Androgens symptoms and conditions

I started taking Loestrin because I was having very heavy and long periods. However, once I started taking it, I bled for a month straight. Then, I noticed that I had an increase in acne and hair growth. I was unsure if this was a side effect of the BC, but after doing some research I found that Loestrin has a very high amount of androgens, which cause acne and hair growth. I stopped it after 3 months and my hair growth and acne have definitely improved within the past month that I haven't been on Loestrin.

Possible ovarian cancer triggered by Yasmin.

You need to know this:

The present study suggests that circulating androgens and SHBG levels are *not* strongly associated with ovarian cancer risk,

although levels of fT may be associated with an increased risk among women diagnosed at relatively young age.

Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2007 Jan;16(1):23-9

Free testosterone (fT)

Increased levels of estrogen stimulate ***increased levels of testosterone***and androgen (increased body hair).

Unlike all the other BC pills...

"Yasmin birth control pill is different than other traditional combined oral contraceptives.

Though it is combined of estrogen (ethinyl estradiol) and progestin (drsp), which has the unique properties than other progestin based pills available in the market. In other combined pills,

***progesin is derived from testosterone***

whereas in Yasmin with drsp, progestin is derived from spironolactone."

We need progesin to come from testosterone to prevent ovarian cancer. We have to LOWER testosterone.

If you have dry eyes...heads up! And get a pelvic ultrasound. If it shows cysts...while most are benign and common...some are NOT.

Hmmm.

My advice to all is to go see your doctor and discuss this with your doctor.
A doctor can help you much more than a bunch of postings over the internet.

I took Yasmin for 4 years and had no issues. I gained a little more weight, but considering everything else it did to help me with the PCOS, that is okay.

I took myself off of the pill for nearly 3 years because I was mad at my OBGYN for never being in the office so I stopped going.

I recently started the Yasmin again and I am glad.

Yasmin is mostly designed for women with PCOS or who need estrogen supplements. Yasmin is not for everybody. You should discuss this with your doctor to determine if Yasmin is right for you.

I have been on Loestrin 24 for about a month and a half.. and I am not very satisfied with it. I have been experiencing horrible side effects. Ever since I started taking this pill I have had really bad breast tenderness, bloating, and nausea all of the time. I have also gained about 5 pounds, which I don't see how it could be possible considering I play college softball and work out about 3 hours every day, and I'm also a very healthy eater. All of these side effects match up to the early signs of pregnancy.. which can be impossible considering I haven't been sexually active for about 3 months now. Has anyone had these same side effects??? I'm just so confused and not sure what to do.. Any advice??

My daughter was diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) as she wasn't getting her periods, and her testosterone was high (she is only 15). She is also developing dark facial and body hair. The endocrinologist put her on Yasmin because it has the least male androgens and should stop the hair growth and felt it was the best choice for her. He said that our goal is to preserve her fertility and stop the hair growth.

We started her on a quarter of a pill and will increase it over the next couple of weeks, due to the fact that a year ago she had to take bc pills for a couple of months to stop her flow (it went on for 8 weeks and was very heavy)... Everything she tried then made her sick. So we were concerned about that again. Unfortunately, she is having a terrible time with Yasmin, even at a quarter of a pill. She is taking it with her dinner, and still, it is making her sick to her stomach. She is lethargic, extremely emotional, nauseous (she even vomited at 4:00 this morning), bowel problems, very anxious, no appetite... and this is after a week of being on it. She is also having heart palps at night when she is in bed. I spoke with her doctor and he suggested we stick with it and her body should adjust with time. He feels that we don't have a lot of options with different pills because of the male androgens and the hair growth... Anyone have any suggestions?? I don't know how much longer we should stay with this... she has missed so much school because of this already and she looks awful. Thanks....

I was originally put on Yasmin because of my PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome). I was taking it for about 2-3 years and just stopped about a month and 1/2 ago and I am experiencing horrific headaches. They are sudden and on the left side behind my eye. There is no warning. They are like migraines but they are piercing pain not throbbing. Could the cessation of taking Yasmin be the cause? I hurt almost daily and I'm so sick of it. Also I haven't had a period yet.

