When IUDs Go Terribly Wrong

By Helena Blackstone
May 31 2016
VICE (originally published in Broadly)

“Between 2000 and 2013, the FDA received 70,000 complaints about the Mirena. As of November 2015, manufacturer Bayer was facing about 3,000 US lawsuits involving spontaneous uterine perforations from the Mirena.”

“In a 2007 survey, Dr Ewies found that nearly half (46 percent) of 160 women with the Mirena had it removed within three years, many for hormonal side effects from weight gain to depression to lack of sexual interest. However, Dr Ewies says doctors are told in training that the hormones in the Mirena act only locally on the womb. NICE guidelines, despite acknowledging that nearly 60 percent of women prematurely remove the hormonal coil—most commonly for unacceptable bleeding and pain—only acknowledge that an IUD can cause small mood and libidinal changes.

But in his experience, this is not true: "Hormones are certainly absorbed into the blood, and there is no difference between inserting the Mirena or taking progesterone tablets. They have the same effects on the body and this issue is not clarified to women." When women complain of hormonal side effects to their doctors, they can be disbelieved: "They get told it can't be the Mirena, which causes them distress and they keep going backwards and forwards to see their healthcare provider. It's very frustrating."“

“The Mirena website does acknowledge that hormones can enter the bloodstream. It states that the IUD "contains a progestin hormone called levonorgestrel that is often used in birth control pills. Because Mirena releases levonorgestrel into your uterus, only small amounts of the hormone enter your blood." It also warns that "between five and ten percent" of Mirena users may experience side effects such as "depressed mood," while five percent may also experience "decreased sex drive," among others.

When the medical establishment sidelines the real—and sometimes debilitating—effects of contraception, it compromises the credibility of women's perceptions about their own bodies. Women need to know about all the potential side effects of birth control, so they can make full and informed decisions about their bodies. One thing's for sure: When it comes to modern day contraception, it seems that women's options are still severely lacking.”

---