I don’t know if the Merina IUD is a cause of Emma’s condition. The timing of it seems to coincide with her 2nd breakdown, but there was also her 7 stupid episodes of “rolling” on Ecstacy (MDMA) while on 5mg of Zyprexa. Also the psychiatrist that supplied her with free Zyprexa ran out and substituted Saphris to Emma – who was not able to sleep for an entire week, and she checked herself into a hospital because of suicidal thoughts.
As you know, I am desperately looking for a cure, a reason. While cleaning out her apartment, I came across some of her papers. Once of them was a billing for the Mirena IUD, just about a year ago, when she first began her second phase of feeling like she was losing it. Hmmm. Needed to look that one up.
A Google search for Mirena IUD mercury (trying to figure out what cause Emma’s high mercury levels in her blood) pulled up some sites, and then I stumbled upon a site that started off with a young woman who had bad side effects from the Mirena IUD. This blog site is lifeaftermirena.blogspot.com. Other women chimed in, some with great testimonies about that type of IUD, and some with horror stories that they attributed to the strong hormones in the Mirena.
Most of the side effects reported were bloating and weight gain. A few (very few) of these women reported depression, anxiety attacks, panic disorders, suicidal thoughts, visions of bad things happening to their family.
The Mirena IUD is manufactured by Bayer. This IUD releases small amounts of the hormone levonorgestrel into the woman’s uterus to provide continuous birth control for up to 5 years.
Could the hormone levonorgestrel be causing Emma’s symptoms? I couldn’t say, but it was not doing any good in her since Emma was home and going downhill with her anxiety/depression/thoughts/outlook.
I could not find any connection between that hormone and mercury. However, I am glad that I stumbled across the negative side effects, even though it only affected a few women that way. Emma does tend to react to most drugs, and the best course of action was to get this out of her body.
We saw a very nice young female ob/gyn who was sympathetic and understanding. Merle was very apprehensive about it because it hurt quite a bit when she had it inserted, but the removal went quickly and painlessly.
Now, we wait and continue on with other methods and see other specialists. I feel hopeful, and very glad that one potential toxic product is out of Emma’s system. It may take time for the hormones to leave her system, but we have time.
Upcoming chelation sessions to remove mercury may also detox other drug traces.
I suspect it was; this just happened to me. I hope everything has turned out well for your daughter and you, I’d be interested to know what has happened since and whether you were able to ever get anyone in the medical community to listen and/or take you seriously wrt your concerns regarding the Mirena IUD and psychosis linkage.
I had the IUD inserted on December 9, 2013 and ended up in a fairly bad state of psychosis and just got off the phone with a friend who indicated the Mirena IUD had horrible impacts of increasing anxitey for two of her friends as well. I don’t know any details of what happened for them (my friend is following up for me though).
I had the IUD removed 2 days ago, still had some anxiety (but it’s more just physical now owing to all the stress I put on my body during this episode and the stress of being locked up in the mental health system during March Break when all the doctors are on vacation). This morning I got my period and feel 100% back to normal, although I still have some anxiety about the follow up pychiatrist appointment and ‘final assessment’ that might allow me to eventually go back to my job…
Thanks
My faith in modern medicine and the drugs they partner with is at a low point. Hopefully your ob/gyn reports your suspicions. Even though only a few have psychotic episodes from Mirena, shouldn’t that information and data be available worldwide with just a search into medical inquiries by professionals?
I do not think the Mirena IUD was the cause of my dauther’s psychosis. It may have been high levels of mercury in her brain – for she seemed to be getting better after several EDTA chelation treatments, but she stopped because her veins were so small and she hated needles. I don’t think it is any one thing that has and is causing her mental problems – she is quite a mystery in her behavior and symptoms, though they like to be able to give her condition a tidy name that fits into psychobabble.
I hope your continue to feel better. Take things that will help you to detox (green tea, etc.) because it may take months before all of the drug is out of your system.
Stay well, keep healthy, be wise!
