Berlex symptoms and conditions

Commenting on the post earlier today. I decided to look into the Norplant (see below for more details) Now i found that development of my Mirena was done in part by the maker of the Norplant? Which has been pulled in the US and the UK after 50,000 people filed a class action suit (which was settle out of court)

Development and studies of the Mirena Coil began in the 1970s. Schering Health distributes Mirena outside the United States, while Berlex distributes it inside the United States. Both companies have worked with the Population Council, a that has worked with other contraceptive manufacturers (including Wyeth, maker of Norplant).
Mirena was first marketed commercially in Finland in 1990, but not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration until 2000. It is intended to initially release 20 micrograms of levonorgestral per day and may be used for five years. Sound familiar?
Norplant is a form of birth control was first approved in 1983 in Finland. The original Norplant consisted of a set of six small (2.4 mm x 34 mm) silicone capsules, each filled with 36 mg of levonorgestrel (a progestin used in many birth control pills) implanted subdermally in the upper arm and effective for five years. The original (6 capsule) Norplant's production has been phased out; USAID's contract ran until December 2006.
The original (6 capsule) Norplant was approved by the FDA in 1990 and marketed in the United States in 1991 by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals. Norplant distribution in the United States ended in 2002; limited supplies still remained in the U.S. until 2004. Norplant was withdrawn from the UK market in 1999.
Side effects
After three months of using Norplant, women will need to schedule a follow-up appointment to monitor blood pressure and discuss any concerns. Side effects may include irregular menstrual periods for the first approximately three months, including periods lasting longer than normal, bleeding or spotting between periods, heavy bleeding, or going with no period for the mentioned period of time. Common side effects include weight gain, nervousness, anxiety, nausea, vomiting, mastalgia, dizziness, dermatitis/rash, hirsutism, scalp-hair loss, headache, depression, and acne. Sometimes, pain, itching or infection at the site of the implant will occur. Ovarian cysts may also occur, but usually do not require treatment, although they can cause pain even if benign.
Norplant discontinued in the United States
By 1996, more than 50,000 women had filed lawsuits, including 70 class actions, against Wyeth and/or its subsidiaries, or doctors who prescribed Norplant. Wyeth never lost a Norplant lawsuit.
On August 26, 1999, after winning 3 jury verdicts, 20 pretrial summary judgments and the dismissal of 14,000 claims, Wyeth offered out-of-court cash settlements of $1,500 each to about 36,000 women who contended that they had not been adequately warned about possible side effects of Norplant such as irregular menstrual bleeding, headaches, nausea and depression. Wyeth said that most of the plaintiffs experienced routine side effects described in Norplant's labeling information. About 32,000 women accepted the out-of-court $1,500 settlements.
At least they warned the user of these side effects and the no longer offer Norplant in the US

On the evening after my insertion, 10/11/07, which was rather bloody and took two OBGYN"S to put in place, I began feeling very ill! Shivers, cold, sweats and a very high fever set in! I was sick and in pain! It was a horrible night!!! The next a.m. I phoned my M.D. and told him what happened. It was hard to tell for him if it was caused by the Mirena insertion or something else. However, he ordered me on antibiotics for 10 days. Three days after the antibiotics finished, I began itching severely, ALL OVER MY BODY and it has not stopped!!! I am scratching my skin off!!! The itch comes the inside and my skin welts up and hives show up. The intensity comes & goes. The areas of the body vary. However, I am continuously itching; at times in desperation!!! I have held back from the E.R. this weekend, awaiting for Monday to go to the Dr.s office. I heard from a Berlex Rep (my Brother), that in 5% of women, skin disorders have been reported!!! HOW NORMAL IS THIS??? I do not wish this side effect to anyone!!! It's horribly distressing & nerve wrecking!!! Not to mention, skin destroyer!!! I have sores from scratching throughout my body... I s till don't know if Mirena is the cause, but I have not been able to determine anything else responsible... I will let you know what happens...
Sylvia in Miami Beach

Hi Emily!

If that's a side effect of Yasmin you perhaps only can find out by getting off this pill and see, if you feel better in a few weeks / months.

