Freak symptoms and conditions

I chose to have the Mirena inserted in August of 2009. I found this site because I have been bleeding for three weeks straight, and the doctors were unavailable to advise me (holiday weekend). I see now that my experience is a side-effect of the IUD. I have also seen a diminished sex drive, fatigue, loss of energy, and constant cramping.

I was very hopeful for the Mirena. Five years without having to worry about birth control, wow! My first complaint is the pain involved with insertion. I was told to eat a big breakfast or early lunch before the procedure, and to take a few advils prior to the appointment. I did - however, I was still not prepared for the process. First, they measure your uterus to make sure that it is the right size, with an instrument similar to the IUD. I was in tears the entire time. I wished someone had told me to bring a friend or my partner with me to hold my hand. It hurt so much! The nurse was as understanding as she could be, but said that once the package has been opened, I would be charged the full amount. I went ahead with the procedure, wondering how I would reschedule during a period and with a busy work week. I was in pain the rest of the day, and felt extremely uncomfortable for a few days after. The pain and bleeding still did not go away, and after a week I made an appointment to check on the IUD's position, if there was any preforation of the uterus; etc. The strings were there, and they just told me that the cramping and spotting is normal. To me, it felt like the doctors tell you the best case scenario, and as you approach more and more of the side-effects, they confirm those as a possibility.

Before the Mirena, I have used DepoProvera, the NuvaRing, and Ortho-Tri Ciclen. I didn't like the weight gain from the Depo, the NuvaRing is somewhat expensive through my insurance, and the traditional birth control bills, like Ortho, are a hassle if you happen to miss a day. I thought that the Mirena was the best solution to my situation.

Be aware. I have been through childbirth, and this was a painful experience for me! I wish I would have read the comments on this site before opting for the Mirena... at least I would have been a more informed & educated consumer.

I am an 18 year old male and i have been suffering from depression/anxiety since i was about 15 years old. I have been on prozac, celexa and now i am taking zoloft. i really liked the person i was on prozac but i had major side effects with anger. i would punch walls, freak out over little things and i was just constantly getting in fights at school. i then switched to celexa, and honestly i was not a fan. it didn't absolutely nothing for me. i sunk into a deep depression, got hooked on drugs, and couldn't get back on my feet. FINALLY my doctor realized that celexa was not working for me and decided to put me on zoloft. i have been taking it for about 2 months now. yeah i got off of the drugs but i am still very irritable. my sex drive has went down the drain. It is hard for me to even get an erection, let alone make it last. i want to switch med's but i am scared to try yet another drug. i thought for sure the third time would be the charm.

I had been on Yaz for about a year and a half. My doctor just switched me to Loestrin 24 Fe because I started to experience spotting between periods. This is my 3rd week on Loestrin and I have gained 5 lbs, have experienced bloating, and spotting. I am also breaking out. I am assuming this is because I was on Yaz for so long and my body is not used to the new pill. Hopefully the symptoms clear up after I get my period next week (though reading these posts I am just hoping I get one or I will freak about pregnancy).

Anybody experience anything similar? Did it clear up after a cycle?

I have mirena for about three years. My biggest complaint is my period sometimes i will have one for about two weeks and then it will skip a couple months. Lately it seems its getting to be longer. Im starting to feel nausea when im on. Other than that i have no complaints i loss about 51 pounds this year just eating right. My sex drive hasn't changed a bit its always been high. Im not sure if i will get another one after my five years is up.

I have an 8 yr old son that has allergies and asthma. The allergist recently prescribed Singulair which my son had taken when he was 5. We took him off of it back then due to anger outbursts. By the way, the Dr. said that was not a side effect, but nonetheless the issues subsided. When it was recently added back to his medication list, within 3 days he had anaphylactic type episodes 2 days in a row. The attack started with stomach pains, chest pains and then he couldn't breath AT ALL and turned blue! There was no time to call 911 so I gave him an Epi Pen. The attacks are still occurring yet milder and all his Dr.'s swear by Singulair and think I am crazy. I took him off Singulair immediately and we are still waiting for it to leave his system. I think that is why the recent episodes have been milder. He has been tested for all sorts of allergens which he did not come in to contact with prior to the anaphylactic events. We still have no answers and if I hear one more Dr. talk about how great Singulair is, I am going to freak out!! To heck with these drug companies and doctor's who get perks for prescribing medications without informing us of side effects.

