Freshman 15 symptoms and conditions

I am 19 years old and have had Mirena since May 2008. I really struggled with the cramps and continuous bleeding for the first two months. My menstrual periods became less and less until I hit my year mark of having it. NOW, if I'm around a girl friend for more than a few days, I automatically get my menstrual period the same day she will and it will last for 8 to 10 days. I thought I wasn't supposed to get my period after a year of having Mirena?!! I've really enjoyed not having to worry about taking a pill every day or putting a new patch on every week and hope it stays on.... BUT, a year and a half of constant acne, the freshman 15, the anxiety, the decreased sex drive, the abdominal cramps are really starting to take a toll on my mental health!
I recently have developed new symptoms of excessive sweating in my armpits, loss of interest in doing things I used to love, joint pain, thin peeling nails, dry skin, cold intolerance. I mentioned these things to my mother the other day on the phone and she reminded me that thyroid problems are very congenital in our family. I have a doctor appt in 2 days for a blood test. If all goes well, I may just have to say goodbye to Mirena. Its been 100% effective for me in the past year and a half, but I can't handle the excess fine-print bullshit that comes with it!!!

I have been on quasense for 2 months, starting my 3rd month when I started to talk to my aunt about different birth controls. She told me her aunt was on Seasonale and my aunt was taking Seasonale (sp?) and they both hated it! My aunt started to tell me about the horrible 3 week periods and my sister has had the 3 week period of weird dark brown not blood but more of a solid clump? I haven't started to take the pills to help me with my period but after reading all of these comments I'm getting nervous to start taking them! I have noticed about a 5-7 pound weight gain (went to the doctors because of a yeast infection, which I have never had before), I get migraines about 7-8 times a year for about a week at a time, but after starting this new birth-control, I cannot get rid of my migraines no matter how much medication I take for it (and that medication makes the birth-control effectiveness go down :(...) and I have become quite irritable/bitchy with my boyfriend lately. I thought this was due to me starting college a couple weeks ago (the freshman 15, being stressed etc...) but now I'm not too sure. If anyone could PLEASE give me some idea as to what they think I should do as in keep taking quasense or switch to a new birth-control.

I was sexually active for two years using nothing but condoms about half the time, and the other half cycle planning and withdrawal, and never had so much as a scare. However, upon going to college I started Ortho Tri-Cyclen. I had lost about 15 lbs the summer prior and was down to 150, and in my first year of school I gained about 20... leaving me at 170, heavier than I had ever been. I know the 'freshman 15' is a real phenomenon, but my residence hall had really healthy food and I went to a school where we walked/rode bikes everywhere so the weight gain was really random. I also started experiencing intense mood swings, and a lot of lethargy... just a general unwillingness to get out of bed/off the couch and do things... for no real reason. About this time I noticed a drop in my sex drive. I switched to Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo with no improvement, then I switched to the Depo Provera shot. On that I skyrocketed to 195 lbs, and my sex drive pretty much ceased to exist. Wanting to avoid hormones altogether I asked for an IUD, explaining my dislike of hormonal side-effects to my doctor. I got one, faced the frightening $1000 medical bill and luckily insurance covered all but like $30... but then I went home and looked up the name of what I had received... Mirena... only to find out that I was STILL getting hormones through this thing. I was really angry that my doctor heard IUD and instantly thought 'mirena' instead of actually listening to my explanation that I desired something without hormones. After three months of not taking off any weight despite lots of exercising (I have always been one to respond well to exercise) and not gaining any libido back whatsoever I removed the Mirena myself. I was just kind of feeling the strings and it tugged kind of a little loose... and that made me paranoid it wasn't in right so I just took it out entirely. I went for three months without any hormonal birth control and when my libido started to return and when I had taken off about 5 lbs my doc recommended nuvaring. I got a sample and tried it, but my weight loss plateaued and my desire for sex waned again, and my lethargy returned.... so I finally said that's it, took it out and swore off hormones once and for all, it sucks but I have a partner willing to use condoms so we just have to resign ourselves to that until we have kids and I get my tubes tied. Or he gets a vasectomy.. either one.

