I have had my Mirena since January 2016 and I now want it removed.
I thought it would be simple, thought I would go along to my GP and she would whip it out. But she said no and said "try it for a few more months"
I'm at my wits end and don't know what can be done about this 
Can anyone offer advice?
Hi,
I've had my coil in for 3 years now and now I'm beginning to feel it's no longer working its magic. My GP is very much the same as yours. My advice would be to not give up and keep going back, maybe see another GP and if they won't maybe make an appointment with your nearest sexual health clinic and they should be able to take it out! Dont take no for an answer.
Hope everything works out for you X
Thanks Paige, it is just so annoying and disheartening that we're not listened to.
Have made another appointment with my GP and will take my mum along for backup this time! Haha
I know! Doctors believe they know what's best however only we know how we feel!
Mums are the best back up haha!
They can’t refuse. It’s your body and if you want it out then tell them. Good luck. I’d be assertive and say , I wish to have it removed. I’ve researched the pros and cons. I’ve come to an informerd decision that I would like it removed . I don’t wish to discuss this further, please arrange a date x
Thank you. I have an appointment who see my GP on the 27th.
I am hoping they can take it out right away. Will be planning on booking the day off work because I'm not sure if I will be in pain afterwards
Surely its up to if you want it removed not your GP’s. I have never had an issue with my GP when it comes to this sort of thing. I would question the reason the GP wants you to keep it in longer for as surely after almost 2 years you would know if its for you or not. The mirena definitely wasn’t for me and I had mine removed after a year as it just caused me more pain.
It’s not their decision! This seems incredible to me that you would ask for withdrawal of a contraceptive device from your body and they’d refuse! I couldn’t believe how difficult it was to have mine removed (had to be under GA in the end) but none of my doctors ever refused to try! So annoying. As other replies say, you can insist. What if you wanted to try for a baby? It would have to come out then xxx
Thanks Janine, I have made another appointment with my GP for the 27th. And will insist they remove it. I've got everything crossed removal will be straightforward. Sorry o hear yours caused trouble! Mine was put in under GA so have no idea on what it will feel like coming out!!
Stupid gp, its your body, you have tried it for nearly 2 yrs a few more months isnt going to make much of a difference.
See a different gp and get it out x
I have to disagree a little, as the GPs may have other considerations to take into account and it may no longer be possible - officially - for mirenas to be removed, there and then - if it ever was. When I asked to have my mirena removed - this was a year or so ago, and it was already past it's sell-by, plus I was definitely over the menopause - my lovely, wonderful, clued-up GP was in a quandary, because where I live (and this could be UK- wide for all I know) the regulations had changed concerning who can and cannot remove mirenas, and under what conditions. It was a recent change, so she had to check it all out, as well as asking me lots about when, how, why etc. the coil was fitted, and if there were any difficulties in the fitting. I had not even been expecting it would be there and then.
It is not always that simple to take a coil out - or to put it in. I had had mine inserted under anaesthetic, as I have never had children, was in my 50s (tho' still having periods with ever increasing endo pains ever since I'd had to stop the pill at 50) and my gynaecologist felt that the opening of my cervix was so small. So, I had no idea how much it would have hurt me to have it fitted if I'd been conscious. However, a friend who is a similar age and also child-free, had one fitted, by her GP and a nurse, not long before I had mine fitted so, I was forewarned. She passed out, screaming in pain when it was fitted, and they had to keep her in for a while to check she was okay. So I was very glad my GP had been amenable to me having mine inserted in hospital - although the gynae I'd been seeing about my endo was insisting.
However, with regard to the removal, my GP did have a look at me, and hazarded that it would probably be okay: but - officially - she still had to check.
