Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Noheroicsplease]

Hello,

I had the coil fitted yesterday. I took painkillers and felt ok afterwards. Some spotting and nausea.

Last night, I was praying for the fantastic sleep people talk of. Instead, I had the same, if not worse, insomnia as I usually do, and I felt nauseous and a bit crampy.

So now I'm alarmed. Does this mean that I'm not going to tolerate the progesterone? Or am I being neurotic too quickly? Will it settle?

[walking the dog]

Hi I had coil fitted September I think some cramping and a little bit discomfort is normal so it should settle after a few days
As for the fantastic sleep well I'm still waiting for that to happen 😐

[VonnyD]

Hi.
I had the Mirena fitted nearly three years ago for heavy periods. I was never told that it would aid sleep! I have just googled 'Mirena and sleep' and it seems it can have the opposite effect to that you were hoping for. 😕.
For me, it has been fantastic, as no periods (after about 4 months).
Maybe it's the Oestrogen,rather than Progesterone that helps with sleep? HRT may be the answer?
My sleep hasn't been affected by the Mirena one way or the other.

[Dana]

Estrogen definitely helps with sleep. Without it I'm an insomniac basket case.

[Noheroicsplease]

Thanks all. I've had a faint headache since I got up. Does this sort of symptom settle?

X

[elsie001]

Mirena definitely helped my sleep, but not immediately, due to the tiny dose it gives out.  Don't know if it's the same for everyone though.  Will keep my fingers crossed for you. 

[Hurdity]

Hi Noheroicsplease

I've just been reading about Mirena recently and according to their own website peak plasma concentrations are usually reached after 2 weeks so side effects should decrease gradually after that - but dpdends on the indiviual of course. The website also said that there was marked variation between individuals and also affected by body weight (as one would expect) - concentrations will be higher in those with lower body weight.

I don't know where the idea of Mirena helping with sleep comes from? Presumably the fact that progesterone itself is a sedative - I'm not sure however how far the synthetic progestogens also have this effect? Headache is classed as a very common side effect.

In terms of Mirena being delivered only to the womb with minimal systemic absorption - I think we've all been duped here. I looked this up this morning and will explain how I understand it and post elsewhere later ( bit busy atm!).

Notwithstanding the above - I do hope it works well for you Noheroicsplease, because it does prevent a lot of faffing about!

Hurdity x

[Noheroicsplease]

Thanks Hurdity, I was hoping you'd show up and pass along your wisdom!

I am quite slight, and generally 'feel' drugs more, so am hoping it will sort itself

I read loads of posts here where people said that they felt 'sedated' almost after haivng the coil inserted...

Hurdity, can I please ask you while you're here...about to start taking Estrogel. Do lots of people experience hair loss with it?

Thanks so much

[peri]

I'm interested in your findings into minimal systemic absorption/or not Hurdity as I'm booked in to have the mirena Friday.

[elsie001]

I did feel quite zombie-like by late afternoons in the first few months of having it fitted, possibly because I'd had quite chronic insomnia for 1.5 yrs up to that point and perhaps my body suddenly realised it had some catching up to do in the sleep department!

Also, another reason I slept better was because I went from ridiculously heavy periods/flooding to a slight discharge.  Knowing there was no longer any possibility of me flooding the bed possibly allowed me to get into a better quality of sleep.

I did suffer really bad headaches around 6-7 months after having the coil fitted but they eventually passed.  Still get the odd headache but no more than anyone else would.

[dahliagirl]

From what I have looked at, Mirena gives the least systemic progesterone, but it is still quite a bit.

The next lowest is the old progestogen only pills, then the newer sort (like Cerezette).  This changes the lining, mucus etc to prevent conception and cerezette may be enough to prevent ovulation at times.

Then hrt (quite a lot is required to be sure that it does its job with the oestrogen effects on the uterus).

Then the combined pill - which is quite a lot of progestogen!  I used to think that was because of the higher oestrogen, but the levels in the coc are not all that high compared to a natural cycle.  It is used in conjunction with the oestrogen to shut down the normal cycle and prevent ovulation from happening.

I tried comparing all the pills and preparations that contain levenorgestrel as it is used across the preparations (different progestogens need different amounts).  However, pills have to be absorbed through the gut into the blood, then it passes through the liver, where a lot is taken out - so they have to be of a sufficient dose to get over this (and also designed to prevent this - hence the synthetic progestogens/progestins rather than natural progesterone, which needs to be micronized. )  The blood levels will go up and down on a daily cycle as you take the pills.  This should not happen with mirena because should be releasing the hormone more evenly with less of the liver effect.

I too await Hurdity's researches.  I am pretty sure that it is less than the progestogen only pill, but a bit higher than you would think.

(I gave up trying to work out patches  )

(Also not heard about hair loss with oestrogen - personally, having been on the combined pill for years, I would think the addition of oestrogen would help with a lot of things - I had effects on the progestogen only type that I never noticed on the combined.)

[Dancinggirl]

noheroicsplease - for me, the sedative effect kicked in after about 2-3 weeks and then settled after 6 months - we are all different so how these things effects us will vary - do stop looking for problems, a bit of cramping is normal at first - I suspect you slept badly because you were so keyed up after the fitting - you know you tend to fret!!!  I did generally sleep better with the Mirena, simply because I was on an HRT regime.
Relax and see how it goes over the next few months. 
BTW - never heard that oestrogen causes hair loss - very strange!!! Dg x

[Noheroicsplease]

Thanks all. You are a lovely bunch!

So, should I expect hair loss with the mirena?

[Hurdity]

  dahilagirl - if I'd seen your post I might not have looked it all up (although I always do like to look at numbers) - you've obviously done it all before!!! I only saw yours after I uploaded the other thread! I only looked up one of the mini pills as an example because really I initially only wanted to compare Mirena with Femseven - but then had the eureka moment that I should be comparing with CCP and mini pill because that's where the notion of minimal systemic absorption comes from! Since I last used oral contraception 40 years ago then I wasn't really thinking in terms of this! The only difference is that I found that HRT as in the Femseven patch - was actually the lowest of all (as levonorgsetrel doesn't come in tablet form for any of the HRT types - not sure why not though?).

I agree re the hair loss - oestrogen should make your hair more luxuriant.

Hurdity x

[Dancinggirl]

You shouldn't get any hair loss with the Mirena - my hair was fine.  DG x