5 months symptoms and conditions

That's it!! I have had it. A couple of years ago, Dr prescribed Lisinopril HCTZ for my high blood pressure. 6 months later, 'Hey your cholesterol is really high.' So she prescribed Crestor. Then 6 months later, 'Oh Crestor can cause liver damage, we'll need to check your liver.' I know doctors mean well, but they seem to all be trained to simply prescribe a pill. The average senior citizen takes 12. Daily! I have had it. I refuse to take the lisinopril any more. Last night: zero sleep due to the cough. Hacking and coughing, trying to 'hock-up' the crap draining down my throat. The wheezing at the top of my bronchial tubes. Unable to inhale enough air to cough. Peeing in my pants. Disturbing everyone else in the house. This is just bullsh--. Hey, how about another tip: Did you know the HCTZ can cause artificial inflation in your cholesterol numbers?? Guess what: after switching 5 months ago to the lisinopril plain, not with the HCTZ... you got it cholesterol went down. Down by 80 points, too! I made no other change during that time, not in my diet, exercise or anything else. So effective today: (1) No lisinopril (I'll check my BP daily), (2) increase my Kelp and selenium for my thyroid, (3) stick on my insulin-resistant diet, (4) reduce my caffeine intake. I'll keep this site posted on my progress.

I don't have any new side effects; they're the same as everyone has mentioned. I feel so unhappy almost all of the time. I have experienced the fluttering in my stomach, which looks like I'm 5 months pregnant. Diet and exercise aren't working to take away the 20lbs I've gained. And the acne is annoying. Everyday I get a new pimple. I know that Proactive works because I used it prior to my November 2007 insertion of Mirena. After reading the comments listed on this site, I have decided to have it removed. I'm tired of being tired, sad and popping pimples. I also had a vibrating feeling in my right foot for about a week; Mirena related? Don't know for sure. Good Luck ladies! And thanks so much for your posts.

I just want to say how happy I found this site. I'm not alone! I thought I was going crazy or that my body was shutting down completely. I had my mirena put in Sept. 2006 and my body has become something I don't even recognize. I am extremely bloated all the time and it hurts every time I eat and use the bathroom. I keep on thinking maybe I have Irritable Bowel Syndrome, but it doesn't make any sense because the symptoms showed up after I had the Mirena put in. I thought it might be food sensitivities so I got tested and have been trying to cut those foods out but it doesn't seem to be helping. I have tried all sorts of natural remedies but it never seems to go away.

I have gained 40 pounds since I the Mirena put in even though I have never have had weight gain problems before, I eat healthy and I am active. I also have a difficult time concentrating and focusing on anything. I also get dizziness, depression, irritability and mood swings. I also have been experiencing a sharp pulling or stinging in my uterus at times as well as joint pain (especially in my hips, knees) and painful intercourse with bleeding afterwards. My hair is also falling out and I have lost my desire for sex.

I've also noticed a drastic decline in my immune system. I have never been as sick as I have been in the last three years of my life. I seem to always be getting sick. For the first three months after the Mirena was inserted I had frequent bouts of yeast infections, bladder infections and still three years later I have these types of infections frequently. Not only this but I seem to catch everything that is going around when before the Mirena I hardly ever got sick.

Finally after reading the posts on this site I can trace all the changes in my body to when I had my Mirena put in. I am so upset that I have been suffering for 3 yrs with these side effects and it has taken until now for me to figure out that the Mirena doesn't just effect your uterus it effects your WHOLE body. I cant believe I trusted the doctor I went to when I had it put in that said that the hormones would only affect my uterus. NEVER, NEVER USE THIS PRODUCT!! It is coming out as soon as I can have it done! Please ladies if you know what it is like to have it removed let me know.

