time, but you will make it through this! Hoping for continued recovery for myself and everybody else. Molly