I take lithium, 1350mg/day, for 5 years now, and about 2 years ago I started getting tremors but worse in my left hand, so it was actually painful and for a while the doctor thought it was carpal tunnel but it turned out not to be and he didnt know what caused it-now ever since then my left hand has gotten worse & typing with it is a little problematic, its like the nerves are messed up in that hand, it won't always hit the right numbers. Its starting to freak me out a little, but in the last year I've started having episodes where my entire left side goes tingly like its asleep, my vision blurs, I get shaky all over and have such rapid heart palpitations it feels like my entire body is in shock. This lasts for about half an hour usually, has landed me in the ER twice, & they claimed each time not to know what caused it and looked at me like I was making it up, and didn't give me anything for it. I also get the typical symptoms- mild hair loss, memory loss, speech impairment, weight gain (I was 120 now I'm 160- luckily it distributed so its not too obvious), & it does not stop depressive episodes, just shortens them, and I still get anger episodes fairly often, usually as a split second reaction to something very small. I'm definitely looking into getting off of this as it is worrying me, more about the episodes and my left arm/hand issues than anything else, especially that now I have trouble with coordination in my left hand,which sucks because my desk jobs always involve a LOT of typing.

Hey, I had Mirena implanted at the end of April, I was taking Marvelon BC pills back to back prior to getting on Mirena, after a few days of minor spotting my period stopped completely, I have not noticed any weight gain, my boobs are not any bigger, actually they seem smaller now than before, it has not been a full 4 months yet but I am noticing a lot of hair loss on my head in the last 2-3 weeks, but the rest of the hair on my body is growing like crazy, within less than 6 hours it's already popping out again on my legs and under my arms! And I've never had acne on my back or my chest in my life until now, I use to have the occasional break out on my face but now it's like there is always something going on with my skin, plus I'm shiny all the time thanks to how oily my skin has become. Sex drive just noticed that start too go about 3 weeks ago too, plus like some of the other women have mentioned there is a smell situation down there ever since I got this thing. I am also on Wellbutrin, however, I was on that long before Mirena, and I am feeling the depression that some others are talking about and despite being on Wellbutrin I don't feel it is getting better. I'm calling my doc tomorrow to see what my other options are, I don't want to have my period but it's not worth having these other side effects, at least when I was taking my pill back to back I didn't have to deal with these things! Thank you to all who are contributing to this forum, I thought I was a freak going through all these things alone.

I cannot believe I happened to find this page today!! Thank GOD!!

I was looking up reasons for being exhausted and irritable (which I feel I am ALL the time lately) and thought- maybe it has to do with my birth control pill. After reading these posts it sounds to me that it does!

I have been taking Aviane for 10 months now- prescribed Alesse after the birth of my daughter but was given Aviane by the pharmacy because it is a generic that is supposed to be the same as Alesse. I have been depressed, irritable, unable to sleep, overly exhausted, spotting for 3 weeks, and am beginning to gain some weight. I brushed the depression off because I thought it was my hormone levels returning to normal after the pregnancy. Unless I have postpartum depression (which I don't feel I do) then my hormones should have stabilized by now!

As for the weight gain- I'm not eating any differently than usual- maybe less do to the stress of being in school part time, being a mom and wife, and working, so this gain is not typical for me. Generally, when I'm stressed I lose a few pounds.

My irritability is out of control! Since I've been on Aviane I have been angry and mean. My reactions feel out of control. I can't count the times I've told my husband that I don't know why I'm acting the way I am and that I feel my "freak outs" are beyond my control. I have destroyed some of my husband's personal property as well as my own during fits of rage. When I pull myself outside of these situations I say to myself- who the hell is that person because It's not me. I used to be very laid back, easy going, and rarely angry in the past.

Every night I wake up at least 3 times on my own. My daughter sleeps through the night so I can't attribute my lack of sleep and night waking to her. I can't seem to get through the day without a nap. Sometimes I take two because I feel so tired.

All of these behaviors are so uncharacteristic to me. Before I had my daughter I was a competitive soccer player and enjoyed running, hiking, and biking. I traveled the country working as an archaeology field tech where I would work 10-12 hours outside all day, sometimes walking 4 miles or more a day in the hot summer sun. I enjoyed life and was light hearted and funny. I would never raise my voice to the people I care and never considered myself someone with a temper. Sadly, for the last 4 months I have been walking through life wondering what is the matter with me and wondering why I couldn't get myself together. I never even thought to research the side effects of my pill!!