Also, last year I had some SERIOUS heartburn. I thought I was having a heart attack the first time because I have never had heartburn in my life. After taking Zantac150 (or whatever the max strength is) for a couple weeks and facing the fact that I may never be able to drink coffee again, it subsided and has not returned since. I can drink as much coffee as I want :) I only just now realized that happened the same month I had the Nuvaring in.... wow.

A year later I am back down to 173 lbs and the weight is coming off easily with running 2 miles once a week, that's about it. My libido is back 100% and as long as I eat healthy (fresh food) I have tons of energy. I don't restrict my food intake, I just try to switch out 'healthy' for 'unhealthy'. I've seen several friends gain 50lbs or more on Depo-Provera, and I had a friend almost attempt suicide on Yaz. I can't believe hormonal birth control is being touted as so normal. I have another friend, upon declining birth control, whose MD told her to get on prenatal vitamins! It is very possible to not get pregnant using just condoms, cycle planning and withdrawal... you just need willpower... and maybe lube.

I was diagnosed with allergy induced asthma in my freshman year of high school. I was given Advair for a couple of weeks to help deal with a major attack I experienced. After seeing an allergy-asthma specialist I was told to continue with the Advair until I could get my AIA under control. I was also placed on Singulair, Flonase, MaxAir AutoHaler (for emergencies), Acuneb (also for emergencies) and I was already on Zyrtec and an eye drop Patanol. At the time my Zyrtec and the Astelin I was on were not enough to treat both the allergies and asthma. I also began taking allergy shots. I was an athlete playing fast pitch softball, conditioning P.E. including weight lifting and running, and I was also doing aerobics in my regular P.E. class. I swam often, was an active outdoors man, rode horses, and ate a fairly healthy diet. I could not figure out why I weighed 145 lbs at 5'2. My doctor said I was healthy and that I shouldn't worry about my weight but now that I am a 19 year old 5'3 weighing 130 lbs I realize that my weight gain was not normal. Although I do not play softball right now, I practice belly dancing and yoga. I often go hiking, running and swimming and I walk about 30 minutes a day to get to and from classes at LSU. I worked hard to keep a healthy diet, and exercise often so that I would not gain the dreaded freshman 15. It took me two years to get down to 130 lbs and I never attributed my weight gain and inability to lose weight to my Advair until I was off it for almost a year and then had to start taking it again to deal with a flare up. In less than two weeks I had gained almost 10 lbs and was feeling miserable.After I got to college, I would often go for runs to help keep myself in shape. I got to the point where I had to quit running because I was always short of breath and I would have severe asthma attacks. I was on all of the above mentioned medications and often on Prednisone for sinus infections. I also experienced the dry cough and the tightness of chest. I experienced almost daily headaches -some were attributed to stress but I am not sure if the Advair caused the others. I was also very groggy, dizzy, and EXTREMELY moody. I disliked the way I was feeling while I was on Advair and took myself off it earlier than I was recommended. Since then I have been feeling a lot better and I am able to control my occasional flare ups with zyrtec and flonase and occasionally singulair if I feel my asthma acting up. I got dizzy easily for a few weeks after I took myself I was not told by my doctor that I needed to rinse my mouth out to avoid thrush, nor was I told about the possible weight gain and some of the other side effects. I am going to stop taking Advair unless I absolutely need it and I am not going to stay on it for long, especially if I start feeling like I was before.

I am a freshman in college and have been on singular since tenth grade. I was supposed to take 10mg of singular every night but i was always forgetting, it was not until Junior year that i started taking it everyday on time. Then Junior and senior year i got really depressed, and i would always cry to myself. At the end of senior year i got diagnosed with ADD and started taking focalin, for awhile i felt better. But lately i have been feeling depressed 4 days out of the week and i hate it because its making my freshman year difficult. If this really is because of the singular, how long will these side effects from singular wear off?

I have been on Synthroid for about a year. I had high blood pressure and the doctor did a number of tests and found a thyroid deficiency. I started with 75 mcg and was moved up to 100 mcg.

I have gained weight in the last year - at least 15-20 lbs. It is all in the stomach. I look like I'm pregnant. It is very hard to get rid of! I am exercising my tail off, and giving up snacks, sweets, etc, and it's not going away.

I also never had problems sleeping but I do now. I'm glad I found this discussion group, because I see many others have had weight gain problems.