Merina IUD and Cramps

[Krisoctober29]

I am a 37 y/o woman who has had no children.  I had the Merina IUD inserted a week ago and I am still experiencing heavy cramping and spotting.  I have been told by my OB/GYN that the Merina is safe for women who have never had a child and that these symptoms will subside. Does anyone out there use the Merina who has not had children?  If so, what are your experiences with it?

[Spring5977]

I am 38 years old and have 2 kids.  I had the IUD inserted on May 22 2015 to help with heavy periods.  I cramped a lot after insertion and spotted some.  On June 5th - I began bleeding like a light-Moderate period still with cramps as of today, July 14, I am still bleeding and cramping.  This is NOT what was explained to me when I discussed this with my doctor.  Each time I called the dr office, all the nurses would say is that it is my body trying to get used to it.  I have my check up on July 27th, and I will be having this removed.  I would rather deal with a heavy period once a month than to deal with this everyday.

[WomanInBlack]

Had exactly the same things going on with Mirena-plus backache, horrid acne, constant excessive hunger (20 lbs gained within 4 months) extreme fatigue and short-term memory loss. The bleeding was constant and I had a pungent dead/poo  odor in the nether regions that was NOT caused by any kind of STI or bacteria-tested often with no cause found. Antibiotics didn't work on it. Now that Mirena is out, my usual pain and bleeding due to fibroids  has resumed but it isn't daily at least. I can finally do the deed with my husband again and I'm no longer zitty, foggy, puffy or forgetful. Learning to live with fibroids and to seek alternative, natural ways to shrink them down. The FDA does not have our best interests at heart.

[wildwolf_42]

i am 42 i just got my iud and dnc done on july 7th now i feel so weak and sick to my stomach all the time horrible cramps really thinking of getting it out soon i cant handle the pain and sickness is this normal and how long will this last o ya on top of it all i have failed back surgery and my pain meds dont help at all for this

[Losqueen]

Got my iud today , omg so much pain , I pasted out in the doctor office and now the pain is terrible , hope it worth it ^^

[bell1245]

does it hurt to be taken out?  

[bell1245]

i had mine put in ystday and it hurt really bad  i mean like bad! i had cramps spoting i was in bed with my 2month old and all i could do is sleep.my honey ran to the store to get me heating pads they worked. i took 600mg of motrin every 6 hours . i called my doctors office my nurse called me back and told me this was normal . she told me to sit in the some warm water and relax she said, its painful at first but should get better within six months.i really hope this goes away because be for i had my daughter i had super BAD pains they would make me leave work and lay in bed the hole day. i tried herbal tea and i went from midual to pampin,i would take no kidding  take around 3 pills of 500 .

[Penney96]

In reply to your post, I DID read all of the materials provided to me by my doctor's office and went online to the Mirena website to confirm everything.  I also spoke with my OB/GYN about the risks in person and the level of discomfort I should experience.  It was NOT in any of the written materials where it stated the pain was almost unbearable upon insertion.  

Bottom line:  Everyone has different experiences and there are many factors on who experiences which symptoms (i.e. prior pregnancies, length of periods, heaviness of periods, etc.)  

This is a forum for people to share information on their own experiences to help others.  Some of us find it helpful to know we are not alone in some of these issues.  If you don't like what you read, please do not read it, and move on.  I, myself, have found some of these posts to be very helpful.  It is NOT a lack of prior knowledge or that I did not do my duty as a woman to learn what I could before a procedure.  That is an ignorant statement and believe you used poor judgment by slamming women who use a post to share information.  

[atienne]

I'm not sure you'll ever see this but the pain was bad. I have awful cramps and bleeding/clots. No pain meds before insertion and was bleeing heavily and clotting at insertion time. I grabbed the wall it hurt so much!! I couldn't rest after...had to work and had a late night in doing so. Second day and it hurts every bit as bad. I have pain in my head, thighs, back and cramps. I'm no wuss, either. I have Lupus, Fibro...was accidentally shot, hit by a car...I've had my fair share of pain!!

[Bearonabike]

It helps a lot! Thanks for sharing! I can't wait for the cramping and nausea to go away!

[Bearonabike]

Ah, thank you! I'm also two weeks into the Mirena random cramping/nausea/bleeding rollercoaster. I'm hoping it doesn't take the full 3 months to subside!

[Bearonabike]

thank you! I'm not enjoying this random bleeding/cramping/nausea, but it's only been two weeks, so I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that it doesn't take a full three months for the side effects to end!

