Cope symptoms and conditions

it caused a robotic personality in my husband. he had no empathy and no sex drive. he had cheated on me with a woman who was on prozac herself. I guess they tired of taking drugs together and became bored - no sex, nothing in common. people need to deal with life and get off these type drugs. taking something every now and then is not bad. but a drug that is to be taken everyday to help one cope is another "outlet" and unrealistic. it almost destroyed several families.

My experience with Yasmin has been terrable. Seven days after starting the pill I began to have anxiety, panic attacks, and depression. Never in my whole life have I felt so miserable. I have a very stressful job and have always been able to cope with it, not lately. I stopped the pill two weeks into the pack and that was three weeks ago. I'm still having some panic attacks and depression. I'm glad I found this website. After reading comments here, I now see that this is going to be a slow recovery, but at least I can see a light at the end of the tunel. I was told my side effects would go away shortly after stopping the pill. That has not been the case with me. To all you ladies that have had side effects from Yasmin, you are not alone.

I am a 65 year old man in reasonably good health. I had never experienced BP issues until recently, and when I found it was elevated, went to my internist about 2 months ago for that, and a general wellness assessment. After many tests, he determined that excess weight, and the BP should be addressed, so I was prescribed a fluid pill Chlorothalidone 25 mg and lisinopril 10 mg. After a week or so, I noticed a marked effect regarding the taste of food. Things I always ate ceased to appeal to me. Otherwise, I was feeling decent. About 3 weeks ago, I went back in for a checkup, and my BP was not responding to suit him, so he increased the lisinopril dosage to 20mg per day. Within 2 days or so, I began having trouble sleeping, tossing and turning, and having spazzed out dreams to the point of halucinations, and was up and down all hours of the night. More significantly, it felt like my guts were being blasted by a flame thrower, or for a better description, a leprechaun slinging a chain mace around in my insides 24/7. During this process, I have experienced momentary vertigo, and have lost what I feel is 75 percent of my energy. I am not a couch potato, and work 5 days a week. I am sluggish in the morning, and by 1 or 2 in the afternoon, could lay down on my office floor and go sound to sleep. I now have chills and flu-like symptoms off and on throughout the day. I have taken every conceivable antacid, pepto, milk of magnesia(which oddly seems to help) where nothing else does. The bottom line for me is that I feel this drug has transposed a fairly healthy person into a virtual zombie within about 6 weeks. My wife found this site on the internet, and after reading these responses of so many of you, having absorbed your comments, with the exception of the cough and shortness of breath, I am suffering identical effects. I will not be taking this medication again, and also will not take a brush-off from my physician. I have determined, because of these increasingly debilitating side effects, it would be far better to live with high BP or switch to another medication, and and at least drop dead in peace and comfort in a relatively high degree of normalcy, rather that what I have been going through. It has been rather easy for me to be able to tie my symptoms to this medication, given the information I now have on it, because in all my life, I have never experienced what has been happening to me in the last 5 or 6 weeks, described best in my mind as having constant influenza. I have taken my last lisinopril, and will see the internist next week in this regard.

Ive had this damm thing inside me for a little over 18 months and since I have had it in I have gained 2 stone in weight ..... my eating habits certainly havent changed and I now exercise more to compensate for the weight gain, but nothing, the scales do not budge, initially putting it down to me getting older (40 now) but then I started having terrible stomach pains, lower back pain, headaches frequently, at least one a week. For me the worst point was my cup size going up from a C to a FF, which I am struggling to cope with now ... I hate them being so so big and so very very tender, especially my right one ... I find that even when someone brushes past me I wince. One other side effect that I hate is sex is very painful now. I have been back to my doctors with all these symptons and they have sent me for numerous tests - all back negative, I might add. It has got to the point where I thought I was actually imaging it all. I have mentioned it to 4 different doctors at my surgery saying could it be down to the Mirena, but I was dismissed by all of them with a resounding NO WAY.. and I was made to look foolish. I am having this monster removed ASAP.

I have not been diagnosed with MS yet but have had 3 bouts of Optic Neuritis and this is the second time they are putting me on 3 day iv 1g solumedrol. I had to taper with prednisone last time and it caused a lot of pain in my knees and alot of anger/crying. I'm on day two of the solumedrol and feel very anxious, strange, crying, leg pain, crazy? I wish I could find an effective way of lessoning these side effects...i'm trying Chamommile tea & vitamins B's at 3am hopefully it will help.

