I''ve had a Mirena since early December. My doctors and I agreed that hormonal birth control really wasn''t working with my body. Granted, the Mirena does have some hormones in it, but 1% of what the pill has and it''s much more localized.
I was pretty crampy for the first week, but it went away and I haven''t noticed it since. My doc told me that the risk for expelling it is highest in the first couple of months, although she hasn''t had any patients expel theirs. And while there is the risk of preforation, it''s really low and she hasn''t had it happen to any patients.
Like you, I did a ton of research first. Actually, my gynocologist told me that the questions I was asking were really refreshing, as they showed that I had really done my research beforehand. Just to address a couple of points -
My impression was that the reason they''ve historically wanted to put them in women who have had children was twofold. First, their cervixes have been stretched out by childbirth, so that it''s easier to put them in. However, it''s completely possible to put them in women who have never given birth (myself included). I think that more and more doctors feel comfortable doing it now. Second, some of the older IUDs had strings that could cause infections to spread to the uterus, ultimately causing infertility. They wanted to make sure that you were able to have kids if you wanted to, before exposing yourself to an increased risk of infertility. Not a problem with the new ones.
As with any other method of BC, some people become pregnant with them. However, if you look at the percentage of women who use different methods as prescribed/directed, the Mirena IUD is more effective than I think any other. Less than 1% of users get pregnant within a year, whereas (according to planned parenthood) 8% of women who are on the pill get pregnant within a year.
Also, I think that it''s awfully telling that a much larger percentage of female gynocologists have IUDs than the general female population. My gyno and my regular doctor both have them in...