Just a word about Mirena:

Mirena is made by the same company as Yasmin (Schering in Germany, I think "Berlex" in US). And it has nearly the same hormones in it. I read about Mirena the same horrible stories, as I did about Yasmin. The side effects seem to be very similar. And even if your docs might tell you, that the hormones of Mirena only stay in your uterus: Well, who tells the hormones to do so and stay there?? I think the uterus is as well connected to our blood circulation as every other organ in our body. And so I think everything that reacts in the uterus also reacts in our whole metabolism over the blood circulation.

So please do a little research about the side effects of Mirena, I fear you'll find the same stories, as you find about Yasmin...

Please be careful!!

Best wishes
Silke

Dear Susanella,

Thank you for sharing this post. Please post your daughter's experiences as well on the Forum here as well as on askapatient.com. It will be helpful for other women and their daughters, cousins, nieces and aunties.

If you haven't already done so, also report side effects online to www.fda.gov and call Berlex to report at well 1-888-237-5394. One of their representatives will take all the information.

Hey all:

Thank you to the guest that posted her 2 year story. I was so inspired. I will write to my friends and family.

Also: I called Berlex and reported my side effects. Thanks for the information on how to reach them.

Lastly: I am not 2 weeks Yasmin free, and I fee GREAT. My sex drive is back and my energy seems to be returning.

Thank you to everyone who has posted, your stories helped me make the best decision for my health I've made in a long time. I would like to go to the new link but I cannot access it from work.

More news later.

IPJ

Hi BitterRN here
Silke, how are you doing? Any results from your test yet. I posted to you earlier (couple of days ago, but I have not heard back from you, maybe you missed it?) I tried to log on to sarahs website but I am having trouble navigating it.
So I am anxious to hear how you are doing and the results of your iron test. Let me know. Ok? I really hope you are doing better.

ALSO I contacted BERLEX about my adverse reaction, I agree we all need to bombard them with calls, those stupid commercials keep airing, I cant believe it. What is the # for the FDA again? Im sorry I know you keep posting it whoever is but I missed it, could you post it again. I have to go for now, I hope everyone is getting better.
BitterRN

Yes, I reported my side effects to the FDA as well as to Berlex. its really important to do so. I don't know how else we'll get this off the market. I've been horrified with how many and how horrible they have suffered. It is disgusting actually. I am 2/3 reading Kevin Trudeau's book on Natural Cures-and honestly at first I thought it just wreaked of Conspiracy Theory and now, I am learning that so much of what he's documenting is true! For example-CODEX-this will take all our vitamins and natural supplements and make them only available through and by prescription! Talk about monopoly. I hear that this is already the case in Europe and has been for some time. It means, you will need a prescription for Vitamin C! And it will be costly!

Now after reading through all of this. After suffering personally the last 9 months, after seeing how many women's symptoms are similar and all of them being told by their Doctors that it could not be Yasmin-I AM CONVINCED! The RN I just saw tried to get me to take Nexium which is also on www.worstpills.org website. In addition to Yasmin. I was so mad. I know this isn't Heartburn. Not when the heart murmur started. I am starting to think the entire medical community thinks all women are morons telling eveyrone its stress and anxiety--totally discounting our symptoms. I've come across 5 articles now on heart disease and women and all 5 expressedly talk about just this-how women are not taken seriously ---misdiagnosed 3 to 5 times and after costly exams, trips to the ER-they actually have heart attacks. Pisses me off. More than that, there are/have been moments at night when I lie awake and think about all of you, wondering what part of the world you are in, how this has effected your quality of life, all our abilities to trust, our familes, our work....and finding your responses during stressful times is so uplifting. I pray for each and everyone of you. I'm sickened that this drug-Yasmin and now its sister Yaz ever made it to the market. Based upon a couple of other's women's entries, I would join an effort to bring lawsuit.

The American Medical Association is currently working to pass a law to make it even more difficult to sue the pharmaceutical companies....nice huh?

Hi Silke, Thank you for the link to the site. I will register and share my story. Has anyone else called Berlex? They are the company that makes Yasmin. They need to be bombarded with calls along with the FDA!
It is so amazing that doctors will not see that there is a correlation with Yasmin and so many incredbily debilitating side effects.
Stay in touch! Thank you for your thoughts and good wishes and all the best to the ladies here.