Thank You EVERYONE for posting your thoughts or problems because it has helped me to see that maybe this pill isn't for me!! I am going to stop and will post again in a few months to let people know if my life has changed for the positive since quitting this monster of a pill.

I know this is long, but I could really use your help, so I would appreciate you taking the time to read through to the end. (thanks :-) )

First, I want to thank everyone posting. I needed to read this stuff because I'm absolutely terrified of what's happening to me. I'm on the second week of my very first pack of Loestrin- my very first birth control pill EVER. I didn't want to start, but my OBGYN encouraged me to, once I told her I had 8 day long episodes of clots, cramping, vomiting and just sheer misery once a month. She said this would help if I'm sure to take it as recommended.

So I took the first one the Sunday after my period started, at 8:45am and have taken it religiously since. I have not changed my diet or routine. I exercise and eat fairly well. And there are no particularly stressful factors in my life. I am also quitting smoking- just down to 2-3 a day instead of 10 or 15.

Now that I've been doing this for 2 weeks, I think I would rather suffer what I had before. At least it was predictable! I have been bleeding for 5 days now. And this is NOT my time to be on my period. I'm sad and tired. I have back pain and on-and-off cramps. I have nearly no sex-drive. My boyfriend and I had sex at least 4 times a week and I masturbated on the nights we didn't. And although he is INCREDIBLY supportive, I can tell he feels lost and helpless around me. I don't want him to touch me, hold me, or even breathe on me! Normally, we are very affectionate and I am active and fun. Now, I just want to be left alone. I feel fat, unwanted, dirty, depressed...the list goes on.

I feel as though there is something seriously wrong with my body, because I shouldn't look or the feel the way I do or bleed like I am. I called the doctor and she said that I should give it till the end of the month. But 1 month is a long time to live with a depressed quality of life. 1 month is a long time to cry yourself to sleep with alcohol and Motrin.

I feel angry that the best the medical society can do is give us something that is trial and error, fully aware that it may hurt us, though temporarily, and make the lives of the people around us miserable. I am concerned the even my doc is in the pocket of some pharmaceutical company to give me a drug that she said would help and has only hurt.

Or maybe I'm just paranoid...

Anyone have any encouraging reasons why I should continue this? My sister, who was on Ortho for a while and DIDN'T like it, suggests that I stick out a little longer and I trust her opinion, but would like more. I'm open to suggestions or comments. (Especially if you know a way to stop my period so I spend less days of the month on it than I am on...)
Thanks :-)

Hello... and I want to thank everyone for thier comments. I am 23 and have been on the nuvaring since my son was born two years ago. Since I have been on it I am tired, irritable, and had no sex drive. Every doctor I went to said that the s/s were from being a busy mom. Over time things have gotten worse I never think about sex EVER (my poor husband). I have been gaining weight in my stomach, butt, and thighs for no reason. For the past 2 months my vagina is completely dry and it was always the opposite. I barely have a period. I freak out on anyone for no given reason, even to hear someone speak. I sleep 24/7 and it is not enough. I am nauseated 24/7 to a point I feel like I am going to vomit. The only plus is I use to be a large A cup and in 2 months am a large C cup. And I am not pregnant.
Sooo...I asked my MD to check my hormones. To find out my Estrogen level is 40. With low estrogen this causes all of these s/s I have been having. Did the nuvaring cause this? Am I going to be able to have anymore children? I am taking this nuvaring out and I never want to see one again!

I started taking this garbage in May of 2009. I would go to the Dr and my BP would be 180/110. Let me say im still on Lisinopril BUT stopping tomorrow. Let me tell you my story.

35 year old male, diabetic and HBP. After years of not taking care of my self i went to the doc, i started taking Lisinopril. With in weeks i got a hacking cough and my BP was still crazy high. They up'ed my dose to 20MG and then hell started.

Constant blinding chest pain, strange electrical shocks in my back and head, went to ER and was admitted, they said i may have had a PAST hart attack Weeks of in and out of the hospital a 3 day stay in the cardiac ICU! Then i had a CT angiogram with dye and that reviled MY HART WAS FINE. I still had this horrible pain in the chest and legs and hands and my gut, electrical shocks and night mares and freak out for no reason at all. Problems with erections and slow hart beat. Unreal panic attack that i think i was about to die or GO insane. The past few days i have had intense pains in my upped back and gut. I went to have some blood work done to see how my new diet is doing. All the numbers were amazing, BUT my LIVER IS HURTING! Now i do not see a doctor for 5 day to review it all BUT i know this pill has mad my life hell for the past 2 months. MY LIVER WAS FINE BEFORE i took this pill.

