Agoraphobia symptoms and conditions

I took paxil when I was around 24 years old. The stupid psychiatrist (who was so cold, and never smiled, and then asked me to tell her how I felt) at the time never warned me about NOT stopping it cold turkey. So one day I did stop and I experienced symptoms already described by other people: extreme relapse into depression and anxiety, felling like I "wasn't real", social phobia, agoraphobia and feeling suicidal. Now I am on Effexor and my doctor says "there are no withdrawal symptoms". I was put on Effexor due to a diagnosis of major depression last 6 months ago and I believe it was all precipitated by hormonal birth control. All the doctors and psychiatrists I spoke to about the possible link between hormonal birth control and depression and anxiety told me there was no link (or that it was very rare). I hate the attitude of the medical community:(

I was given Biaxin for a sinus infection that never cleared up. So the doctor gave me Bactrim. I took one before I went to bed. I woke up all jittery and full of anxiety. Sometimes this happens, because I do have agoraphobia with panic disorder. I took my second dose with breakfast. About 3 hours later my gums started to burn; like I ate too much salt. It was irritating, but did not realize it was from the antibiotic. Then my teeth started to hurt really bad everywhere, and it felt like electrical shocks going down my body. My skin turned all colors of blotchy purple and yellow. I started to shake so bad that it hurt. My Dad rushed me to the emergency room. I was given epi, steroids, and an anti-inflammatory. Then monitored for 2 hours. Which was hell, because I have agoraphobia.

I was sent home with prednisone and benadryl. It has been six days since this has happened, and I still have the chills. I feel like I have the flu. My teeth still hurt, and advil won't even help it. I have a constant headache. This medication should be banned. I only took 2 doses and became so ill. When do the side effects finally stop?

I was compelled to write this because of all the negative comments that have been posted. I believe the symptoms people are experiencing are real, but I also believe that they don't happen to every single person who takes Yasmine. People tend to speak out more on the negative than the positive, and that may be part of the reason there's so much bad feedback. I've been on it for two weeks now and haven't had a single side-effect...nothing. Although I wouldn't mind the bigger breasts side-effect. ;) I'm 37 and haven't been on birth control pills in probably 15 years. At the time I started taking this pill, I also quit smoking with the help of Chantix, and still no major mood swings, depression, decreased sex drive, etc. I have very acne prone skin, but it's been MUCH less oily since I started taking Yasmine. I've had some breakouts, but no large cysts. I also started using Retin-A about a month ago and believe the pimples I'm getting now are from that, not the Yasmine. Bottom line, everyone is different, and not all meds work for all people. I would encourage anyone who is concerned about starting Yasmine or wants to come off just because of comments posted here, to think twice and talk to their doctor.

I started getting panic, palpitations, anxiety, bouts of crying, no sex drive, odd taste in my mouth. I only had the taste and lack of libido since early on but felt fine and than whammo the crying and palpitations and anxiety hit. I asked the doctor if it could be the Yasmin even tho id been on it for a while, i got the royal fob off and some lame comment about 'us girls doing funny things sometimes' whatever that means!!!!! It got worst, i couldnt stand to be in the college where id gotten the palpitations to start with so dropped out and i couldnt understand why, but i was cool to still work nearby the college, I had some odd behaviour tho, like i suddenly couldnt park on the ground level for fear of the levels collapsing, i was scared of dying, of freak events, of flying and i LOVED flying, the syptoms waxed and waned and then a few months lather while still having intermittent anxiety a stressful period popped up and that was it i was gone, worst time of my life, allergies, nauseus, paranoia, depression, nightmares, horrific mental images and distressing thoughts, suicidal thoughts. Crux of it was it sucked big time!!!! That was 3 years ago and im still trying to put myself back together! The original syptoms did get better with time but ive never been quite the same.

There are a lot of negative experiences on here, so I thought I should share my positive one. I have been on birth control off and on for about 6 years. I was on orthotricyclin for the majority of the time-off and on. After getting horrible near migraine headaches on orthotricylin every Friday before my period for about 5 months in a row my doctor and I decided to try a different pill. I was on trilevelin (sp) for 4 months and gained a few pounds and felt easily irritated and emotionally different-just cried easily and not myself. I've been on Yasmin for a month and have had a great experience. I lost the water weight I'd gained and just verified with my boyfriend that my PMS was hardly even there. Everyone is different and has different hormone levels, but so far I am very happy with Yasmin. I've been migraine free tthe whole month!

