Mirena: Reassurance? Advice?
i have a question for those who are on mirena... is it normal to feel the removal strings?? do they affect sex?
gawd, this was NOT explained to me before i got it... and perhaps i didn't do enough homework, but it seems like there are WAY more negative stories, posts, etc. than there are positive experiences with Mirena (on the whole web, not SW).
I have SEVERE medical paranoia. (not hypochondria- just anything having to do with sex/my vagina/reproductive anything= I freak the fuck out.) I've never had an std, never been pregnant, and yet I have extreeeeeeeeme paranoia about all of the above, all the time. Having to deal with feeling those removal strings (not to mention the cramping and "i feel crazy" type of hormonal-emotional symptoms, plus all the other shit i've been reading (clotting, BAD periods after removal, etc) is going to be the worst thing in the world.
I'm kicking myself for not seeing any of this earlier. All the stuff I'd read on SW concerning Mirena was pretty damn positive. I should have searched farther than the damn board. I feel horrible right now and I am sooooo regretting getting this... simply because I know I won't be able to stand the "what if's" associated with it. I am ALWAYS going to wonder if I'm expelling it... and during sex I'm gonna wonder if my guy is going to feel it, or if he comes in me and THEN it comes out if I will get pregnant??? ackkkk I am SOOOO paranoid!!
I don't need anyone's "you should get Paraguard/copper iud/don't use hormones" advice. I feel like I've gone against my feminist beliefs by changing my hormones rather than using condoms. (this is my first time ever using hormonal BC) But condom use always frightened me too, simply due to the million things that always seemed to go wrong: breakage, slippage, etc... I like ROUGH sex and condoms seem to like it very vanilla.
Opinions?? Advice? Is my Mirena ok- is this normal to feel the strings (as long as I can't feel plastic am I alright??)
I am calling my gyno in the morning- she checked it in an ultrasound right after insertion (which was literally the most painful experience of my life... i'd rather have my tattoo done 50 times over) and it was in the correct place, but I want her reassurance too.
Should I go seek some help regarding my extreme paranoia???
I am having trouble separating what is making me so ridiculously upset; the paranoia or the multitude of problems I'm always seeming to have. (Or making up for myself/allowing people to convince me I have.)
Re: Mirena: Reassurance? Advice?
I'm gonna step up and say your mirena is fine :)
Its kind of uncomfortable at the beginning ( i had spotting and cramps pretty bad for a few weeks) but it gets MUCH MUCH MUCH better.
i NEVER feel mine and my husband fucks the living day lights out of me with his big cock and he has never felt it.
I trust that it won't get me pregnant and i've never felt safer to be honest.
I still get a period 2 months into it but its very very light and short now and i hope soon it disappears all together.
My only question is why you got it if you never had a baby before? I thought that was a prerequisite? Something about cervix dilation??
Re: Mirena: Reassurance? Advice?
Yes I do know that's normal. :hug:
Re: Mirena: Reassurance? Advice?
Wow, thanks ladies!!!! Phily- I hear that cramping is worse in women who haven't had children, perhaps that's it.
I got it because I am in a monog. relationship, and after finishing my BA I will be in grad school/law school for another few years... I don't want kids any time soon.
thank you so much for reassuring me.
Re: Mirena: Reassurance? Advice?
CC, second and thirding what Lysondra and PhillyVixen said.
You can reach up there and feel the strings, the actual IUD is much much farther up inside you.
My hubby is a rather large man, and he says he can not feel it all during sex. It won't come out. It's really really rare for it to come out, extremely rare! Oh...and we like it rough too...never have had a problem.
I've had my IUD for 8 years and I love it. Yep, the cramps suck ass sometimes, but it's the absolute best option for me.
Here's a funny story for you though, I was really worried about all the same things you were when I had mine put in. I didn't know how to exactly express it to my doc so I said "Look, I'm a big girl, my man, he's a big man, and we like to have BIG sex, do you know what I mean? So...is it going to cause a problem there?" Hehehe, such a dork.
:hug: Talk to someone though, do what you feel you need to do to make yourself comfortable.
Re: Mirena: Reassurance? Advice?
^ wow, thank you so much for that! (and for a little humor as well. ;D)
I do think that when I have time I'm gonna fully use my free counseling sessions (my student insurance has 8 or so counseling sessions in it) and work out some of this paranoia... it's been rather crippling for far too long, and it leaves me exhausted. I also want to see if I can get over fear of needles/veins. ick.
thanks again. I feel a lot better. :)
Re: Mirena: Reassurance? Advice?
Good luck in facing your fears!
That takes a lot of courage.
I'm glad we could help you feel a little better
good luck
Re: Mirena: Reassurance? Advice?
I got mine without ever having a baby. It did hurt like hell going in though. I bled three months straight right after I got it and then after that, hardly bleed at all, ever. My periods are more like spotting.
nobody has ever felt the strings. I can feel them if I squat down and push my middle finger way up in there. They curve to the side and don't poke.
I'm actually glad to hear those of you who have rough sex with it. I've always been scared to.
Re: Mirena: Reassurance? Advice?