Emma’s mother
Hi. I am currently experiencing psychosis and for the first time in my life going to therapy and seeing a psychiatrist. I was given Laatuda. I have been in a constant state of panic and high anxiety since Sept of this year 2014. I was at my ropes end and then came across the issues others have had about Mirena and psychosis/anxiety/panic attacks. All doctors GP and GYN brushed off as just a panic attack and that I will be fine. Only one nurse expressed to me that I need to remove the Mirena and that this all sounded hormonal. I have gained an enormous amount of weight. Severe depression. Outrageous panic attacks. Hair falling out. Sense of detached reality. Appetite either nonexistent or voracious. Please contact me if you have had any experience like this. I am having the Mitena removed tomorrow. I just pray to return to normal. I am really losing all hope. I don’t even recognize my own life anymore. It’s like everyone is a stranger. Please email me jb3632@yahoo.com if you got yours removed and feel normal again.
Hi Jaye, how are things now that you removed Mirena? I have a family member having similar issues and wonder if you found relief after. Would enormously appreciate your reply. GBY
There wasn’t much difference.
My daughter had a Mirena IUD and then had a strong psychotic episode. She was admitted to a psychiatric hospital 2 months after she had it inserted. There are many Class Action Lawsuits against this company. Contact Bernstein Liebhard law firm.
Hopefully your daughter is now on her road to recovery. Give it time, and prayers. Thank you for your comment and visit.
A little over a year and a half ago, less than 2 months after having my Mirena IUD put in, I suffered a psychotic breakdown. I fought to keep myself above water, as I had a 6 month old daughter who needed me. I endured several very hard months of therapy (luckily I had been seeing my counselor for a few years, so I was in good hands) and 2 different psychiatrist’s attempts to find meds that controlled my symptoms to the point of manageability. After my second psychiatrist canceled 2 consecutive appointments, I was beginning to lose the slight grip I had on maintaining my sanity, all the while working part time and mommying an infant full time. Because I have Medical assistance, there wasn’t a single psychiatrist in Centre County available to see me in any kind of timely fashion. The real kicker is that doctors who do NOT accept my insurance are legally NOT ALLOWED to accept out of pocket payment from me. I literally had one option if I wanted to see a qualified doctor, and that was admit myself to the psych ward at the hospital. It was a last resort, and I did so with the feeling I was abandoning my baby girl because I couldn’t ‘just get a grip’ the way I felt I should be able to. I spent 8 days there, longer than expected because the initial medication wasn’t having the desired effect and they had to start a different one, and then monitor me for 3 days on this new medicine. Since then I have been seeing a psychiatrist, whom I saw in the hospital. He doesn’t take my insurance, and only sees me because he happened to owe my father a favor. In this year and 5 months since the hospital, I’ve been on and off of several anti psychotics, anti depressants, anti anxiety meds, even blood pressure pills to help lower my body’s response when a nightmare or panic attack starts to come on. I’m finally getting to my point, as I’m sure you’re wondering why on earth I’d be willing to share such personal experiences with you… last night, my best friend mentioned a recent pregnancy scare. She and I have discussed that she can’t get hormonal birth control for medical reasons, but it wasn’t until last night that she told me what KIND of medical reason. She has several mental health diagnosis, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, anxiety, depression… you name it, she’s got it. Well, last night she tells me her obgyn won’t give her any kind of birth control, especially mirena, because of her schizophrenia diagnosis. It’s not been proved scientifically yet, but there have been many women who have expressed developing anxiety, depression, mental breakdowns, and schizophrenic tendencies, after having the IUD inserted. My BIGGEST issue with it is that every SINGLE month, a nurse at my psychiatrists office asks for my last period, and EVERY MONTH I tell them “I have the mirena IUD, my periods have completely stopped for over a year now.” Never ONCE did ANY of the literally tens of psychiatrists I went through, plus the emergency room physician who gave me emergency anxiety meds two different times, plus the half dozen general practice doctors I have seen at the hospital and elsewhere… over 25 DOCTORS and countless nurses in all… and not one of them ever thought to look into side effects of the only medication I was taking when my breakdown