The Food Medic - S9 Ask Dr Hazel: Is there a link between mirena coil and mood?

Episode Date: March 3, 2023

Welcome back to Ask Dr Hazel, our mini episodes that drop each week.Our listener question this week is : “I would love to hear your thoughts on the mirena coil as contraception and whether I experience the same hormonal highs and lows as a women having normal periods?” I hope you found that helpful - perhaps send it to someone you know it might help also. If you are thinking about stopping or changing your form of contraception, make sure to book in a call with your GP to discuss it first.Ps. make sure to go back to episode 5 of season 9 to listen to our podcast all about contraception with the lowdown team. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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as always, Dr. Hazel, and I'll be answering your burning questions. If you would like to submit a question of your own to the podcast, please send your audio recorded questions to info at thefoodmedic.co.uk. let's jump into this week's question hi hazel i would love to hear your thoughts on the marina coil as contraception and whether women still experience the same hormonal highs and lows as a woman having normal periods would have i have had it for five years and i haven't had a period and i wondered whether this is doing me more harm than good and how this would affect my mood and also how my diet can maybe support this if at all. Thank you for your question. First of all I encourage you to go back to episode five of season nine and listen to our podcast all about contraception with the Lowdown team because we go through a lot of this. So the Mirena coil is a form of hormonal contraception. It's a type of

coil that sits in the womb, also known as an intrauterine system, IUS or IUD. Mirena is actually the brand name, but there are others. And it's also not actually a coil shape, but it's shaped like a T and it releases progesterone so that's how it works and this kind of slow release of progesterone works by thickening the cervical mucus so that makes it more difficult for sperm to move through the cervix and it also thins the lining of the womb so an egg is less likely to implant. For some people it can also prevent ovulation but most people continue to ovulate. It is normal to experience lighter periods and in some people, it can also prevent ovulation, but most people continue to ovulate. It is normal to experience lighter periods and in some people they may stop altogether.

So to answer one of your concerns, it's totally safe and healthy and normal to not have a period while you have a hormonal coil fitted inside of you. So this does not refer to people who are taking external hormones. In terms of side effects you mentioned, some users do report changes in mood but sometimes that can be positive and other times that's negative and when we think about it and also as a bit of a side note, we are also more likely to report negative changes when it comes to anything really. But looking at the research then and moving away from just anecdotal evidence and what other people say, it is also quite conflicting. One large study from 2016 found that current users of the hormonal coil were more likely to be diagnosed with

depression and prescribed antidepressants for the first time than people who weren't using it. And this risk was higher in adolescents, so teenagers. the flip side another large study found that people using the hormonal coil were just as likely to have symptoms of depression or anxiety as people not using this method. Also to add to that two other studies of people who were using it to treat heavy periods because that's one of its therapeutic uses showed on scores of depression surveys that they either remain the same or actually improved but that may be due to an improved quality of life when heavy periods become more manageable for example. So I guess my takeaway is some people may experience mood changes, but we don't have a definitive or direct evidence to say it will for sure negatively affect your mood.

Why some people are affected and others are not is also likely to be down to other factors such as your age, your medical history, your contraceptive history, as well as what else might be going on in your life. So my best advice is to track your symptoms. And if you do notice a change in mood to book a call with your GP to discuss. Also do head over to the Lowdown website because you can read other users reviews of that form of contraception and other forms and there's lots of other informative information there too. But again the best advice is that you are your best evidence in this case and your own lived experience and any side effects regardless of what they are warrant a discussion if they are impacting your quality

of life. I hope that answers your question and thank you again for sending it through.