Mirena and Mental health

[Catlady1978]

hi all. I’m 4 months post surgery, after which the surgeon’s comments began with ‘there was a lot more than we thought’ - but that’s another story…

Part of the surgery involved inserting a mirena coil. They did this after about a year on norgeston tablets, which I seemed to tolerate. I did cry when they pushed me to give hormone therapy a try, because I’m also a mental health warrior- long history of depression/anxiety issues and previously, the combined pill was not helpful! They gave me some oestrogen hrt patches (50mg) to ‘counteract’ any MH effects. It’s not been plain sailing but then it never is. Not notably worse anyhow.

Since surgery, I have been more unstable than normal, not just inthe immediate recovery period but ongoingly. I’m having major meltdowns every week- though my recovery, like onset, is pretty quick, which is normal for me. I’m just emerging from a particularly awful few days that really scared me. I’ve not been like that for years. I’m going to book a gp appt Monday and I’m supposed to be seeing the gynae in Jan,

Just wondered- did anyone else find that Mirena exacerbated existing MH issues?

[CathyEarnshaw]

Hi there

I’m so sorry you’re having this experience. I’d recommend reading a book called How the Pill Changes Everything by Dr Sarah E. Hill. It looks at the science of hormonal contraceptives and how they can affect women. The book is quite technical in places but the part I think you’ll find most interesting is that she shares the findings of a large scale research study done in Denmark into the affects of hormonal contraception. It shows that many hormonal contraceptives do increase the risk of depression and anxiety but, most interestingly, having the hormones via the coil increases the risk more than if you have the same hormones via the pill. Many drs will tell you that the risk of side effects is lower with a coil than with a pill because the hormones are locally administered and therefore don’t go into the bloodstream in the same way. This study indicates that this isn’t true and shows that you’re more likely to experience depression from the levonogestrel in the coil than from a levonogestrel-containing pill such as microgynon. It’s worth reading the book in full as most drs and gynaes are really lacking in knowledge about hormonal medications - I’ve found doing my own research and also consulting privately with a specialist women’s health GP helped me to finally find hormonal meds that worked for me.

Good luck with finding something that works for you. x