Emotional state symptoms and conditions

I have been on Yasmin for a little over a year now. At first I really liked it. I had a horrible time with tricyclen and the effects on my depression and emotional instability ended up ruining a really great relationship. Shortly after that relationship ended, I stopped taking tricyclen and started seeing a counselor. Everything was great and I felt like myself again. I had lots of self-confidence and self-love. When I went back on the pill because I started taking Yasmin. My face cleared up wonderfully and my boobs (which are already an A cup) got even bigger. Both of those things were great benefits to Yasmin. Now, a year later, I'm finding that I'm starting to feel the same way I did when I was on tricyclen. Bouts of depression, anger, suicidal ideations, anxiety, and feeling unmotivated and apathetic. My current boyfriend and I are long-distance now, which might be having even more adverse effects on my emotional state. I am considering going off of it. I've felt this way and it's simply not worth feeling miserable and self-loathing all the time. Other side effects I've felt while on Yasmin are: dry skin, especially around my vagina. I always require lubrication now before sex, which was never a problem before. Also, supposedly being on hormone pills can change the actual morphology of the cells on your cervix. This change makes me bleed after having sex. Not much, but enough that I notice. My physician said this was not a concern though. Altogether, I just don't think my body and my emotions can really handle being on birth control, and I feel as though a lot of people out there are experiencing the same problems!! If you're like me, please let me know of a pill that is working for you!

i posted previously about my (possibly) bad experience with nuvaring. i don't want to discourage others from trying it. it seemed great the first year or so. its hard to remember now. i really like that i don't get so nauseous on nuvaring. i could barely take BC pills. i like that it is low hormones and i only have to deal with it every three weeks. it's so convenient. i do think it might have been affecting my emotional state but i can't be completely sure. it's also great for my skin. i don't break out like i did when not on BC. however, i'm beginning to believe it is the cause of my low sex drive (another thing that might have caused my breakup) i thought it was just that we'd been together for 7 years but maybe not. anyway, i also get the extra discharge and i do remember the burning after sex and that sex could be painful but i had a bartholin cyst that i was dealing with and i thought that was the cause but the pain/burning kept happening after the cyst was taken care of. Now after reading the other posts, i'm wondering if that is the cause.

anyway. i emailed the doctor about going off of it temporarily. i was wondering if it was unhealthy to take a break from BC. i heard in the past that it was but she said it was fine. so i think i'm going to finally go off of nuvaring. i wish i had tried that before but i really didn't make the connection till recently.

My wife and I recently took my daughter to an asthma specialist and she was prescribed Flovent and Singulair as everyday suppressive treatment. Our daughter is only 4 and the first evening of taking SIngulair she was exhibiting exaggerated emotional behaviors such as sadness and excessive crying (sad/moping). The following day the same emotional state was there without anger, but with abnormal crying (for my daughter). She went to preschool and her teacher said she was saying things such as, "I don't care", "I don't need anyone", "I hate this", etc. These are not normal behaviors for our typically happy child. Her doctor said suicidal thoughts and depression were possible side effects in adults, but I am beginning to think they apply to children as well. After only 4 days of Singulair we have decided to stop the treatment. I hope these comments help some of you other parents experiencing the same thing. -Rob

I have been reading the posts at this site for two weeks, ever since the day I went to my GP for a check on blood pressure and general well being. As I was getting ready to leave the examining room, he asked how I had been since my last visit, and I responded that I'd been OK, except of course that I wasn't sleeping well. I didn't tell him that I'd had obsessive thoughts of death and dying, severe anxiety, morbid depression, horrible mood swings, and compulsive thoughts and actions. Yes, I've been taking Singulair since it was approved for seasonal rhinitis. It seemed to work well with Allegra, although when my allergies were extra severe, I also had to resort to Benadryl or one of the other "drowsy" antihistamines. When I mentioned sleep, he said "You have heard about Singulair, haven't you?" Guess how shocked I was when he told me about the latest information on the medicine I was taking every night for the last 5 years? Unfortunately, I had been under severe stress because of professional and families issues during the same general time frame, so it would never, ever have occurred to me that a prescribed medication could make me so miserable. My psychiatrist had recommending doubling my dose of Cymbalta, but after some trials of that, I became convinced that when I did so, I felt worse. About 6 months ago, my emotional state went from bad to worse. I began to feel a sense of panic when called upon to make the most innocuous decisions, and was always aggravated and nasty to the people I loved most. With my doctor's mention of Singulair, I stopped taking it. I slept better from the second day of not taking it. In the last 2 weeks, my emotional roller coaster has smoothed out, not perfectly, but enough so that I'm much more like my old self. The stresses are similar, but my reactions are different. Zyrtec (1/2 tablet) works much better for itchy eyes and nose than Singulair did in the first place. My husband and son both have continued to take Singulair with no apparent problems. I think that if one has developed unusual or unexpected emotional symptoms it is definitely worth a trial off Singulair. I wish I had been aware of even the smallest possibility of a reaction such as mine when I started taking it.