I used NuvaRing for 1 year and 5 months before I threw in the towel. At first it was great. No weight gain, no change in my cycles, no problem during intercourse, everything was perfect... a great alternative to a pill. Until I started taking NuvaRing in 2008 I had not been on any birth control. The last time I was on anything was in 2000 after the birth of my only daughter. In 2000 I used Depo Provera (spelling?) and had horrible side effects from that. I had extreme hair loss & the worst mood swings you could imagine. I knew that his time around I didn't want the Depo shot & I can't remember to take a pill everyday. I struggle to take a full round of antibiotics without accidentally forgetting a dose. After talking to my Gyno in 08 I decided to try NuvaR. After getting my 6 mo. checkup with my doctor we decided to keep me on it since I was pleased with the results. So months went by, still no problem. Then one afternoon I started getting a pain in my left side that was the worst achey/uncomfortable nagging pain I had ever felt. I started to keep a log of when my pain would come & how long it lasted before it finally subsided. After a few weeks I began looking through the internet to find out more of my anatomy & try to come up with an idea of what was causing my strange pain. As it turns out the pain was in the same area as my spleen & a little piece of the liver comes across to the left side as well. I knew that this was not a kidney issue since I am prone to kidney infections at least 3 times a year. I know kidney pain & this was not it. My boyfriend started complaining about how I was always complaining about not feeling well. When we started dating in July of 08 I was somewhat outgoing, always going here or there for any get together-friends from work, daughters cheer stuff, jazz shows, beach etc. He was tired of me being tired. That is when we started wondering if I had anemia. The spleen pain could have been explained by that. Or maybe it was my gall blader we thought. I started looking for signs & symptoms but nothing was obvious. I just dealt with the pain in my side and wondered too if I was developing a stomach ulcer. Then one day my shins started hurting for no apparent reason. Then it was the forearm bones. I literally hurt inside my bones. The shins were the most painful of all. It hurt to walk, I couldn't get comfortable sitting, lying, standing, sleeping & I was at my whitts end. After talking about it with my boyfriend he said that I needed to go ahead & make an appointment because my quality of life has been reduced to zilch. I was always uncomfortable with pain or aches or moody. I went to see my doctor. Of course when I went I had a UTI, as usual-nothing abnormal about that. I told him about all my pain so we ran some tests. He did some blood work & saw that my white blood cells were through the roof. We decided to culture my urine specimen & a few days later we found I had a MRSA staff UTI. Typically you get these if you are catheterized but I fell into the unlucky 5% that just get it w/o any reason. (In the back of my mind I still wonder if NuvaRing had anything to do with it.) So, I took all the antibiotics making sure not to miss a dose. 14 days later at a check up I still had a little bit of bacteria in my urine & we ran more blood tests. My white count was even higher. Now my doctor takes my bone pain & side pain more seriously. The infection was getting better but my body was fighting something else or was it? He decided to check my kidneys by ultrasound to make sure there were no cycts. They also did a full abdominal ultrasound to look at the spleen & liver for enlargement. No enlargement but possibly a little kidney stone. Then I had an appointment with an infectious disease/internal medicine Dr. He made sure my infection was gone. I told him about all my weird pain & he ran a lot of blood work. White count still high, did a lap stain to look for leukosytes for leukemia, all was clear. So, after a week, off for a CT I went to check on the stone. Of course no stone on CT. Finally my boyfriend said hey, don't put a ring in this month & see if that's the problem. Sure enough after spending soooo much on all the tests after I took it out I was back to my old self in about a months time. I still had a pain in my side once in a while for the first 2-3 months but I have been completely symptom free now for 4 mos! The only worry I have now is that I started gaining weight after I stopped taking it. I have gained 20 lbs (some of that is because I got lazy & lethargic for so long) and my hair is beginning to come out more often in clumps again. I have an area thinning in my eyebrow & my nails are breaking more easily. I think I need to go get my thyroid checked. Yet again, I can't help but wonder- was it caused by the NuvaRing? Have I damaged myself thanks to what was supposed to be a great easy alternative to a pill? I guess we'll see how it goes. Never again will I use it, nor will I recommend it to anyone. Oh, and my love life is great again, I go places & do things again now. It's amazing how far I spiraled down before we realized it was preventable. DON'T USE THE RING!