Metallicat20 - Your story is very similar to mine. I had terrible heart palpitations, leg cramps, short of breath, and my BP was 170/120 - it was 5:00am and it was so scary!!!!
I hope that you are feeling better.

For Ladies just joining this site and those posting for months/years, if you read through the post that includes all the possible side effects of Yasmin, I think you will find most of your answers there. This information came directly from the makers of Yasmin-Berlex and it is accompanied with the bcp-its that little pamphlet of size 1.5 font. It outlines all teh risks and many of them I can see are being experienced by women:

Anxiety, depression, changes in vision, pressure in the chest, heart attack atcetera. Please read through this (below) if you haven't already or your own pamphlet if you are now taking Yasmin or plan to and then keep it and discuss it with your prescribing Doctor. Know what you are at risk for in taking this or any birth control pill.

following that information is a letter written by the Dept of Pulbic Health to Berlex about the mis-leading advertisment that was being aired on yasmin and how it discounted the health risks associated with this pill because of its synthetic basis as well as the risk of increasing potassium.

See 3 posts below Flowerbabies most recent.

Nauseated yes yes yes!
Nausea and the anxiety feeling in my arms has been my 2 worse symptoms
Thats why I have lost 11 lbs

Iam nauseated as we speak.
I use to have a great appetite and slept like a baby and never had anxiety befor the pill

I have my doctor today and she swears its me not the pill makes me sick dont even want to go but what choice do I have
I have devloped this weird sore in my mouth its gross

I felt well last night but woke up and my arms feel numb and anxiety its like the nerves in my arms are damaged they feel tingly and numish and shakey???/ Anyone have the arm anxiety or whatever it is

i wrote to berlex I demaded money for missed time at work pain and suffering and my medical bills paid they wont do anything
I called several lawyers none want to take the case.

I wasnt just a little sick I have been deeply affected bad I dont know if everyone out there is as bad as Dejay and I are Iam going to lose my job so its life altering for me

I have this terrible taste in my mouth as well it is thick and its bitter its so annoying ai cant stand it almost metallic

After doing exhaustive research this evening and reading people's entries-TAKE NOTE! Please READ UP ON HYPERKALEMIA prior to taking Yasmin or YAZ OR ANY PILL WITH THE SYNTHETIC dirosperonone. It causes increased potassium levels. Have your potassium level checked before you start this pill! I just read up on all of this tonight for the last 4 hours and this is really really serious. I think that I may have discovered that this may have been what has caused the squeezing sensations I have had in my chest for the last six months. I also had pressure and developed a heart murmur. Both of these symptoms as well as fatigue and paralysis are linked to hyperkalemia and can lead to heart attack/failure. Two resources to check: one is a letter from Health and Human Services written to one of the pharmaceutical companies who makes Yasmin-with notification that they must discontinue their advertisments because they are mis-leading in a dangerous way. If you google Yasmin and Health and Human Services, the letter should come up. I am going to try and paste a portion of it in here because I think that this is so critically important. I read through all these women's entries and I just think we are a bunch of ginny pigs and some of this is life threatening. Not the prescribing doctor, the RN or the pharmacist responded to my concerns. The RN thought it was anxiety which I've read in the last few months, women are often told-discounted because women are supposed to be "stressed". I found a great article a couple of months ago about how most women's symptoms are discounted so you have got to take personal responsibility for your health and making informed educated decisions about these things beyond responding to advertisements. Berlex, one of the pharmaceuticals-basically looking at a 1.8 billion dollar industry-our pharmaceutical industry is our number one revenue industry. Check out: eMedicine Alert-Hyperkalmia.

