Diuretic effects symptoms and conditions

I'm 29, have been on birth control pills for 10 years, and switched to Yasmin about 2 years ago. I a small varicose vein in my right within 2 months of switching, but didn't think a relationship between my vasculature and the pill existed. I can now trace the entire vein from my right hip to my ankle. In the 2 years since starting Yasmin, my ankles and lower legs swelled heavily...but at very random times. It often began at the start of the 7-day sugar pill regime and finished by the time I started a new pack. I assumed that the estrogen withdrawal going into the sugar pills was too much for my body to handle and that the diuretic effects of Yasmin were obviously absent during that time. I also noticed leg cramping, heart palpitations, and I started waking up in the occasional hot sweat in a drenched bed.

So, after making sure that my heart and kidneys were healthy, my gynecologist prescribed continuous hormone Yasmin and claimed it as the "ultimate solution". For 4 months, I have skipped the sugar pills for each pack and started new packages immediately. I have not had a period since, and the edema has continued (still at random) and has become exponentially worse. In the last few weeks alone, the vein in my right leg has become massive, my legs are so distended by the end of the days on which they swellI that I can't fit into pants which are otherwise loose, I am noticing other large veins "surfacing", little veins are breaking everywhere, and I can now see most of the blood vessels beneath the skin in both legs. My primary care physician told me I have chronic venous insufficiency...a diagnosis I'm not okay with. I'm very worried...the changes and ensuing damage have happened way too quickly to be venous insufficiency. I am going to ween myself off of the pill, but don't know what the next step should be. Endocrinologist? Another OB/GYN? Anyone have ideas or similar experiences to share....

hi kim123,
i think it is a combination of things that are making you feel anxious. the heart palpitations and racing are quite common,i used to get them quite often,in fact i still do around my period. it was always worse at night for me and would prevent me from sleeping. your hormones levels may be fine but chances are that you are very sensitive to the effects of the synthetic hormones which are stronger than your own. also due to the diuretic effects of yasmin you may be lacking in vital vitamins and minerals and electrolytes, the extreme stress that you are suffering at the moment is probably making your anxiety levels worse,make sure you drink loads of water and eat simple but healthy foods,stay away from tea and coffee and also things with lots of fat and sugar.especially high carb refined food as the sugar can make you feel more shaky and anxious. please please try to think positive thoughts,i know it sounds silly with the way you are feeling right now but with practice your brain will accept the positive not the negative. when your heart races instead of panicking just tell yourself that it is fine and it will pass,you are not going to have a heart attack. keep busy . if you are unable to sleep during the night don't lay there fretting and getting more anxious,get up and do something,anything but try to do something that you enjoy. you could try home hypnosis tapes to help you calm down a little. i'm so sorry that there is nothing i can tell you to do that will make you feel better instantly,but all the little tips will help i promise,unfortunately the only thing that will make all this go away is time.as you were not on it for long i hope you will start to feel better very soon. this may sound like an odd question but have you had a "normal period" ie not a withdrawl bleed when you stopped taking yasmin? it may be that you are feeling worse because of impending menstruation or ovulation? a lot of use feel bad for a while at this time of the month? just a thought?

sarah

Thank you ladies for your helpful comments about Yasmin! I have been on this for about 3 to 4 years and recently decided that I didn't need birth control as "NOT IN YOUR WILDEST DREAMS" was very effective. I have now been off for 4 weeks and cannot believe the changes so far - I really didn't realise before what "Yasmin symptons" I had:

Tender breasts - they now feel great
Better circulation - I do not feel the cold as badly now
Night sweats - dissappeared
Insomnia - dissapeared. I now have a really good nights sleep. Happy days.
Bad wind - dissappeared
Diuretic effects - I could not believe how urgent I needed to go within 1 to 2 hours of taking a pill. Again this has now gone which makes long journies in the morning less stressful!
Blurred vision - much better
Panic attacks/chest pains/mood swings - hopefully these are starting to calm down. I certainly feel a lot more relaxed about life in general rather than having the "I cannot cope feelings"

I cannot believe how Yasmin has controlled my life for so long.

Thanks again ladies for your comments as they convinced me that I wasn't going mad - just being chemically controlled!

Good luck to you all

Jud

PS My doctor didn't sound at all convinced when I told her I was coming off it!