I was able to make my diabetes VANISH with diet, i must try that with HBP. STAY AWAY FROM THIS PILL.

Hmm, after reading all of this ive decided that my decision after medicaid declined my ring for 3 more days to finally get off of it was right. Ive noticed that within the past 2 weeks ive had more energy, my headaches are not as bad, and ive not been having the crippling stomach pain i have after i eat some foods. Ive been on it for about a year and a half, i tried depo but i gained 40pds while on it, so i moved to the nuvaring, as i had it 3 years ago right after i had my daughter. While on it and it still hasn't went away, i have pain during sex, burning after sex, stomach cramps, lower stomach cramps, headaches, Ive had 2 bouts of chest pain that made me freak out because i about went to the hospital, I am overweight, i was only 215 when i had my daughter, and was healthy and played basket ball, and now im 265. The doctors complain at me, but i did remodel for 2 months and lost ONE pound. All while taking care of a two year old. I got two yeast infections within 6 months and id never had one ever before (im 22 this month)All these problems combined with my back pain from my accident, Ive decided, im going to use other methods like condoms and spermicide. i cant take the hormonal crap.

Hey Everyone...
I was really just reading... but it's all just to familiar. And now I'm questioning some things I thought were just stress or whatever.

Headaches, always tired no matter what... pain.... crazy crying episodes...

I know everyone has mentioned headaches... but is it in a certain spot or go into the ears ever? I had sever headaches for like two weeks and they would always be around the back of my head and in my ear. And reading all of this, I just realized that it started a couple days after getting the mirena put in... And although my ears have stopped hurting I still get headaches at least once a day.
Has anyone just felt achy too? Like I've got the always tired feeling and EVERYTHING hurts. But I am always achy on top of it... Like my body just went through a rigorous workout or I just got over the flu... only neither has happened.

And I know what you mean about sex drives! I haven't always had the best sex drive, but it was certainly a lot larger than it has been in the last month. (I got mirena put in just over a month ago) The sex drive thing just seems to get worse. Is it just not there for you guys or do you have the feeling but go dry anyway? That's what I keep doing. I want my husband so bad, but right in the middle of everything I'll go completely dry... And then of course he'll freak like it's his fault or like he really thinks I'm not interested.... And if we do manage to get further it hurts so bad I'm almost in tears... but I can't bare to tell him because the lights are out and I just want him to be able to finish and have faith in me again.
I thought mirena would be great because I have two kids already and would be scared to death about getting pregnant again throughout having sex instead of enjoying it. Now I'd do just about to be able to share that special time with my husband again.

When I was pregnant with my daughter I would cry over anything. From an argument with my husband to the sappiest of sappy movie scenes.... When I'm not pregnant I rarely cry. For the last week or so I've had tears welling up a couple times. It's driving me nuts. I don't think that I act much different other than that though... And no one has really noticed that I know of.

Are these like the symptoms you ladies are experiencing?

I was on Yasmin for 6 months and all i can say is get off this pill! I was on linessa before. my doctor then said that if i switched to Yasmin it would clear up my acne, (which isn't that bad to begin with, have very mild break outs around that time of month and then that is it) so i thought hey way not give it a try cause who wants acne in their late 20's. well since i switch i gained 30 pounds in under 2 months and went up 3 sizes in my pants! how can this happen when I eat healthy?!? and never put on this kind of weight with the other pill (which i was on since being in my late teens) Also in the last 2 months of being on Yasmin, my emotions have been so out of control, i freak out about everything I can't control my anger, then when i'm all by myself i just brust out into tears, i felt like i was on a roller coaster and wasn't able to get off. And the finally straw that made me switch was the never ending period! it started off normal then after 5 days i thought hey its going to stop but sure enough i still had clots and deep red blood, this continued for a month finally stopped for a couple of days and then started all over again! my doctor suggested to take 2 pills a day! i laughed and cried due to having no control over my emotion and then when to another doctor who finally listened to me and put me back on my old pill, now everything is back to normal well almost still trying to lose all that extra weight i put on!