I began using the loestrin 24 almost 5 months ago. I was having severe cramping and heavy bleeding, which prompted my doctor to prescribe this pill. It was my first time in more than 20 years trying a bc pill and in the past I only used the pill about 2 months, because it caused severe bleeding then. When I began Loestrin 24 fe, I was not sexually active, and only began a sexual relationship within the last 2 months. My boyfriend, uses a condom in addition to the bc I use. Recently, we talked about trying to conceive. He stopped using a condom close to a month ago. I had noticed nausea from time to time, but didn't really think about side effects of the pill. The other day, after getting nauseated again, it occurred to me I might be pregnant. I have spent the last 2 days trying to figure out if that might be the case. I was loving the Loestrin, my last couple of months have been virtually pain free. However, after reading the signs of pregnancy and side effects of Loestrin, I am noticing they are very similar. I have been experiencing headaches for about 2 weeks now, non stop, nausea, abdominal cramping (although nothing compared to my menstrual cramps), fatigue, depression, increased appetite and recently frequent peeing. The only side I haven't experienced that many women above describe is breast tenderness. The tenderness, however, was something I'd experience before BC. I'm getting off because I decided to conceive, but I was very disappointed with the false signs of pregnancy. I don't think I'd like to go through that on a regular basis.

I'm 48 and got a Mirena put in last January at the suggestion of my doctor. I'd been having menstrual migraines and we thought that a steady dose of hormones might help with the dips and prevent my headaches. Well, it has helped some, as the headaches don't come every month anymore, however, I do still get them, so it hasn't really done what we hoped. Add to that my (growing!) list of symptoms and something has to be done. I am very active. I do Taekwondo 4x a week and was working out 5x a week this summer in preparation for my black belt test. You would think that I'd lose weight with the workouts I've done for the past 10 months, but no, my weight has increased over 10lbs! And it's not muscle, either: My breasts, waist, hips and thighs have all increased. I feel bloated, tired to the point of exhaustion even after 8 hours of sleep, and all of my joints are achy. The brain-fog has gotten so bad that I've had to go back on ADD meds to try to maintain my focus at work. I'd been doing my workouts for 3 years prior to getting the Mirena, and I never felt tired the way I feel it now! I'm seeing my doctor next month and this thing is out of here!

Hello I am 40 yrs old and got a lung infection which cause swelling in my lungs so the put me on high doses of prednisone via IV for 21 days in the hospital. The drug saved my life and took it at the same time.

After I got out of hospital i was on 60 mg for 6 weeks the 30mg for 6 weeks then 20mg the 10mg. It has been a living HELL over the last 5 months or so.

I told my DR. i have very bad blurred vision and he said it because the med runs my sugar up but I check my sugar and limit my sugar and it around 100 all the time which is normal soits not sugar. Then he said well them you need to see an eye dr. cuz your eyes are going bad. I begged to differ with him and told him if there was something wrong w my eyes then why is is one day I see fine and the next day all blurred and then back to normal!? it this stupid steroid if you ask me plus on day my right eye is bad and next day my left uggh!

The WORST side effect it the brain fog as yall call it. OMG I feel like im loosing my mind and going crazy. The dr. says hes never heard of such with a wise remark and says you know where your at now right? I know where i am and what I say but I feel like its not really happening. Its like im dreaming it. I feel like Im trapped in my head and I lookout blurry eyes.

Before I was a very confident independent person but now I feel scared all the time i feel hopeless and ive went through 3 girl friends over the summer because of the extreme forward attitude the med gives me. I am not the same person I was. I some time just want to die. I'm extremely tire if i do any exercise at all.

Plus I have all the other typical side effect like the moon face and weight gain. I don't even look the same cuz my eyes have huge bags under them and a double chin I never had.

