Germany symptoms and conditions

Well I have been on Yasmin for over 6 years.My youngest child will be 7 in November...After I gave birth and went to my 6 week check up I weighed 145. I now weigh 167. I am very depressed, an emotional basket case, and to top everything else off my period has been going on for 2 weeks. Does this pill cause weight gain and the rest of the side effects? I requested that I be put on these at my 6 week check up because I heard on TV that in Germany the women lost significant amounts of weight....HELP

I had the Mirena put in 2006 after my third child. I talked with my sister who had it put in a couple of years before. She could not handle all the other birth controls. It was very uncomfterable being put in but not untollerable. I spotted off and on the first couple of months. Had cramps for the first few days. After that nothing at least i though nothing till i read all these. My husband is in the Army, we moved to Germany the next year, I got very depressed. I also gain some weight not a lot but enough to notice. I was very moody the time i had the Mirena and felt very stressed all the time. I had the Mirena removed in 2008 so we could try to have another baby. It was not so bad getting it taken out as being put in. I bleed heave after for about 5 days. I also lost some of the weight not doing anything different. When my husband got home we tried to get pg for 18 days straight and nothing. The Mirena is not for everyone and you should think about it before you get it and keep in mind all the things different women have gone through to see if its happening to you as well.

I have been using the NuvaRing for over 2 years now. I decided to use the NR after many hours of research, because my husband I aren't ready to get pregnant (married 2 years now). I don't use the pill any more because I could never make sure to remember to take it at exactly the same time every day. I also had weight gain with the pill and missed my period frequently which made me worry I had become pregnant. After starting the NR I immediately loved it. I only have to think about it twice a month. Much better than every day. I haven't had any weight gain, or other side-effects for that matter. I feel really lucky to have found a birth control that works well for me. I just hope it stays that way. I have had less sex drive, but I think it has to do with stress. I moved to Germany two years ago without knowing the language, and now go to school here. I still have sex drive, just not as much as I used to. I used to want it everyday, now just two or three times a week. I also wouldn't be surprised if I took my NR out and regained my sex drive though. I am sure that messing with your hormones can give you all of the problems described in this forum. Unfortunately it is also unpredictable who will or will not have side-effects and which ones they will have. I think we all must consider the options, advantages, and disadvantages for our selves. Then pick something and try it. If it doesn't work out we try something else. Thats the only way it makes sense and can work. Good luck to everyone with the NR and other BC methods.

I started using Nuvaring last month and I will never use it again. I had horrible headaches, cramps and for some reason I had a hard time going to sleep. I might have to go back to Yaz. It's is such a shame since it's so convenient to not think about taking a pill everyday.

Oct. 9,2008. I was given Avelox Monday Oct 6,2008 from my family Dr for a sinus infection . I went home & took the prescribed dose of 1, 400 mg tablet, and15 minutes later I felt a burning sensation coming from my toes to my face , I was having problems breathing , I suffer from asthma when I have any kind of sinus or cold type illness. ,I thought that was what was happening,but the inhaler did not help,, I couldn't stand up ,I couldn't sit up , I couldn't talk , I went into seizures,& started puking . I honestly thought I was dying , I couldn't even call 911 , thank God for memory call, my mother called 911 as I was home alone with my 5 year old granddaughter .
I was so incoherent ,I couldn't tell the EM"s what happened, all I could get out was anti.. The EM's thought I was either overdosed or having cardiac arrest . In the ER,the doctor's gave me all the anti allergens ,and I started coming out of it. I was soaked w/ sweat from the burning, I couldn't
speak right, it was if I had a stroke . My legs and body hurt so bad, I never experienced this much pain . 4 days latter I still am not alright . My entire body was red , I was so afraid to take even an Advil the next day . Then I heard the ER Dr. told my husband they're having a lot of problems w/ this Avelox! I asked an attorney if this is a suit and he said not unless it becomes a class suit! How on earth did the FDA approve this stuff ???
I would tell everyone ,this stuff is not worth the risk ! I came close to dying over a sinus infection ! DO NOT USE THIS AVELOX !

Hi...I have had the Mirena for 4,5 years. During the first months, everything was OK. But then the side effects came step by step...depression, no sex drive, constant fatigue, no motivation, I was always tired...I decided to have it taken out at the beginning of June. Since then, I am waiting for my menstruation. Nothing happens, I think my body still did not start to function as it should. I am 27 years old and do not have children yet. Oh, I am from Germany, here you can find thousands of reports concerning bad Mirena side effects in the Web. The gyns deny that the side effects have something to do with Mirena, but thousands of women all over the world can not be that wrong!