Hi Everyone,
I am a fourth year medical student and recently I started having horrible panic attacks, I feel like crying all the time and I actually feel depressed. I am a "hypochondriac" generally (I guess it comes with the territory of knowing about different diseases out there), but I have been feeling like I am going crazy. I started Yasmin in November of 2006 and I was fine for a few months. Lately, with stress at school and exams, I started feeling like I've just crumbled. I get anxiety/panic attacks (the latest one was at the movies), horrible heart palpitations, nausea, I am sweating, I can't sleep, I feel this knot in my stomach. It's horrible. I thought it was me cracking under pressure, but I was never like this before I started Yasmin. Recently, I was placed on an antidepressant because everyone assumed it was depression, but after reading this post, I really think it might be the pill. I got off it a week ago, so I hope I will see a difference. Thanks guys!!!

I was prescribed Gabitril at began taking the medication on July 18, 2007. I am diagnosed bipolar with severe depression, panic disorder, PTSD, agoraphobia. This was because my mood swings are bad. This was supposed to control the mood swings. On July 32 I had hallucinations and on Aug 1 i had many seizures. I can't think straight now. I can't read like i used to. I am weak. I am afraid.

I'm so happy I found this site. I've been thinking I'm crazy or just getting old for the last 3 years while on Yasmin. I started taking it at age 29 and almost immediately after started having mood swings, extreme irritability and depression. I had previously been on Ortho Tri Cyclen and the Ortho Cyclen before Yasmin and was on them for MANY years and never had one side effect. I only switched in the first place because I like to have very very few periods and I run all my active pills together to forgo periods very often and I was having breakthrough on the Cyclen. Hence, the Yasmin trial.

I'm actually a doctor (which is why I CANNOT have frequent periods with all the accompanying issues), but I didn't even realize the possible connection between IBS and Yasmin. This needs to be studied and taken seriously. I never once had IBS symptoms until a few months after starting Yasmin. Now, 3 years later I have almost constatnt trouble, to the point everytime I eat I run for the bathroom, yet my weight has never been higher. I asked a GYN friend at work if they could be related and she said definitely no, but reading all of these "real life" examples, coupled with my own experience has made me think otherwise. Often, the symptoms will occur shortly after taking the pill, even when I haven't yet eaten breakfast. It's crazy!!

I'm going to switch either back to Ortho Cyclen or to something new ASAP and will report back. I'm both excited at the thought that my "IBS" might really be Yasmin related but also scared that it might not go away and therefore might really be IBS. I'll report back... It honestly never entered my mind that all of it could be the Yasmin. I had just moved, started a new job in a town I hate and I thought it was all stress related.

I've also had an interesting side effect no one has mentioned yet- my hair texture has dramatically changed. It isn't falling out, but has gone from VERY curly with a nice soft spiral curl pattern to very dry, straight and hard to manage. Nothing else has changed and now I'm wondering if it's not the DRSP. If pergnant women can have hair changes, why not women on the pill?? It's all hormones.

As always with a drug, there are always possible side effects. No one drug is perfect, and humans are so complex in their make up and they way they process drugs. Therefore, please don't judge your family docs or GYNs too harshly as not even the best doctor in the world can predict every side effect.

hi jess,
the symptoms you have could well be down to yasmin,you may be hyper sensative to the effects of the artificial hormones,i think it depends what state your hormones are in before you start taking this stuff. i felt great on it for about six months,pain free periods,slight weight loss,reduction of cycle related acne etc. but then things started to change and i became ill both physically and mentally with no explanation,i felt that way for 1 year until i found this site and stopped taking yasmin,since then all my symptoms have pretty much vanished although they resurface briefly during ovulation-menstruation but that is because my hormones are still out of whack. my advice would be if you are feeling a bit off talk to your doctor and see if there is an alternative to yasmin,if you are starting to feel closteraphobic (sorry can't spell !) and never have before then i would think that yasmin may effect you badly mentally,something to do with oral contraceptives depleting seratonin levels,most of us on this site have had panic attacks/anxiety attacks along with agoraphobia or paranoid delusions,we are not mental it is this pill! some people do really well on it and feel sick for a couple of weeks then improve but i suspect if you are feeling bad after a few days then it may not be the right pill for you. sorry for the long post but it really upsets me when more and more women are being prescribed this rubbish that has nearly destroyed so many women here,all the symptoms we experience are to similar to be coincidental,the one common factor is that we have all taken yasmin.
best of luck to you whatever you decide to do,i hope you feel better soon.