I had my Mirena inserted at the beginning of June 2007, before working in several different foreign countries with my boyfriend. Originally I thought that the product was great. Then I started bleeding and didn't stop for nearly three weeks. If my boyfriend and i had sex then it would start the bleeding again, and so on and so on. Now four months later and the same thing happens, week or so long periods beginning on varying days (never know when it will strike!) We have lots of problems now and I am an emotional rollercoaster. I get angry, upset, cry, nervous, depressed....you name it. Now we are on the verge of separating because I am of course taking out ANY and ALL frustrations on him and I am sitting here wondering if it could be the Mirena that was responsible for such radical mood changes in me???? I am definitely not the girl he fell in love with. I can barely cope somedays. Additionally, I have recently been referred to a rheumatologist for joint/muscle pain that has gotten increasingly worse. Any advice???? Other than have it removed which is first stop when I return home from Argentina!

Thank you to all of your courageous women who have posted your experiences with Mirena. I'm so glad to know that I'm not alone.
I've had my Mirena IUD since September 2002 (5 years) and it's been a nightmare.
I've experienced extreme mood swings as many of you have mentioned. I don't even like who I am anymore. I didn't gain much weight but I have severe cramping, spotting for weeks at a time and the worst temper tantrums. My sex drive increased (ten fold) but was painful at times due to Mirena. My partner could feel the strings and I had to go back to the doctor to have them cut. Now he only feels them in certain positions. If he even comes close to my cervix - it's the worst pain and brings on cramping (again). I went to my obgyn but was told that as we age our hormone levels drop severely and that's why I have mood swings. She recommended that I take prozac to help me cope. She denied that it had anything to do with the IUD. I thought I was going crazy - I have all of you to thank for helping me understand that it's not in my mind - it's in my cervix.
I'm having it removed later this month but fear for what other options are available to women for birth control.

I took yasmin for almost 6 months,It was making me neurotic,I cried constantly,was angry and depressed-I just could not cope with anything.I switched mid pack to zovia 1/35,and now I am experiencing some hair loss.No bald spots thank GOD,but I am noticing I am losing quite a bit more than normal.I have read that yasmin was doing this to other people,but when does it stop?

I am on 300mg for bipolar. I am having trouble concentrating, remembering (i forget what i'm doing while i am doing it!), I often worry about driving-just don't feel like i can focus well enough-riding down the road thinking "hope i know what i'm doing". It is like i daydream constantly with periods of not daydreaming. I feel pretty cheerful and not having any real emotional problems, but the physical problems are a mess. I am so tired that i feel like every single day is a "well i'm sick today, i'll give myself a break, maybe i'll feel better tomorrow". i do have better days sometimes, but for the most part, i feel kind of useless-not "useless" like i'm depressed-i mean "useless" like i get nothing done and it takes me two hours to get some lunch for myself and my three-yr-old child, and i mostly sit around because i'm "taking a break" and my legs are so sore or i have a headache or i feel shaky, or nauseated - each day, i feel so sleepy i am desperate for my husband to get home to care for my daughter (and me)-it feels like i took NyQuil or Benadryl or something! So, i am literally pretty useless. It's such a shame. I can't find a medicine to help me cope, it is always a trade-off...and going on and off them to try another is a nightmare. At least, right now, it is just a daydream...

I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism in April of this year (2007) kind of by accident through a routine checkup. I had gained a bit of weight over the past two years, but that was really my only symptom. I was begun on 75 mcg of a generic brand of Synthroid, levothyroxine. Since I began this medication, I have rapidly gained another 15 pounds despite a 1,000 calorie per day diet. I retain fluid horribly. My ankles, wrists, hands and face swell daily. My muscles ache, especially my legs, upon walking across a room. I'm fatigued, short of breath. My LDL cholesterol level has skyrocketed in only three months and now I'm being told I need to be on a statin drug. I cry frequently and feel uncharacteristically anxious and irritable, but this could be due to the frustration I am experiencing with the loss of my sense of well-being. In essence, I felt much better before being placed on the medication. I may, in fact, discontinue the medication totally and see if over time I begin to feel better. Like so many other stories I'm hearing, my doctor seems totally unconcerned.

hi guys! about four months ago my doctor switched me from ortho tri cyclen lo(which I had been on for two years) to yasmin. It was the worst experience I have ever had in my entire life. About a week into the medicine I started getting horrible headaches, terrible anxiety and suicidal thoughts. I was sooo scared from this medicine that I stopped taking it thinking that everything was going to get better! Well wasnt I wrong. I developed OCD really bad to a point where I would sit and worry that I would hurt someone I loved or that I would hurt myself. and I had disturbing thoughts in my head that made my anxiety worse. I have been off the medicine for like 4 months and I am now taking 50 mgs of zoloft for my OCD, anxiety, and depression. I am unsure that it is working yet it's only been two weeks! I hope and pray eveyday that I finally start feeling myself! It's been horrible! Has anyone had this experience from this medicine? and if so do you think that I should get a hormone test, because I am almost convinced from reading other posts that my hormones are wacky! Well thanks for reading! and I hope everyone feels better! :)

