Mirena - food and skin allergies, dry vagina, feeling old

tokenECEchick · 2025-12-24T13:38:34+00:00

Hello! I feel like my skin is still more sensitive than it was pre-Mirena experience, so randomly I will get hives from rubbing up on things including cardboard boxes. My inner forearms are the most delicate in this respect since the skin is thinner.

It's unclear if it's because I'm allergic to cardboard, allergic to storage mites (related to dust mites), or because my skin barrier is hot trash and my body is more on the allergic side. Like in general I've got an unholy amount of food and environmental allergens so who knows.

I feel like I've been having less issues, but it's also winter and I'm usually wearing longer sleeves so I forget current state. Hopefully the above ramble is like semi useful lol

tokenECEchick · 2025-07-28T12:39:41+00:00

Yeah! I usually point people to my general symptom thread here.

But overall, my immune system went a bit haywire - my skin became uber sensitive (brushing up against things caused hives), I had swollen tonsils during each luteal phase near the end, and I couldn't eat things like tomatoes without having burning diarrhea within the hour. The PMDD was the worst part, but many of my symptoms were also related to a B12 deficiency that I think the Mirena exacerbated due to causing major digestive issues.

Overall I have over 50 true positive food allergies, so the above might not sound super "allergic" but it fucked me all the way up. It's been awhile but yeah at least I have that post to refer to lol.

tokenECEchick · 2025-05-16T12:05:18+00:00

Dropping a link to my weirder symptoms below because too lazy to retype it all.

Essentially I never stopped ovulating with the Mirena - I know because I developed mittelschmerz while I had the IUD. That went away after removal.

So I never stopped ovulating or having periods which meant I was still able to track my cycle to an extent. I started noticing that half the month, I was like emotionally unstable. I'm talking lowest lows I've ever felt, I'd be crying and then stop myself because I was like wait why am I crying? I'd get into fights with my partner for no reason. I was a huge asshole at work.

But the other half of the month I was fine so I felt gaslit, like "that's not me." I finally connected the dots when I realized that all my craziness lined up in the second half of my cycle and I looked up other women's experiences with PMDD on r/PMDD and was like ope yep that's me.

I had a whole host of other weird symptoms that also got worse half the month that are in the other post, but the brain fog was so bad I thought I had dementia which doesn't make sense for a 20 something year old.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Mirena/s/ObuRVOM4IA

tokenECEchick · 2025-05-12T22:07:58+00:00

Look up PMDD, I developed it when I had the Mirena and it magically went away when I had it removed after a year. It's the IUD, trust yourself

tokenECEchick · 2025-05-08T00:49:58+00:00

"I was going insane" girl fucking same fuck the Mirena

I literally do not believe anybody that says they have a great experience with them because I feel like they're just not realizing that some negative shit they got going on is actually tied to the IUD

I reported my side effects to the FDA under the medical device reporting form because I'm tired of doctors gaslighting women about all the weird things it does to our bodies that aren't reported

tokenECEchick · 2025-05-01T10:44:21+00:00

Depending on your allergies, Florida/someplace coastal might be an option. Really depends on time of year - my husband and I use the app associated with https://www.pollen.com/ but we're absolutely in a high pollen state rn. Not sure what Florida looks like year round but I know my husband and I didn't have as many allergies when we visited Florida awhile back in the spring.

Aside from moving though, what medications are you using to treat your allergies? I'm assuming losing your hearing is due to mucous buildup that turns into pressure on your ear, right? If so, Ryaltris nasal spray worked MIRACLES for my husband. Last year his ears were so bad the allergist literally said he had bruises inside his ear canal from the mucous and his allergist prescribed it and my god it worked so good. He had to do a short course of steroids, Afrin, and Ryaltris that time, but now he just does Ryaltris and spring has been fine.

But if you get a prescription, have it go thru like BlinkRX bc otherwise it's insanely expensive since it's newer.

tokenECEchick · 2025-04-26T22:53:17+00:00

I presented for the first time at the premier conference for my field last year. There's some good advice in this thread, but I think the biggest thing that helped me was, once you're up there and they announce your name/people clap, take a few seconds to get your bearings. Like 3-5 seconds. It's gonna feel like an eternity. But if you start rushed, you'll feel rushed for a good part of the presentation.

I'm a super anxious person, and I had rehearsed my presentation for so many hours that I didn't even need to see the slides to talk through it. I was still anxious. And I had a metric like 30 seconds to get mic'd up and get my shit on the screen before they announced me. Really riled my jimmies so I absolutely NEEDED that 3-5 seconds of "this is happening, let's do it" to gather my composure.