My son 10, has been on Singulair since he was 4 yrs old for Asthma and allergies. His last dose was 3/26/08. He has always been my emotional child, he is 2yrs older than this younger brother. Some of his side effects included headaches, stomaches, leg cramps, emotional breakdowns, major mood swings, crying outbursts over small situations, night sweats, lack of motivation, weight gain, ADHD, wishing he were dead and the list goes on. His younger brother has always been involved in sports but he was always too afraid he would get hurt. This medication has robbed my 10 yr old son from 6 yrs of his childhood. Since he has been off Singulair he feels motivated and looks forward to joining the football team his younger brother plays for. I look forward to meeting this new young man who for so long has been hiding behind this so called allergy medicine. I am so thankful to know that my son can look forward to a bright future without these side effects. God Bless you all who are going through this as well.

My son is 10 years old and has severe allergies and asthma. He was hospitalized when he was 5 for asthma and at that time put on Flovent 110 mg twice in the morning and twice at night for awhile this seemed to work around the age of 7 he was put on Singular 5 mg to help with asthma and also his allergies. After a short period of time he began to complain of stomach pain he would get nauseated and sick with a 10 minute car ride, we took him in to the pediatrician and was told that there was no obvious cause and to basically deal with it. Around this same time he also began to have trouble in school he was not able to pay attention and was falling far behind we tried tutoring, extended day classes anything to keep him up with his other classmates. Needless to say all our efforts did not work and he got worse he was now moody and withdrawn. We thought it was his frustration with school that made him short tempered and emotional. At every parent-teacher conference it was the same report; being told how bright our child could be but his lack of focus and emotional state prevented this. My husband and I decided that we needed to be proactive and made an appointment with the pediatrician again we discussed all the issues and told the pediatrician that his mood has changed and he could not focus that homework was a battle each night usually resulting in a major meltdown. The pediatrician diagnosed my son with ADHD with ODD. Never would I have thought that my child with have behavioral or anger problems and I had a hard time coping with the idea at first but tried to make it okay for my son I did not want to make him feel like he did something wrong or that he was broken. The pediatrician prescribed Adderrall 5 mg at first and after three months we revisited and the dose was adjusted to 10 mg. School made a dramatic turn around and we were hopeful, however his mood was still all over the place he would get angry over small things, have a meltdown, and at some points would just wake up in a fowl mood and when asked what was wrong he could not explain it he just was not happy with anything. In the background of all of this was his asthma he was hospitalized again in when he was 8 after being discharged he was put on Zyrtec as well. So now his meds were Flovent 110 mg, Singular 5 mg, and now Zyrtec 10 mg. It was all overwhelming for all of us but we were trying to make it okay for him. He began to complain of restless nights, headaches and would get dizzy for no reason. Here we go again back to the doctor they attributed everything to the Adderrall. He passed out one day at daycare and we rushed him to the ER they did an EKG and found nothing and told us he was probably dehydrated. He constantly had a fowl smell coming from his mouth we asked his dentist they found nothing no cavities we asked the pediatrician no reason; no matter what we tried we could not get ride of it and he brushed, flossed and rinsed with mouthwash everyday three times a day. I was not making any connection on the side effects I guess you could say the left hand was not talking to the right. After we had wildfires that burned almost the entire city he had another asthma attack that lead us to the ER again after being treated we were assigned to a pediatric pulmonologist that added Nasonex to the regiment. Then in January we had him tested to learn what exactly his allergies were and was advised they wanted him to come in for allergy shots one in each arm once a week. In March 2008 we went in for his first set of allergy shots and right after had an appointment with his pulmonaligist he had a bad reaction to the shots and they changed his meds again. Now he is on Advair 250/50, Singular 5 mg, Zyrtec 10 mg, Nasonex, and Adderrall 10 mg. We decided to hold off on the allergy shots until he can better tolerate it. This entire time there has been little improvement on his attitude and he is withdrawn and seems disconnected now. When we try to talk to him he simply says he doesn't know what is wrong. It is all a roller coaster ride. Then on March 26, 2008 it all changed for me, I had put the kids in bed as normal and about an hours later heard someone up and in the bathroom I went to go check to make sure no one was sick and found my son in the bathroom and it appeared he was washing his hands and I asked if he was okay. He told me he was washing a cut, I looked at it and asked what happened he was hesitant and then pointed to his arms; he had bitten up and down both arms and on his hands to the point of bleeding I was shocked and did not really know what to say. We talked about it and he told me he could not control himself and even when he wanted to stop biting himself because it hurt could not resist the urge to to it over and over again. We talked calmly and after a long conversation he told me he needed to talk to someone about his problems. The next morning I called the pediatrician he said he could see him on March 30, 2008. On March 29th I heard about the side effects of Singular and was so shocked and angry how come no one told me what this could do to my baby; I wondered if he had never started this stupid drug if he would have been put on Adderrall. I would not let him take Singular that night or any night after. I will never let my son take this drug ever again. The following day I took him in for his appointment and after discussing everything the pediatrician agreed that it is best to leave him off Singular. I am taking my son to see a child physiologist as well. I am so upset that I did not make the connection myself.