I feel for all of you because i know what your going through.
I saw one comforting post in here where someone said within 2 weeks of completely getting off the pred. he was his normal self.
I CAN TELL YOU HOW GLAD I WAS TO READ THAT!

Please if you have finished the med and have got back to normal don't forget about this post. Please let us know because we need any hope we can get to keep our chins up and not loose hope and go completely crazy or worse kill ourselves.

I have about 4 more months of this LIVING HELL and I will surely let you all know if it get better. If you have come off of it and are reading this PLEASE let us know if we get back normal at least w the brain fog. I can take all the side effect ok except for the crazy dream zone zombie feeling.

I WOULDN'T WISH THIS KINDA HELL ON THE DEVIL HIM SELF!!
Let's pray for each other that the Lord keep out minds strong until we get off the nightmare drug call Prednisone.

side effects:
brain fog, blurred vision, puffy eyes, depression, confusion, dizzy, moon face, buffalo neck hump neck, hopelessness

I've had Mirena since Jan. 2006. This is what's going on with me.

EXTREMELY bloated all the time, diagnosed as IBS. I’ve tried everything: herbs, teas, diet changes, prescription meds (currently on anti-depressant (for the IBS, not depression) and an anti-spasmatic pill), and non-prescription meds (currently taking beano before every meal and gas-x after the beano has not worked!)

Irritability

Tired all the time

Not motivated to do anything

Forgetful

Loss of concentration, I have the attention span of a 3 year old it seems!

Heart fluttering and dizziness like a panic attack. The doctor actually said it was panic attacks but I honestly don’t feel “panicked” when they happen.

Fluttering in abdomen as if there were a baby in there

Sometimes feel a pulling or stinging sensation in my uterus

Hubby can feel the strings and we think they are irritating his manhood

A lot of these symptoms seem like depression but all praise be to God, I have a wonderful life. I have the greatest husband and kids I could ever ask for. I love our life. I’m not unhappy at all. I didn’t consider that it may be the Mirena until my husband mentioned that he thought the strings were causing the irritation on his penis. I started googling Mirena to see if anyone else had this problem and came up with so many “other” symptoms of Mirena. I thought “WOW!! Maybe THAT’S my problem!” Maybe it’s time to make that appointment to get it out.

I'm 43 years old and had a baby 5 months ago. I decided to go back on the pill and have been doing a lot of research about the "right" pill. My gyno recommended Loestrin 24 FE because of the low hormones/less effects. I was scared to death to start this pill based on all of the horrible reviews I've been reading. So, I thought I'd report on my experience so far... It's been two weeks and so far so good. I haven't noticed anything dramatic so far. I will give it more time and see how it goes. Hopefully it continues working well. I have a feeling this pill is better for women in their 40's who are peri-menopausal. Maybe the estrogen is too low for the younger women, I don't know. I'll continue to post comments as I stay on the pill. I value these reviews, but remember, everyone's body is different. So far this is working for me but again, it's only 2 weeks. Hope you find thi helpful.

I had my son 5 months ago and had my Mirena put in at my 8 week check up. The day I got it in I hurt so bad and siting down was out of the question!It honestly felt like it was crooked or put in wrong. So I called my doctor office and of course like always no one ever called me back, but luckily the next day my body adjusted to it and the discomfort was gone. But I bled for oh my goodness, i want to say about 6 weeks after that! it was a drag! But now my periods are back to normal , I haven't noticed a difference in decrease yet ( sadly) in fact they may be a little bit heavier and longer. ( or it could just be that they seem that way cause I had a 9 month vacation! I also haven't noticed any horrible side effects other then just one. Sounds funny because im only 21 but i seriously feel like im going through menopause! Has anyone else felt this way?? I sweat in the middle of the night but am cold . Sometimes burning up hot when everyone around me is freezing cold and begging me to turn up the heat. Im boyfriend will probably tell you ive been mood swinging , maybe I have, i cant tell , right now im planning our wedding and raising baby ,I don't have time to tell, or know if anything ive been feeling is from the IUD or just stress from wedding planning. Now last week and the week before that i had a constant headache but again maybe be stress related. And as for depression, I was diagnosed with that when I was i think 16 and take zoloft for that so I don't have any problems with that. But I just want to know if anyone else is experiencing menopause like side effects?