I only tried these pills for one month because I have high levels of testosterone and the doctor suggested Yasmin would be a lighter pill to fight the androgens without sideffects... I tried Androcure before that and the experience was awful BUT yasmin was even worse...

After only one month on Yasmin I gained 7 pounds, I feel totally bloated, unattractive, depressed, tired all the time, woke up sweaty with horrible back pain every morning (especially the last week), I got massive red spots all over my face, my period lasted for 2 weeks, my libido has disappeared, I got suicidal thoughts every single minute, fought with everyone for no reason at all... and whats worse I got candidiasis (a.k.a vaginal thrush) for the first time in my life, followed by itching, burning sensation, dryness and now I am under therapy to get rid of it.

Supposedly this pill would get rid of my hormonal imbalance but in fact it made me much worse than before... My only advice would be to stay away from it, no matter what. Its the worst pill I've ever been on and I threw away the packages for the next months.

I've had horrid luck with hormonal birth control. all other methods i tried made my breasts grow, made me sick to my stomach or made me spot constantly. i have been trying to find a method that will let me regulate my disabling cramps so i can avoid missing work every month or disolving my stomach lining with pain killers. i went on Yasmin a few years ago and at first thought i had finally found the answer: no more cramps, and no gross hormonal side effects. i stayed on Yasmin for three years until i realized that my libido was gone. absolutely gone. i was in a happy relationship, i exercise regularly, eat well and am not depressed. i talked to a NP coworker (i work at a reproductive health clinic) and she told me about Yasmin's anti-androgenic effects. no androgens, thus no libido. i quit Yasmin that day. now i have my beloved sex drive back but still haven't found a cure for my cramps.

hi kim123.
i also had a lot of the symptoms of early menopause,i'm only 32 so was hoping that was not the case for me! my hormone levels came back "normal" but they were in the low end and also what is normal for one person may not be normal for the next. i also suffer from hashimotos disease and even when my blood tests say my tsh is normal i can feel really rubbish,so you can never rely on lab test results as "normal"! i also think that although your levels may have been the same last year they were naturally at that level, a lot of women pass naturally through the menopause with no effects at all. but i think the fact that yasmin is synthetic hormones and that it also messes with other hormones and androgens causes our body to react to the low levels as it drops others that would not normally be touched by a natural menopause. i am not a doctor,this is only my conclusions. hang on in there kim123. maybe try increasing your dose to 10mg lexapro if you feel no different after 2-3 weeks.you may just need a little more,it depends how badly your neurotransmitters are affected. try to keep your brain busy,the more you occupy it , the more pathways are created,the human body is an amazing thing,i never realised before all this just how complex it is! i hope that you start to get some relief soon.

sarah

Silke
Im sorry I wrote that last post so fast it was confusing and I didnt even sign! Its me, bitterRN. Anyway I got those lab ranges from this website... www.earlymenopause.com/tests.htm

Dont let the name scare you, I dont think you are in menopause, but possibly having some kind of ovarian dysfunction where your ovaries are not producing enough androgens.(testosterone and progesterone)

Anyway please let me know what your doctor says and dont forget to ask him the normal lab ranges for each hormone right down to the measurement (example ng/dl or ng/ml) or better yet try to get a copy and it will have the normals listed next to your results. The other labs the LH, FSH, Estradiol looked pretty normal, I dont know why he tested Prolactin?? unless this was progesterone? But I dont think the testosterone is normal. Let me know.
BitterRN

Has anyone been on long term decadron for hairloss due to elevated androgens from adrena gland? I did not have any visible loss then suddenly after over 2 years on it lost massive amount of hair that is showing all wide parts with change of texture to almost like a spider web, this was sudden and it not better. also headaches and stretch marks are new. I am a mess and wonder now if the drug induced a female pattern alopecia. did not have the loss that looked like that before. was just chronic sheddiing and mild thinning.

