This is very interesting to me. I wish there was more scientific research available. Please let me know if you come across any. I had the Mirena for 10 years and had it removed 3 weeks ago. I got MPS about 6 years ago - maybe longer. I'll let you know what happens. Wouldn't it be great if we could be easily fixed?

Wow, that's good news in a sort of creepy way. I hope it is the key for you because it sure couldn't be simpler.

Tink, what a coincidence! I am glad that you had yours removed. I had mine removed today and I am keeping my fingers crossed...
I'll let you know if I can find anything else on this. I hope you start feeling better!

I had an IUD back in the ancient ages. It was a copper T, and caused a major infection that took months of antibiotics to clear up. A close friend of mine had a Dalkon Shield. (She had it installed at my college clinic when she was visiting me, so I always felt somehow responsible!) She had such a bad infection that she became infertile. However, she got a settlement to pay for infertility treatment and eventually had a daughter.

I wonder how the IUD could cause muscle pain. Is it related to infections? It seems a strange thing for it to cause.

chimerical - I am so glad that your friend eventually was able to have a child.
I have been doing some reading on how the Mirena could effect muscles, and I realize this is a long shot but I just feel like this is way to big of a coincidence (in my case at least) to overlook. In Chinese medicine, tight muscles has to do with stuck blood. Also, it is way to complicated for me to understand but if the Mirena either causes excess chemicals to go into the muscles or the opposite by depleting something, then that could be the key.. I think that maybe I am really trying to make this make sense in my head because I want it to be true! It feels so good to be hopeful. :)

I started researching about the Mirena. Unlike other IUDs, Mirena releases small amounts of hormones. The sites I reviewed, linked the hormones to the muscle pains. Progesterone can also lower potasium levels, which in turn effects muscles. I think it's a long shot too but I'll take any odds I can get. :)

Okay, I was accessing the memory banks and I pulled up this memory of how an ectopic pregnancy can cause referred pain in the shoulder. When I was of child-bearing age this was one fear we had. I knew someone who had ah ectopic pregnancy--where the fertilized ovum implants in the fallopian tube, not the uterus.

Online I found this:''Shoulder tip pain is felt where your shoulder ends and your arm begins. It is not known exactly why shoulder tip pain occurs, but it usually occurs when you are lying down and is a sign that the ectopic pregnancy is causing internal bleeding.

The bleeding is thought to irritate the phrenic nerve, which is found in your diaphragm (the muscle used during breathing that separates your chest cavity from your abdomen). The irritation to the phrenic nerve causes referred pain (pain that is felt elsewhere) in the shoulder blade. "

I wonder if the phrenic nerve (whatever that is) is affected by the IUD too.

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Ectopic-pregnancy/Pages/Symptoms.aspx

This is kind of interesting. I think that I will bring it up to my Dr. I have a Mirena and haven't really had any issues with it, but I have MPS and always thought I just had Sciatica before my new Dr. took the time to really listen and really check me out. She thinks that my sciatica was either a result of the MPS or just a pseudo-sciatica. I love my new Dr. and I know she will take the time to think on this Mirena issue. I guess I might be having mine taken out too. It might be worth checking out, however that really worries me considering this is the only birth control that works for me without giving me any emotional issues. I still feel like myself and afraid of looking into anything else. Any suggestions?

Too bad both of the links you posted are removed! I really wanted to check them out. :(

Hi Kim,
Did you start getting MPS symptoms after you got the Mirena?
I have no evidence to back up the fact that there could be a link except the blog sites and the fact that a couple of us have gotten MPS symptoms sometime after getting the Mirena. For me, I didnt need to have any conclusive evidence.. if there is a 1% chance that they could be related, it was enough for me and I had mine taken out. I would definitely bring it up to your doctor. Maybe they will be able to help find another form of birth control that wont effect your mood. There are other IUDs that do not elicit hormones, maybe that would be worth getting instead?
Hmm, i am not sure why the links are not working for you. I still see them and am able to click on them. Here they are again.
http://curezone.com/forums/am.asp?i=1540876
http://www.healthboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=319813

If this doesnt work, please let me know and I can try maybe sending it in a message instead.

ps - I have sciatic pain from trigger points in my hips/upper butt area. I have had disc issues and surgery in the past and thought that my disc was messed up again when I got the sciatic pain. Since then, I have treated those knots and no longer have sciatic pain. (havent felt pain down my leg in about 4 months so I am convinced it was from the knots) I used to get dry needling done and when the needle was inserted into the knots in my hip/upper butt area, I felt the same sciatic pain that I usually felt, confirming this was the source.

* I meant to say that I have had sciatic pain from the trigger points but no longer do

I have been having issues with my computer, so there is a possibility it is a result of my messed up computer rather than the links. I started having sciatic pain and was diagnosed after I had my daughter 8 years ago. I also had a physical trauma from an assault that coincided with my pain. I have had pains that all these years could have been MPS, but I didn't have a Dr. that would even look that direction till recently. My Dr. was running every test and getting X-rays done on me and kept coming up with nothing. I found a new Dr., because I moved and she is the one who finally made sense. I got the Mirena right after I had my daughter and then had it removed and a new one put in about a year ago. I don't know if I have had MPS this whole time or if it is something new. I have had pain for years, but all of the sudden I have so much neck, back, leg, and arm pain that it became unbearable.

It's helpful learning that sciatic discomfort can be caused by trigger points. That explains why it bothers me occasionally (like now). I find that if I don't walk regularly or if I sit too long, it worsens. The tenacles of MPS seem to branch out.

The only thing I can buy into is that the insertion of the coil and / or the position you are to have it inserted activates dormant / latent trigger points in the pelvis.

Oh yes, I get mega sciatic-type symptoms too but know they're all nasty trigger points masquerading as a true-sciatica / disc herniation.

This is somewhat tangential, but as this has become sort of a "female troubles" thread, I thought I would mention it. I was cruising around the the saveyourself site that Pumpkin linked to and I found this:

http://saveyourself.ca/articles/shorts/2009-05-09-widespread-chronic-pelvic-pain-in-a-runner.php

This was a case where a woman's trigger points were caused by a misalignment of the pubic bone, specifically a gap where the two sides meet in the front. This happens naturally in pregnancy (the only time I ever had sciatica) but can persist afterwards. The only person this might directly affect though is Kim, whose pain started with the birth of her daughter.

I am going to go look at my xrays this morning to check out my pubic bone alignment. I feel sort of shy about asking a physical therapist to check it.