If none of the other postings tell you to get off of this drug, I certainly hope this one will. I began taking 5 mgs. of Lisinopril after visiting my Physician due to back pain. I have been a runner my whole life and went in because I had pulled my back out. I was very nervous; hence the high blood pressure….I was told by the nurse that I probably had white-coat-hypertension. Anyway, after being scared out of my mind, by this Doctor, I agreed to go on this drug, even though, at 50, I had never taken any other kind of drug in my life….HATE DRUGS! I began having heart palpitations after the first day on this drug, and one month after taking this poison, I began experiencing severe itching on my head, neck, and top of my back. I had just visited my salon and thought it was due to hair dye, which I had never had allergy to before. The itching increased and then I started getting severe cramping of my legs. I called my Dr. and was told to purchase organic shampoo/conditioner/soap, and that the leg cramps were probably Restless Leg Syndrome. He told me it was DEFINITELY NOT from the meds. He told me to let him know if the cramping got worse as there was something else that he could prescribe for it. This itching went on gradually for about 5 months. I purchased ever kind of organic shampoos, etc. with no relief, and the cramping of my legs became unbearable. Then, in April of this year, every thing starting to happen. I began itching all over my body and when I itched, it left big red welts wherever my nails hit. After about a week of this, I began breaking out in hives here and there. Went in to the Dr. and told him that I thought this medicine was doing this. This Dr. assured me again, that this would not be the cause of this and told me to take Benadryl and come back the next day so that he could see if I was any better. The Benadryl helped immensely and upon the next Dr. visit, he told me that I had come down with some sort of allergy and it was NOT due to the medicine. Went home and itched my body raw for the next week. Now the hives had turned into huge welts with water in them and my body began swelling with each new day! I stopped this poison on my own and was told to come back in to the Dr. immediately. I was put on Prednisone and told to take massive doses of Benadryl and this idiot Dr. still insisted that it was not from the Lisinopril….my ankles, arms, etc. now were almost double in size and the itching was unbearable. The seven day pack of Prednisone didn’t do a thing. I will say, though that after three days off this poison, my leg cramping subsided and my heart palpations did as well. I decided to take this in my own hands and went to see another Doctor. The Doctor I had been seeing, I found out, owned the Center where he practiced, and I believe he kept having me come back just to make more money. By now, my entire body had huge sores and pits and scales on my skin….I felt like a leper. I went to a Holistic Dr. and told him my story and he could not stop apologizing for the agony that I had been doing through. He told me this was ridiculous. His nurse asked me if I had ever heard of Johnson Steven’s Syndrome, and told me that she thought I had it. I was immediately sent to a Dermatologist and given steroid shots….which did nothing. My skin was pealing off each and ever day in flakes and I itched so bad I wished I were dead. I underwent skin biopsy’s and blood tests which came back showing that I was overwhelming reacting to some sort of allergy. This Dermatologist, who was excellent and didn’t even charge me due to his concern for what I had been through, sent me to an allergist. My small stature body had now increased 25 lbs due to water retention and sores covering my whole body. I can not put into words the agony I was in. Upon the visit to the Allergist, he recognized immediately what I had. He said he saw this type of thing, (not this bad, however), often due to the Lisinopril. Why didn’t that other QUACK Doctor stop this from the beginning…I believe it all comes down to money! Anyway, after almost 6 months of the hives, sores, etc., I am finally seeing a bit of improvement. My legs and back and back of my arms are permanently scarred…they are poke-a-dotted due to the huge hives and massive sores, and I still itch all night long if I don’t take my Benadryl. Who knows what the Benadryl will have done to me in the long run. Please, please look into this medicine and all other medicines that you take. There are holistic, natural methods of getting your ailments under control. Through my experience, I have encountered the most money-hungry, unprofessional Doctor in the world, but I have also experienced the most considerate well-intentioned Doctors. Please do your homework, and find a Doctor that has your best interest in his sight. Through this ordeal the only thing that sustained me was prayer. I have always been somewhat superficial about my looks, weight, etc. and this truly was an eye-opener. It’s amazing what these medicines can do to you, and don’t you wonder if the Pharmaceutical Companies don’t know all of this and could care less due to their hunger for money?!!!! It’s gotten to be a sad world. God Bless!!

