Hi Curlynurse1. I'm glad you are feeling much better.

I had a copper IUD for a while, but didn't make it to 11 years. Not even close! I had to have two separate insertions and removals. The bugger kept shifting out of place, making it unreliable.I don't remember the insertion or removal causing mania. However, I think my moods were not as good back then as they've been since having the second removed, but I'm not 100% sure there is a correlation. I do know that I developed iron deficiency anemia from the IUD because of very heavy periods. I also had much more cramping. My periods were also all over the place. I had to take a prescription iron supplement. The anemia symptoms and period chaos certainly could have contributed to real or perceived mood issues. I will say that my moods were even worse when I took hormonal birth control pills.

Since having my last IUD removed, my periods normalized pretty well. The iron deficiency disappeared. I do take an iron supplement still, but only during my periods and only an OTC and not a prescription one.

The problem with the failure of the copper IUD for me, is that my birth control options are even more limited. I take Tegretol XR, and a rather high dose of it. Tegretol reduces the effectiveness of hormonal birth control. If I was a male, that particular drug interaction would not be an issue. At least I can't imagine it would be.

It's interesting. Earlier today, I was thinking about how some bipolar medications are sometimes less friendly for one sex than another. That is a topic that could be discussed separately someday.