Anyone with similar symptoms?

Silke-
Hi, BitterRN here again (still bitter about yasmin too:)
But Im feeling better and I want to share with you my findings and thoughts about what I think about your situation. But first please dont ever hesitate to write me, I check in on this site pretty frequently to see how everyone is doing and it always breaks my heart to see another "victim" of science or someone who is still struggling with this nightmare drug.
So here is what I think, I think your testosterone is low still. I really believe this is the root of your problems I am almost sure of it. You see I think Yasmin suppresses testosterone. This is a side effect of most birth control pills, but I think Yasmin does it even more so. I am proof of that, I took ortho novum for several years, I had breakouts and oily skin as my body had always been this way even before bcp. Then I took yasmin, and yeah my skin had no more breakouts, no more oil, (and no more life in it.) I know for a fact that my testosterone became severely low. And with low testosterone comes all the symptoms you and all the people on this website have been complaining about, and I think the longer your on it the more symptoms develope, because your body is not getting this incredibly important hormone, the hormone responsible pretty much for anti-aging, muscle repair, sleep, sex drive, overall sense of well being. so I think symptoms start to appear one by one as the testosterone is decreased by the yasmin, and the thing I have noticed is that when testosterone starts to go down, anxiety goes way way up!!! I felt this myself, and friends who have been diagnosed with low testosterone have felt it as well, and everyone has said they felt like they were going crazy! Depression sets in. And then when yasmin is stopped its up to your body to replace all the hormones it was getting synthetically with hormones it now has to make. Again I feel this is harder with yasmin because it so severely depresses the androgens (testosterone)
Now your body is trying to balance your estrogen and progesterone and testosterone, and it seems to be unable to do it quickly let me show you my journey..
I stopped yasmin in Jan 06 I started regulating my hormones in april 06 my first testosterone level was 11 and normal is 20-50. God only knows how low it fell in the 3 months between. So april it was 11
may it was 15
july it was 21 (normal range)
I was starting to feel much better at the end of july. So the fact is as my testosterone has been going up, my body has been recovering. As well as the estogen and progesterone balancing out which cause a who new set of symptoms of their own when they are not in balance(menopausal symptoms frequently)
So this is what I am trying to get at Silke, I think your body has been working hard to get the testosterone up, and judging from your symptoms still ongoing, namely the muscle weakness, tiredness and weakness, and the anxiety, I feel very strongly that your body is having trouble getting this hormone to the level it needs to be for you to feel better (yes just like your old self) I have been supplementing with bioidentical testosterone, though I do not recommend this until you have seen a physician who will test your hormone levels and READ THEM CORRECTLY which is key here. I know you said you had your hormones tested before and that your testosterone was "Low normal"? Is that correct? But even if that is so what most people, and even most doctors do not understand is that a "low normal" reading on a woman in her 30's is NOT NORMAL. Thats normal for a woman in her 80's(and I bet she doesnt feel so hot either!)
I know it is hard to find a good doctor. But I happen to have stumbled across a good doctor here in Arizona and he has clinics all over the U.S. and even one overseas in Spain. Now I realize you live in Germany right? So I e-mailed them and asked if they had any other clinics in Europe. I will let you know when they get back to me.
Anyway here is what I found. Since I think your body needs a boost in testosterone (I mentioned this before but sometimes when bcp suppress testosterone for so long, the body kind of forgets how to make it again, so it may need some help) and I think this may be what is going on with you.. But the first step for you is getting your hormones tested to be sure what it is you are lacking and then having them read by a bioidentical hormone doctor, and then you may have to supplement with bioidentical testosterone, but do not be afraid Silke, this is not synthetic hormones like bcp it is identical hormones that your body makes and you will be supplementing not replacing.
Anyway on to what I found, Im sorry I get sidetracked....
These centers I found have a procedure called Sottopelletherapy. What they do is make a tiny incision in your hip or buttock area and insert a bioidentical hormone smaller than the size of a grain of rice with the hormone you are lacking, this is of course after they have tested your hormones and determined which one you are low in. Your body can then absorb the amount of hormone that it needs from this implant whenever it needs it.
But I really think you need a good doctor to test your hormones first and these doctors in these centers really understand hormones. Here is the name and address of the one I found in Spain:
Dr.***

