iud

Hi i am 24 yrs old and just had my third child about 6 mo ago, i received the mirena iud about 6 wks after delivery, and since then i have been having bad headaches, heart palpitations, bad dry skin, and i actually gained another 30 lbs when with my other kids i lost weight afterwards..and i have been very very moody! my ob says the iud cant cause that many side effects because all the hormones are immediately absorbed into my uterus is this true because i am beggining to think they lie to me

[Elaine Brown, MD]

Hi!
Your OB is correct.  The Mirena IUD only affects the uterus, the hormones are not absorbed into the blood stream in high enough quantities to cause the types of side effects you are mentioning.  That doesn't mean though, that it is the right method of birth control for you--you may do better with the pill, or another form that causes positive side effects.
Give yourself a break-three kids is a lot!
Good luck!
Dr B

[sherbear157]

thank you i really did terrible with the pill though they even put me on estrostep because i had such bad problems, the patch also made me very sick.. i think i may try the iud for a little while and maybe get checked for postpartum i am really not sure what to do right now besides get my tubes tied