Copper and Mirena Similarities

I got a copper IUD in December of 2008 because I could not tolerate hormonal birth control (I had tried multiple pills and even the NuvaRing over a 10 year time period). I researched it pretty thoroughly before I had it placed and never found anything related to the symptoms I experienced (until recently). After six months of having the IUD, I began to develop an alcohol intolerance. I also developed Acne like I had never seen before. It was more like boils under my skin rather than typical acne. I became extremely tired and began having severe depression/anxiety (especially during PMS). After one year of having the IUD… one day I went out for a run (it was all I could do to continue my workout routine). After running for just a couple of minutes, I started to have heart palpitations and numbness in my left side. I ended up going to the emergency room. They did a chest x-ray, EKG, and blood work. Everything came back normal except for the blood work (which showed elevated CPK levels). The next few days I began having severe muscle pain (to the point I was unable to walk). I decided to have the IUD removed and within two days I started feeling more normal again however, my health never fully returned to 100%. After a year of continued muscle pain and fatigue, I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I've had my IUD out for 2.5 years and I still haven't regained my health.

I can't help but notice the similarities in the Mirena IUD stories and the Copper IUD stories. Any ideas about why the side effects overlap? My thought is that these types of birth control must create some type of hormonal imbalance that cannot be corrected. Copper is linked with estrogen dominance. I've considered that maybe there is some type of "poison" in the IUD but who knows?

Although the horror stories for the copper IUD are few and far between (compared to the Mirena stories) they still exist. For example, this website has over 200 posts of side effects from copper IUD users (which are VERY similar to the Mirena stories):
http://www.mothering.com/community/t/916122/copper-iud-and-side-effects
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