July 9th
2009
10:49 PM
I started on the NuvaRing in April of this year, so this is my 4th month on it. The first month was great! I loved that I didn't have to think about it daily and my libido was through the roof! The only side effects: I noticed immediately that it increased my discharge, which was a little uncomfortable on a day-to-day basis but was very nice for making love. The discharge was also a whitish color, which threw me off because I'm used to it being clear but my doctor assured me that all was normal. Also, it would occasionally fall out during more passionate sex, which wasn't a big deal. I just washed it off with cold water and reinserted it. The second month, things seemed great until the last half of the month. I noticed that there wasn't as much discharge and I would get a slight burning sensation after sex. About a week later, I came down with a full blown yeast infection. I hadn't had a yeast infection in 10 years! I treated it with an OTC 3 day suppository, which seemed to help it a little. I removed the NuvaRing like normal and a few days later I started my period. Things seemed to go back to normal and a week went by without much problem. The middle of the 3rd month I was slammed full force with yet another (or the same) yeast infection, plus bacterial vaginosis as well. I asked the doctor about the NuvaRing and it possibly causing/aiding yeast infections. She assured me that it wasn't possible for the ring to cause infection. She gave me instructions on how to properly rinse it off in case it ever fell out again. She prescribed me 2 doses of Diflucan for the yeast and an antibiotic for the BV. I took both and afterward things seemed fine for another 2 weeks. This week, I noticed that I had a weird itchy feeling down there before bed and sure enough when I woke up in the morning it appeared I had another yeast infection. I called to make an appointment but the nurse just called back and prescribed me 2 more Diflucan pills and told me to give one to my partner. I asked again about the NuvaRing perhaps being an aid in the appearance of these infections and again she told me that it wasn't possible. At this point I am really confused. I don't know if I have a really bad yeast infection due to the ring or if my boyfriend and I are simply reinfecting each other. I also asked about whether I should discard this NuvaRing and start a new one after the infection clears up and got a very vague response of "it's your call". I really don't know whether to can the NuvaRing or keep going a little longer to see if this is all a big coincidence. I just think there isn't enough known about the NuvaRing...by my physician anyway. More side effects to note in the fourth month: weight gain, loss of sexual desire, vaginal dryness (the discharge was short-lived), irritability, crying fits. I'm just at a loss...I really wanted this to work for me...
-- By stripeysocksgirl | Reply | (2) replies | Private Message me
June 27th
2009
10:03 AM
I am a 58 year old female Who has been taking Simvaststin for 16 months .
I have been increasingly bothered with mainly night leg pain ( bilateral) that radites to my hips and back. It's like a tooth ache. I too have had to resort to taking pain medication at night to sleep. During the day when I sit for long periods my legs ( especially the thigh area) aches and standing up , walking etc does not alleviate the ache. It is not constant at this point but very frustrating.
After reading the posted notes I am contemplating going off the Simvastatin for a while to see if my symptoms improve.
Any thought?
Thanks!
-- By corve2 | Reply | (3) replies | Private Message me
April 30th
2009
10:18 AM
I've been taking .25 of Toprol XL for about 5 years now. The firs few years were fine but the fatigue slowly starting getting worse. Now for the last 6 months I've been battling hypoglycemia. Does anyone know if the two could be related? It's a pretty awful feeling.
-- By jj25 | Reply | (1) replies | Private Message me
February 3th
2009
5:26 PM
The first two months I was on NuvaRing, I thought it was the best thing on earth. Unlike previous attempts with various HBC, my breasts didn't hurt and I didn't seem to gain weight. It also steadied my out-of-control PMS symptoms and made my period lighter and my cramps disappear. Those are definitely on the PRO side of things. Shortly after starting NR, I met a new boyfriend and after both being tested for STDs, we decided to ditch condoms. Woo-hoo! At first, we had great sex and I had no problem having orgasms. But as time progressed, I became extremely dry down there and developed constant yeast infections. Plus frequent low-grade headaches (sometimes escalating to migraine-like headaches), night sweats, itchiness, insomnia, and exhaustion. Now I find it extremely difficult to get physically aroused (before, a 30-second sex scene in a movie could get me off) and nearly impossible to orgasm. I have very little interest in sex, either, which sucks because I am finally in love with the most amazing man. I have told him time and again that its the NuvaRing, and he says he believe me, but I can tell he thinks it's him. So, we've decided to give condoms another try. I took out the NuvaRing. I guess I'd rather have nasty PMS and a painful period than lose intimacy and sexual pleasure. Just curious: Has anyone used the copper IUD (non-hormonal) or a diaphragm with any success? Thanks and good luck.
