Yep. I felt like I totally lost my mind when I had the Mirena IUD put in. At the time I blamed it on the IUD, but in hindsight I see that the symptoms I was struggling with were hypo symptoms. At the same time I had also just had a baby so I don't know how much postpartum hormones played into all of it as well. I really don't know if it was triggered by having a baby, or the stress in my life at that time, or the IUD, or a combination of those...

When things got worse for me in the last year and a half I finally went to the doctor about it. The very first thing she honed in on was my IUD. She wanted it removed immediately. I had it swapped with a non-hormonal copper one. Two other doctors that I saw in the same time frame also both said the IUD could very well be what set everything off. No one explained why - I'm assuming it has to do with disturbing the hormonal balance of things.

I wish I could tell you that things got better after I had it taken out. They didn't. But I had kept it in way way longer than I was supposed to because I was afraid of my body's reaction to a fresh one, so most of the hormones were probably gone anyway.

Totally had a bad mirena experience recently. I also am postpartum. Two babies in three years. First round I was on thyroid meds. Second not. Second was the worst preganacy ever. And born preemie. It took a minute for me to put it all together. That I feel horrible bc the baby took all my juice. Reading this article was like a light bulb. I think it's worth a read.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/08/120827152037.htm

One of the most important things I learned from my horrific medical past is this: If you have ONE hormone that's out of whack, the rest will revolt.

I had a serious thyroid problem, and when my docs added to that progesterone and/or other hormones...it only got MUUUUUUUCH worse.

Apparently, the mirena IUD does use progesterone...

No Mirena but I could never handle bc pills, I had my tubes tied in my 20s ...and my daughter with Hashi's couldn't handle them either.
We turned into major basket cases, not fit to be around. Both so peaceful normally we turned into angry mean people..

I agree with MButterfly and had the same discussion with the new doctor (naturopath). I had told him when first started with hypo symptoms, which I later found out was a result of having Hashi's, I was on birth control, the pill, for a while and had the worse effects. I was always moody, depressed, gaining weight, and felt bloated. I tried to test for myself coming of the pill. Once I stopped, my emotional state improved significantly and I made the decision to not use hormones. I talked to my gyno a few months ago at my annual about this. He said that the hormones from the IUD does not enter the blood stream and therefore, the birth control method should not have an effect on my thyroid. Then we discussed tubal ligation. However, after reading experiences of women who did this and with thyroid issues, I changed my mind. Yesterday, the discussion with the naturopath was regarding the balance to hormones. He drew me a picture in which he basically listed the three most important hormones, thyroid, adrenals, and reproductive. He explained how each helped the other and if off balance, it will also affect the other two. It made complete sense to me because I experienced it first hand. Therefore, it is a personal choice on whether to try BC or not, but not all people react the same way. I, unfortunately, am one who does not do good with extra hormones. :)

That's awesome info, thanks for sharing! It explains why I've always had such a horrible reaction to birth control. What happens if you have a thyroid problem and have a tubal? That's one option that I've kept in the back of my mind.

this is so interesting to me because in 2010 i was spotting between periods so my ob put me on birth control, which i'd never used before. it gave me horrific headaches so they switched me to the progesterone only pill, the mini-pill, and the headaches stopped. i took it for almost five years, the five years where my health just got worse and worse, finally resulting in hypo. the first thing my gp did when she found out i was hypo this spring was to take me off my birth control and told me that i should only use a non-hormonal iud in the future.

could the progesterone have been contributing to my problems? if anyone has any progesterone related articles, i'd be interested in reading them.

My GYN had some interesting comments that I thought I would share in case anyone is following this. He told me that mirena should not interfere with thyroid hormone because it is concentrated in the pelvis. He said very little of the progesterone hormone enters the blood stream. He said he would be more concerned about how it would affect my overall hormones if I quit taking it since my body has been used to it. In other words, in may cause an increase/decrease in certain reproductive hormones due to the level changes; which could send a false signal to other hormones indicating there is a problem. I'm not sure what to think about it. This is a physician who listens to me and I generally trust but I'm not sure how much he understands thyroid disorders. I probably need to do some research on my own as well.