Mirena coil vs Kyleena coil

The mirena coil overall worked very well for me. It took a few months to settle initially, and I’m glad I stuck it out. However, at the 5 year mark I started to experience unpleasant symptoms - hair loss, pelvic pain, recurrent thrush. So I’ve now had it removed and gone for kyleena coil, so will see how that goes!

The mirena coil was excruiciating to have inserted, I am so shocked that no pain relief was offered and i had to spend the rest of the day in bed with severe cramps which continued for a few days. My skin had a very poor reaction and i developed quite bad cystic acne across my face, chest and back as a result, which I did not have previously.

Mirena prescribed for painful, heavy, irregular periods in peri-menopause. My quality of life improved dramatically as a result. I had some bleeding daily for first 6 weeks, but my periods have now stopped other than an occasional slight spotting episode. No more pain, flooding or embarrassment, with my iron levels restored, so feeling energetic and less tired. No side effects other than breast tenderness and some mood changes initially. Life changing.

I had the coil for 4 and a half years and started getting infections with ever increasung severity. I would swing between thrush and bv pretty much back to back especially in the last year and a half of having it. The doctors kept just giving me treatment for it and didnt say that it could be linked to the pill and it was only when i went on a deep dive of coil side effcts that i found out that it can cause infections. I then asked the doctors and then said they could see a correlation amd suggested removing it. I spent hundreds of pounds on prescription and over the counter medicine and spent such a long time feeling totally disgusting. Before i got the coil i had has thrush a few times and so i wonder whether i am more susceptible to getting it and thar should have been a consideration before choosing to have it.

I got my kyleena almost 4 months ago. It’s the first birth control I’ve been on and I put off getting any for ages because I was scared of the hormones. I’ve seen too many of my friends get depressed from the pill and so was very anti pill. My mental health is good overall and I didn’t want anything to mess with that. I wasn’t keen on the copper coil either because I didn’t want heavier and more painful periods. I’d never heard of an IUS/hormonal coil before my GP mentioned it and most people I’ve mentioned it to haven’t either but really should! I chose kyleena in the end because I liked the fact that yes there were hormones but because it’s a small dose and localised (directly in your uterus), you’re not supposed to get any mood effects. The most common side effect is irregular and lighter bleeding and for me choosing birth control came down to deciding which side effects were the least bad for me. Insertion I'm generally fine with pain and injections etc, minor operations don't really bother me so it will be different for different people but insertion was really quick and easy for me! I took some painkillers beforehand as advised and there was about 10 seconds of painful cramping where I was wincing but nothing I couldn't handle :) It was a bit uncomfortable because it was my first time with a speculum but my GP was great! I started bleeding lightly pretty immediately after and some mild cramping. The GP showed me how to check my threads on a model and I checked at home by myself relatively easily, it was weird at first but used to it now and easy to find. Side effects So far the only obvious side effects for me have been changes to bleeding and cramping. My periods used to be very regular and not too bad. Every 27ish days and lasted for 6 days with days 5-6 being very light and only days 1-2 being heavy. They’re still changing as my body gets used to the coil but appear to be getting lighter and lighter and maybe going away completely. My first period post insertion was noticeably a lot lighter. I used to use a mooncup and haven't used it at all since, because I'm just not bleeding enough (and the advice on whether you should use a suction cup with an IUD/IUS is slightly confusing). I'm just using light flow period pants (WUKA's period thongs specifically which I love). I bled most days for the first maybe second month but still really light. It's gradually getting less frequent and lighter so I've gone weeks with no bleeding before having an extremely light almost unnoticeable period. My cycle length is varying from 18-30+ days which is a bit annoying for someone who used to be so regular but I'll take it over other side effects. I’m still ‘spotting’ throughout my cycle but it’s almost unnoticeable it’s so light. Not quite safe in white underwear yet but any bleeding I have is more like brown/pink discharge and doesn't stain the way blood would. Cramping Pre coil my cramping ranged from non existent to mostly there for a few days but not too bothersome to occasionally needing to be strapped to a hot water bottle feeling sorry for myself on days 2 and 4. I now get random cramping at any point throughout my cycle and it doesn’t really line up my my period anymore. I do get cramps on my period but not in the pattern I used to. Sometimes it’s the most painful I’ve had, more often and is sometimes more of a stabbing than a dull ache but it’s still manageable and I imagine loads better than copper coil. Sometimes I think the hair on my stomach is ever so slightly darker (common progesterone side effect) but I’m not sure how true that is. I do complain about the irregular bleeding and cramping, it can be irritating but it’s not the end of the world and seems to be levelling out 🤞 I’m ultimately very happy that my coil so far seems to have no effect on my mood which was my main concern. It’ll obviously work differently for different people but I’d recommend looking into it and considering it! I’m still new to it and am curious to see how it goes long term but so far largely good!

I got this contraception to prevent pregnancy but completely lost libido and gained weight. There was no issue with insertion and removal and got rid of painful periods.

This has been much better for me than the combined or mini pill - it has had no effect on my mood that I can tell and my periods have basically almost stopped (for the past 3 years I've had 6ish light periods a year, with 1 day of sever cramping). However, this is nothing as bad as my natural periods which normally have a week either side of just cramping. However, I have recently noticed increased breast soreness/tenderness, slight, persistent cramps and increased discharge after my last period. If this persists I'll talk to my doctor - I should be changing my coil soon away, so I'll report back :)

I tried the Kyleena coil for nearly 6 months. I previously tried a wide variety of contraception methods but nothing agreed with me. This was the worst one. Even during my sixth month of having it, the pain was like nothing I've experienced before. Very painful during sex. Hot flushes frequently. Heavy bleeding for the majority of the time I had the coil. Awful cramps. Constantly tired to the point I was napping on breaks at work. I'd sleep for 13 hours at a time and still feel tired. The only positive was that my mood didn't seem to change.

Really pleased with my decision to use this form of contraception. Love not having periods. I do still get some spotting and some of the symptoms/emotions I associate with my period approximately monthly.

When first inserted 3 months ago the cramps lasted for about 2-3 weeks inconsistently and occasionally get random ones between cycles, I still get occasional spotting for 1-2 days and periods now last longer than before (originally 3-4 days, now about 4-6 days, sometimes they stop then start again over two weeks). The most frustrating thing is not being able to predict when your period will start, they are getting lighter, but I had hoped they would stop. Also a note on insertion, I know this is all recommended beforehand but make sure you take the pain killers, only local anaesthetic is applied which seemed like it made no difference. You will likely have cramps for at least two weeks or longer whilst it settles down.

The experience is very good in terms of contraception. However I have had quite irregular periods which can be heavy alongside bad cramps.

I started it after changing from the copper coil. Having previously had no issues with the mirena coil i thought this would be fine but instead i got constant spotting, bled after sex, had a painful and irritated cervix and lost my sex drive.

After having fibroid operation . I wanted contraceptive with no estrogen and ideally low progesterone. Wasn't many choices it was either mini pill or coil which you take on time all the time which didn't suit me. Plus I don't suit the more modern progesterone. Makes me crazy so it had to be iud coil. I've had many Mirena in past which were great masking at my heavy bleeding from my fibroids. But tended to have low moods which I put down to progesterone. So why I went for kylenna, a coil lower version progesterone with same amount of years. Initial side effects but amazed how little I bleed and i feel moods swings aren't strong as they were on the Mirena coil. I feel more even. I think definitely sensitive to hormone changes so I see this as a benefit for me.