[RebeccaJA]

I had a Mirena IUD inserted 6 weeks after the birth of my daughter... it has now been in for 2 months. The initial effects of spotting and occasional headaches seem to have passed, however I have one big complaint. I have ZERO sex drive. I am not sure if this is due to breastfeeding, the Mirena, or both. I am very dry, and even with lube, sex is uncomfortable and I quickly lose interest and end up just pleasuring my husband.<br><br>
Has anyone else had this experience with Mirena & breastfeeding? I am missing this part of myself (my husband does too!) Yet, if this is just due to normal breastfeeding hormones, I can live with it more easily, knowing I am doing it for her. I am reluctant to take out the Mirena, because in every other way it is such a convenient form of birth control, and so nice to not worry about another pregnancy. And if I have it removed, I cannot afford to have it put back again, if I find out nothing has changed.<br><br>
Any insights out there?

 

[chase_mommy]

I used the Marina IUD after DS was born. I exclusively breastfeed him as well. I also had zero sex drive and need a lot of lub when doing the deed (which was like hardly ever). I will say that it (sex drive) did get better but that was some time after I weaned DS, like a year or so. This time around, I have chosen not to go the IUD route and I do exclusively breastfeed DD. My sex drive is good this time and no problem in the lube department. So, IMO I think that the IUD's kind of slow down your sex drive. Although my friend has the Marina and she and her DP do it like rabbits. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/lol.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="lol"> So I guess everyone is different. Maybe in a couple more weeks things will get better for you.

 

[*MamaJen*]

Oh, for sure hormonal birth control can impact your sex drive, and Mirena is a hormonal IUD (there are also non-hormonal IUDs). For some reason there is very little dialogue on the topic, but it's a really common side effect. For example, I am one of the lucky women who (TMI alert) physically cannot have an orgasm while on the birth control pill. It sucks.<br>
Depo Provera is the worst. No exaggeration, it's used to chemically castrate sex offenders. Literally.<br>
Apparently some women have increased sex drives on chemical birth control, but I want to say the statistic is 10 percent of women who have severely decreased libidos.<br>
All that said, breastfeeding can also lower your sex drive, as can having an infant in the house and being all sleep deprived and whatnot. But I'd look to the birth control as being the culprit.

 

[Claire and Boys]

hard to say. I do not have the Mirena, am breastfeeding, and have 0 sex drive! so it can totally be down to bFing.

 

[rupiezum]

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<table border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0" width="99%"><tr><td class="alt2" style="border:1px inset;">
<div>Originally Posted by <strong>RebeccaJA</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/11456247"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">I had a Mirena IUD inserted 6 weeks after the birth of my daughter... it has now been in for 2 months. The initial effects of spotting and occasional headaches seem to have passed, however I have one big complaint. I have ZERO sex drive. I am not sure if this is due to breastfeeding, the Mirena, or both. I am very dry, and even with lube, sex is uncomfortable and I quickly lose interest and end up just pleasuring my husband.<br><br>
Has anyone else had this experience with Mirena & breastfeeding? I am missing this part of myself (my husband does too!) Yet, if this is just due to normal breastfeeding hormones, I can live with it more easily, knowing I am doing it for her. I am reluctant to take out the Mirena, because in every other way it is such a convenient form of birth control, and so nice to not worry about another pregnancy. And if I have it removed, I cannot afford to have it put back again, if I find out nothing has changed.<br><br>
Any insights out there?</div>
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It may be due to the combination of the Mirena and the BFing - I had much less drive when I was nursing, but now I don't think it really impacts me at all.

 

[Galatea]

All hormonal birth control kills my sex drive and makes it difficult to orgasm.

 

[veganone]

No Mirena, and at 9 months I still have dryness and no sex drive. Bfing messes with your hormones a ton - it's VERY normal to have those effects at only a few months pp. It also causes thinness of the vaginal walls, which also makes things sensitive. (No AF here yet, either, so I know bfing is affecting my hormones still.)<br><br>
I think it's impossible to say which is causing it...

 

[Magali]

<div style="margin:20px;margin-top:5px;">
<div class="smallfont" style="margin-bottom:2px;">Quote:</div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0" width="99%"><tr><td class="alt2" style="border:1px inset;">
<div>Originally Posted by <strong>*MamaJen*</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/11458994"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">Oh, for sure hormonal birth control can impact your sex drive, and Mirena is a hormonal IUD (there are also non-hormonal IUDs). For some reason there is very little dialogue on the topic, but it's a really common side effect. For example, I am one of the lucky women who (TMI alert) physically cannot have an orgasm while on the birth control pill. It sucks.<br>
Depo Provera is the worst. No exaggeration, it's used to chemically castrate sex offenders. Literally.<br>
Apparently some women have increased sex drives on chemical birth control, but I want to say the statistic is 10 percent of women who have severely decreased libidos.<br>
All that said, breastfeeding can also lower your sex drive, as can having an infant in the house and being all sleep deprived and whatnot. But I'd look to the birth control as being the culprit.</div>
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</tr></table></div>
I agree. I had 1 shot of depo a few years ago sex was painful, I was dry and I had no libido. Plus all the weight I gained made me feel really bad about myself. It took 2 years and the birth of my son for me to feel like myself again. I will never take another chemical birth control again.

 

[rrible]

I think it's a combination of both and boils down to estrogen. Breastfeeding blocks your ovaries from making estrogen and the hormone in the Mirena, low levels to be sure, but focused on your uterus, can also block what little estrogen there might be around, so that causes thinning of the vaginal walls, dryness, irritation. For me, it was only after I stopped pumping at 15 months and started getting some of my natural hormone cycling going that sex is tolerable without a lubricant.