How Long Does It Take To Get Mood Side Effects from Mirena?

[dkwgdk.livejournal.com]

Hey y'all-- I got my Mirena back in April of 2011 and things have been good so far, minus some acne and bloating (boo.)  Over the past couple of months, though, my mood has been in really, really abysmal.  For those of you who experienced mood side effects on the Mirena, how long did it take for them to show up?

Backstory: I've had severe depression for about 12 years.  It was made worse by oral contraceptives, so I stopped taking them.  It got better (finally) with a bunch o' drugs. However, my periods were getting 'dangerously' heavy (my doc's words) and no one could figure out why.  I couldn't take Pill again, so we tried the Mirena.  Two months ago, my mood took a major nose-dive and hasn't improved. I need to talk to my psychiatrist, and I'm pretty sure she's going to ask about the Mirena as a possible cause. However, I think it's not the Mirena because the 'bad mood' is constant -- not tied to my menstrual cycle like it was on the Pill. But, I wanted to get y'all's thoughts, too.

Someone posted a similar question over on IUD-Divas (http://iud-divas.livejournal.com/3031901.html) and I'll follow that thread, but wanted to cross-post here in case there are Mirena users here who have thoughts, too.

An aside--thanks for your reassuring words re: my friend with the breast lump.  It was really helpful.  They found she had a calcified mass in there (!!!) so she's having a needle biopsy on Monday.  But, again, I appreciate all of your support.

Comments

[kaberett.livejournal.com]

I also have a history of progesterone-sensitive depression. I honestly don't remember how long it took to get bad - it snuck up on me too gradually for me to notice it happening at the time, but was definitely in place after six months. Once it had settled in it was pretty much a constant for me, though my (rare) cycles were accompanied by worse patches. Do you still have a regular cycle?

[dkwgdk.livejournal.com]

I do have a regular cycle. I've always been really regular, and neither the Pill nor the Mirena has changed that. I am getting so much relief from my period symptoms (pain, heavy bleeding) that I'm reluctant to give up the IUD. But, yeah, if it's making me suicidal (that's the case now), then I need to get rid of it.

[kaberett.livejournal.com]

Hrmm. Like I said, I did still experience fluctuations in mood associated with hormones, but I seem to be sensitive to all forms of progesterone; it might just be that you don't get on well with the one in the Mirena. :-s

May I ask what's been ruled out as causes of your pain and bleeding? I *might* be able to suggest useful medications, but obviously that's affected by what it's safe for you to take, what illnesses you know you don't have, etc.

For what it's worth, I was similarly bad on the Mirena and was much, MUCH better within 3 days of having it removed.

[dkwgdk.livejournal.com]

I do not have: endometriosis, polyps, fibroids, Von Willebrand's disease, adenomyosis, pelvic inflammatory disease, STIs, or PCOS. I've had saline ultrasounds, regular ultrasounds, and a full panel of bloodwork.

My only health problems are hypothyroidism (managed with meds), a history of migraines, being overweight despite being really active, and having this horrific depression. I take a mood stabilizer called Lamictal that there is some anecdotal evidence causes heavy bleeding. However, I've had heavy bleeding my whole life...it's just gotten worse in the last few years...by 'worse' I mean I went from having several days where I soaked through super-plus tampons in two or three hours to having several days where I soaked through super-plus tampons in less than an hour.

[patchworkorange]

Yea, my depression took maybe 4 mths? But it was a constant and not necessarily cycle related at all...just always there.

[dkwgdk.livejournal.com]

Thanks, that's helpful.

[archangelbeth]

1: You don't have a menstrual cycle when on the pill -- you have an artificial cycle of hormones that rises and falls according to whether you're taking the hormone pills or the no-hormone pills (or no pills at all).

2: On the Mirena, you are getting a constant dose of progesterone. It does not fluctuate. Your own hormones may rise and fall somewhat, but then again, they may not. (Are you getting bleeding/periods/"periods" at regular or irregular intervals?)

So based on those two bits of data, it could totally be possible that the progesterone that the Mirena puts out is affecting your mood.

Have you had your thyroid looked at? How about your ferritin?

Good luck! (And good luck to your friend, too!)

[dkwgdk.livejournal.com]

Thanks! You know when somebody points something out to you and you're like "Oh yeah, duh." I'm having that moment...of course the dose from the Mirena is constant and so of course my depression would be constant.

I am on thyroid meds and had my levels checked in November. They're fine. I had my ferritin levels checked in March of 2011 when we were doing the "are you anemic/otherwise messed from how much you are bleeding" tests. They did whatever the regular iron test is along with the ferritin.

The other thing is that I have a pretty major life problem right now that might be triggering the depression. The worst part, of course, is that I have the problem, so I have the depression, and the depression means I can't get my act together enough to fix the problem.

If I get rid of the Mirena, I don't have a whole lot of options to cope with the bleeding. I can try the tranoxemic acid (Lysteda) or I can perhaps find someone to do a D&C. After that my next set of options will probably (or definitely) affect my future fertility -- uterine ablation or hysterectomy. I'm 34 and while I don't think I want kids, it seems like a bad idea to make that decision in any kind of a permanent way.

Grrrrrrrr.

[archangelbeth]

Ugh, catch-22 on depression is awful. O:(

About all I could suggest would be considering Natazia, which has a different synthetic estrogen... But if you have depression on all synthetic progesterones, that's... gonna be tricky as heck. I suppose if it took a month or three to actually activate the depression, you could try rotating different progesterone-using pills, with -- if you're not using it for contraception -- as long a duration off them as you can manage without starting to bleed again...

You could also try the "bunch o'drugs" tactic again before removing the Mirena, with the theory being that the progesterone of the Mirena would be minimal enough that Bunch O'Drugs could counteract it.

I wish I had a better solution! O:(

[heartsasmagnets.livejournal.com]

Strange. I think the pill has made my mood better (and my developmentally handicapped sister takes to solely to make her mood better), but maybe it's just the sex I'm having that's putting me in a better mood. :P

Hope you can figure out something that works for you.

[kaberett.livejournal.com]

It really varies from person to person - each variant of HBC can cause depression and mood changes in up to 10% of its users, but which 10% of people are affected is massively variable between preparations. Some people are sensitive to a particular synthetic oestrogen; I'm sensitive to all progestins I've tried using.