I am a 30 year old woman who has been on Toprol (25 mg) for a week now. My doc prescribed it for mild hypertension and rapid heart rate. So far, I have had terrible indigestion and other "digestive issues", as well as difficulty sleeping. Fatigue and frequent urination (especially at night) have also plagued me for the past week. I have been taking my BP and heart rate readings every day and have yet to see a noticeable improvement. After reading all of the posts on this page, I am extremely nervous and wondering if I really need to be on this medication

I went on NR in Feb 2006. I bled for over a month straight when I first went on it. Dr. said this was "normal," my body was adjusting, etc. I noticed a drastic decrease in my sex drive almost immediately after going on it. I have had sensitive breasts the entire time I have been on it; it's painful for my boyfriend to touch them. I also lactated when I first went on the NR, but chalked this up to resurgence in hormones or something I had stopped breast feeding a few months before going on the NR). I started taking meds for back pain and anxiety, and now I'm wondering if it had anything to do with side effects from the NR after reading comments on this site. I also did get one horrendous yeast infection. I agree with the person who posted that she starts to feel emotional about a week and a half before its time to take it out--- like super bad PMS; really moody,craving sweets, depressed, etc. I also did not bleed until Thursday or Friday after taking it out on my scheduled Tuesday, and my period was minimal- just a day or so. I did not put a new NR in on my scheduled day (Tuesday of this week), and I feel like a complete emotional wreck. I mean, even with the PMS and such while using it, I still felt relatively able to cope. I have been crying over everything the last few days, irritable and volatile, and I'm not one prone to volatile. I am wondering of anyone else whose gone off of it experienced anything like this... I'm hoping it's just my hormones balancing otu or something, but I feel like an insane person...

I have been on Yasmin for 1 year now. I looks back to when I started and I had terrible insomnia to the point I had to take an additional sleeping tablet in the middle of the night when the first one had worn off. I feel nausea in the morning from time to time. My boobs have increased from a C to a D (sounds great but so has my bum and thighs). I don't have much energy and find it hard to lose weight.
My boobs are sore all the time now - not just around my period. I have awful anxiety attacks. I cant seem to cope as well and get teary and frustrated. I have numbness in my big toes. I'm going off it once my cycle is over. I was taking it for PCOS but I think I can manage the symptoms with exercise and diet.

I was put on yasmin by my doctor to help decrease a ovarian cyst... I love this medication. I feel great, losing weight easily, depression much better. I am sorry for the ones who are having problems... there are always going to be people that dont react the right way to any drug. I have been there myself. I am usually allergic to every thing. I suggest... try yasmin...if it doesnt work for you try something else. Good luck

I have what's known as cough equivalent asthma--on set as an adult. this is my first attack in about 3 years. I'm very unhappy with the Advair--the heart beating so quickly, the nausea and to top it all off IT'S NOT WORKING and neither is the albuterol. Today is my last day for the Advair. It's not even controlling my cough for minutes let alone hours or days. I'm losing my voice and will lose my part-time job because I don't have a voice. I can't hold a conversation without coughing it's making me dizzy and I'm tired because I can't sleep.

I just began taking taking 25 mg of Topamax 3 times a day for about 1 week. I have the general side effects: loss of taste, tingling in feet and hands etc... however, my doctor insisted I would be much calmer (I am fairly hyper) and would be able to sleep better. I feel as though I am much more irritable with my young children ( less patience) and I am not sleeping all that great. Has anyone else had these side effects? As far as the headaches, at first, I actually was getting MORE migraines, butthey and the daily headaches seem to have subsided. However, I have not yet experienced the typical menstrual headache/migraines which are the worst for me.

Butterfly rash on my face...Doctor stopped the drug temporarilly...she CLAIMS ITS OK>>>>>>on lithium also...My vision is terrible now....had perfect vision.. She wants to put me back on Lamictal...I need support from somewhere...it was a fantastic mood improver....the best...now Dr. tells me..there is NOTHING OUT THERE...besides lamectal........ is this true??? she might put me BACK ON IT>>I AM AFRAID>>

hi kim123.
i was on yasmin for 1.5 years and i stopped taking it in june of 2006 so am just coming up 8 months off yasmin. it seems that the longer it was taken for the longer the annoying side effects hang about. with regards to your anxiety you really need to break the pattern otherwise it becomes a habit and the body just excepts it as the norm to feel this way. i had this problem and still do to a certain extent although i am much better now, i still have to constantly check myself if i have negative or doubtful thoughts. my worry is always that i will have a panic attack in public and of course the one thing that is sure to bring on a panic attack is the worry that it will happen so i have to say,panic attacks have never hurt me they just feel uncomfortable and that i will deal with it if it happens and just knowing that means that it has not happened,but i know i will cope if it does.
please keep posting so we know how you are getting on.

