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

I’ve had it for 6 months and I have my period twice a month and the pain is pretty consistent day to day.

My first IUD placement (Mirena) was without numbing shots, and it really was quite painful. The immediate pain lasted only a few seconds, but I had hot flashes for a few minutes afterwards. The next week, I got the heaviest period of my life, followed by about 4 months of light bleeding. After that, I lost my period completely for about 3 years, and then very light and irregular periods until I had it replaced. My period used to cause painful acne and very frustrating mood swings, which I was quite happy to go without. I did have some discomfort during sex, but only with larger partners and only in certain positions. My second IUD was the Kyleena. I did have numbing shots for the placement, and it was much more comfortable - similar to getting a pap smear. My period has gone away again, and I haven't noticed any pain during sex (Kyleena is a little smaller). My only real concern about the IUD is that if I were to become pregnant while the IUD is in place, it is very likely to be ectopic. I do take a pregnancy test every couple of months, so if it does happen I can get the care I need. I live in a state with very good and safe abortion care, so I would be able to get help right away, but it's still something to keep in mind. All that being said, I would 100% recommend an IUD. I have been nearly period-free since 2018, which is well worth the pain of insertion. I really appreciate being able to avoid the acne, pain, and mood swings I used to get with my period, and I really really appreciate that I have an incredibly effective form of birth control that I only have to think about once every 8 years. I love my IUD so much, and I am probably going to use IUDs as my primary form of birth control for the rest of my life.

If you are considering the hormonal IUD route, I highly encourage you to read this! I primarily chose to switch over to the Mirena due to the weight gain I experienced while on the pill. To preface, I never had any issues with vaginal dryness prior to the switch. Following the insertion, I have been almost completely unable to get wet. As I stated before, this was never a problem for me regardless of arousal. It has been over a year, and without using an external lubricant, I physically cannot have sex due to the severity of this issue. It can be humiliating if the person i’m getting with isn’t aware of the causation. Just wanted to make it known, because it’s impacted my life pretty significantly.

I took this for endometriosis and it dialed my pain and symptoms down from a 9 to a 2-3, for a whole year. Unfortunately after a year I felt the pain begin to creep back in, a little more intense every month after that year mark, so I decided to pursue excision surgery as a more permanent solution. If you’re not ready for surgery but want endo relief, definitely encourage you to give Mirena a try!

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...