-- By birdie34 | Reply | (2) replies | Private Message me
January 7th
2009
10:36 PM
I have been very concerned about my memory loss. It is so humiliating. I am a teacher. Today at work I said to my co-worker, "OMG, I forgot to mark Makayla absent!" She gave me that look. "We don''t have a Makayla this year." I feel like such an idiot and am afraid someone is going to tell my principal that I'm losing it. I am also unable to spell. This was never a problem before. And my vocabulary? I don't have words to describe it. LOL. I'm 44 and thought for sure that I had early onset Alzheimers and also severe arthritis because my hips hurt. So glad it's drugs, not me.
Has anyone noticed any vitamins, foods, etc. that helps? I will be devastated if I have to ditch my nightly glass of wine! Anyone relate?
-- By fadness1 | Reply | Private Message me
December 28th
2008
10:52 PM
Initially, my doc told me to take 300mg every am, initially 150mg for a wk,then increase the dose to 300mg total, 150am/pm. Had the initial wt loss of 5-7lbs, also had headache the first week, insomnia, awake almost 18hrs a day, little rested sleep and constipation.
I continued with xanax, docs didn't want this, Rx'd Remeron, that didn't do anything the 1st night, 2nd night bad sleep with vivid dreams of being buried semi alive with other people and having dirt tossed onto us. we were too weak to climb out of the ditch. Too much news these days. 3rd night w Remeron awake all night, 4th night, nothing, continued Wellbutrin. Remeron was started about 2 wks into the Wellbutrin dose.
I was out of Wellbutrin because the pharmacy would not refill due to insurance and I had to get a new Rx because of the increase in the dose.60 pills you figure. MD rx'd a "purple" buproprion, took 1 of them, stopped that immediately because of the nasty nicotinic taste and my tongue felt burned also. Got another rx for the previous bupropion 150mg to be taken twice daily. I had been off the white (first)pill for about 7-14 days by then.
Restarted white 150mg, again the headache, ear ringing, decreased appetite and agitation stimulus, insomnia and beginning to get fatigued from lack of deep sleep. I have an underlying very serious resp condition that this medication began to make worse because of the above symptoms. All of the above symptoms gradually worsened by the days I continued to take this medication. I began to have nausea and could not even think about taking anymore of the buproprion, the thought of it made me ill. I was rx'd it for depression, I am not a smoker,never have been, don't use illicit drugs and am a Registered Nurse.
It began to incapacitate me as I had no interest in anything, I felt weak from the anorexia, insomnia and dehydration, urine was becoming dark yellow. couldn't stand to have anything in my stomach. I had to throw away food, also.
I began having bilateral jaw pain, felt exhausted and had trouble with fine motor skills, was restless/agitated and very constipated. I had to force myself to eat. I took this med for approximately 3 months, but it never did reach the "therapeutic" stage of 4 wks total until the last month because of the Rx interruptions. I stopped it cold because, the jaw soreness was from bruxism or teeth grinding/clenching and I began having large muscles pains and smaller muscle(eye) twitching, I had itching all over , stinging sensations like little fire crackers in my calves, and all previous sore spots became irritated and inflammed. Stopping this med suddenly is only for the brave and you need other meds to get through the withdrawal. It's supposed to have a 33hr half life. It took 1 month for this junk to get out of my system. I felt better the first few days as I was able to eat, drink and get a better sleep. I had to take xanax for sleep, motrin, tramadol, aspirin alternate with motrin, tylenol XS for the muscle pains. zantac, benedryl for the stomach acidity along with Tums. I requested an Rx for Compazine supp. didn't use initially although had bad nausea, it progressed to vomiting for over a week atleast once daily or for some reason at night. I took prednisone 40mg on a taper dose. My lungs became dry as did urine/bowel. I had to take Colace to ease the constipation. My body readjusted to it's old self and now I'm even more angry. I would have gotten through the depression on my own. The vomiting stopped last week, have regained appetite, although did crave sweets/salty/water/milk/protein and green vegetables, etc I took multi vits, and Kefir yogurt drink to restore gut.The reason I'm here is because I, too, just made the connection, I noticed the hair thinning, not just with texture, but along the hairline and scalp.I bought Women's Rogaine tonight. I experienced the symptoms that others wrote about also. I hope the Rogaine works. I will never take this medication again,the muscle rigidity in my thighs/legs and jaw clenching was so repetitive, I was exhausted, even when I willfully tried relaxation, I noticed very quickly the cycling of the muscle tone and it would get tighter and tighter. you can write to glaxo smith kline or go to wellbutrin.com and the FDA to make a complaint. They pulled this drug off the market once before. There is nothing well about Wellbutrin is what I say.