Had my Mirena removed after 7mo of horrible side effects. It has now been about 5 months since having it removed and I was thinking about getting paraguard instead since there are no hormones (I believe it is the hormones that cause the effects). Any of you out there use paraguard, please let me know how it is... getting it in about a week.

I have been on this drug for a month because I HAVE BEEN HAVING IRREGULAR PERIODS FOR 5 MONTHS AND THEN MY DOCTOR GAVE THIS TO ME and THREE WEEKS LATER I HAD A PERIOD CHANGING TAMPONS EVERY TWO- THREE HOURS WITH VERY HEAVY CRAMPING? BLEEDING AND BREAKTHROUGH BLEEDING ALSO EVEN NOT ON PERIOD DAYS..PERIOD LASTS FOR 8 DAYS......YEA RIGHT? SHORTER AND LIGHTER........NO WAY!

I have had Mirena for 2yrs now and have been lucky enough to not have any side effects...at least I think. I am 23 and have never had a child and was suggested to use Mirena due to my horrible periods. I literally went to the ER a few times due to the severity of the pain. Now that I have it I do not have that sever pain anymore.

My question to you ladies is...Iv noticed, before but now more recently, that during intercourse if my partner goes too deep I get a sever pain. Also I will experience cramping the next day and begin to bleed. Almost as if the intercourse began a menstrual cycle. This happens even after I have a "regular" cycle. Has anyone else experienced this?

I had a Kenalog injection in May. I was on vacation in Vegas and had bad allergies and ear pain due to my allergies. I went to an urgent care center and they injected the shot in my right butt cheek. I noticed an indention in that spot today and never would have linked it to the injection. I did online searches and put it together. I called the urgent care center and spoke with a nurse who told me that muscle atrophy at the injection site is a side affect and yes it can take several months to show up. In my case exactly 5 months to the day. The doctor called me back. I asked why he did not tell me about the side effects. His response was that only 1% of people get this kind of side effect. I highly doubt that this is accurate considering I can google it and find many people with the same reaction. I asked if it will go away and he said it may never go away. I am 27 and in shape. I am interested in pursuing this legally if it does not go away. It is pretty upsetting.

I've been on Loestrin for about 4 or 5 months. I didn't even have a period last month and haven't gotten one this month (I'm not pregnant). I had some breakthrough bleeding the first month and second months, but none anymore. I take Loestrin because of debilitating severe cramps and I haven't had any in months after starting this pill. The only problem I've been having is that I get extremely nauseous when I eat anything. The funny thing is that I get super hungry a little while later and the vicious cycle starts over. I don't know if it is because of this pill. I had extremely low blood pressure before taking it, so it could be because of that.