Well ladies and even gents, who may be concerned about your loved ones. I am an African-American/Puerto-rican woman of age 23 with no kids. I had Mirena placed in about 3 months ago and to be honest- I love it and I hate it.

I've cramped tremendously, have had prolonged periods, and a dry/flaky scalp but it's much better than my ultimate hypothetical fear. I've been a little be nerved lately but I can control myself but it feels as if my nasal passages have become smaller. At first I thought it came from allergies which I don't have and then since I've moved back to Germany it could only lead to one thing-this anchor I have inserted in me.

I know the first day I had it inserted I was totally delirious.I immediately laid back down on the doctors chair and cramped for appr 10 min. I couldn't even drive home; in which i happened to puke outside while I was waiting for a stop light.

But to counter the negatives I haven't gained any weight. My face is clear-thanks to Clarins, and I'm assured that I will not get pregnant. I couldn't be any happier.

To be honest, since I haven't had an children I'm thinking about taking it out; side effects are totally relative and one day when I do want to have children I might be sterile. Additionally, the relativity of all our side effects are not even worth the exposure-esp. if it's for a bloke.

Hi Guys

I am taking Yasmin since May 2006. I have been suffering from chronic daily headaches since March 2006 and wondered if Yasmin could be a factor in this? For my headaches I have tried so many different things and not been successful and hadn't looked at the possibility that Yasmin could be a problem until I started to google it. What do you guys think? Could Yasmin be adding to my problem of chronic daily headaches? Cos I have the headaches all the time.

Any responses would be greatly appreciated!

Regards
Warda

It is so funny to read all of the negativity but nothing positive! I came here looking for side effects and get a bashing about how horrid Yasmin/Yaz is! Let me first start off by listing my side effects that I wanted to know about:

breast tenderness
change in appetite
tiredness
red spot in eye

Next, let me tell you that I researched BEFORE taking this medicine because 1. I have MS 2. I suffer from migraines and seizures and 3. I take a whole boat load of medications! My doc recommended Yasmin for PMDD coupled with Sarafem to help my mood right before and during my time of the month. I must say that I have only been on it for about 10 days so I do not know anything of how it works with my period.

I am APPALLED at the fact that there are few, if any, positive comments about this pill! I know for a FACT that it works because I know 7 people personally that are on it that have NO PROBLEMS! So, I ask you all that have negative comments, what is wrong with you, other than you HATE the pill? What OTHER meds were you on while taking it? I read a few comments about stopping for a month and then starting again and then wondering why they felt like crap?? Well HELLO?! You are effing with your body's hormones! And there is a difference between Yaz and Yasmin hormones. If you had a bad experience with Yaz, make sure you are not confusing it with Yasmin! Yaz is a 24 day hormone pill where Yasmin is only 21 days.

I am not a doctor, but like I said, I have done my research. I have suffered with adult acne and PMDD for years. It sucks. If Yasmin helps, I want to know. I don't want to read a bunch of bull about people who mess up their cycles by taking the pill and smoking or taking the pill with meds they shouldn't be taking them with. I know what I can and cannot take. Most of what I take is natural and what is not, well, it CAN be taken with Yasmin. Like the website for Yasmin says and like most of the informational, non-biased websites say, Yasmin and Yaz is not for everyone. Some people cannot handle this type of hormone.

I can guarantee you that some doctor or pharm company can tell you that whatever symptom you are having is from something completely unrelated to the BC you are taking. Warnings are clearly marked...read them and obey!

I was in the health food store the other day, and the sales clerk started raving about this Iron Supplement she'd been taking for a while. She said that she never felt better and that she had a ton of energy. I purchased a bottle to see what all the "hype" was about. Unfortunately, ever since I took the recommended dosage yesterday, I have had excruciating abdominal pain, nausea and now I'm just waiting for the diarrhea to kick in. If anyone's in the market for some extra iron, I would avoid this brand like the plague. It's called Floradix Iron + Herbs, manufactured by Salus Haus, a company in Bruckmuhl, Germany. Just a heads up for everybody...

Up until the end of August, 2007, I was on 20mg of Abilify a day. I weened myself off of the Abilify before my wedding on October 20. Then, I went on my honeymoon to Germany. When I returned from Germany, I could not sleep. This lasted for 3 weeks, until I felt like I had to go to the hospital to get knocked out or I would die. My family doctor told me to see a psychiatrist because I went off my meds without medical supervision. The new psychiatrist prescribed Seroquel for my insomnia. She gradually increased it until I was getting about 6 hours a night. I'm now on 500 mg, which I take about two hours before bedtime. I've noticed an increase in my breast size in less than one month of use. I've also gained about 5-7 pounds. Some days, I feel hazy during the day and some nights I have difficulty taking a deep breath. I am seeing a new psychiatrist tomorrow to see about getting off of Seroquel and on something else. Its great for insomnia, but the side effects are immediate and troubling.