sunnytoo
February 13th
2008
7:27 PM
for the poor guys looking to this site for help...sorry! We're all to bald, bloated, ziti and angry to help you! If you love her, then u know this is not her. Stick it out and show her this site. She won't always be miss sunshine anyway, pill or no pill. Real life and real love are more bumps than smooth sailing. But when you look back together, and she realizes all the waves you rode with her and she with you...that's what makes it a relationship! One day she will want children, but will you be the man she wants to father her children??? Not if you ditch her when it counts!
-- By kellymichel | Reply | Private Message me
October 23th
2007
7:59 AM
I was on Ortho Tri Cyclen- Lo for a year and a half. It really helps with cramps I never had any when my period came. After starting on this pill I took it in the morning and that didn't work because if I didn't eat on a regular basis I would get sick so then I was eating all the time and gained weight. After I began taking it before bed this got better. My boobs got bigger (no complaints there). I used to have a really strong sex drive after starting this it was killed and now is non existant. I had really bad mood swings the week before my period, really bad anxiety and depression.
-- By rockncheese | Reply | (1) replies | Private Message me
July 31th
2007
2:56 PM
I'm so glad I googled side effects of Yasmin and found this site. All of the sudden my mood swings for the past almost YEAR make sense. I started out fine. The pill was great, and I haven't had to worry about acne at all. Of course I gained a few pounds, but not too much. However, I'm a pre medical student trying to study for the MCAT this summer. I've been SO tired and drained and majorly depressed that I just can't seem to concentrate. I feel like I'm always crying over the stupidest stuff (AKA: no reason at ALL), and my grades are starting to suffer. Hopefully now that I've read this, I can stop taking this pill and see an improvement. It's just not worth the depression. I'm 22 right now, and until recently had never had a suicidal thought. I was starting to panic, because I couldn't identify the cause of my depression. I'm a good student, have lots of friends, and have the most amazing boyfriend and family. Life is good, I shouldn't feel this bad. Now that I have a clue as to what this may be, I can fix it.
-- By garnetpirate | Reply | (41) replies | Private Message me
September 20th
2006
11:19 AM
oh I forgot to mention the extreme thirst! I also feel 'full' even though I haven't eaten and when I do eat it's even worse! It is very uncomfortable and makes me feel even more anxious. (It's lunch time and I'm terrified to eat.) I also have this feeling in the middle of my chest like there's air stuck in there so I try to burp for relief (That feeling makes me anxious too...) Good God this sucks! I broke down and got a packet of pills last night because I figured my symptoms were somehow related to being off of the Yasmin. (I was right!) I think I will ditch them and try to push through this - even though that's 50 bucks down the drain! I was off of bc pills for about four months or so but I have bad PMS and hoped that being on the pill would help. (They touted Yasmin as an answer to PMS!) The worst part is that I have Bipolar disorder, so I have to be very careful about what medications I take. I'm about to break down and call my doctor for some Klonopin because I feel like I'm going crazy and I need some relief!! (I'm at work right now, I have no clue how I'm even functioning..) I need to get some Slim fast shakes or something so I don't starve myself...
Sorry for two long posts, but I am so relieved to find this site. I wish there was something we could do: there are so many of us suffering and for what????
-- By chris35 | Reply | Private Message me
August 21th
2006
5:56 PM
This site has made me feel somewhat sane! I thought I was falling into some kind of old age (well, ok, I'm not that old...61) abyss and that my symptoms were some kind of flight of fancy. I think I have enough info now to say that I will ditch the Lisinopril and rid myself of headaches, muscle pain, nausea, etc.! Thanks, friends.