I have been on Avelox for a severe bronchitis and sinus infection, i truly was pretty ill. Within 24 hrs of taking Avelox I was feeling so much better it was amazing!! I am asthmatic and have a host of allergies..but had none of the side effects many folk here have mentioned.

Avelox has to be taken with food to avoid nausea.

I am 26 years old 5'5'' and 186lbs. I started using it on Feb. 4, 2009- not many side effects that I noticed immediately. I thought it was great for the fact I didn't have to take a pill each day. I however did experience right off the bat discomfort during sex and I wear contacts and some days they were just so dry. Normal side effets that you can read in the pamphlet I thought. During March and April I left it in for a extra day or two and resumed usage as normal after my period. During March I started to get very bad stomach cramps/burning pains in my abdomen and excessive burping. I went to the Doctor (someone new that I am in transition to be my regular doc--knows nothing about me really) he said it was just indigestion that caused the stomach pains. He put me on Omezaprole. I took it a few times and of course had side effects from that(felt like my skin was crawling). However my stomach issues went away. About 2 weeks ago I started to notice muscle twitches mostly in my legs and cramps too which I normally don't get unless I have exercised a lot. Then within the last week I have felt very withdrawn, like on autopilot, anxious, twitchy, tired, like I am not myself, severe headaches, confusion and not really knowing what to say next during conversation. I have had panic attacks and can deal with them but nothing like the ones in the last two weeks.Today at work I thought I just might freak out and go on a rage. Its passed but I still feel very touchy Iike I might cry at any moment. Normally very outgoing and adventurous. But now I don't really feel like doing anything except being alone and by myself with a phone near in case my body starts acting more bizarre. So to sum it up I came upon this website and found enough women with the same issues and side effects and enough non-medically proven reason to take the NuvaRing out. So I told my husband that that's what I am doing. He said he hasn't really noticed my mood changes. However a friend I saw the other day said I just seemed very sad and down. A side note to consider I have a identical twin sister and she doesn't have the same side effects. She and I spoke and her biggest complaint is weight gain.

I had the mirena inserted yesterday, it was the most painful experience of my life and I can handle pain. I took mesoprostol to open my cervix because I am 19 and have not had any kids. I felt so sick on the mesoprostol that I did not get any sleep the might before the insertion of the mirena. That morning I could not eat anything, I was on my period web I went in for the insertion because I had tried it once before and my canal was crooked and my uterus was tilted and my cervix was too small even on the mesoprostol. So, this time it worked, but it was the most painful experience of my life. During the insertion my legs were shaking and I got cold sweats after the gyno inserted the mirena into my cervix I blacked put for about a minute and web I woke up I didn't know where I was at. I laid on the table for ten minutes trying to get my composure and not feel so weak. When I got up I threw up everywhere, ad after that was when the gyno told me all of this is normal side effects ( yeah she tells me after) the cramping was so bad and the pain was so horrible is the reason why I blacked out. I sat in the recovery room for 3 hours with a heating pad on me to help with the cramping and took ibuprofen but through it up. I couldn't keep anything down. So after 3 hours in the recovery room the cramping subsided and I had a friend come pick me up because I could not drive and I went home and slept for four hours. Today I had mild cramping and it comes and goes I am bloated. And I am always afraid it is going to come out. I hope my side effects are
Not as bad as all of yours. But all this site did was freak me out so I'm praying this doesn't happen to me because so far I have had every aide effect imaginable.

I have been taking half an Ambien (5mg) each night for roughly 3 months. The other day I woke up, and I just felt out of it. Like I was dreaming or something. I started to think I was getting sick, and I think I had a panic or anxiety attack. I'm not sure those words describe what I felt correctly though.

It was like I was in a nightmare. My fingertips and limbs started to get cold, and I couldn't feel anything. I started to sweat really bad. My chest felt really tight. I started to hallucinate a little, and this caused me to freak out even more. It was like I completely lost my mind for a few hours. I just remember thinking that something snapped in my head, and I was never going to be the same.

I called my husband and told him I went crazy, and I was afraid I would never be the same. I told him about the hallucinations, and he thought I might have a really high fever. I tried to take my temp, but I couldn't get my mind to slow down enough to do it. I would start, and then I would think I need to take a cold bath to lower my temp. I would then think of something else and get sidetracked.