Hi everyone-
It has been a few months since I posted so I thought I would give you an update. I am YASMIN-FREE for 6 months now. My period is somewhat regular, 29-31 days, with it getting off to a very slow start then 2 days heavy and 1-2 days light. But, during my period (and often during ovulation as well) I have terrible trembling throughout my body sporatically during the 5-7 days it lasts. But, the brain-shocks have totally stopped, thank GOD!!! My Blood pressure is slowly coming down as well. No more 170/100 or 150/90 anymore. I also take fish oil and flaxseed which I think helps with the BP.
I have stopped taking the Xanax but I am still taking 37.5 (lowest possible) dose of Effexor once per day. I will be weaning off of it by Christmas accoriding to my doc.
This has been so hard for me and dealing with the side effects of Yasmin. I appreciate this forum in knowing that I am not alone, unfortunately. My husband and kids see such a difference in me now that I am off of that poison. It caused a total chemical imbalance and I am just starting to see the extreme side effects subsiding. It has taken 6 months. So, be patient ladies.
As always, I encourage all of you who had side effects (especially bad ones) to CALL Berlex and/or the FDA and REPORT IT! Their toll free number is on line.
Stay well ladies.
Hang in there and keep posting.
SILKE - how is everything? I am sorry that I lost touch for a few months!

Oops, I am new to posting, although I have been reading this sight since January 06. I felt a tremendous sense of relief when I found it, because I thought I was losing my mind only into the second pill pack! I quit the same night I read the posts. Thank you so much for your shared experiences. I have been off since Jan. and feel much better, but still have difficulty sleeping and some chest sensations like heaviness. But, there seems to be hope. I have called Berlex and the FDA, and enourage others to report negative experiences. This just cannot be a coincidence.

I received 2 calls from Berlex (the co that makes Yasmin) regarding my complaint about "adverse effects". So, maybe they are listening. When they heard just a few of my symptoms including my BP was 170/120 and I had severe leg pain coupled with a major panic/anxiety attack (unprovoked), I think the woman on the phone took me seriously. I am glad that I called. I am praying that NO OTHER woman ever has to endure the agony that this pill has caused me.

goingofftoday- I did not read what your symptoms & side effects are but I can tell you my experience. As soon as I stopped the Yasmin, I started to feel better almost within a few days. I was on yasmin for a total of about 12 months.

My bloating went down and my other symptoms started to go away within a week or so. In january & feb I had to take medicine (Paxil CR every day and Xanax as needed) which I no longer take. Although I stopped Yasmin on 1-21-06, I take 37.5 mg of Effexor XR each day to help rebalance the chemicals in my brain. I NEVER imagined myself to be on this type of anti-anxiety medicine, but I look forward to getting off of it within a few months.

You should keep in touch with your gyn if you stop mid cycle. Also, don't make the mistake of stopping then restarting the Yasmin which is a HUGE NO-NO.

TAKE CARE and please let us know how you are doing.

twogirlsmom-

What did berlex say when you called? What is the phone number for them. There has to be a way we can get yasmin off the market.

-Frustrated

Hi Hill,
Berlex (the company that makes Yasmin) called me back within about an hour of me leaving them a message. I would persist and call them whenever you get a minute. Keep on it, they MUST know what we are going through.
I had terrible fogginess when I was on Yasmin. I also had what I termed as "brain zaps". Unfortunately I am now on a very low dose of Effexor. Fortunately, it is helping me with the anxiety and brain zaps.
Things will get better. Thanks for your posts everyone!

If anyone ever hears of a class action lawsuit or some movement to get it off of the market in the USA against Berlex by the former users of YASMIN, please post here. I would be glad to share my story.

I was never like this.... REALLY. I am now on medications for my anxiety and receiving outpatient therapy.... If anyone ever told me that I would end up like this, I would not have believed it. The more I read, the more I realize and associate the symptoms with the time that I was on Yasmin.

I also took myself off of caffiene. I figure that it can't hurt. I have two little kids to take care of.

Thank God my family and husband are being helpful and understanding. I referred them to this board and that is how they realized that I was not making this up!

Good luck to all of you. I will keep posting as the days go on.

Hi,
I was on Yasmin for three months but stopped taking it just over a month ago after looking at the postings on this website. I'd previously tried Alesse and Marvelon but had to switch because of breakthrough bleeding. Yasmin solved the breakthrough bleeding problem but caused the following symptoms that I hadn't had with the other two pills: headaches, vaginal dryness (to the point where it became difficult to have sex), dry skin and hair, constant thirst, frequent urination, muscle weakness, and NO sex drive. I didn't have the more serious symptoms that many of you report (heart palpitations, depression, panic attacks), but I was alarmed to read that many of you didn't start to experience these side-effects until you'd been on Yasmin for over a year. Did Berlex's clinical studies actually go on for long enough that they could tell what the long-term side-effects of this pill were (e.g. what does the change in blood potassium levels do to you over the long term?)? Doubt it. Anyway, I think Yasmin is probably great for breakthrough bleeding... but that's the only good thing I have to say about it. By the way, I feel pretty much back to normal now
(a month and a bit after I stopped taking it) so I guess the side-effects don't always persist.
Wishing you all the best of luck in recovering from Yasmin. If anyone knows of a pill that's good for cycle control but won't completely f*** up your body, please let me know!!!