You're supposed to be able to feel the strings. they feel like fishing line, and if you can't feel them, my gyno said to call because it may have fallen out. Seem to me you'd notice if that happened, though.
I'm sorry you're having such a hard time with it. I like it a lot. I had it done between my pregnancies and again after my second baby. I've always had really negative reactions to BC pills and I have no side effects at all from Mirena. No periods, either.
Re: Mirena: Reassurance? Advice?
Report: Cramps have eased, bleeding has stopped, and sex is REEEEEAAAAAAAlllly good. I can hardly feel the strings anymore... ;D (and they didn't 'poke' my bf... thank gawd!)
Re: Mirena: Reassurance? Advice?
Re: Mirena: Reassurance? Advice?
^ raw sex is lovely. ;D still being careful about fluids... at least for a month.
Re: Mirena: Reassurance? Advice?
Almost anything is normal when it comes to symptoms caused by Mirena during the first months. I can imagine the spotting being a pain in the ass if one has to work naked but when the spotting stops (for me it took hmm maybe 4 months), it's all perfect after that (at least it's been for me).
It's not very rare that an iud expels itself but if it's going to happen, it will most likely be during the first month or two.
I got mine and I've never been pregnant. As far as I know, most docs nowadays agree it's ok for those of us who've never been pregnant but some still have their prejudices. (I guess the insertion can be more difficult or something, for me it wasn't.)
Re: Mirena: Reassurance? Advice?
I know another SW poster(up to her if she wants to ID herself) who has a Mirena, but no kids. But she'd prefer to remain child-free so apparently Mirena was for her the best choice.
Not the most fun having it put in especially if you haven't had a child, but at least close to foolproof BC for half a decade.
Re: Mirena: Reassurance? Advice?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
ColetteCalahan
^ raw sex is lovely. ;D still being careful about fluids... at least for a month.
Yeah, if you know you're both being safe and can trust the other person. That's the hard part. Does anyone use condoms anymore?
Re: Mirena: Reassurance? Advice?
^i used condoms religiously except with the current boy. we've been seeing each other since january. he's EXTRAORDInarily trustworthy. it's a very disclosive relationship.... hes extremely 'values-driven,' if anything kinda conservative (not like that substitutes for protection or anything) but he's really fantastic. i'm not worried with him, and it's really nice.
4 months of bleeding, eh? man. :-\
Re: Mirena: Reassurance? Advice?
if you DONT feel the strings, you should go to the doc and make sure its there. The strings are suppose to be felt at the top of the cervix, not near the bottom.
Re: Mirena: Reassurance? Advice?
^ i feel the strings. they just changed positions and i freaked out. ... as usual. i should stop doing that. any changes in my body that occur from below my belly button to above my thighs send me into instant panic mode. bumps, lumps, hairs, strings, smells, you name it. i always think the worst. surgery, death, disease. only in that region, though, regardless of whether i'm dancing or having sex or being 100% chaste. i've been that way since i was a kid.
Re: Mirena: Reassurance? Advice?
I really wouldnt worry you can feel the strings sometimes, I had mine in for 4 years longer than recommended and never had any problems. I could sometimes feel my strings and other times i couldnt. If your partner can feel them during sex (my ex could) you can just go and get the strings trimmed a little shorter. I sounds perfectly normal to me.
Re: Mirena: Reassurance? Advice?
My mirena gave me a BV.
My body is attacking it :(
Re: Mirena: Reassurance? Advice?
I had mine taken out Monday. On another forum theres a thread dedicated to Mirena Side Effects. I was breaking out cycstic on my face, breaking out on my neck and back. I had headaches daily, fatigue. Just basic stuff.
Other women are reporting imflammation, Severe fatigue, total loss of libido, insomnia every night, pain in my tummy, joint aches (esp. knees and elbows), weight gain, dizzyness, cramping so bad they went to the hospital. Every women on it reported massive hair loss. One said her insurance wont even cover Mirena so you have to guess theres problems with it. Mine wouldnt cover Noraplant when it was new and we all know about the mullti million dollar lawsuit.
I never put two and two together with my acne and headaches until I ran across that site. I was having severe daily headaches. Had it taken out Mon and havent had one since.
I will say I loved the fact that I had no period from day one of getting it. Had we not decided to try to get pregnant I probably would have left it in and lived on advil.
Re: Mirena: Reassurance? Advice?
^+1 about life on advil. Jeezus. I hope the bleeding stops soon. I haven't encountered hair loss yet. *crosses fingers* My knee already sucks from moto-accident & dancing makes it worse... but come to think of it, it's gotten a LOT worse since getting the mirena put in. interesting.
meh. my body is just basically falling apart on me.
Re: Mirena: Reassurance? Advice?
I didn't have periods on Depo. Might be something to look at if that is a big plus for you. It certainly was for me! I even took an extra shot after I stopped Depo when vacation came around just to ensure a happy time for me lol.
My doctor leaned heavily on me for Mirena but I balked because of some of the side effects. He did say the IUD is much better/easier on women that have had children. It does have something to do with the cervix.