Little to no periods or period pain, semi permanent birth control that’s implanted once and you don’t have to think about it? Mirena offered these benefits to women.

Many women excitedly said “Sign me up” when this popular birth control option was released that would potentially allow women to worry about their reproductive health for the next five years.

What many women didn’t know, however, when they were considering having the Mirena device implanted is that severe Mirena side effects were possible following the placement of the device.

What is Mirena and How Does it Work?

Mirena, known as levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system, is a device that is placed by the physician into a woman’s uterus to prevent pregnancy for up to five years.

It releases hormones to block a woman’s ability to get pregnant and it also is used to treat heavy periods in women who opt not to use oral contraceptive pills.

For many women, when they use Mirena, there periods will become lighter and less painful, or may stop altogether while the device is inserted.

Women appreciate the convenience of not having to take a daily pill and having a semipermanent contraceptive that they don’t have to think about for up to five years.

Mirena can be removed any time a woman decides she wants to become pregnant, and her ability to do so should return shortly thereafter.

Mirena Side Effects

Mirena side effects can be downright devastating. In particular, pseudotumor cerebri, a condition which mimics having a brain tumor, can cause all sorts of life-altering symptoms for women, some of which may persist after having the device removed.

Also known as idiopathic intracranial hypertension (referring to increased pressure within the brain of an unknown cause), pseudotumor cerebri may be difficult to detect.

When the pressure in the cranium is increased, this can cause swelling of the optic nerve leading to visual issues and even vision loss.

Sometimes, medications can help this condition, and at other times surgery is required for treatment.

Mirena side effects linked to pseudotumor to cerebri include:

• Pulsatile tinnitus-ringing in the ears that pulses in sync with the heartbeat
• Dizziness
• Vision that is dimmed or blurry
• Nausea or vomiting
• Headaches that are moderate to severe in nature, often originating behind eyes and hurt more with eye movements.
• Transient periods of blindness lasting only a few seconds
• Double vision
• Seeing flashes of light, also known as photopsia
• Pain in the neck, shoulders or back

While the exact cause of excess cerebrospinal fluid within the skull is not always known, it is assumed that there may be difficulty with the fluid being absorbed back into the bloodstream.

Life after Experiencing Mirena Side Effects

A number of women have taken to blogging about their experiences with pseudotumor cerebri following their use of Mirena. One young woman says she went from great vision to legally blind in one eye virtually overnight. After doing research online, she realized that her Mirena contraception was likely causing the pseudotumor cerebri.

Although she has already had her Mirena taken out, and was 17 months post removal at the time she wrote her blog post, she was still having visual difficulty including extreme dizziness because of the vision differences in both eyes. She has noted improvement, but called her overall experience a “nightmare.”

In response to her posting, many women shared that they too had Mirena side effects just as she had described, some of them Artie having been diagnosed with pseudotumor cerebri, and others suspecting the condition after they had the chance to read the woman’s blog.

Filing a Lawsuit over Mirena Side Effects

If you have experienced severe Mirena side effects including pseudotumor cerebri or idiopathic intracranial hypertension, you may be eligible to file a lawsuit against the birth control device’s manufacturers to receive compensation for your injuries.

A Mirena attorney can review your case at no charge and can help you decide if moving forward to take legal action is right for you.