Oh!!!! I thank God for finding this site. I have been so down and out for the last 4 to 5 months. I'm 48 years old and had my Mirena put in March 2009. It was very painful for me but I quickly got over that with minimal spotting. Since the insertion I have gained at least 10 pounds. I don't weigh myself but I go by how my clothes fit. I consider myself an athlete who is a decent runner. I've completed 12 marathons to date. I know how to work out and how to eat. But for the life of me I can't get rid of this. My breasts feel like they did when I was pregnant - tender and larger. Then I started having stomach problems. Terrible bloating and pain. I went back to my OB and they did a pregnancy test which of course came back negative. I went to my family practioner who put me on prescription Zantac for my stomach issues. With all this going on within a 7 month span, I knew something was wrong but until this morning I didn't know what. I called my OB and talked to the nurse and she said that the weight problem I'm having is just because I'm getting older. HOG WASH!!!! She can't tell me that what I'm feeling is normal. I can't live like this anymore. I will just have to use some other birth control.

Ive had Mirena since April 2006, and had loved it, but for the last 4-5 months I have a foul odor and discharge that is driving me crazy. I can only blame it on the mirena. Thinking about having it removed, but don't wanna be back to taking a pill daily or end up pregnant.

I have had Mirena for 1 yr and 5 months. The insertion was not painful that I recall, although I have had 4 kids, so I hear that may make a difference.
I loved this IUD for the first 9 months or so, then started noticing things that I didnt know were attributed to Mirena until I started reading about others experiences. Bleeding and spotting were minimal at first, no biggie.
I stopped having my period at all around 6 months...haven't had a period in a year..and had spotting maybe 3 times total. Since about 9 months into Mirena....I have had cystic acne. (which I didnt know existed until mirena) I had never had a blemish on my BACK in my life! Also on my face, around hairline, and in my ears, on my neck, and hard to get rid of. I have noticed little cyst like nodules in my neck and the back of my head, behind my ears, like swollen lymph nodes but they come and go...never noticed this before. Have had a intermittent mysterious sharp pain in my side, like a side stitch, comes and goes, and feel it during sex. No doctors had a clue about it. I have been very tired lately the last 3 months and I am on a stimulant for ADHD, so I should not be tired! (also why I haven't gained weight like others) But most markedly, I have always had a history of migraines, and had auras about 6 times in my life. Normally I would have 3 migraines a month tops.....then after about a year, I would get them several times a week...NOW I HAVE HAD A HEADACHE for 21 days straight, with only about 4-5 headache free days in there. Severe enough that I am taking painkillers and went to the ER, and they did a CAT scan and so nothing. normal. So. What could it be???
I got fed up this morning...after waking up one more day with kids I cant take care of properly or enjoy.....so I took out my IUD all by myself.
Couldn't leave the house to go somewhere with my head throbbing.
Dont want to pay anyone to remove something that has already cost me so much. Just looked at the diagrams, and found the string, pulled gently and viola! It was pretty darn easy! No pain, no discomfort at all. Not a drop of blood yet after 7 hours. Head still hurts but the relief I feel is great. I know I made the right decision to take it out and I wont use a hormonal BC again. I am looking into Essure now.
It works for some people, sure, but don't forget it worked fine for me for almost a year before I realized what harm it was doing to me.
I cant wait to have my skin back and my body back to normal.
Be wary, but it did its job. But I have read hundreds upon hundreds of negative reactions to this. Class action lawsuits getting ready. So be careful,

I have been reading these posts for awhile now and am so glad to have found them.
I am a 25yr female with epilepsy and have been on lamictal for the past 4yrs. I changed from epilim because I was getting married and heard that lamictal was safer in case of pregnancy. Not long after I found myself getting very angry over small things and not being able to sleep. I thought this was just me so I tried to get myself together. It went on for some time before I gave up and got help. I was diagnosed with depression and given fluoxetine. This helped me get back on my feet but I did not want to be on it long term and have been of the fluoxetine 2yrs. I still struggle with my mood but is manageable which I am happy for.
I did not realize that the headaches and the memory loss I had were from the lamictal until I found this forum then it all made sense. I had always thought that I was staying up too late and hence getting headaches. As for the memory I often feel like a blithering idiot. Cant remember words and often the wrong ones come out its so embarrassing. So often I feel like I'm in a daze and life is passing me by.
After all this said I have not heard of any other drug that would be any better. I have found comfort in knowing that I am not alone in this. There are a lot of people that do not understand the effects of medication or take it seriously when I try to explain. If there is anyone out there that is keen to chat about epilepsy or lamictal I would love to talk.