I'm a 38 year old female who was prescribed Advair after a severe bout of bronchitis one year ago. While at first I thought that it was helping my lungs my family members noticed that I was getting more headaches, mood swings and I went from a soprano singer to sounding like Harry Belafonte. I have stopped and now I have cramping pains in my chest and upper back. I call it my traveling pain as it is not always in the same spot. I would much rather have tried a homeopathic remedy than subject myself to Advair every again. I have learned through a nutritionist and chiropractor how to manage the pain in my lungs that this crap has left behind. Please research this carefully before you start sucking in that dust!!

Dear Jen,

wow, this TSH of 0,009 (or 0,09?) sounds very very low.... The normal ranges (well, here in GErmany, I think it's in US the same...?) lie between 0,5 and 2,5...

Didn't they do anything for your thyroid? I think you should get checked this again.

In my case it's the opposite, I'm experiencing a subclinical hypothyreoidism, my TSH was a bit high (4,1). And I read very often, that the pill is also interacting with our thyroids.

So perhaps time will heal that thing but everyone should get checked for thyroid-problems, I think, because this can also cause all those symptoms of anxiety, dizzyness, tiredness, nervousness, muscle weakness and many more...

I wish you all the best, Jen, and keep us updated on how you're doing!!

Greetings
Silke

Hi Emily!

If that's a side effect of Yasmin you perhaps only can find out by getting off this pill and see, if you feel better in a few weeks / months.

Just a word about Mirena:

Mirena is made by the same company as Yasmin (Schering in Germany, I think "Berlex" in US). And it has nearly the same hormones in it. I read about Mirena the same horrible stories, as I did about Yasmin. The side effects seem to be very similar. And even if your docs might tell you, that the hormones of Mirena only stay in your uterus: Well, who tells the hormones to do so and stay there?? I think the uterus is as well connected to our blood circulation as every other organ in our body. And so I think everything that reacts in the uterus also reacts in our whole metabolism over the blood circulation.

So please do a little research about the side effects of Mirena, I fear you'll find the same stories, as you find about Yasmin...

Please be careful!!

Best wishes
Silke

@ipj:

Thanks for your immediate answer.

Those are symptoms I'm also experiencing......

But here in Germany it's so hard to get a magnesium test (and even some other tests) done. Everything seems to expensive to test for our docs here and so they refuse them... But after reading your posts and the result of your magnesium test I think I should at least ask or beg my doc again, if he perhaps could do that test... I feel that there has to be something still not ok, even being off Yasmin for about 2 years now....

Everytime I got a cold or I got my period I'm feeling worse again, and this time I fear it's gotten very bad... So there has to be still a lack of something in my body which gets out of balance when the slightest change in my body is happening (as my period or a heavy cold with loosing lots of sweat because of the fever, and so on....).

Thank you so much again ipj for sharing your story!!!
Perhaps my doc gets a bit more cooperative if he hears, that there is really someone whose magnesium test came back much too low......

Greetings
Silke

Hi IPJ!!

Well, thank you so much for your post!! It's another peace of hope for me and I think for many others also. Here in Germany the health system is not very comfortable these days so you sometimes really have to "fight" to get any kind of bloodwork done because everything seems to "expensive" to the docs...

So I didn't get my magnesium levels checked, yet, they always just did the "normal bloodwork" and simply don't know how my magnesium levels are. I always just felt the symptoms of magnesium deficiency (muscle problems, racing heart and palpitations, muscle hurting and so on...) and expected that the Yasmin and its diuretic had caused a magnesium deficiency (as I read from so many sites!!) in my body, too.

I'll have another bloodwork on Friday (had an appt. with my fam.doc yesterday and told him about my again upcoming symptoms), hopefully he'll find something.....

I wish you all the best IPJ and keep us posted!!

Silke

Sarah,

reading the post of that guest below I think, that you've misunderstood, what she/he tried to say. I can't find any critical words about our chat here. She/he even said that it is good to have such a place to talk, but that it perhaps will never CHANGE anything if we don't report our problems to the right places (FDA in USA I think... Don't know where there is anything like that here in Germany.....).

But one other thing: Please don't write posts here completely in big letters. It's very hard to read and here in Germany writing in a forum or chat with big letters even means you are "screaming" at the others....

