Four years later symptoms and conditions

I have been taking Neurontin for 1 week (300 mg 1x per day and then prescribed to increase to 300 mg 2x per day after 1st week). It has been incredible taking the pain away (hemi-vertibrae bone defect in neck with severe arthritis)!!! Like Oh my goodness wonderful!!! however - by the end of the day - i am 20 lbs bloated and feel like the weight gain is right around the corner... I am very aware of body ( I am a dancer) and need to know if this is going to balance out... i know the answer of it depends oneach person - but some insight would help me not panic right now

For eight years I was on Ortho Tri low - no problems until my doctor suggested I change because of the length of time I was on them. I have been taking Yasmin for 4 years now and have had the following side effects which I did not contribute to the Yasmin until I am now looking back after reading these posts:

When I first starting taking Yasmin I had a SEVERE personality change. I used to be a go-getter, confident, aggressive, hard worker, perfectionist, never procrastinated, and an over-achiever. I didn't understand why, but I just stopped caring about how far I got in my career, whether my house was clean, etc. I thought I was just depressed or something? Although I didn't really feel depressed, but more of just a lack of motivation. I started to get diarihea and then an anxiety over being depressed or "not normal" I finally went to the doctor after losing a bunch of weight and he prescriped be with an antidepressent. I never took the antidepressants because I really wanted to try to deal with the issues myself before going to that extreme.

Four years later I'm the same way. I've never been the same since, although the diariahea has subsided. I thought I had just changed when I met my now husband, until I found this site and have read some of these posts and realized it was also the exact time I started taking Yasmin.

Over the last three years I have developed anxiety and a needy, clingy personality, a total anxiety and irrational fear of losing my husband. It started to get so bad that when my husband was away I would get sick to my stomach and at times vomit and become fatigued or have irrational thoughts and panic attacks that I had no control over. It has disrupted my relationship enough that I started to see a therapist and the stress of it all has had horrible side effects on my body.

I am wondering now if this was all because of Yasmin? I am 28 years old and never have had a history of depression, anxiety, etc before this.

I also now have dark spots on my face around my eyes and on my cheeks and forhead, which I new were a side effect of the birth control. I asked my doctor if switching to some other brand would help and he said that any birth control can have that effect if you are in the sun. I just decided if I wanted to be on birth control that I had to start wearing sunscreen while in the sun.

In the last two years I have been to doctors and ENT's for a ear infections and sore throats, which they contribute to allergies. That was something I never had before either. I've never had allergies in my life, but doctors would insist that I had developed them. I never would have linked this to my pills, but I am now!

I found this site only because I was thinking of soon having children and wanted to find out what effects of discontinuing the use would have on my body. I wish I had found it 3-4 years ago!!!

I am going to stop taking Yasmin and maybe birth control all together. I'm afraid switching to another pill would just cause a whole new slew of problems, because lets face it, there is nothing natural about them.

I only hope that I can recover and I thank god for such a wonderful husband because I know at times I was unbearable to deal with: fighting, crying, feeling depressed and insecure. All things that are NOT part of my personality 4 years ago. Hearing that it could all be from my pill is both encouraging (that there is hope for me to stop this behavior now) and heartbreaking that I have basically lost the last 4 years of my life.

Thank you to all who posted to this site!