Thank you to all those who have taken the time to post on this message board.

I am an 18 year old senior in high school and I have been taking Singulair since I was in 7th grade (figure 12 or 13 years old). I could never understand why as of 7th grade I changed so much and when the reports for Singulair came out in the news, I originally did not pay it any mind, but I decided to see if there was any truth to it. Then, I came across this message board and I was reading exactly what I have been going through for about 5 years. This is amazing. I thought that there was something wrong with *me*. I felt disconnected from my siblings and could not understand what was happening. I never even thought there was some connection between my emotional state and the medication I was on.

I used to be a straight-A student and as the years have progressed, I have been one who cannot even hold a spot on the honor roll. Also, all of a sudden, I lacked confidence in social situations and was afraid to raise my hand in class. I was a completely different person.

I used to want to kill myself for the littlest thing or even NO reason at all. There was a time I can remember where I held scissors to my wrists with the desire to cut them. There have been times where I'd just go into the fetal position, cry, and generally freak out. There were times where I would just cry for no reason. Almost everyday, I cry for NO REASON, which is why I finally decided to see if these claims about Singular were true.

Reading the messages on this board have pushed me to stop taking Singulair. Thank you! :D I plan on posting an UPDATE in about a week and seeing if my emotional being changes.

I THINK YOU ALL SOUND SCREWED UP

I AM VERY COFUSED AS TO WHAT TO DO ABOUT TAKING MY SEROQUEL...I GAINED ALOT OF WEIGHT IN 5 MONTHS...WENT FROM 136 LBS TO 216 LBS. NOW!! MY DOCTOR WON'T CHANGE IT BECAUSE OF THE GREAT EMOTIONAL STATE NOW!
IT WORKS GREAT FOR MY EMOTIONAL STATE OF MIND!!!
I QUIT TAKING IT FOR A SHORT PERIOD AND ABOUT LOST IT!!
WENT BACK ON NOW GAINING MORE WEIGHT!! CANT DECIDE WHICH IS WORSE?LOL...IS THERE ANOTHER SUBSTITUTE LIKE IT WITH NO WEIGHT GAIN????SOMEONE WRITE BACK PLEASE???

This morning I awoke with my heart racing and a very anxious emotional state of mind. I felt irrational,frantic, like crying, hand-wringing & completely out of control emotionally! It was very scarey - I've never experienced this before. This is my 7th day on the antibiotic, and I'm seeing no improvement in the sinusitis that I'm taking it for.

Hi, I was searching on the internet for potential emotional and hormonal side effects to Yasmin because I started taking it 2 weeks and 2 days ago, noticing immediate changes in my physiological and emotional state. The advice nurse of my OBGYN stated that my side effects seemed extreme in comparison to the stated side effects the company warns against. I am so glad to have found other women experiencing similar things.

From the beginning I have experienced nausea daily. I developed severe cystic acne within the first week. My appetite shrunk considerably. I began feeling some shortness of breath and have consistent sleep disturbance. I feel as if there is some type of electric current running through my legs. I guess we could call that anxiety. My body temperature has shifted drastically and out of nowhere I have hot flashes but am only 29 years old. My emotional state is in constant flux. I can be laughing one moment and crying the next.

At the start of the 2nd week I woke up in the middle of the night, looked at my fiance, and decided I wasn't in love with him. In fact, I wanted him to get away from me completely. It was at that point I realized that the only change in my routine had been the addition of Yasmin. I am highly irritable and headaches come on daily towards the end of the day.

I was advised to at least finish this first month cycle if not a full three months. I have just this week to get through before the placebo pills kick in. I will be switching back to Levlen which was good to me for 14 years. I only switched because I had been on the same pill for so long but I am convinced now that if your hormonal balance is right, one should not mess with that. I hope I will not have much transition time before feeling normal again. In addition, I hope that some of these drug companies start disclosing the potential emotional and physiological side effects to changing one's hormonal balance.

