Let’s Talk Mirena (anxiety and hormone imbalance)!

“I’ve been noticing a trend in my practice, which places an emphasis on women’s hormonal health and mental health. Many women are consulting me for treatment of anxiety and panic attacks that have shown up in addition to other hormonal symptoms: painful periods, PMS, headaches, loss of libido, acne and weight gain. It just so happens that these women have also, for either treatment or contraception purposes, inserted a Mirena IUD, an intrauterine device that secretes small amounts of progestin (a synthetic form of progesterone) into the uterus.”

“In my practice as of late, I’ve had a stream of women presenting with anxiety, panic attacks and heart palpitations that I strongly suspect are hormone-related. When I send them for blood work or salivary hormone tests I find that their progesterone levels are very low. They also may have symptoms of painful menstrual periods, stubborn weight gain and acne. And, you guessed it, all of them have the Mirena IUD.”

“Many patients vaguely remember that symptoms began to rear their ugly heads, or worsen, after they got the IUD. Other colleagues have commented on observing the same trend in their own practices.
Could the phenomena be linked?”

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