Missing Mirena Warning

Waterville, MEAfter Kathy talked to an attorney regarding her Mirena IUD complications, she understood that she didn’t have a claim against the manufacturer. But Kathy welcomes this opportunity to tell her “Missing Mirena” story, which serves as a warning and advice to any woman who has the IUD.

After consulting with a doctor at her local women’s clinic, Kathy decided that the Mirena was the best option for birth control. Usually there is a little discomfort during the procedure but nothing more than, say, a pap test. But that wasn’t the case for Kathy.

“The procedure was so painful that I thought I was going to pass out,” says Kathy. “A nurse placed a cold towel on my forehead and it was some time before I could get up after the Mirena was inserted.” Afterward Kathy had some minor cramping, which is to be expected. Two weeks later she returned for a checkup - the doctor couldn’t find the string to the Mirena. She even looked on Kathy’s chart to be certain it was implanted.

“The doctor ordered an internal ultrasound to find out where the missing Mirena was but it didn’t show up,” says Kathy. “Next I had a CAT scan of my pelvic area and it wasn’t there either. Where could it have gone? My doctor said I must have expelled it. So she was done with me, and I was done with her.”

But Kathy, age 45, wasn’t done with the Mirena. She had been complaining to her regular doctor for three years about hip pain, but it was just chalked up to getting older. “The pain started soon after I had the Mirena implanted, but at that time I never thought it was related to the IUD,” Kathy says. “My hip pain became worse, it was aching just about all the time but I couldn’t pinpoint exactly where the pain was coming from. Trying to get to sleep at night was the worst so my doctor suggested I try sleeping with a pillow between my legs. That didn’t help at all so she ordered x-rays.



Kathy went back to the women’s clinic but the doctor who inserted the Mirena was no longer there. Another doctor suggested that, without pointing fingers, the IUD was inserted incorrectly. “She asked if it was painful upon insertion and yes, it was screamingly painful,” says Kathy. “Now I know why - the doctor might have pushed it through my uterine wall. The surgery to remove the Mirena took about three hours - it was only supposed to take 30 minutes.

“This is my message to everyone with a Mirena: Get regular checkups to make sure it is still in the right place. If your doctor says it isn’t there, insist on getting an x-ray; don’t assume (like my doctor did) that it has been expelled.

“After I had the x-ray that showed where it was, I had a second ultrasound and CAT scan. My doctor looked more closely at the first CAT scan and sure enough, it was there, in the same spot as shown on the second CAT scan. It had been lodged there for four years. I’ve read many horror stories about serious Mirena complications so I thank god my problem wasn’t worse.”