sarah

Hello all, and in response to Sarah (Flowerbabies)

Thank you so much for your great advice. I live in Toronto, Canada. I will try to drink the magnesium and the nettle tea and plenty of water. The psychotherapist I went to see has me working on a book called "Anxiety & Phobia workbook" by E. Bourne. I haven't finished it yet, so I can't say whether is good or not.

I would not mind hearing what techniques you have to help you cope or stop the panic attacks? Anything that you may suggest I will try, as nothing else seems to be helping.

As for everyone else, I feel for you and want you to know that my thoughts are with you. It's funny how sometimes coming to this website is the only thing that's comforting to me.

All the best,
Claudia.

hi dejay78,
i am so sorry that you feeling so bad,i really feel for you,i made me so sad to read your post as i can remember feeling that i would never be well again and that i just wanted my life to be over. please do not feel bad about taking the lexapro,if it will help you then that is all that matters.do not feel that because other women survived without taking anything it makes you a weaker person ,it does not! i have no idea if taking a medication would have made my recovery easier or not but i was sooo terrified of taking another medication that i thought i would take my chances without,it does not make me a stronger person that you at all,all that matters is that you get well again and that you can cope with your children again and that you can sleep again and that you can smile and enjoy your life again.it does not matter what you take or don't take as long as you recover,each of us that has been affected by yasmin have had different symptoms and imbalances and different medications or vitamins etc that have helped us,hopefully the lexapro will give you enough relief from your symptoms that your system and your mind will be ready to fight back, we all need a little helping hand now and again, it makes no difference what works as long as it does work. if you need moral support you know where we are, all the wonderful ladies here will always answer your questions or give you support when you need it.

my heart goes out to you and your family.i really hope that the lexapro will give you some much needed rest from your symptoms. i did have twitchy legs at night,they would jump and fidget but that seems to have stopped now (8 months off yasmin) keep the faith that you will get better,tell yourself everyday that you will and are getting better,i know it does not seem like it now but it will happen little by little and day by day.

sarah

I've been using the patch for @ a month..From day one I have been vomiting, dizzy, down with severe headaches, have very little to no appetite, loss of strength, forgetting @ 80% of what I do, sleep to much or not at all, my husband says that I've become very moody, I have no will power, no patience at all, the list can go on forever........I feel as if my pain has gotten worse......I really hope that nobody else will ever or has ever gone through the same......If so, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO COPE w/ or MAKE IT NOT BE SO HORRIFIC?

hi chris35.
sorry to hear you are still not doing well,i would not know whether it would be a good idea to go back on yasmin or not,i personally chose not to take anything at all but it is a question of trial and error i guess. it must be awful for you having bipolar disorder and having to cope with hormones making your moods fluctuate to. i am guessing that any test you have done you would need to pay for if you have no insurance? i don't know how it works as i live in the uk we have the national health service so do not pay for medical care. maybe you could ask your health care provider to run a hormone test to see what is going on? sorry for being absolutely no help but i just wanted to assure you that i have read your posts (and replied to a few i think?) and will continue to read them in the future incase i can help answer a question for you.
sarah

hi everyone, thanks for the response and great advice for my daughter. As you know she is almost 18 and has suffered all the depression/anxiety symptoms. She went to a fantastic psychologist a couple of days ago, he says she has social anxiety, and yes that is exactly what it is, the anxiety kicks in when she has to go to a party, work, away to our holiday house for the weekend etc. He along with the doctor have not dismissed a problem with hormones causing all of this, So now she is learning ways on how to cope with the anxiety, is going to ease herself back to work and we just hope that she will improve bit by bit. Its incredible to think that she is on a high dose of lexapro{40mg} and stil suffering from extreme bouts of anxiety. I think that any woman suffering from these dreadful side effects of yasmin must do all they can to improve their quality of life, whether it be vitamins, massage, councilling or what ever may help in any small way, these things may help your wellbeing and assist you to have a complete recovery. good luck to all

hi abs 528!
long time no posts!
so glad to hear that you are doing better and that your anxiety is getting better,sorry to hear that you are still have trouble with ocd,are you having therapy for it? i really wish you the best of luck in the future and hope that when you make a full recovery your life will be better than is was before the yasmin as you will now know how strong you are and that you can cope with anything,if you can survive the yasmin nightmare you can survive anything!