[Bearonabike]

I'm at two weeks right now. Just curious - how long did the cramping/bleeding last?

[Bearonabike]

This is very helpful! I'm 35 y/o, no kids, and I've had mine in for two weeks now. Since I had it inserted during my period, and my periods are pretty awful with regard to cramping and heavy bleeding, the pain when it was inserted didn't bother me too much - it just felt like a bad cramp. My period started getting lighter immediately, but then a few days after my period had ended I started having mild but consistent cramps and nausea with no bleeding. Then the cramps and nausea stopped and I started bleeding a little, and now I just seem to have days where I am cramping and nauseous, and days where I am bleeding/spotting. It's very odd, since I don't know when I'm going to be feeling sick or when I'm going to bleed. The cramping seems to get worse when I'm stressed, but I'm not sure if there's a direct correlation between my stress level and my cramping. I've also been having a hard time sleeping at night - I keep waking up and can't go back to sleep - but I haven't read anything on the Internet about mirena causing insomnia. I would love to hear from other women who have experienced insomnia as a possible side effect. I'm really hoping that the cramps/nausea/bleeding go away soon, and I'm really hoping that the mirena doesn't kill my libido the way the nuvaring did.

[victorianicole]

I'm 17 and had my merina inserted three days ago. I had never cramped in my life and I've been cramping so much since I got it inserted. Not to mention I had it inserted with no pain medication prior to the insertion. The pain is killing me. I guess I'll wait a couple months and see how it goes.

[kmon3y]

I just had Mirena put in 1 week ago from today. I'm almost 24 yrs old, and have never had kids. I've been on the Depovera shot for BC for years...too many consecutive years honestly, which is why I was looking for other options. I feel bad for all the women who experienced horrible pain, but I can say it's certainly no walk in the park! I thought I was a wimp, but apparently all women react similarly during the insertion. My DR prescribed a hormone pill to open my cervix & induce labor. I took it the night before procedure, and the morning of. DR also prescribed a xanax and 2 hydrocodones to help with the pain. I took the xanax & hydrocodone 1-2 hours before procedure, but the pain was still terrible! Yes, it only lasts 5 minutes, but I was very vocal during the procedure. lol. I can only imagine how I will be when actually having kids if I reacted that way on a pain pill & anxiety pill. My boyfriend of 6 years took me to the appointment and drove me home. Afterward, I laid on the couch with my feet up, keeping a heating pad on my abdomen to help with the cramping. I took 1/2 of the other hydrocodone that night to help me get to sleep. I'm still having random cramping, it comes & goes. We have already had sex (about 4 days after procedure), but I will warn you ladies, I felt a little cramping during sex, and my boyfriend said he could feel the mirena, and feels like he has a bruise from it. So, with that being said, if you feel up to having sex, be sure your partner takes it easy at first. Hopefully my cramping will subside soon. I have not had any bleeding. I've actually lost 5 pounds the past week, but not sure if it's a direct result from having Mirena vs the shot. I'm about 25 lbs overweight, so I'm hoping now that I'm on Mirena, it will be easier to work out & lose weight. I think the BC shot was contributing to my weight gain. Good luck ladies!

[privaldivia]

it does not hurt as bad having it removed, just a small pinch, nothing lke insertion

[privaldivia]

I just recently had the mirena IUD inserted, about a week ago.i did my fair share of searching how painful insertion was so i took 600mg of ibuprofen before my appt as my ob-gyn instructed. ive never had a child and im only 18 years old. the pain was pretty painful but nothing i couldnt handle. i am used to really bad cramps. because i have not had children my IUD slipped out after three days and my second insertion was much more painful due to the fact that i had no pain medication in my system. its been four days now and im still experiencing that same cramp feeling and i dont know if its because its slipping out again.not sure if i should just wait it out as some other women have because i love the idea of mirena!

[Merlot11]

I just had the iud inserted today. I threw up because it hurt so bad. My ob even gave me Valium so I would relax. But holy Jesus was it painful. She told me to take the day off of work to rest, but I had too much to do. Anyway, all day was horrible, I literally have been so uncomfortable. My back hurts, I am eating like I am on my period and I am so sore everywhere. Pain meds don't help, although I've only taken ibprophen. I work in a company where I interact with many nurses and all of them told me to call my ob to prescribe a narcotic. I am not used to having these cramps, I got the iud, not just to be safe, but because my uterus walls are very thin because I haven't naturally had my period consistently (or not at all) for over three years (I have a pituitary tumor). Because I am so bad at taking pills and because there were too many hormones in pills, this was my only option. We discussed it many times and it seemed like a good idea.... Until I went in and had it done. I feel horrible, like my body is rejecting it and its unnatural. Again, first day so I am miserable, but the insertion was so painful that I literally never want to even think of it again, and it only took 5 minutes...