If any doctor can answer this for me: WHY do you all discount the birth control pill when we women complain about health issues that have only started occurring in conjunction with the taking of the hormones???!! I'm certainly not a medical professional, but I'm intelligent enough to realize that hormones play a HUGE part on the wellness and activity of ones body. To tell a woman that her pain and symptoms are all in her head, to me, is neglectful, insensitive, and downright ignorant considering yours is a field based on a machine as mysterious as the human body is.

For those of you who have had horrible side effects, I urge you to contact Berlex who is the manufacturer of Yasmin in the U.S. The phone number is located in the Yasmin Forums link above. You will speak to a live person who will take your information down and note it. It's very important that if this crap isn't safe for human consumption, that it be taken off the market.

I have stopped taking yasmine for about a week and a half, and already i see signs of improvement. My severe head aches have gone away, my moods are better, and i'm not as tired as when i was on yasmine. I finally feel like myself again. If you are experiencing side effects call and report them to the Berlex Co. I did. the number is 1-888-berlex4.

I have been on Yasmine for about 7 months now, and i keep getting recurring BV and Yeast infections. I've never had either one of these infections in the past till I started using Yasmine. When my Dr.gives me med's for the infections, the symptoms go away. But right after i get my period, I get the bacterial infection again. So i take med's for that, but the medicine gives me a yeast infection. Yasmine also gives me symptoms that some of you experience, like: headaches,sometimes migrains, feeling thirsty, moodiness, sleepiness, gas etc. Does anyone else get recurring bacterial and yeast infections? I have called the Berlex Co. today and the operater said that this does occur in some people. I am seriously thinking of getting off of this. I just don't feel myself anymore.

To the guest below, I have to emphatically tell you that your nurse is WRONG. I called BERLEX myself, (the distributor of Yasmin) and they admitted to me that ANXIETY IS A SIDE EFFECT in some women. I think you can tell by the posts on this board that what some women experience as a side effect, others do not. That doesn't in any way though negate your side effects and I really wish the people in the medical community wouldn't have such a flippant attitude towards their patients. It took about 3 full days for me to feel "normal" again after stopping this pill. Give it a little while longer.

I have to agree with this poster below....I stopped taking it and almost overnight the panic attacks were gone and no more pains. After 3 days off the pill, I got my period again on this monday so I'm feeling the regular "not so great" head pressure and ect. that I'm used to. I'm the one who wrote on March 10th and on May 15th that I was going off - I also wrote on the 15th for any ladies to contact Berlex directly to let them know the side effects your having and I have to say that the other ladies who have gone off the stuff did the right thing. God bless anyone that actually is having a good experience with this pill!!

Straight from the Yasmin booklet that comes with the pack of pills:
Warning signals:
Sharp chest pain, coughing of blood, sudden shortness of breath, pain in the calf, crushing chest pain or heaviness in cheast, sudden severe headache - vomiting - dizziness - or fainting, disturbances of vision or speech, weakness, or numbness in an arm or leg, sudden partial or complete loss of vision, breast lumps, severe pain or tenderness in the stomach area, difficulty in sleeping, weakness, lack of energy, fatigue, change in mood, jaundice of skin or eyeballs, irregular bleeding, fluid retention, Melasma (spotty darkening of the skin - particularly in the face) and other side effects may inclue change in appetite, headache, nervousness, depression, dizziness, loss of scalp hair, rash and faginal infections.

It makes me furious that some of you have told your doctors outright that you've been experiencing some of the above effects from this pill and yet they tell you to your face that it's not the pill.....(fuming)

The other poster is right - call Berlex and tell them what's happened to you and that Yasmin sucks!!