If they e-mail me more info. I will let you know. But my friend who had many of the same symptoms as you silke, the feeling down, tired, anxious, muscle weakness, she went to this clinic (she is a nurse too) and had her hormones tested and they found her testosterone was very low (almost nothing) and she just had this procedure done. She has been on anti depressants for 3 years now as 90percent of the women who see this doctor are because they are mis-diagnosed as depressed (as are a lot of women on this website) and put on anti depressants. She is looking forward to getting off of them soon.
So the bottom line is I know yasmin drops your testosterone (I have seen it in myself) the thing is i think everyones body on this website is trying to replace this precious hormone, and everyones body, depending on age(because the body slows down in production of hormones and you dont make it as fast.) and just your particular situation (length of time on it, pre existing factors?) is just recovering at its own rate. However, I think the people who are taking a really long time(like a year or more) and experiencing setbacks as in your situation silke, need more help as your body cannot seem to fully restore testosterone levels that are normal for you. And I think only when this is balanced are you going to feel like the old you again.
So now I am the one who has written a book again, so write me back and let me know what you think. I hope I did not use too much medical talk. If so let me know and i will try to explain it better.
Look forward to hearing from you Silke,
BitterRN.

my daughter is 16 and was diagnosed with pcos(polycystic ovarian syndrome), and was prescribed Yasmin. She's only on it 4 days, but today she had an anxiety attack(which she never had before), and then she broke out into a sweat and her heart was racing. The side effects do n ot list any of those symptoms. Did anyone have the symptoms I just mentioned? ALso, did anyone ever gegt treated for pcos without birth controL? Thanks for your help. Please email me at Thirteengreen@aol.com

Thanks!!!

Silke-
So glad to hear from you. I am just interested to know because I had lab tests done (blood) as well and mine came back "normal" low normal so I ordered a saliva test online for a hormone profile because I read that saliva tests are more accurate than blood tests for hormones and my labs came back that my testosterone is way low as well as some of my other hormones which were too low for a woman my age. ( By the way I have been off the yasmin since the end of Nov. 2005) So now I am looking into bio Identical hormone replacement, which is a natural hormone much like the hormones our bodies make already NOT the synthetic junk in BCP's. I think in my case that the yasmin supressed my androgens and testosterone which are the male hormones, guess what these hormones are responsible for? skin elasticity, mood, sleep balance, cholesterol levels, muscle integrity... among other things...hmm sound familiar? a lot of things we and other people on this site are complaining about. I am still looking into finding a good doctor for the BIH replacement but you can read up on this on www.salivatest.com click on 24 HOUR HORMONE HOTLINE on the bottom paragraph of the second box on the left hand side of your screen, then on the next screen scroll down to 630 ANDROGENS: Testosterone and DHEA listen to what the hormones are responsible for. 627 All about Hormones is very informative as well, actually if you click on a lot of the numbers there you can learn a lot, as well as about saliva testing and BIHR. You can order a saliva test by clicking on the home page you started out on, at the very top it says order test kit. I ordered HORMONE PROFILE I. That measures your estridiol, progesterone, testosterone, DHEA, and cortisol levels in the am. This will give you a basic idea of where your hormones are at. I would be curious to see where your levels really are as well. Let me know what you think. Bitter RN-

Silke???
Are you there? I have a question for you. Did you ever have a sputum test done for a hormone profile? If so, which ones? I had one done and my testosterone is low and my other androgen levels were borderline low. Im beginning to think the spiro in the yasmin depresses the androgens, at least in my case. If you log onto www.salivatest.com click on 24 hour hormone hotline in the second box down on the left side of the screen and then click on 630 androgens and testosterone listen to what the woman says testosterone is responsible for maintaining in your body. It explains a lot of what I am feeling because my testosterone is low. BY THE WAY I had hormone labs drawn 2 times at different dr offices, one did not even test testosterone, the other did but it came back "normal" I am looking into talking to a doctor who deals with natural hormone replacement. I am just wondering if you ever had a saliva hormone test done? Looking forward to your response. Bitter RN.