[slsax]

I am a 24 yr old woman, never had kids who got her copper IUD almost 3 months ago.

Good to know that other people are experiencing the same thing- heavy bleeding,irregular spotting,more cramps. For me what has been most noticeable is that the type of pain has changed. I used to get sort of "dull ache" menstrual pain. Now I get sharp, really painful stabs that sometimes make me feel nauseous or make me keel over in pain. ***** but I am hoping it will go away. My friends who have it in say after about 4 months everything goes back to normal.

What has worked for me has been taking YARROW TEA (either in tea bags or I just seep yarrow leaves and add honey). It helps a bit with the pain but more than anything, when taken regularly, stops spotting. I drink a big cup a day in the mid morning. Awesome cheap and natural solution. Try it, hope it works for y'all too.

[shelly1875]

I'm having the same issues...you nailed it on the head.  I had mine put in November 1st, it's not January 14th.  I'm fine most of the time but I will all of a sudden get terrible cramps that make me bend over in pain, and as you said into the bottom as well.  At first I thought it was really bad gas pains but that can't be it!  I hope it gets better.  I intend to give it time but sometimes I feel miserable.

[cwsween]

I am 46 with no kids. I had my mirena inserted last week. Even after 600 mg ibuprofen 2 hours before AND being given a local anesthesia it was so painful I flinched and then the Mirena wasn't inserted properly so I had the option of trying again or coming back the next week for complete anesthesia, ugh. I did it again. It was painful but I made it. Haven't stopped cramping since. I came on this site to read if the cramping is normal. Appears to be the case.( If I knew it was this much of a pain my husband would have had a vasectomy. To add insult to injury I had to pay for the treatment twice (600 Euro) since the first one didn't go in right because I flinched due to the pain. I am in Germany with American insurance so not sure what will be covered. Hope it is worth it.

[steinman]

Not sure if anyone will read this but I thought I'd share anyway. I'm twenty, no kids, and got my IUD nearly two weeks ago. The insertion itself wasn't too awful (grit your teeth painful, sure) but that didn't compare to the cramping I had later that night. Holy cow. Not fun. I've always had terrible cramps since my first period, but that was unreal. Since then I've had pretty awful cramps every day since the insertion. No bleeding whatsoever though, which is a plus. I had been feeling a little better so I decided to go running yesterday and felt fine until about an hour after the workout. The cramps had me on the floor practically paralyzed. Not to mention sex... ouch.

I really hope I start bleeding soon (haha, I never thought I'd say that) because I'm generally a paranoid person and I feel like that'll ease my mind a little. It's good to know I'm not the only one getting horrible cramps weeks after the insertion so I'm guessing it's pretty normal, even though I'm sorry any woman has to go through them.

Just gotta tough it out, eh?

[ruthrlee123]

Hey ladies!

I just wanted to offer my input on the IUD.  I just got Mirena inserted today and it went really well.  As I'm reading all the posts, I'm starting to realize that a lot of these GYNO/Nurse Practitioners might not be as experienced with the insertion procedure.  
My GYNO was so amazing!  She gave me lidocaine (local anesthesia) and I didn't feel ANYTHING.  In fact, the lidocaine gave me the best orgasm i've ever had. I know that sounds ridiculous, but it was seriously painless. Although, I did feel nausea afterward and did have some cramping.  I still am cramping a little and spotting, but it's not too bad.  I'm hoping that my periods disappear!

Good luck everyone!  Mirena is so worth it if you can get a good doctor and also don't have excessive side effects!
I was seriously scared after reading all these comments, but honestly I think it's best not to think about it too much!

[ChristinaSC89]

AGREE! I had the EXACT same reaction to everything! But well worth it!

[ChristinaSC89]

Ive never had children and I had Merina placed 3 weeks ago and still have mild cramping and spotting everyday. I went to my follow up last week and my Dr. said that was normal and can last from 6 weeks to 6 months after placement. The cramps should subside within 4-6 weeks but the spotting could continue for 6 months! Also the insertion was HORRENDOUS! Im talking worst pain of my life... but I was told bc Ive never had a child my cervix is very sensitive to manipulation and this was to be expected... I should have asked to be numbed first (I was told AFTER insertion by a friend that you could ask to be numbed, needless to say I was not very happy with my GYNO)