Like most everyone else on this site, I wish I had read this first.
I had Mirena inserted in February 2009. At first I thought it was te best thing I had ever done. It was for the first 5 months. But then it started. Headaches, BAD acne (never had any before, now I have huge cyst type things in my ear lobes and all over my face), bad cramps, gained 30lbs right off the bat and now have been on Weight Watchers since June and have only lost 5 pounds. No matter what I do. I was going to stick it out and just see. But, thank you to those who have posted to this site. I guess the side effects don't just go away like I have hoped over the last few months. Sounds like they get worse. Thanks for helping me make my decision to get it removed. Oh and I'm one of those people who NEVER experience the bad side effects. I use to brag about that. I never even read the Mirena side effects because that's not something I ever had to worry about before.

I have been on Yasmin for around 5 months now and am absolutely fine for the three weeks of taking the pills, however as soon as i stop taking them on the pill free week i become extremely aggressive and emotional. I cry all the time and feel so depressed and angry. I feel myself become furious over the littlest things. I have also begun to have panic attacks over small things and have become scared of everything. Has anyone else experienced this?

I am 27 and I started birth control at age 21. I always had an irregular period with terrible cramping. I also had a very high sex drive.

The first pill I tried was Ortho Tri Cyclen Lo and I stopped taking it after 2 months because I felt depressed and I totally lost my sex drive. I always had perfectly clear skin and about a week after I discontinued this pill I broke out on my face and my back. I had a rash on my forehead. I also noticed a few dark hairs on my chin.

The next birth control I tried was the NuvaRing. This also made me depressed and moody.

I have now been on Loestrin 24 Fe for more than 2 years and this is the one that has worked best for me. The first few months I had my period and spotting. The first year on Loestrin I got my period once every 3 months and the period maybe lasted a couple of days and was very light. I must have taken more than 5 pregnancy tests. I asked my doctor about it and he told me that there was nothing to worry about not having periods. The second year my periods got even further apart. I went 5 months without a period then almost a whole month having a period (very light and a lot of cramping).

Besides having my period coming and going as it pleases, I feel great. My sex drive is still alive and I haven't experienced any mood swings. I do still break out on my face, usually around the end of my pack. I have not had a problem with breaking out on my back with this pill. I have gained a little weight, but after I hit 25 my metabolism really slowed down, so I cannot completely blame weight gain on the pills. I believe you have to work twice as hard to maintain a healthy weight when you get older.

With that said, I wish everyone the best on their BC journey!

Hello, my name is pam. About 6 weeks after my son was born I had made the choice to get the mirena iud. Well for 7mon after i got it I bleed. Also, new things started happening. I went to my doctor and discovered that I had an awful yeast infection due to the iud not being set right. He gave me one round of meds just for yeast infections. I went back for a check up and it hadn't cleared a bit. Got second round of med. Then about 2wks afterward I got a call from my doctor. He said that they found yeast infection, staff infection, and a strep infection that I am still having problems with after the level 4 anti-biotic that he gave me. I have headaches, body aches, no sex drive what so ever, mood swings that would send anyone away, and I am also on anti-depression meds ever since Ive had the iud.

I was on Nuvaring for close to four years and all was fine up until about 5 months ago - lots of bad moods, anxiety and just an overall feeling of sadness that I just couldn't kick. THEN I started to notice some hair loss. The hair loss reminded me of the post-baby hair loss I'd experienced three times, but it was much worse. I did some research on side effects and found only one medical website that listed hair loss. I read these posts and immediately removed the ring. I would never use it again, would not recommend it to anyone. I also find it deplorable that this side effect is not listed anywhere on any warning label!