began it’s downward spiral. I’m sharing this with you because I hope you will share it with other unwitting women. I thought the IUD was the best invention I’ve ever used, I don’t have a period, I can’t get pregnant, and I don’t have to use other contraception with my daughter’s father. If my meltdown would have happened before I had Lilly, I almost definitely would have killed myself. I came way too close to the cusp of rocking back and forth in a fetal position, unable to communicate with the outside world. My daughter was the thing I held on to as tight as I could on my worst days, and it worked. But I want to share my experience with any woman who will listen, because I’m not the first or the last who will suffer mental health side effects, and like me most women will never get the possible easiest cure for any mental illness… just get the piece of plastic yanked out of you. I plan on scheduling an appointment ASAP to get mine removed, I will keep you posted after a few weeks with my hopefully good news. Unfortunately, I am now on 2 anti psychotic meds, blood pressure meds for the anxiety, and sleeping medication. Even if my IUD is the cause, it will take months of weaning and switching meds again before I know for sure that I feel better because it was removed, and not just because I’m appropriately numbed by the dangerous psychiatric medications that have been piled on top of one another. It’s been an awful road thus far, and I want other women to know just how hard it has been, so that if it happens to them, too, they will have the knowledge necessary to remedy themselves. Because for many of us, the best possible option in the most dire times looks like the permanent one…
Please, anyone who is suffering or has questions about my experience, feel free to contact me via email at krs11989@gmail.Com ,please put ‘IUD MH side effects’ as the header. And finally, anybody who reads what I’ve written… share it with every woman you know. You might save a life from being cut tragically and unnecessarily short. My writing is, however, my personal property, and I ask that you kindly ask my permission, or give proper citation to me, before you use any or all of my writing.
Blessings and best of luck to you. My daughter is getting better, day by day. Comparing her state of mind a year ago, and then a year ago before that makes me realize how fantastic the human body, mind, and soul are. She is almost normal now, goes out with friends, has occassional anxiety issues but she is able to cope.
May you be 100% well again, just allow time and your beliefs to get you through.
Thanks so much for this we’re going through this right now and no one is listening to us. Our daughter went from an an excellent student to a college student with psychosis. We were unaware of this IUD even being installed and noted strange mood swings end of sophomore year but attibuted it to being a collegend student under normal stress. Then late Junior year had first psychotic incident,we found out that she had Mirena iud but psychiatrist assured us there was no relation. Now her senior year in college and she had an incident last week. Again we’re being told no relationship to the Mirena. We are in NC anyone know who we can talk to who understands and can help us save our daughter she just turned 21 last week?
Very sorry to hear about your daughter. Life is very tough for young adults and we parents feel so helpless at times. We trust that the “experts” will do the right thing, or even that they know the answers, but they sometimes do not. You need to keep on your quest to find your own answers. Perhaps the Merina IUD causes disruptions that can lead to psychosis. Anything that alters our natural state of being can cause disruptions, but some people are more susceptible to them than others. Especially young girls in their 20’s. We were told that it is quite common to see them come into the ER after having breakdowns, and their term for it is “first break.” What causes it? They don’t really care. Instead, they treat what they see with more drugs.
Your daughter is now an adult. She probably wants her independence, yet also wants the security of her home and family. You, on the other hand, will always see her as your little girl and so you do everything you can for her.
If no one is listening to you, then you must keep on searching. If it is caused by drugs or meds, try eliminating them slowly. Clean out the toxins and buildup in her system with chelation – though it is important that you find the right doctor who is not just in business, but one who knows how to heal.
It has been 6 years since my daughter had her first break, and then several doozies of breaks after. Time heals. You might call it the grace of God, or karma, or whatever else you believe. With time, everything turns out to be alright, or at least manageable.
Good luck, God bless, Namaste.