eryka,
i suspect the reason you feel worse this week than you did last week is that your body is trying to return to it's normal cycle so if you stopped taking the pill 2.5 weeks ago you are probably ovulating at the moment. i had a similar problem when i stopped taking yasmin,i suspect estrogen dominance is the problem (ie you do not have sufficient levels progesterone to oppose the effects of the estragen) i find that although vastly improved i still suffer a mid month wobble as i call it,i have been off yasmin for 3 months now and i am feeling much better than i did,i suffered severe anxiety/panic attacks which led to agoraphobia but i am now out and about again and enjoying my life once more. hang in there eryka it will get better but it will not be over night but be reassured that it WILL get better.look into estrogen dominance and see if your symptoms sound familiar,if they do have a chat to your health care provider. in the mean time take a good B complex,vitamin b6 and some magnesium as the contraceptive pill can make you deficient in all these essential vitamins and minerals and cause your symptoms to be worse,of course a sensible diet and excercise are also great for helping your body recover. i really hope that helps you,i know how awful and soul destroying the effects of this pill can be,that is why this site has been a life saver for so many women,me included!

hi everyone.
i too have some trouble during ovulation/mesnstruation with nervousness,shaking,fear etc. and my agoraphobia flares up. i have been taking the following for the last month and have felt sooom uch better. magnesium 400mg,calcium 800mg, vitamin b complex tablet and an additional dose of b6 of 50mg along with a multivitamin. apparently birth control pills can cause a depletion of the b6 vitamin which causes many of the symptoms experienced by some yasmin users like,anxiety,panic attacks,dizzyness,brain fog,muscle cramps,sickness,bowel problems etc. also magnesium and calcium become depleted,these minerals are essential for a healthy body and mind. b6 is directly involved in converting tryptophan into serotonin so it stands to reason that if you are deficient in this vitamin then you are going to experience problems both physically and mentally,it is worse around the time of ovulation/menstruation as the natural hormone shift can take up more of your b6 reserves. try improving your diet and taking supplements for a while and see if it helps,it won't hurt you to try. i totally sympathise with the hell that is caused by the panic attacks,anxiety,chest pains,aching muscles,headaches and all the other horrible side effects that a lot of use have suffered whilst on yasmin, but have faith that your body is an amazing thing,if you give it the tools it will heal itself,eat well,sleep well and take supplements for a while and i am sure that we will all be able to put this nightmare behind us and live the lives we want!

andiegags,
my pms was never like this either! i had very few pms symptoms before yasmin,i would be a bit cranky a couple of days before i came on my period and has sore boobs but other than that,nothing! i have been investigating my symptoms again lately and have found that some birth control pills can cause pms or pmdd and if you look at the symptoms of pms on a good site many of the anxiety problems etc are common to extreme pms. some birth control pills are also known to reduce serotonin levels in the brain (this also happens naturally in women with pms around ovulation) so that may explain the anxiety/depression getting worse around ovulation/menstruation. i am just about to try adding a low dose of 5-htp to see if that will help improve my anxiety,i already take magnesium,calcium,and a vitamin b complex along with omega 3,6 & 9 oil. i really feel for you,i had a really bad episode of anxiety last year that lasted about 6 months,i developed agoraphobia as a result and i still have days when i can't leave the house especially when i am ovulating.i hope that things will improve,i know it will take time but i am convinced that recovery is possible and probable!

hi silke,
dehydration and anxiety are definately linked,when the body is lacking something it switches on it's emergeny mechanisms to survive so it is quite possible that valuable vitamins and minerals are used up in this emergency state. As yasmin has a strong diuretic effect it is not surprising that anxiety etc gets worse.As you were on it for so long i imagine most of your stores were used up a long time ago. i carry a bottle of water with me wherever i go,i am never without one! i drink at least 2.5 litres of water a day. like you i also take magnesium as it seems to help. i take evening primrose oil for pms,garlic pills for good blood circulation,omega 3,6,9 oil for the brain and nerves and calcium to balance the magnesium! it all seems to help me. The other thing that gets me through it all is the faith that i will be back to my old self and hopefully stronger than before. i am still having trouble with agoraphobia which appeared when my panic attacks came on but i am doing my best to get over with the power of positive thinking! I am hoping that now my periods have returned that nature will take over and get my body back to normal! the memories of this nightmare will take longer to heal though i think. best wishes to you silke,i really hope that the water and magnesium work for you and that you soon feel better than ever.

