I had the Mirena IUD inserted after the birth of my 3rd child. I was 32 at the time and had never had any physical or mental health issues. Six months after the insertion, I developed a very painful uterine infection that took 3 months to recover from. The Mirena IUD was removed as part of the treatment.
I had a second Mirena inserted 6 months later, and within months began to experience symptoms of depression, fatigue, brain fog and anxiety. I started to think about suicide daily. During a visit with my family doctor during which I could not stop crying, I mentioned that these feelings seemed to correlate with the time during which I’d had the second Mirena IUD. Although he had never heard of depression as a side effect of contraception before, he agreed to remove the IUD. Within hours I started to feel the fog lift, and within weeks I returned to my former high energy and happiness levels. I have had no suicidal thoughts in the nearly 20 years since then. I am so thankful that my doctor listened and removed that IUD, or I might very well not be here today to tell my story.
Submitted on April 3, 2021