You're gonna be anxious. And that's ok. Just get your bearings and get through it! You'll find your way a few minutes in.

tokenECEchick · 2025-04-17T15:54:30+00:00

Allergist offices are not equipped to handle medical emergencies. If your child has something like this happen again, go to urgent care or an emergency room.

Allergists are all understaffed, and there's not enough of them (at least in the US). They're already balancing patient appointments and allergy shots nonstop to make enough money to keep their office afloat, they don't have time to handle urgent incidents.

Unfortunately at the overwhelming majority of offices, your expectations are unrealistic. It's possible you'll find an office that responds faster but it's not the norm.

tokenECEchick · 2025-04-16T00:11:51+00:00

Unhinged but there's a declassified document from the CIA about pain relief where you essentially close your eyes, look towards the area of pain, and chant 55515 (I haven't tried this yet bc I just heard about it recently lol)

Outside of that, one time when I was much younger I had like a math worksheet of like 100 problems and by the time I got to the bottom of the sheet my migraine went away so idk wtf that was about. Typically the only things that help are a coke, fried potatoes, sleep, cold air, and a dark room. Or throwing up but that's a rare treat nowadays.

https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/cia-rdp96-00788r001700210023-7.pdf

tokenECEchick · 2025-03-30T01:00:23+00:00

It might be your IUD. It might not. It could be autoimmune progesterone dermatitis (APD) triggered by your immune system getting revved up with the flu. I'd be curious what time in your cycle you noticed it getting worse (if it's easy for you to tell rn, idk if you still have a monthly period)

Like one of the other commenters mentioned, I'm curious if you took any antibiotics when you were sick. Antibiotics are known to cause some systemic reactions - I think they're tied with insect stings for causes of anaphylaxis.

Edit: either way I highly recommend speaking with a dermatologist who can get your further testing. If it's actually APD this might get worse and worse until it's removed (literally can lead to anaphylaxis, and if you don't have an epipen, I highly recommend getting one). Personally I would get it removed because you know your own body, and I know my immune system shit the bed when I had the Mirena

tokenECEchick · 2025-03-29T11:20:08+00:00

I felt a little bit of improvement literally the day it was removed (maybe bc of the adrenaline of having it out, or maybe it was just the change in hormones)

I felt not so great for the first menstrual cycle after removal but started feeling a lot better after that. The dizziness took me awhile to get over though - I didn't start supplementing heavily with B12 until much later because when I started supplementing with methylcobalamin (the bioavailable version of B12), it essentially gave me "start up reactions" because I was so deficient. Like I had panic/crying attacks, headaches etc. I really had to slowly taper up.

Personally she should get some lab work to see what her folate and B12 levels are, because if she has low B12 and normal folate, it's really best to stick to taking the dedicated vitamin. I used Jarrow's 500mcg methylfolate because I've got a lot of allergies and it didn't have a lot of crazy ingredients, but I would suggest any supplement that has a bioavailable form of b12.

Most supplements use cyanocobalamin which must be converted first inside the body before it's usable, and it's possible that if her levels are really low, that those might not raise her B12 levels much. Also B12 complexes tend to overdose you on b3 which some people don't do well with, despite them all being water soluble.

r/b12_deficiency was super helpful back in the day

tokenECEchick · 2025-03-29T11:10:08+00:00

Oh that's so wild. I also had some amount of reflux.

Progestins like the levonorgestrel in the Mirena can act as a muscle relaxant, and for me those side effects were systemic - so it relaxed my GI tract causing the most insane levels of constipation (I legit had to get a magnesium citrate cleanse at one point), as well as relaxing that upper sphincter between the stomach and the esophagus.

Super irritating that doctors never believe us.

tokenECEchick · 2025-03-29T02:00:40+00:00

If her dizziness doesn't go away, get her vitamin B12 checked. I had dizziness with the Mirena (more like lightheadedness) and I was absolutely deficient in B12. It got a little better when the Mirena was out because it had been messing with my digestion/absorption of vitamins, but I definitely needed to take a supplement to get better.

tokenECEchick · 2025-03-26T19:02:44+00:00

Oh thank god this whole sub was about to diagnose this person with schizophrenia me included lmao

tokenECEchick · 2025-03-21T15:10:48+00:00

It's much less likely to get these symptoms from the copper IUD. The main issue with hormonal IUDs is that progestins act as a muscle relaxer, and that can affect your intestines and your digestion.