My mind was freaking out so fast that I could not keep up. I was talking to myself to try to tell myself there was nothing wrong. I was trying to over-power my thoughts, but this made me think that I was in fact insane. So I would tell myself to shut up. It felt like I was battling myself or my own thoughts at least. My husband came home, and I went to sleep. I woke up feeling just fine a few hours later.

I have been so scared to tell even my Doctor. I am no longer taking the Ambien, and I feel fine. I am just embarrassed by the whole thing, and I don't want to tell anyone about it.

I've been on the fentanyl patch for almost 3 years. I started on the 25 patch, then went up to the 50. Now I've weaned myself back down to the 25 patch. I was put on it for chronic back pain caused from a car accident.
I'm determined to get off this drug, so any and all suggestions are welcome!
In the last few months I've been experiencing some odd side effects that seem to be becoming worse by the day. Firstly, it seems like I can feel the effects of the patch more so, like when I first started using it. I also started experiencing nocturnal problems, my legs in particular felt like they were burning up and the muscles were really tight. If I stretched them it only seemed to worsen the problem. The only solution, weirdly enough, seemed to be jumping into the tub for a half hour.
In the last couple of weeks I have been experiencing MY FULL BODY HEATING in the middle of the night, as though it's the middle of summer in the middle of a big heatwave. I move around on the sheets and try to find a cool spot. I manage to sleep for only minutes at a time. For awhile this was only happening the second day with the patch (I only wear it two days at a time). Now it's the first and second. It's disrupting my sleep and I'm exhausted. My doctor gave me some sleeping pills which worked rather well but now I've run out and I really don't want to start depending on another drug.
I NEVER should have started on this drug and though it does work and work very well for chronic pain, I still highly recommend finding any other option out there for dealing with your pain. The withdrawal effects are horrendous. The first time I went through withdrawal I could not believe how terrible the symptoms were. Vomiting, diarreah (never could spell that one right, lol), and the pain was amplified times 100. My Doctor seems to not understand how scary it is to even contemplate getting off this drug, the withdrawal is that scary!
I managed to get down a patch size by cutting a tiny sliver of the plastic backing on the patch (NOT THE PATCH ITSELF!!!! The backing that you remove!) and sticking it on the patch before transferring the patch to my skin, so in essence, I was blocking out part of the patch and just made the plastic a little bigger until I had finally blocked out half the patch at which time I went down to the 25 patch with zero side effects.
I'm on percocet for the fallout pain and take up to 8 per day, although some days I can take as little as 3. After I'm off the patch I'm determined to get off of this drug as well and learn to manage my pain in a different way.

I have never before posted on a forum like this, but if my information helps or forewarns one other woman .... I am grateful.

I am 51 years old, been in perimenopause since Lincoln was President, it seems. I was prescribe a generic version of Yasmin, and, because I had been experiencing general symptoms of perimenopause before, did not attribute to Yasmin by increasing feelings of being in hell.

I will say one positive thing about it: I have had only one mid-life zit since I started on it. However, the experiences I am going to list now dismisses that aspect completely.

I have been on it for 4 1/2 months. The awfulness of it crept up on me, but there is no denying that now. I have gained weight. I have always been slender; however, I've gone up a pant size and even those pants are feeling tight. I'm constipated, no matter how much fiber and mild laxatives I take. My stomach pooches out and feels tight. My breasts are tender. They have NEVER been tender or sore, no matter the time of the month. My hot flashes and night sweats have reached an unprecedented level, and I have been having those off/on for a decade. I don't have hot "flashes" anymore. I heat up and I am uncomfortable all day, save for maybe a couple of hours.

Now, here is the WORST side effect: I am so f-ing angry almost all the time and my energy goes into hiding that from others. And there are the companions of anger: depression, feeling SO alone, feeling like a freak and that there is something fundamentally wrong with me... something wrong w/ my very soul. I recognize that some of these symptoms reflect aspects of my personality, but I work on that very hard in a spiritually/practical way and achieve successes along the way. This is different. This is very, very bad.

I will NEVER take another one of those horrid pills. I am going to see a doctor who works w/ women's issues and prescribes bio-identical hormones. And if THAT doesn't work, I will find another answer; rather, another answer will come to me, because I hit rock bottom and my intention is SO strong that the Answer cannot NOT come to me (okay, that's a metaphysical pronouncement, but there you go) .

For those of you who want to talk to me on this forum, or email me personally, I welcome and appreciate your thoughts. We are ALL together in this! Much Light and Love along the Way, K.

