Let me start by saying that I have actually had two Mirena IUDs. The first was back in 2010, and I ended up removing it after a year due to constant migraines. Other than the migraines I didn’t notice any other side effects.
Fast forward to 2018 and WOW…It nearly completely ruined my life. I had the second Mirena placed in June 2018 and at first noticed no side effects at all. Just a quick pinch with insertion and I was on my way.
But by Sept of that year…I started having anxiety …just a little at first…but then on our annual vacation I had a major panic attack. Over absolutely nothing, it came out of the blue. I thought I was dying! Heart racing, dizzy, completely scared out of my mind.
These episodes continued and gradually got worse all through 2019. After another huge panic attack and an ER trip (where they said nothing was wrong with me) I ended up with a therapist. When that wasn’t working (how do I explain random rushes of adrenaline and pure fear out of nowhere when I wasn’t even stressed?) I began thinking “Ok , maybe this is hormonal”. I started researching and keeping track of my symptoms and what times of the month they came. When I started googling “hormonal anxiety” I noticed several women saying their birth control was the issue..and sure enough it was the MIRENA!
I immediately made an appointment with a gynocologist I hadn’t seen before (he was the first who could get me in). During the wait for that appointment I began having weird dissociative episodes where I just sat there and questioned if anything was real. It scared me so badly and took a couple days to finally go away. The next week I went into the gynocologist office requested he remove the Mirena, that I was having panic attacks and extreme anxiety. He LAUGHED AT ME! Said it was all in my head and in his 20 years of placing IUDs he’s never heard that before. I was on the verge of tears and just told him to go ahead and take it out and he did. His advice? “Find a better therapist”. I was in shock and cried the entire way home. How could he be so dismissive?!
I ended up checking the FDA website later on and “nervousness” is actually a listed side effect of Mirena. He either didn’t bother ever looking up the side effects of these poison pieces of plastic or he didn’t care.
It’s been 6 months since I’ve had that awful thing removed and I can say without a doubt my anxiety is 75-80% better. It’s like a weight was lifted almost immediately. The only time I really have a little anxiety anymore is the week before my period, and I’m sure my body is still trying to recover and get back to normal.
Don’t let the doctors tell you it’s in your head.
Submitted on April 22, 2021
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