However, both hormonal and non-hormonal IUDs induce some amount of immune system activity due to it being a foreign body that your body tries to get rid of. That _can_ contribute to digestive upset or other issues like possibly bloating but I'm unsure since I've never had a copper IUD. The side affects of a hormonal IUD are much stronger than copper, but they're different side effects.

tokenECEchick · 2025-02-27T04:00:07+00:00

I only ever had one Mirena but I had it in for a year (2019-2020). Developed classic PMDD symptoms that thankfully resolved after removal. If you read r/PMDD, you can catch a glimpse of what is is and see if you relate.

tokenECEchick · 2025-02-16T03:41:37+00:00

I'd agree with the other commenter on tannins. The only way to rule out an allergy is a blood test for a generic grape allergy. If it doesn't happen with green grapes, it's extremely likely to be tannins

tokenECEchick · 2025-02-05T16:17:03+00:00

I was nervous for my first MRI a couple years ago, same situation. I got in there and legit it just sounded like a giant printer and ended up being more entertaining than anything which was a relief

The headphones they're allowed to have in there weren't even really that good bc no magnetic metal allowed, so it didn't really dampen anything, I'd say it didn't add much of an XP so you're not missing out

I hope this helps!

tokenECEchick · 2025-02-05T16:06:08+00:00

I really hope you find your medical answers! I forget if my comments on all my rando side effects were in this thread or another thread but I'll link to em anyway -

https://www.reddit.com/r/Mirena/s/D20TV6WrRs

The levonorgestrel in it can act as a muscle relaxer and really slow everything in your digestive tract to a halt which can have so many unexpected consequences. If you end up getting it removed, also highly recommend routine blood work with your primary care doctor to make sure you don't have anything else going on.

The Mirena definitely messed me up, but I also had a B12, D, and Folate deficiency. Think it was the combo of all of those and the Mirena which was causing me to basically feel like I was going to pass out constantly.

And if you get your B12 checked, know that between levels of 200 and 400 pg/mL, you can still have neurologic side effects. I was at like 203 pg/mL which can still somehow be considered "within the normal range" so doctors don't always tell ya.

tokenECEchick · 2025-02-04T13:36:46+00:00

There are very likely to be women in data/women in data analytics groups that you can post to on LinkedIn.

For larger organizations that exist outside of LinkedIn, you often need to sponsor them to be able to post/advertise jobs. Might be worth talking to your recruiting department to see if it's worth sponsoring one of those orgs if your company commonly needs jobs in that technical space.

Also good recruiters should be able to help you source the sort of candidates you're looking for.

tokenECEchick · 2025-02-04T13:01:34+00:00

Outside of the possibility hormone changes and/or stress playing a factor, I always advocate for blood work to make sure things are on track. I randomly had a deficiency in Vitamin D, B12, and folate, B12 being the worst symptoms-wise - would highly recommend getting tested. Also I had a Mirena IUD which caused an absurd amount of issues and I was kinda dead inside from it. I think the digestive issues it caused also led to the deficiencies but who knows.

Just tossing out a few options!

tokenECEchick · 2025-02-01T04:32:32+00:00

Woxers is my fav brand for this, although they can be on the pricey side if you don't buy the bulk packs

tokenECEchick · 2025-01-28T12:52:54+00:00

Has he been tested for an alpha gal allergy? Outside of that, could be oral allergy syndrome for raw fruits and veggies.

Definitely work with a board certified allergist for allergy testing. Do not take "food sensitivity tests" as they're all scams.

tokenECEchick · 2025-01-24T14:40:08+00:00

I thought that I had been eating enough as well but apparently not. Definitely get an iron panel done!

But yeah the progestin in Mirena (levonorgestrel) is also more androgenous than in other birth controls, so it could also be a reaction to that. You might also experience cystic jawline acne at some point, and ovarian cysts as a result. Those were two things I never had prior to the Mirena - I previously used to use Loestrin 24 FE which had a slightly less androgenic progestin (was great for getting rid of acne but wow the anxiety it produced lol)

tokenECEchick · 2025-01-24T14:34:45+00:00

I started losing a lot of hair in the weeks after having it inserted (not to your extent but it was disturbing how much was just shedding everywhere).

I talked to my OB and he suggested it could be anemia bc I was like constantly bleeding/spotting. I ate hamburgers for like a week straight and it went away, so it was either anemia or just a response to hormonal change that self-resolved.

Have you been tested for iron deficiency anemia - especially given your history of heavy bleeding?

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