-- By leehager | Reply | Private Message me
August 10th
2006
3:52 PM
I'm so depressed on Desogen. Moody, angry, feelings of doom, and no energy. I also have weird freckling/darkening of my face, which I'm told is called "melasma". Fabulous, I not only feel bad; I look bad too. Can't wait to ditch this evil pill.
-- By sarahmotesashley | Reply | Private Message me
February 11th
2006
2:00 AM
I have been on Yasmin for a few weeks now and have gotten so depressed and have also noticed weight gain and water retention. I notice these same side effects whenever I begin taking a birth control, but my doctor says I need to take them because I have something similar to endometriosis that causes uterine pain without them. I also have excruciating periods. I have taken Allese and Ortho Tri-Cycline, and another pill recently that I can't remember. Has anyone found a pill that does not make them gain weight and despair? I almost think dealing with the pain was better than this. Now every waking second is affected, not to mention broken sleep. I think I'm just going to ditch them. Any advice would be great.
-- By med-private | Reply | Private Message me
February 1th
2005
7:25 AM
I had only taken this monster for three days when my head felt like it was going to burst, pressure in my head was so bad I couldnt think. I am a cardiac nurse with high blood pressure and an irregular heart rate. I took my blood pressure which is ususally 120/80 and what do you know it was 230/122 it was the paxil making me have high blood pressure. I have atrial fibrillation so a rapid heartbeat or higher blood pressure is definitely a bad bad thing..I called doc and told him how my pressure went up so high and he said go on and increase to the 25 mg from the 12.5mg i ws currently on. I told him I was not taking any more Paxil cause it was not goingg to help with depression, it was going to give me a stroke. He said Paxil doesnt have any affect on heart or blood pressure, I told him he better study up on his drugs because they do cause highblood pressure and irregular heart rate in some patients. He told me he could not be my doctor anylonger as i was not compliant with the treatment...lol who is he kidding I dont want a doctor so ignorant.....nita
-- By medicineroots | Reply | (2) replies | Private Message me
November 30th
2004
11:15 PM
I have been reading your site with interest and am rather astonished at the level of hostility to this drug. I have no affiliation what so ever with the company that makes Lipitor. I wouldn't ordinary write anything to such a site but thought just in the interest of equality I would state that I have no side effect what so ever from taking Lipitor other than having by cholesterol lowered to normal levels. I have been taking the 10mg tablets for over 3 years. Most of the people of this forum are on 20 or 40 mg and some have been increased after only a very short time on the drug - get a new doctor before you quickly ditch the drug. I strongly believe that into the future, people like me will be living proof of what early preventive intervention will mean to the quality of our lives 20 years from now.
Michael 43
Sydney Australia
November 19th
2004
9:12 PM
I am so happy to see a website full of this info because the little book that this evil pill comes with doesn't realistically warn you about the potential side effects.
I've been on Yasmin one week. I am naseous. It reminds me of morning sickness during pregnancy.
The depression, mood swings, irritableness and just plain mental problems just started this week. My dh is begging me to stop the pill. I am socially withdrawn. TOTALLY NOT MYSELF ANYMORE..
on top of this, I feel panicky, nervous and irritable.
I had started a new diet and weight loss program the week before I started Yasmin and I've lost 10 lbs. I don't know if the pill is helping me achieve my goals faster.
I have a rapid heartbeat as I type this. I am ready to ditch this pill. The bitch control that this is supplying me with is resentment for my husband and vice versa. Good birth control --- put women in bad mood with no libido --- no sex -no pregnancy. Good formula!!!!!!!!
-- By livelovelaughlearn4ever2004 | Reply | Private Message me
Yasmin (5) NuvaRing (2) Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo (1) Lamictal (1) Lipitor (1) Lisinopril (1) Zoloft (1) Paxil (1) Wellbutrin (1) Desogen (1) Zocor (1) Toprol-XL (1)
August 9th
2009
4:14 PM
18 year old female, first day on Zoloft...in contrast to everyone else, I had TOO much sleep on Zoloft...first night, did have a nightmare, but slept like a baby and kept wanting to sleep...anxiety seemed low after I first took it, but in the morning anxiety levels were the same (high). Don't wish to take it anymore because it seems to put me in such a deep sleep I can't get up...
-- By brilliance | Reply | (1) replies | Private Message me