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Navigating your options is easier with other women

Featured reviews
Hormonal coil (IUS)  
Used for 3 - 5 yr
39 years old
🇬🇧 UK
  •  26th Jun 23

Mirena coil  

I have PCOS (diagnosed 2019) and was suggested a Mirena by my GP for flooding (eurgh) during my extremely erratic periods. I had dealt with these for at least ten years and although I had tried the combined pill, I was a little forgetful and felt I gained weight on that as well as feeling very moody. I feel quite emotional if I ever discuss the Mirena as it has genuinely changed my life and I wish I had it ten years earlier. My periods have all but stopped and if I get the occasional spot bleed, it’s so light I don’t even need sanitary protection. I’m not exaggerating when I say that I couldn’t even manage my daughter’s five minute school run without fear of bleeding through tampons, pads and clothing due to extremely heavy periods previously, but after the Mirena my quality of life has improved beyond my wildest hopes. I have a wonderful GP and the insertion although a little uncomfortable was no worse than a smear test and although I had slight cramps the rest of the day, I felt fine after. Another side effect is my anxiety has lessened tremendously and I don’t get the extreme lows I felt before a period previously. I know the Mirena won’t suit everyone but for me it has been amazing and I wish I hadn’t put it off so long, largely due to only reading about bad experiences, so happy to share a positive one. I will be going back in about 12 months time to get it replaced at my GP practice and won’t have any fear after my previous experience. The freedom of not fearing going on holiday and experiencing one of my horrendous periods is wonderful!

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Very positive mood

12 helpful

0 comments

Explore contraception
Avatar - TTC
Fertility experience
Trying for 1-3yrs
35 years old
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
  •  8th Nov 23

I had always felt that I might have trouble getting pregnant as I have had symptoms of polycystic ovary syndrome for as long as I can remember (since being a teenager!) After marrying my partner of now 11 years, we tried for a baby and never had a positive pregnancy test. It felt pretty heartbreaking and gruelling having cycle after cycle with the same result. After lots of testing, I was diagnosed with PCOS and my husband also had low morphology (this was eventually improved through lifestyle changes, reducing heat and with supplements including lycopene, zinc and pine bark). Another year of supplements (myo-inositol and NAC in particular have worked well for me with PCOS), lifestyle changes and six rounds of letrozole passed with still no pregnancy, so we embarked on a round of IVF. Unfortunately, not only was this unsuccessful, but also ended with me being hospitalised with OHSS and internal bleeding (an extremely rare experience, I would not want to deter anyone from IVF!) We were devastated and things looked (and, to be honest, still do look) pretty bleak in terms of our chances of conception. So whilst I can’t offer advice on falling pregnant, and without wanting to sound cliched as I know how heartbreaking and cruel trying to conceive can be, I believe that doing your absolute best to not put your life on hold during this time and travelling, seeing friends and family and making make time to prioritise the relationship with your partner is such a huge help in protecting your mental health, as well as being really kind and gentle with yourself (this is not always easy!) I have tried pretty much every recommended supplement, monthly testing, old wives tales (legs in the air!) but I think coming to terms that this isn’t my fault and isn’t something I have control over has begun to help me to accept things more, and also helps me to keep that little bit of hope for the future.


Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)

1

10 Show support

3 comments

Explore fertility
Avatar - endometriosis
Endometriosis experience
Symptoms 8-10yrs
24 years old
🇺🇸 United States
  •  26th Jan 24

In hindsight, i realize my period was never normal- i struggled with severely heavy periods as a young teen. Finally 10 years later, my heavy periods returned along with severe pelvic pain. Many appointments later, my gyno found ovarian cysts that should “go away.” They continued to grow until I begged for a surgery after becoming so sick that I could not longer function. they ended up discovering stage 3 endo. One month post laparoscopy and there’s still pain but i know it’s “technically not as bad” as before


Symptoms

Depression and/or anxiety

19


Treatments

Exercise

8

6 helpful

0 comments

Explore endometriosis
Avatar - PCOS
PCOS experience
Symptoms 1-3yrs
35 years old
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
  •  14th Aug 23

I was diagnosed as we have been trying for our 2nd child for around 10 months. I am only having periods every 3 months and don't think I am ovulating. I've been having blood test after blood test but am yet to receive any help with medication. It is affecting my mental health lately as I feel we are just going round in circles with the GP


Symptoms

Depression and/or anxiety

11


Treatments

Exercise

5

5 helpful

2 comments

Explore PCOS

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Hey, I’m Alice, Founder of The Lowdown. Over my life, I’ve struggled with side effects from the pill, pain from endometriosis and the rollercoaster of trying to conceive.

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About The Lowdown
The Lowdown is a research platform for women’s health. We enable women to review and research their health conditions, symptoms and medications so they can make more informed decisions. Our approach is unique; we provide credible, scientific information alongside reviews from our community of women. We believe that listening to women’s experiences of healthcare is crucial to improving it. 
We take your privacy very seriously and know how sensitive some of the topics you tell us about are. Any review or experience you share on our website will be completely anonymous, unless you choose to set a personally identifiable displayname in your account area. If you don’t change your displayname, your review will appear next to an auto generated displayname like ‘Lowdown012345’
Our website and content is free to access. We make money by partnering with like minded organisations like the NHS to share our insights into women’s health - so we can innovate better together. We work with innovators in women’s health, to gather anonymised insights on what women want - and spread the word to our community when they launch new products or awareness campaigns. We also work with companies that help to recruit patients for clinical trials, to help increase the number of women that are involved in health research and development.
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