I'm absolutely miserable. I figured my TOTAL lack of sexual desire was due to starting Yasmin, but I had no idea the rest of my recent crappy existance was also because of it. I'm 35, married, and this is my first time really on the pill. I was on it once about 15 years ago for about 2 months, but that was it. I started to help with bad periods, awful bloating, clotting and cramps. My feeling down used to come as PMDD-- for about 2 weeks before my period. Now I'm just plain down all the time. It's not a swing like that, like I'm all of a sudden very emotional and sad, this is a general lack of anything. I've been on this for 7 weeks. I feel alone and unhappy. No joy. I wouldn't say I'm terribly sad, but I've been crying a lot, and I never do that. My head ached horribly during my period. My breasts kill. I've gained at least 10 lbs. Now I'm really mad about all this. I've kind of kept my emotional state to myself. Now the doctor wants me to stay on it until I finish the three months. I don't want to. She said then I'll probably have to deal with the bleeding problems. My other option is to finish out this pack and start on Allese. Right now I think I'd rather have the hell of my period and the PMDD. I hate to go back to all that, though. I'm nervous and sad and angry. I'm thankful for finding this board, though. I wish there had been something in the package insert that hinted at the severity of changes you can experience. I feel like I've messed myself up good. I don't knwo what to do.

I was put on Geodon about 2.5 to 3 years ago for about 7 months. I was only 15 at the time so I had little control to what medication I was being perscribed to. I wanted to get off of it about two or three months after I was on it but I had a terrible physiatrist who insisted he knew what I was experiencing better than I did which was perfect because if I refused to take any medication then I was sent to a pych ward for a week. My parents were understandably worried and didn't understand anything about these medications so they listened to that idiot.
Ok so, though at the time they weren't sure, I had severe depression. He thought it could be bi-polar and put me on Geodon, which I just read today that THIS year the FDA says is a medication to treat bi-polar. I can't remember how much I took but I think it was around 80mg to start. Within the first few days I noticed some annoying side effects such as drowziness and alittle shaking. Within a few weeks since nothing positive had happened, the physiatrist decided to increase the dosage. I noticed no change in my emotional state but the side effects were getting worse, I was becoming really fatigued most of the day, if I sat in one spot for about an hour my back would start to ache very badly, I noticed I was getting somewhat paranoid during the night as I become more tired. Still despite all this the physiatrist decided to increase it again things got worse ect. ect. he increased it AGAIN, I was on at least 180mg by then. At that point every night at about 10 I was knocked out, I literally couldn't stay awake even if I tried. Sitting in one spot for 30min made my back ache. I began to find it extremely difficult to use the bathroom (both ways). I also developed some minor hallucinations, the most memorable one being that, out of the corner of my eye, I saw my dog becoming flat and sliding under the door. This sounds like it might be funny and it may have been if it wasn't for the worst side effect, the paranoia. Every evening as I began getting sleepy the slightest noises would make me jump and if I was alone in a dark area I would constantly look behind me in fear. I would tell myself "this is just that pill cmon it's not real" but I would still feel a sensation of fear. My parents, though they reluctantly trusted the phyciatrist, at that point had had enough. There was still no change in my emotional state in terms of depression and since this was all overwhelming me the depression was just getting worse. Since it was getting worse the shrink wanted to admit me to a pych ward (for the third time) and my parents disagreed. They had a pretty big arguement, I very rarely see my mom unable to handle herself in an arguement but she was crying pretty bad. We never went back to that guy, though he did send my dad a letter saying that he thought that their desicion to not send me to the hospital was stupid and that he went to however many years of school and they don't know anything ect. ect. ect.
The next guy we went to got me off Geodon as soon as possible. To this day I have a small temor in my hands and find it difficult to use the bathroom often.

Hi everyone,
I posted on August 14th in a desperate emotional state after being on yasmin for just 2 weeks. I had lost alot of weight ( well, water weight ) , had awful IBS, depression, anxiety, insomnia, and constant painful bleeding that required painkillers so I could function.
Anyway, I took my last pill the day after that and I am pleased to say that I am almost back to normal! It took about 3 days for the symptoms to subside and now a week later I am feeling much better. Still feel a bit off my food but sex drive is back up , phew!
I started this pill to sort out the PMS blues but one thing I have learned is that I was actually not as bad as I thought. After feeling the lowest in the world I now appreciate how lucky I am to be healthy and not have anxiety problems and illness all the time. Why should I make myself ill just too avoid PMS? Crazy!
So the bleeding has stopped, I am taking iron, agnus cactus and a herbal water pill and I am hoping my cycle will be normal and regular like it was before.
So my advice to you all, just stop taking it now, its not too late, we can detox from this, you are not going mad! Maybe we should just learn to live with PMS, I find keeping a diary of my feelings and giving out a PMS warning to my boyfriend helps!
I have had a IUD (no hormone) for 2 1/2 years now, no unwanted pregnancies ,no bother, I highly recommend it!
Good Luck Girls x

To my fan fare;

Guest, #12328

"U have to be an idiot to write things like that to people like us who r really suffering because of pred. Obviously u have found the wrong website. Now go find yourself a SHRINK."

