Skyla IUD vs Mirena IUD

Overall I really disliked this IUD. The insertion was extremely painful. I experienced spotting everyday for 6 months. When I started to get monthly bleeding again I would get debilitating cramps that caused me to miss work and school.

This is the only form Of birth control that I have chosen to continue out of pills, rings. And other iuds

Just got this inserted early November. It's December and Im experiencing a month of bleeding, cramps, irritability, nausea, headaches, dizziness, feeling unwell everyday.

After 14 months I pretty much don't have a period, but I still have light to moderate cramping a couple of times a month.

Great experience, insertion cramping was minimal. Got pregnant 4 months after removal.

I got my first Mirena when I was 17. I would describe the insertion process as uncomfortable but not painful. I did have a vagal response (came close to passing out) right after, but it didn't last long, I just needed to sit for a minute. I experienced very light cramping for about 4-6 days afterwards. I did lose some weight that year that may have been attributed to the birth control, I went from 120lbs to 100lbs (there were no other pressing reasons for the quick change in my weight other than the BC, perhaps stress as it was my senior year of high school). At the time, the Mirena was thought to be effective for five years, so I had it removed and replaced with another Mirena when I was 22. The removal and reinsertion was more uncomfortable than the initial insertion, but totally manageable in my experience. Overall, I did not experience many hormonal side effects that I noticed. I pretty much stopped menstruating after the first few months of having it, aside from very occasional, very light spotting. I would sometimes experience symptoms of PMS without the bleeding (a little fatigue, some mood changes). I did develop some cystic acne in the first 1-3 years of being on my second IUD, but it was truly not much and never lasted long. My favorite part of this method is how effective and easy to use it is. I was truly never concerned about pregnancy from 17-27 which allowed for a lot of freedom in terms of my sex life. In my long term relationship, we do not use condoms (both have been screened for STIs) and I feel completely safe and comfortable with my partner not pulling out (I know that's a personal detail but I what to emphasize that that's how effective it truly is in my experience). I did recently decide to remove my hormonal IUD and replace it with the non-hormonal IUD. My Mirena still had at least 2 years left in it, but since I had not had a period or had gone through that natural, hormonal process in 10 years, I wanted to give my body a break from hormonal birth control to develop that relationship with my body. If I did not have the option/privilege to change methods, I would have 100% kept my Mirena until it expired, and probably got a third one.

Love the Mirena!

Side effects: cystic acne & overall acne, metallic vaginal discharge, low libido & irritability. It was difficult to tell if IUD was in place since the doctor cut the strings too short. Went into OB & Planned Parenthood, they couldn't find it and were unsure if it fell out. This didn't give me a great deal of security as a BC since I couldn't tell if it was there or not...

Insertion is extremely painful, but I'm so glad I did it. I went from having debilitatingly heavy periods to no periods after having the first one inserted. After my second, my periods returned but are so light I only need to use very thin and light panty liners. I originally got this as a way to manage cysts that were growing and bursting on a yearly basis. This has completely stopped and haven't experienced a burst cyst since.

Everyone will have a different experience, however from my personal experience, I have had the IUD twice, and both times insertion was very painful. With that being said it was over relatively quick and in the long run I can say with 100% certainty it was worth it since I can now have a worry-free reliable birth control. Knowing ahead of time that pain is a possibility during insertion can help you take steps to reduce it/ possibly take away some of the fear that comes with uncertainty. Additionally, I have stopped bleeding/ having regular periods, however I still have period symptoms around the same time each month, so cramps, acne, back pain, and tender breasts for a couple days. I hope that was helpful!

I was put on it for endometriosis however it didn’t stop my pain and the loss of sex drive and acne did not outweigh the benefits

I’m sort of neutral about this birth control. I have had years of trying to find an oral hormonal contraceptive that both helped with my excruciating cramps and didn’t make my mood terrible most of the month. I will say, this has stopped my periods most months so I’m not getting cramping nearly as often, however I would say they’re actually worse than before the mirena when I do get them, so sort of win some lose some. It doesn’t affect my mood though, which is nice to not feel dreary all the time. I have gotten a lot of migraines, which is something I ran i to with a couple different pills I tried in the past, so I knew that was a risk of anything that was hormonal. Sometimes OTC pain killers do the trick, but I almost traded the cramps for headaches. I also have never been someone that sweats much, and I live in Arizona, but since getting this I have horrible night sweats and have phases each month where I’m running hot all day and sweating way more than usual. I’ve never had this side effect from a birth control, so that one was unexpected but definitely manageable. With the convenience of not having to take pills in mind, I would say I prefer the IUD to any birth control I have tried so far, but I’m not sure I love the mirena brand itself.