I’ve thought about doing this for awhile. I want to share my story because I know there are women out there that need to hear it and need to know they aren’t alone. If you have had a great experience with IUDs I’m truly happy for you and you are so lucky, but I just want to share what I have learned through my experience.

I had a lot of new mom anxiety at first but I think with Everley having colic and my stressful pregnancy there was no avoiding the new first time mom worries. I didn’t know what was normal and what was common. So I talked to my OB about it and she said she could put me on meds and I immediately said no. I’ve never liked medicine especially a daily medication. That same appointment I got on a new birth control. I always took birth control pills before Everley. I’d never tried anything else but I was ready to try something I didn’t have to remember everyday. She suggested an IUD so I agreed to it even though that was my last choice. I didn’t like the idea of something inside me, but she was the expert so I trusted her and agreed.

Two weeks later I was a wreck. I had severe depression and anxiety. I wasn’t sleeping or eating or showering or doing anything really. Simple questions freaked me out. People overwhelmed me. I struggled to get off the couch when the baby cried. I panicked if I was left alone with her. I’d been babysitting since I was 9 years old so I didn’t understand why I’d be so scared to be alone with her. So I went back to the OB and I was diagnosed with postpartum depression and anxiety. I started medication. I tried 4 different combinations of medicines over the past 7 months and nothing was working. I switched back to my family doctor about halfway through because she knows me better and I knew she would handle my treatment more aggressively. In addition to medication, I tried therapy, getting away from the baby, time for myself, meditating, essential oils, anything that anyone said would help, I tried. I started to feel hopeless and stuck, like I was in a dark tunnel with no light at the end. Things got intense, scary and dark so fast. I was out of control. I wasn’t able to do anything. Everything overwhelmed me. Each month it got worse and I’d go back to the doctor to change my dosage or add more meds. The last combination of medication I was on made me feel like a lunatic. I was sooo shaky. I would twitch when I tried to sit still and so much more. I hated medication. I hated not being in control of my body. Nothing was working and I was getting tired and fed up with all of it. I was trying everything I was told to try and nothing was working. I was about to give up but one night I couldn’t sleep so I started googling things and doing research on every medication/birth control I was on. My problem was the Mirena. Mirena gave me severe postpartum depression and anxiety. My hormones were out of control because of that stupid piece of plastic. I started reading other women’s stories and the risks and side effects from IUDs are so scary. Nobody told me these things could happen. Why would the FDA pass something that was so dangerous and destructive??? Why would any doctor push for this. Drug companies look at us as numbers and dollar signs and not as human beings and some doctors do as well. It makes me sick. I was livid that night and I decided to take control of my health and treatment. I went to my doctor and told her I’m done with the medicine and I want this thing out of me. I panicked the next few days until it was taken out. The very next day after removal I felt like a brand new person. I felt amazing. I felt like me. No more bloating. No more depression or anxiety. No more severe hot flashes. No more shaking or twitching. No more toxic hormonal steroids in my body, yes Mirena is a steroid!

I cannot believe I wasn’t warned about this device. Women complain about depression and anxiety and they just blow it off because we are “emotional” instead of finding the reason why. Mirena can cause some serious side effects. My personal side effects were severe postpartum depression and anxiety alone with hormonal imbalances. It can cause migraine and also trouble losing weight postpartum. I had Intracranial hypertension which causes you to have symptoms of a brain tumor that doesn’t exist and if severe you can lose your eye sight. Bayer refuses to acknowledge this side effect and there are many lawsuits involving this one. These side effects alone were debilitating, but not even the worst that can happen. It can move around and embed in your uterus and if sever can cause you to have a hysterectomy. It can go through your uterus and travel around your body and into other organs. It can fall out without you knowing. It increases your risk of ecotopic pregnancies as well which are so scary. If you accidentally get pregnant your baby could die or have abnormalities. I was told that side effects are rare. I have a hard time believing that after all my research I’ve done. SO many people have horrible side effects and probably a lot of them are blown off. These complications are not rare. They are sooo common. I’ve read so many horror stories. These things do not belong in our bodies. I think these side effects are a way of our bodies rejecting them. If you have Mirena and it works for you, that’s great and I hope it keeps working. But I personally think that the risks and side effects just aren’t worth it. I will never ever put anything like that in my body ever again. I don’t believe everything I read and nobody should but I will believe people who have personally used this device over the people that profit over it and refuse to acknowledge the problems. Why are they allowed to recommend these without telling us these things could happen. Why are we not more informed. Why do they rule them out and blow off our symptoms and just prescribe more medication. It honestly ruined my life. It ruined the first 7 months of me being a mom. It kept me from working. It hurt my marriage. It inconvenienced everyone around me. It made me feel horrible. It hurt me so bad and everyone around me. It makes me wonder how many moms had these severe side effects and ended up taking their own life or their baby’s because they were so miserable. How many divorces have been caused by these terrible side effects. How many moms lost their jobs. Bayer owns Mirena and they refuse to acknowledge a lot of these side effects because they aren’t “proven”. I think it is unethical and extremely wrong. We are suppose to be able to trust medical professionals with our health. Now I’m starting to question everything. I’m thankful that I can trust my family doctor, but not everyone is that lucky. I know with every drug there are risks and needs but I think there are better safer options out there for birth control. And they really should be more open about the possible risks.

I wanted to share this to bring awareness to the dangers of IUDs not just Mirena. I had no idea it could take control of my body. I’m thankful I only went through this for 7 months. Now I can enjoy my little family. I finally really love being a mom. I can’t believe the dramatic change I had in just one day. Now, I feel amazing and for the first time in a long time, I love life. Thank you for taking the time to read this. Thank you to all my friends and family for helping me and being there for me through all of this. I truly don’t know if I’d be here today without my support system. My husband is the absolute best. My mom is a savior. My job is so supportive. My sweet Everley is the reason I pushed through it all. I’m so glad I can smile at her now and not have to fake it.

If you are struggling, please get help and educate yourself on everything you put in your body.