I was on nuvaring for about 1.5 years until I quit late summer/early fall of 2008. I'm 25 and I quit because I always felt "dry" and had no sex drive. I felt like I was just pumped full of hormones and wanted to give my body a break and quit all birth control for a while. Around the time I quit, I began to bleed during sex. Not every time, just "hit and miss", not very much, but one time there was quite a bit. I ignored this for a while and then started looking things up on the net which lead me to freak and think I had cervical cancer. I rushed in for a pap test and even during the exam, I bled (pretty badly) this made my results inconclusive and I have to go back in 3 months after the cells on my cervix have re-grown and they can get a proper sample. I'm less worried after finding this forum, but wondering how many others out there have suffered from the mysterious bleeding during sex? Is anyone still suffering from this after discontinuing use?

Other side affects were weight gain, panic attacks, and major hair loss.

oh my Gosh!!! reading all these posts makes me want to cry. I don't even know where to start from. Before I had Mirena inserted, I thought I'd done all my research - and I asked a lot of questions too. I even knew people who had it. I saw the changes in them and didn't think much of it.
I had the Mirena put in 3months after my son was born. My son just turned 1 (2 days ago) so within a matter of 9 months, I've gained 20 pounds. The sad thing was I was trying to figure out what's causing the weight gain? The thing is that I am such a "eat right freak" that I knew it was definitely no extra calories or fat...and I work out everyday. I breastfed my son until he was 8months...I did every xtra thing I needed to do to make sure that I would not gain any weight.
Less than a month after my son was born, I went back to my pre pregnancy weight (5 pounds lower) and I couldn't wait to show off my body to my friends. I heard about the Mirena and talked to a few friends who had it at the time. I talked to 3 different OBGYNs to make sure I get different perspectives before deciding to have it inserted. I researched online (I obviously missed this website) and did try to get as much info about this plastic thg before I have it done. Its has been the WORST decision of my life.
I have experienced terrible mood swings, no libido whatsoever, depression, severe headache (where i had to find a dark spot and hide because any light just made my head want to explode), tiredness, became very forgetful, tingling feeling in my legs abd arms, and SEVERE BLEEDING for days unend. This came with cramping (which I never experienced until I had my Mirena inserted) and the bleeding was so heavy and clotty. Sometimes, I will have these bleeding episodes more than twice and month and one can last for a minimum of 4days. It has made it very hard for my husband and I to mate and frankly, I'm tired of wearing sanitry pads.
I have become so depressed about my weight (which is my biggest deal) and feel like I have been doing everything but just haven't lost the weight. i now know why. Even as I'm typing this, I'm on hold with my doctor's office to get this damn thing removed. My husband and I have always been good with condoms...at this time, it's a no brainer that we'll go back to my true and trusted source of protection.
I don't recommend this for anyone - whether you've had all your children or whether you're yet to start, don't use Mirena.
Thanks to everyone who posted their experiences here. Reading through your predicaments was like a light just went off in my head...
I can't wait to get this thing removed.

I think Yasmin is great. I understand, though, that not everyone is going to react the same way to a certain birth control pill. I have been on some that have made me pretty close to impossible to live with. I do, however, have a problem reading about all these so-called side effects of Yasmin that can be attributed to something else.

For one, Caffeine. Birth control slows the metabolism of caffeine in our bodies, making that one cup have a much stronger effect on our bodies. If you drink caffeine daily, look at the symptoms of too much caffeine, as that usually amount before Yasmin can now be an overdose for your body.

Symptoms of too much caffeine:
-Jitteriness
-Difficulty sleeping
-Headaches
-Anxiety
-Flushed face
-Nausea
-Accelerated heartbeat
-Increase Blood Pressure
Etc. (look up in google more if you want)

So if you experience any of those symptoms on Yasmin and drink caffeine of some kind, try cutting back first. It might not be the Yasmin. Any birth control will increase the effects of caffeine on your body. (Some possibly more than others)

Secondly, look at how much water you are drinking. Yasmin has a diuretic in it, causing our bodies to lose more water. Are you drinking enough to replenish what is lost?
Symptoms of dehydration include:
-dry mouth
-the eyes stop making tears
-sweating may stop
-muscle cramps
-nausea and vomiting
-lightheadedness (especially when standing).
-The body tries to maintain cardiac output (the amount of blood that is pumped by the heart to the body); and if the amount of fluid in the intravascular space is decreased, the body has to increase the heart rate, which causes blood vessels to constrict to maintain blood pressure.