sarah (greetings from england!)

hi abs528, i am starting to feel better but i have learnt not to take anything for granted i just take it one step at a time,i still wake up with a sore throat most days and still get bad headaches. i will have been off yasmin for 2 weeks on monday. my anxiety levels have dropped quite a lot,i used to have days when i would feel really scared all the time but it does not seem as bad now, i have a long way to go because i have felt like that for a year i had developed a mild case of agoraphobia which is a real problem as i have 2 children and i feel terrible that i have stopped taking them out to fun places as i was always worried i would have a panic attack,but now i feel stronger hopefully i can overcome those once and for all...i am going to do my best! i just wish i had found this site a year ago when all my symptoms atrted,i would have stopped taking yasmin immediately,i only started taking it because my skin kept braking out in spots after i stopped breast feeding my youngest,i wish i had just tolerated the spots.

hi all, it sounds like i may have come to the right place,hopefully someone can help me. i started taking yasmin in jan 05 after stopping breastfeeding my then 1 year old. All seemed fine but 1 year ago i started to get severe anxiety attacks and panic attacks paraniod episodes as well as numbing in my face,twitching in my left eye,palpitations,stomach cramps,constipation or worse the other extreme! and raging headaches that feel like someone is crushing my head.My doctor told me i was suffering from anxiety disorder and put me in touch with a counceller and gave me a prescription for diazepam, i came off the diazepam and have been trying natural congnitive therapy for my anxiety (which has given me a foem of agoraphobia, not great with 2 kids that want to go out all the time!) i have been looking into the hormone link as i seem to feel worse about 9 days before my period then i came across this site, i am seriously considering stopping taking this pill ,is not needed anyway as sex is the last thing on my mind these days. does this sound familiar to any-one? did your anxiety improve when you stopped taking the yasmin, i am scared that it will make it worse if i stop but i know that i have to take that risk to find out if it is the yasmin that is making me ill,help i feel like a total crank most of the time,i want to go back to being normal!

Background - 26 yr old female, debilitating agoraphobia/social phobia - tendency towards obsessive compulsive behaviours on alternating days 100mg/50mg been on for about 10 months. originally on effexor xr, but had a nasty allergic reaction.

Good things:

able to sleep better than i have in years
no more tears! (usually anyway)
able to leave my 'safe places' without having a freak out
no weight gain... actually i've lost weight (thanks Dr Atkins!)
able to interract with other humans again

Bad things:

attention span of a goldfish (constant brain fog)
diarrhoea to begin with (gone now)
very easy brusing
bizarre vivid dreams (although better than prev nightmares)
constantly fatigued - especially at my desk job
missed dose = mild electric jolts through system AWFUL!!
sex drive killer :(

I would go the Zoloft over my old life anyday, even with the side effects. I am planning to study next year so want to drop the dose so I can actually concentrate instead of re-reading stuff over and over but am a jot worried about the getting off. I feel as though I've 'dumbed down' alot as I just can't concentrate.

I'm taking alternating 50mg 1 day/100mg next. I was prescribed this for debilitating social phobia/agoraphobia (with a tendency towards obsessive compulsive behaviour) - which resulted in mild depression, so essentially it's been prescribed for anxiety.

I also have been having VERY weird vivid dreams (although that makes a great change from not enough sleep and constant nightmares). I have also found that I'm extremely lethargic.

No weight gain, and I've found it has helped me alot with respect to allowing me to leave my 'safe places' - (I'm getting past the letterbox now!!) as I feel much more relaxed most of the time.

If I forget a dose after a while I feel as though I'm putting my finger in an electric socket and getting a mild electric current running through every few minutes. It's really awful.

My attention span has also dropped to that of a goldfish. I can't concentrate on anything for any length of time - which is rather unfortunate as I having a 'thinking' job, not a 'doing' job. It's like I'm constantly tired and hung over.

Zoloft gave me my life back. I take 25 mg for panic/anxiety/agoraphobia. Initially I gained 10 pounds, but I have been dieting and exercising for 3 weeks and have lost 7 pounds so far. Weight loss is slow, but it is possible while taking zoloft.
My most annoying side effect is sleepiness..the exercise counteracts it to some degree.
I have been taking zoloft for 8 months.