Mirena coil vs Levosert coil

I had the IUS Mirena fitted just over a week ago and it is the worst decision. I am now deeply regretting it. After being put on a waitlist for it due to painful periods, an appointment became available. I did some initial research through the NHS website and in the appointment, the Dr ran through a few things. The insertion was honestly awful. It took ages and hurt a lot. I came home in agony and felt the worst cramps of my life for the rest of the day. Since then I've had my period and it's again been the worst. Cramping, lower back pain, feeling like I need to urinate a lot, heavy pressure on my tummy and bladder. My period was also more painful than ever and I'm still bleeding. Fed up and now willing to wait months and months like so many women for it to possibly settle (but judging by most reviews and conversations with women who have it, it rarely works as the doctors say it will). They also put me on a 3-day course of antibiotics when I called to say what was happening. They think I have an infection but no one has cared to see me in person. Once the course is over, I am booking the first appointment to have it removed.

Having the more a coil inserted is still to this day the most painful experience I have ever endured. I nearly passed out and I'm horrified I wasn't told local anaesthetic was an option until afterwards because the doctor felt sorry for me. I got some cramping after that but ainknew that was normal, but it never fully went away. Then I noticed I got cramping pain during sex that prevented me from climax. It was awful. I even had a vaginal ultrasound to check it was in the right position and apparently there was nothing out of place. After 9 months of putting up with random stabbing pelvic pain and it killing my sex drive, I got it removed. The doctor said it seemed like my cervix was really clamping down on it when she removed it. I am never letting anyone put anything through my cervix ever again. Horrific experience start to finish.

My insertion was painful, when I get it in again I will get more painkillers or ask to be under anaesthetic. If I could tell anyone considering this contraception one thing, I would say don't let that put you off. I mostly don't get my period which is absolutely fantastic, I might get it once every 6 months. When I do get them, they're not as painful or bloody as I used to get them without the IUS in. I don't get PMS symptoms anywhere as severe and I feel like it improved my mood in general. I don't have to remember to take anything which was my deciding factor in choosing this. It also helps that it is over 99% effective at preventing pregnancy.

Had the mirena then swapped to levosert on coil change as it was the first line, fittings are not pleasant however to have it every 5-6 years it's manageable and worth it for only occasional spotting and endometriosis symptom control. No more heavy and painful periods requiring strong pain relief. I would always recommend. Life changing.

My emotions feel slightly muted and sex drive decrease

I got the Levosert fitted 10 days ago so can't comment on longer term side effects but so far haven't noticed any except for the first few days after fitting. I was worried about how much it would hurt as I haven't had children and am very petite (not sure if that makes a difference). The fitting itself was painful, but it was over so quickly it was definitely worth it. I think there were 2 or 3 times during the procedure where I felt intense pain but each of these lasted literally a few seconds each. I had 3-5 days of discomfort similar to period pains/back ache afterwards and feeling a bit rubbish as a result, but nothing awful (not worth a day off work). I had some bleeding after the fitting and some weird solid white grissle stuff coming out for a couple of days. Since then I've felt absolutely fine physically. I couldn't feel the strings (tried as soon as I got home and everyday after for a week), which I was worried about. I went back to the clinic for them to check. They said its fine but the combination of my short fingers and (newly discovered!) high up left sided cervix means I am unlikely to be able to feel them. That's the only thing that bothers me slightly as you're supposed to check the strings every month. Knowing it lasts 6 years is great and I wish I'd got it years ago

Changed my life for the better. I used to have very heavy, painful periods for 4-6 days at a time, on irregular cycles. Having it fitted was painful - definitely ask for pain relief if you're not offered it - and I had a couple of weeks of intermittent period-like cramps but after that no periods and no pain! It's like a miracle. No other side effects, and I can't feel it at all. I completely, unreservedly recommend this.