PS to Guest, #12572;

For sadness (depression etc) ; B vitamins and exercise are a great all-natural way to "help" combat the side effects you are experiencing. Vitamin C will also help.

B1; Plays a key role in the body's metabolic cycle for generating energy
B2; promotes general health
B3; increases energy through proper utilization of food, maintains the nervous system
B5 thru 11; improve the body's resistance to stress, helps the adrenal glands (the temporary loss of normal function in the adrenals is one of the most common effects of prednisone)
B12; low levels cause depression

Exercise stimulates the good endorphins and over all feelings of well being.

Because Prednisone can cause havoc on the adrenal glands, it is suggested that people do everything they can to support the adrenals during and after prednisone therapy;
(The adrenal glands secrete several important hormones that help maintain the balance of many body functions. Stress, fasting, temperature changes, infections, drugs such as prednisone, and exercise all stimulate the adrenals to release their hormones. When the adrenals release too few or too many hormones, the body responds differently to the everyday stresses of life.
The adrenal cortex is involved in the production of glucocorticoids (such as cortisol i.e. hydrocortisone), mineralocorticoids (aldosterone) and androgens such as androstenedione and DHEA. A mild to moderate adrenocortical deficiency can substantially reduce your quality of life, yet this condition is not recognized by most doctors, who only think of the adrenal gland's condition as being at either extreme - normal or in overt failure.
Symptoms of adrenal deficiency include depression, irratibility, fatigue, and exaggerated stress responses.

We need to remember that while taking prednisone, we were actually supplementing our own cortisol production and levels and it might take some time for our own cortisol productions to return to normal.

Best Wishes

OMG!!! I have PCOS and my doctor suggested this "GREAT NEW B/C that really seems to help those with PCOS" I was on yasmin last spring for about 5 months...hated all the nasty side effects, racng heart, anxiety, moodiness, you name it i had it including IBS. Finally in July I couldn't take any more and quit, with out letting my dr. know, because I wasn't ready to try something else.

My husband and I liked how it helped me to loose weight and the spontanity we could have (granted with 2 little kids in the house - things aren't all that spontaneous) without having to fumble with condoms and or inserts, but the 2 little pros were not worth the way I was feeling. I hated it and it wasn't me!

Well, seeing as how I had no period in Nov. and have tested negative on 4 hpt's I figured great, my body is back to it's usual - I better get back on the pill again to try and regulate my cycle before I get more ovarian cysts. So I refilled my yasmin, figuring ok I'll give it another shot...big mistake!!!!

Today is Wednesday, I started this pack on Sunday - I have only been on the damn things for 4 days and I feel like HELL!!! I have the racing heart again, my anxiety level is way up there (my poor husband had his head bitten off last night for no reason what so ever - I'm surprised he talked to me this morning!) and to top it all off now I have the diarhea and nausea again. This is so not worth it, I can't believe that I can feel this way after only 4 days! Actually, myhusband said to me this morning, "honey I don't think you should take those pills any more - they aren't good for you and make you someone else completely."

So I called my doc. to see what my options are - I can't start on anything else until I have my annual exam on 12/15 - there is no way I'm staying on the Yasmin until I see her again!!!!

I'm throwing that pack away as soon as I'm done typing this! God I was soo stupid for thinking it would be better the second time around....I'd rather deal with my PCOS than feel like I'm feeling now.

Thanks for letting me share! Please think twice before you take Yasmin.

Shawna