Thank you, blatent insults obviously show superior
intelligence and mental stability.
Far be it that anyone post a question or point of view based on their own experiences or independent thought that just might not "follow the crowd" so to speak.

ericgoberman,
"So Jules, 5 mg a day for a few weks and you're the expert ?"

Just so you know, I have taken as much as 60 mgs a day off and on throughout my life.
My daughter was on life support for almost a month due to asthma/pneumonia and was given 500mgs of prednisone a day.
I have sincere gratitude to prednisone for helping her survive.

And most importantly, psychosomatic DOES NOT MEAN IMAGINARY!!!
"Psychosomatic denotes a PHYSICAL DISORDER that is caused by or notably influenced by the emotional state of the patient. The word "psycho" comes from the Greek meaning breath, spirit, soul, mind. "Somatic" refers to the body, or "soma" in Greek, referring to the physical."
Soma in biology refers to the body of an organism.

To all those suffering from the horrific side-effects and those that were offended, I sincerely apologize. I should have re-worded my post.

Where I was coming from;
I could literally post hundreds of studies that show the reality of the power of mind and the power of suggestion alone on the side-effects, healing, and survival of hundreds of people.

During my 3rd year in Pre-med, many of us students started having chest pains, arrythmia's, perfuse sweating etc....guess what we were studying at the time????

While I applaud reassuring others that they are not alone in their side-effects and suffering, I personally feel that there might be certain individuals, like me, that are just starting their drug therapy that might be terrified or dissuaded in taking it because of some of the posts here. (I had a terrible time even swallowing my whopping 5 mgs.)
And yes, I even personally believe, and I repeat, PERSONALLY believe that reading about terrible side-effects of any drug can trigger the placebo effect, or side-effects that can be psychosomatic.

ALL DRUGS HAVE SIDE-EFFECTS!
For me; What it all boils down to is; the risks of any drug versus the benefits....ie...chemo has terrible side-effects, but what are the profound effects of the disease without it??????

I've tried other pills before and never had problems like I did with Yasmin. The first time I tried it I didn't experience side effects right away, but eventually I became extremely depressed, suffering waves of anxiety that made it impossible for me to do my job on some days and very nearly ruined some of my closest relationships. It took me a while to figure out that the feelings of despair and hopelessness were coming from the Yasmin. Even though these forums are full of women reporting these same symptoms, the manufacturer doesn't list them in the (already lengthy) side effects. Like other women have reported, I would wake up in the morning and just cry for no reason--it felt like my life was falling apart. When I quit Yasmin, I got better right away. Several months later I thought I would just try one of the remaining Yasmin pill packs I still had. It was such a bad idea! Within days I was struggling with very severe anxiety/depression and had to ride out the whole month. I'll never make that mistake again. This drug should be taken off the market if you ask me. The danger far outweighs the benefits.

I'm not sure why the side effects surfaced when they did or why some women experience this and others don't. Since I heard that the reason some birth control pills cause depression is because of vitamin depletion, I tried taking vitamin suppliments (especially B6) but the symptoms were so severe I'm not sure if it helped.

To desperate boyfriend(s) and others out there that might be struggling to understand the emotional side effects of Yasmin, I can only say that in my case the impact of the anxiety/depression/etc. on my relationship with my boyfriend was very significant. I became incredibly insecure, paranoid, oversensitive and emotionally needy and we had a hard time discussing my emotional state because I would only break down and cry whenever we talked. It was a complete nightmare. The only way we got through it was by recognizing that it was the drug, not reality, that was causing the problem. It was incredibly difficult to do, and I am very grateful that all that is behind me now.

Good luck to those of you who are still dealing with these symptoms and thanks to all the other posters here that have validated my experience...

I have been on it for 2.5 years. I thought my changes (mood, s drive, etc) were due to changes after having a child. Boy was I wrong. I am glad I stumbled upon this site..I am getting off Yasmine tomorrow. IT has almost ruined my marriage, my body and certainly my emotional state.
I give up!