In the end, after checking the new regulations, she was happy to agree to remove it for me, and from everything she told me I agreed with her doing it. However, in order to arrange the removal, I first had to book the GP for a '3 appointment slot' = about 30 mins; plus, the removal had to be done at a time when the practice nurse was free, and not doing routine appointments: both to help if necessary and in case I needed aftercare. NB It seems that 'taking out' is generally harder than 'putting in' and if there is any difficulty, the over-stimulation of the cervix that occurs from frequent tugs and attempts, can cause fainting. Plus, it does all require sterile conditions, so the removal was done in one of the little 'mini-op' rooms at my GP practice, with gloves, swabs, full range of speculums etc, for gradual dilation, and pillows etc, for me to be able to adjust my position.
We did it, I didn't faint, and I'm glad I didn't spend the best part of the day at my nearest hospital. However, it was very painful, I was sort-of screaming at one point, plus it took a while. At one point, my GP did think she would have to give up, until I hoiked myself into an advanced yoga position!! We laughed - me slightly hysterically - once it was all over, and I was fine. However, none of it could have been done if I'd just walked in expecting it then and there in a 10min appointment, and I think the business of having a nurse available is now standard.
Hope this helps, sorry if it seems preachy, just that it's not always so easy to do these things in our over-burdened, under-funded NHS - and they would have been the ones in trouble if they'd gone ahead and done something that has to be pre-planned and arranged.
Thank you for all the information it wasn't preachy at all and I appreciate the time you took to write to me.
The appointment I have since booked is a 20 minute slot, I am waiting on my doctor to phone me for me to find out for sure if it is for my Mirena removal. (But my doctor is on leave at the moment)
During my last appointment she never even mentioned the possibility of it being removed (or about the checks and considerations you talked about in your message). It was a point blank no. And this was the second time of me asking.
Like you I had mine insert under GA during my lap to remove endometriosis and endometriomas. This was at a BSGE centre who have signed me off their books and "back into the care of my GP". I did actually contact the endo nurse at that hospital and her reply was to try again with my GP. It was disheartening because it was the endo nurse that persuaded me to have the coil and it was her to said I would just have to ring her up and ask for it to be removed. She made it sound so straightforward.
But fingers crossed at my next appointment it will be removed. Hoping to say goodbye to the boil like acne and mood swings (I'm a 29 year old teenager 😂)
Hi, you might also want to consider going to a family planning clinic. They deal with coils all the time. My very nice and honest GP advised this. She told me that to do the Mirena you need to have been on a training course. She just wasn’t confident doing it. She also pointed out that there is less risk of infection if you get it done by someone really skilled at the task. Good luck!
Sorry to hear of your difficulties! However, the GP does have a point. If you can’t/don’t want to use the combination pill, really the only treatment for your endo is Mirena or a mini pill etc. I know how bad the acne can get, but am myself going to go back on the mini pill and treat the acne with isotretionin pills, and hope to get a solution, finally, to the problem. I’m sure you have considered the pros and cons, like the likely worsening of the endo with your choice, but the GP has to make sure you are sure. If you are, keep your head - it’s your body!
Isn't a vicious circle, you take/have something to help one thing then you end up taking something else to combat the side effects of the first thing.
I want to go back on to Yasmin contraceptive pill. Plus I have had my endometriosis excised but I just don't know if the surgery has/had helped or if the Mirena is masking symptoms.
If Yasmin is ok with you, it really sucks they are not listening! It is the best treatment with the least side effects. If I could, i’d go with it in a heartbeat, but migraines with aura don’t allow it. Keep your head!
This makes me so annoyed! They did the same to me whilst they can give you advice and pros and cons they cannot take the end decision from you. Tell them you aren't leaving until you have an appointment to take it out and have considered all pros and cons and want it removing as soon as possible (they won't usually do it there as requires more time and some gps have a specialist GP that does it) it's your body and they have no right to dictate to you what to do. Good luck when you go back
Hi sorry to hear this. I’m pretty sure it’s your right if you want it taken out. If the GP won’t take it out there are other clinics you can go to that will remove it for you. I always had mine done at my local hospital.
Mirena trial or straight to laparoscopy?
mirena coil advice
GP won't refer me because she doesn't want to look silly.