Seriously, if you are thirsty, don't reach for the soda. Grab some water. It might be what you need.

So, again, I know, not every birth control will work the same for everyone, but at least look at what you are doing first to see if it's you or the birth control causing the problems. Don't blame Yasmin for giving you anxiety when it could easily just be the amount of coffee that you drink.

If you've cut back on caffeine (for more than one day now) and been drinking more water and you still have problems, switch, by all means. But make sure it's not something else first before blaming the birth control.

I took Yaz for a couple months and was fine during that; however, about a month ago my doctor switched me to Yasmin(I have been on BC for years however, the ortho brand). I've been in the most pain in the past month than I ever have and I'm usually pretty good with pain and just try to take advil or something... but the symptoms have only gotten worse. I finally decided to google my symptoms and I found a lot of people on Yasmin had very similar symptoms. I have the worst anxiety like there's a lump in my throat and sometimes I'm literally grasping for air and I always try to drink a lot of water or cough or eat or burp to make it go away but it doesn't until I wake up the next day (sometimes). Also, I have never ever experience migraines in my life, but the past month I have the worst headaches imaginable. It happens at least 4 times a week; at first I thought they were caffeine headaches because it would sometimes help, but the past 3 days my headache has pretty much been constant (usually located near my temples/eyes). I take probably 8 Ibuprofin a day and drink an excessive amount of caffeine hoping it will make it go away, but it doesn't. Along with these problems I've been feeling lightheaded more often and usually have to sit down immediately or else I feel like I'm going to faint. The biggest/scariest symptom is my heartbeat and chest pain. Heart disease is extremely dominant on my moms side and almost all of her siblings have already had at least one heart attack. Lately my chest will hurt extremely bad, then I feel like my heart rate is just freaking out; I can feel my heartbeat from anywhere on my body and it's very intense. And then because of all of this going on, I always start to freak out and realize i'm getting extremely anxious so I try to make myself take deep breaths but nothings works. The past 4 nights I've been up til like 4 a.m. because my heart rate is so high and my chest hurts so bad in every position I try to lay in that I'm constantly moving. I never thought about going to the doctor because I thought it would get better but now I'm starting to think I should... I'm just wondering if anyone else has/had any of these problems from this medicine and if you've done anything to get rid of them.

(a couple other minor symptoms I've noticed recently are: joint pain and rapid memory loss (I'll be in the middle of a sentence and completely forget what I was talking about and blank out))

I am home right now (called into work) because of the severe abdominal cramps I am having since I stopped taking NuvaRing. It was so bad yesterday (sunday) my husband wanted to take me to the emergency room. I'm not currently menstruating, it's actually about a week before, though my periods have always been wonky, even with the birth control helping me tell it when to start, so I'm not really expecting it to show up. I seriously thought I was having a miscarriage last night, because I've had a child and labor pains didn't hurt as bad I hurt last night. The pain started at the top of my pelvic bone (around the ovaries) and moved up through my entire abdomen to my diaphragm. I'm so glad I found this webiste, because I actually thought something was really wrong with me. My belly feels swollen and walking is still a hassle through the soreness, but I think I can survive now. Also, the overeating - I was having that problem too right before my periods when I was on the ring, and while not a work out freak, I was always very conscious of maintaining my weight. It was like I was a bottomless Pit. I was on lexapro at the same time that I started the Nuvaring 2 1/2 years ago and between the two medicines, I gained 30 pounds. Now, since stopping the lexapro and starting the south beach diet, I've lost about 1/2 of that, so now that I've stopped the ring as well, I'm hoping I can lose the other 15, as easily as I lost weight before I started this medicine. All of the depression and moodiness - the loss of ability to concentrate. I thought all of that was just the PTSD I was experiencing (over something I won't go into here), but now I realize that if it was PTSD, then the NuvaRing wasn't helping. I hope this pain doesn't continue and I hope I can get back to normal. My problems with focusing have actually increased since I stopped, but I really hope that I can go back to normal soon. I'd rather have my irregular three or four day periods sometime between 28 and 37 days apart, and feel like I have my life back than the convenience that the NuvaRing presented. I think it's time to buy out some stock in Trojan. Thanks ladies for sharing your stories, I've really been helped here.