I put off changing my copper IUD to a hormonal IUS for a long time because I scared myself from reading things online about increased weight gain and skin problems. I have struggled with acne all my adulthood but decided to try it because my periods were heavy to the point of being unmanageable. The clinician gave me the best advice: you don’t know how it will affect you until you try it, and if you don’t like it, just get it removed. I’m so glad I tried the hormonal IUS. My period is so light that it’s no longer the focus of my month. I used to literally lose sleep over my period pain and volume. I have noticed my skin is greasier than before but I haven’t experienced the horror stories I’ve heard. I’m taking starflower oil supplements, not sure if that helps at all. Only noticeable negative is I’ve started to sweat quite a bit, including night sweats. It even breaks through my high strength antiperspirant. Unpleasant but not life altering

I have experienced unlikely side effects by loosing half of my hair in 2 months, itchy scalp, delayed period by 20 days and low iron level. Never was given a choice of coil by NHS doctor which coil I prefer during insertion appointment beforehand mentioning Mirena worn twice and had no issues at all. During coil taking out appointment I asked why Levosert has been inserted - apparently this is the cheaper option of Mirena. Often cheap means a loss of quality which I have experienced on my own health. Really disappointed in our health service!!! My hair loss has stopped in a week's time since removal of a coil. Ended up prescribed 3 months intake of an iron vitamin and taking a break from all hormonal coils.

I’m honestly mixed about this. Insertion was painful. Honestly the worst thing I’ve ever felt and I took paracetamol and had the pain relief injection. After the first day things went well. Regular periods. Average sex drive. No issues. Until 10 months later when I noticed it had slowly started to fall out and I didn’t know until it was too late. I became pregnant as the coil was half in half out. This lead to complications. So it didn’t start or end well for me but the middle bit was fine.

I got the Levosert coil fitted in April 2022 within 3 weeks I had removed it. I wish I had never got it fitted and gone with my gut instinct, which was to get the non-hormal coil or just stuck with taking the pill. As I approached my first period after having the coil fitted, I; 1. Became super emotional, 2. Couldn't stop crying, 3. Felt depressed and didn't want to get out of bed, 4. Was anxious, 5. Felt extremely nervous, 6. My breasts were really tender, 7. I felt dizzy at times, 8. I had a lot more discharge then before 9. Overall just felt like I was going through a mental health crisis. While l sometimes get emotional leading up to my period, this is something that I had never experienced before. I started questioning whether I wanted children and if I could cope with pregnancy and the hormonal changes I would go through, something I never questioned before. I wasn't coping with my hormones with the coil fitted, so how could I possibly manage through pregnancy. The only pros, I can report is that my period was a lot lighter then normal, but lasted longer, and I no longer had to remembering to take a pill daily, not really worth the cons in my opinion. I started reading up more about the side effects of the coil, and read stories of women who had kept it in for months, who's doctors had told them that it takes time to settle, I wasn't prepared to wait for it to settle, the thought of going through these kinds of emotions every month for 3 - 6 months before it settled was not an option for me. The side affects I experienced, apparently affect 1 in 10 women, I never thought I would be that 1 in 10. I have now gone back on the pill on approaching what should have been my next period; I missed a period as I wanted a break from bleeding; I bled for 7 days after the coil was fitted and 7 days after it was removed (I also had a period between that time). On approach what should been my next period I did't feel, no where near as emotional as I did when the coil was fitted. I was so happy that I got it removed. I am now approaching what should be my 2nd period after getting the coil removed and I have again been quite emotional this past week, this is hard to deal with as I have never experienced this level of emotional up and down before being on the coil. My advice is think long and hard before taking any kind of contraception, our bodies are different and go through changes over the years so what may have worked previously may not work now, swapping between contraception may also effect your hormones. There is just not enough research on the link between depression, anxiety etc and hormonal contraception, so please be aware of these possible effects. Ladies only you know your body, if the coil doesn't feel right please get it removed, don't suffer in silence or suffer for the sake of contraception, its really not worth it. 

For someone with heavy & painful periods, this has been a game changer. The insertion process wasn't too bad at all. It was uncomfortable but nothing out of the ordinary for someone who as been through hell with their periods! I have little to no bleeding now, and some cramps but nothing that some mefenamic acid cannot sort out. Highly recommend. I feel much more myself, and I'm not overloading my body with hormones all of the time.

I got the Levosert coil inserted last year. Getting it in was quite painful and I had pain for a few days afterwards then I was fine. I don’t get periods any more which doesn’t bother me but once a month I feel like my hormones increase and I get really sore boobs and an increase in appetite. I was having problems with hair loss at first but this seems to have calmed down and was also getting a lot of whitehead spots on my chin which come back from time to time so that’s quite annoying. I think I feel a bit more scatty than I usually do I’m forgetting a lot of things and can be quite disorganised but not 100% sure this is a cause of the coil. It’s not made too much of a drastic change to my every day life and I’m glad I don’t need to worry about contraception for another 5 years.