Don't read all of these posts. I personally have not had much of a problem, let me explain...

I think most of these people exaggerate, and their problems are caused by dehydration. When taking this medication you have to drink excess water, not just the daily amount you should already be drinking. The people with serious problems probably drink lots of coffee or soda with caffeine instead of water. This product basically has ephedrine in it, so it increases your heart rate, and caffeine will compound that problem and the dehydration as caffeine has diuretic effects. A lot of these people probably also took a diet pill and didnt tell their doctor, and that will increase the problems substantially, especially if people are also on a low calorie intake diet. It also constricts blood ways, so if you smoke or you have heavily clogged blood ways already you will most likely have a problem.

You can expect to lose weight though, how about that as a positive side effect.

I would bet that 90% of the problem people on here did not follow the directions with the medication.

I run a lot so that makes me tired after I have already taken the medication twice, so I have not noticed much sleep loss, but you should take this with breakfast and lunch not with dinner.

When I took this with the antibiotic I would occasionally experience abnormal heart beats, but when I stopped taking the antibiotic that stopped, probably because I wasn't supposed to be exposed to a lot of sun, and I live in SO CAL. Read the warnings on all of your medication and tell your doctor about all of the over the counter stuff you take including diet pills.

I've taken Yasmin for nearly two years now and I was always suspicious of it, but really only in physical ways, like putting on weight, having ENORMOUS breasts that really don't suit me and make me so selfconscious and unhappy, cramps that I never had before before and during my periods, leg cramps that I would wake up screaming with in the night etc. I'm actually so angry now just because in Europe they don't advertise its weight loss/diuretic effects, which means for the past two years it didn't ever occur to me that I had to pee every five minutes because of this stupid, hateful pill! But now after reading about all these women, all of them thinking THEY were the crazy ones, or they were to blame or they were neurotic or going mad and not being told by a doctor (my doctor had me in and out of his office in under 5 minutes when he prescribed this for me) that there could be emotional repercussions - it makes me more and more furious at the things women go through for men. I know it's a cliche but how many men would take a pill every day that not only made them infertile for the duration, but made them feel like some of the women I've read about here? The word "depression" in a list of side effects doesn't do justice to feeling like you should be alone because you're too nuts for your closest friends/partner to be near you, or that no one should have to tolerate you, or to cry all the time and not know why you're getting so angry because of something stupid or nothing at all, or afraid of something really minor, or so ugly you don't want to go out?
Ok - I know this is a bit of a rant but this is my first time hearing that other people feel like this too. I know some people probably get on great with it, some people are no better or worse than they were before, but it's the way in which it's prescribed, without any serious warning or education about risks like these, and this idea that you won't be taken seriously by a doctor if you tell them-
I'm very glad there's a forum like this where people can tell their stories in a balanced and open way.
Thanks!

Hello,

I have been using Yasmin for a little over a month, and I am still trying to decide how I feel about it. I was switched over to this pill from Cyclessa because my doctor thought the diuretic effects might help my moderately elevated blood pressure. In fact, my blood pressure dropped dramatically--almost to the level it had been at prior to ever starting birth control pills. I was pleased by this, but then I had my first period since starting Yasmin.

The first thing I noticed was in increase in cramping and nausea during my period--because I have been on birth control pills for 2.5 years, I'd forgotten what that was like. My cramping was worse on Yasmin, than when I was on Cyclessa or Apri. I have also experienced mood swings on Yasmin, particularly in the first 2 weeks of starting the pill. This seems to have gotten better, but now I am having mild nausea that may or may not be caused by Yasmin.

I guess I am going to give Yasmin another month or two, and then decide whether or not to stick with it. In general, my experience with birth control pills has been more positive than negative. I am concerned about the side effects regarding increased Potassium levels. Does anyone know more about this? I was not told about this potential side effect at the time the pill was perscribed, and am somewhat concerned. I have had the recommended blood test, and am still waiting to find out the results.

Oh... no I don't think Atenolol has any diuretic effects. You'd have to add another drug for that, but there are plenty of simple old-fashioned ones that work just fine and just for that. I meant to say I'm on 25mg of Atenolol -- not 24. Wow, your symptoms sound awful. My doctor wanted to increase me to 10mg/day! No way!!! Does anyone know of an ACE inhibitor for MR (Mitral regurgitation) that doesn't have the Lisinopril side effects?