Questions Regarding the 5 Year IUD

I had the mirena for almost 2 years. When my son was a little over a month old. I found it to be an excellent birth control. I didn't have to worry about it. My periods were lighter and much less painful from when I was on the pill, and I didn't gain any weight! My face broke out a little bit, but a scrub worked on that. Then when my husband and I were ready to have that 2nd baby, I had it taken out and only 4 months later I got pregnant!!

I asked for birth control options and received about 30 responses and about 27 of them were in support of the mirena IUD. Most said that their periods stopped all together over time, they didn't feel it, and had no trouble whatsoever. the IUD is a great, effective birth control, the only other one I would consider asking your doctor about it the Implanon implant. It is inserted in your upper arm and releases hormones on a consistent basis, the life span is shorter only being 3 years, and it is new to the US, only being approved about a month ago, but it has been used for several years in other countries with great success. I am currently on the depo shot, but due to the bone loss that can occur with it my doctor prefers I take something else and those are the two I am looking into. Good luck.

I have been on the five year IUD since the birth of my son in 2003. I have had no weight gain but it has extended my periods from 3 days to 7 sometimes 9 days. I have had bouts of dizzyiness that I think may be linked to it, but I couldn't say for sure. I am good health. I enjoy not thinking about birth control and the side effects are no where near what they were when I took the depo shot. Which caused me to sweat constantly and a weight gain of 15 pds. My husband says he can feel the wire, but he doesn't say it causes him discomfort. Hope that helps a little

Hi Jenny,

I have had a 5 yr IUD for 4.5 years now. I am due to have it removed in April 2007. The first month was a little uncomfortable for me (little bit of pain spotted for a few weeks), but after that it has been fine. I have decreased pain with my cycle, and just spot if at all. I personally did not gain weight with the IUD. Which was great! And I didn't have headaches from it.

I would recommend it if you have trouble remembering to take the pill (as I did). Also my Dr did some tests and thought that the pill would not be safe for me. Blood clots run in my family, so this was a safer option. I love not having to worry about birth control all the time.

Just be sure to read the material carefully, and make the best choice for you. This is just my experience with this product. Hope this helps.

I have had the Mirena IUD for just over a year now and love it! I got it when my first born son was about 5 weeks old. I can't tell it's there, my periods are much shorter and lighter, barely requiring a panty liner. I have little to no PMS or cramping. My husband says he cannot feel it during intercourse. I have gained some weight but do not believe it's from the IUD...just bad choices on my part. I have seen no cons to this so far. I plan to use this until we decide to have baby #2 and then again after that.

Jenny,
I have not talked to a doctor about it, yet, but from what I have heard, the IUD is very effective and has little to no side affects and hassle. I was under the impression that the IUD is non-hormonal which would definitely be better than anything else, but like I said, I have not personally talked to a doctor about it. I would do a little research on line if I were you, but I have heard mostly good comments about it and evidently a lot of women trust it and have no problems. Good luck with your decision. I know I didn't really help much :)

I had the 5 year IUD inserted in february of this year and it's been great. I can never remember to take a pill at the same time every day so this was one of the best things for me. My husband did say that he can feel it during intercourse though. I asked the doctor about it and they said that what he is feeling is only the strings from it. I haven't had any weight gain. Actually I've lost weight since I started it. The first month I had it put in there was a lot of cramping and bleeding but it does go away. It's just your body getting used to it. Now I barely have to use pantyliners. I'm the mother of a 3 year old and a 14 month old and don't plan on having kids again anytime soon. I would definetly recommend the IUD.

R.

I've had the five year IUD for about 3 months now and I haven't seen any weight gain. The thing that I don't like about it is that when I first had it inserted that I had very bad cramps that lasted for about a month. The cramps have preety much gone away now.
If you have any other questions feel free to e-mail me
V.

I am trying out the IUD Mirena. I love it. I don't have to think about it. It takes about 4 months to really take affect. I don't suffer from cramps and headaches. My period is a lot lighter. I do still feel like I get the hormone changes in my body that make me emotional, but it is not as severe as before. I hope I helped out.

M.

HI MY NAME IS J. AND I HAVE HAD THE 5 YR IUD SINCE MARCH. I DONT HAVE IT TO PROTECT ME FROM HAVING ANY BABIES DUE TO I HAVE TIED MY TUBES. I HAD TO GET IT TO HELP ME WITH ENDOMETROISES AND POLYCYSTICOVARY SYNDROME. IT HELPS WITH MY MONTHS SO I DONT BLEED HEAVY AND MAY NOT EVEN HAVE ONE. THE PAIN I USE TO HAVE IS NOT SO SERVERE. I HAVE NO PROBLEMS WITH THE IUD CANT FEEL IT NOT EVEN DURING SEX. SO IT HAS HELP ME TO PROLONG MY TIME UNTIL I AM READY FOR MY HISTO. THEY ARE PLASTIC COMPARED TO THE OLDEN DAYS WHEN THEY WERE COPPER. I THINK THEY ARE EVEN SAFER. BEATS TAKIN A SHOT OR PILLS. GOOD LUCK AND I HOPE I HAVE HELPED IN SOME WAY.

HI there - I used it for a while after my second child. I loved not having to think about birth control and did not have any discomfort with it at all. My husband said that he really could feel it though during intercourse. I know that he isn't supposed to be able to, but he swears he did. I did end up having it taken out about a year and a half in, because I was having very emotional PMS symptoms that were previously very rare. The dr suggested removing it because one of them (and I'm sorry I don't remember the brand) is wrapped in a hormone and he thought that that coudl be contributing. I didn't notice that removing it helped that issue though, so who knows if that would ever happen to anyone else. Do ask about the hormone though - just so you have all the facts. Haven't had it back in because I don't need to worry about it anymore, but I would definitely do it again. Good luck.

I had the Mirena inserted in Aug, at my 6 week checkup. I had bad cramping and found out 6 weeks later that it had fallen out. Not sure how or when, but after looking at their website (a total of $700.00 later)I found out this could happen. My insurance doesn't cover birthcontrol so I had to pay for it myself. Just talk to your doc before. It's suppose to be pretty rare for an IUD to just fall out.

Hi, I am a mother of 2 little girls (7 months and 33 months). I used to work at Planned Parenthood as a Health Care Assistant so I first learned about the many advantages of an IUD there. I had a Mirena IUD inserted after my first child. It worked great (no spotting or periods) until I had it removed to get pregnant for our second. I recently had my second IUD inserted because it worked so well the first time. Pros are that I lost my period (not everyone likes this) and it took birth control off of my mind. I could no longer remember to take a pill and besides that the hormones gave me migraine headaches (even the lose dose hormones). I have not had any cons, but some women complain of cramping and heavier periods. I don't even know it's there! Hope this helps. I would check out the Mirena website also. K.

My aunt had the 5 year IUD and during the 3rd year she got pregnant. I don't know if this is common, but it can happen. I just recently started using the Nuva Ring. At first I thought it would be horrible and swore I wouldn't try it. My GYN said I should at least try it. I can't feel it and forget it's in there and it only has to be changed once a month. I haven't gained weight and I used to be VERY moody and my husband was just telling me the other day since I started the NuvaRing I haven't been!! Look into it!