Greetings
Silke

hi, i'm from germany. i just had my first kenalog shot over a month ago. everything was fine and i had no signs of allergie symptoms. now i have a den in my upper arm where i had the shot. it is freaking me out and reading all these other side effects doesnt make it better. my doc as well told me that there are sideeffects, but not how serious they could be. my arm looks like a dog bit me and had taking a hand size portion of my muscles. i was treated for depression before, but now i'm off the meds and affraid that anxiety and depression will return.

Dear BitterRN,

No I didn't get to call the doc's office again because I had too much to work in my job last week. I'll try to get the results tomorrow.

I posted in another forum here in Germany (a forum with doctor's answering your posts), where I got the answer, that my testosterone may be a bit HIGH.... and also my prolactine. OMG I don't know what I should believe now..... One says EVERYTHING is ok with my hormone levels, another (including me!!) thinks, they are a bit low (also the estrogen!!) and the third thinks one of the ranges is too high.....???

I guess this shows how much our doctors really know... I'm asap trying to get another opinion. I feel that there is NOT everything ok with my results as my gyn wants to make me believe...

I'll post again, BitterRN, as soon as I have the results!!
Thank you again for caring so much!!

Best wishes
Silke

Hi Sarah!!

Good to hear that your doc finally has put 2 and 2 together!! Well, I think doctor's should more often REALLY hear, what their patients are telling and not just do or believe what they can find in their "big wise books".

It's very interesting what you wrote about anxiety and dehydration. So your doctor really thinks, that dehydration may cause a raise of anxiety attacks??

Well, I watched myself getting more problems with anxiety again during hot summer days, especially when I've been sweating very much and forgot to drink enough. The muscle weakness is then coming up a little again (well, though DEFINITELY not as bad as it was one year ago!!) and I have to deal with the anxiety again, more than usual!! And another thing I found out: Magnesium is helping me very good with that symptoms.

So it seems as if my body has still problems with that dehydration and loss of minerals and vitamines brought on by Yasmin while taking it 5 long years until February 2005... The slightest change in those things (well, like not enough drinking, etc.) causes still some symptoms...

Could I be right with that speculation??

Best wishes to you and greetings from Germany!!

Silke

Well, I'm from Germany and I don't know if I can get such a test here to. But I'll search google tomorrow (it's already very late here and I'm a bit tired to go and search for it now)!! But it really sounds very interesting!!

Did you have problems with your muscles, too?? That was one of my biggest problems (muscle fasciculations and weakness) and it is still not gone completely. Somedays some of my muscles like arms or legs feel very weak...

I blamed these symptoms mostly on the loss of vitamines and minerals that Yasmin definitely has caused in my body (I had been taking that stuff for over 5 years...... with sometimes feeling better and sometimes feeling really miserable without knowing why.....!!).

And it seems to be very difficult to get back in balance for my whole system as I'm still suffering from some of the symptoms after being off Yasmin for so long (February 2005)!!

I'll post again if I find someting similar to that saliva test you told about, here in Germany!!

Thanks again for your always very helpful and delighting posts, Bitter RN!!

I wish you all the best and am looking forward to hearing (reading) from you again!!

Silke

@lisa:

That sounds great!! I feel so happy for you (and your husband ;-) !! :) Isn't it, as if you just recognized, that your husband is a MAN and not just a PERSON... I remember that I felt this way, it was very strange somehow!

Well, now I remember, you've asked me about Agnus Castus a few posts before.

Yes, I had been taking that stuff for about half a year (from July to December 2005), but in my case I fear it hasn't helped as it should have. I still didn't get a period since easter 2005. Just the mental problems seemed to get easier to cope with under Agnus Castus. But I think this might be different between us both, because I see you have a normal period already again?

I think it's worth a try and should not do any harm to you, especially not like our "dear" Yasmin did....!

The only thing they say here in germany, that the libido might get a little bit down again under agnus castus (here it's also called "monk's pepper" because in former times they had given it to monks (so the history says) to help them being chaste...) In my case the first few months on it that didn't happen at all, but the last 2 months or so I slightly felt, that my libido went down a little bit... But this is also a thing that doesn't have to happen to you, too!!

So go on like this and I promise the sun will shine again someday, every day a little bit longer and more intensive, as you already notice!

Best wishes to you and everyone out there again!!

Silke

@twogirlsmum:

<<>>

I'm afraid I have to perhaps disappoint you, but there are many forums here in Germany that tell the same stories (panic attacks, dizziness, nearly every symptom) also about MIRENA, that are mentioned here about Yasmin. I landed there within my search under google about Yasmin and its side effects. And it might be also very interesting to know, that Mirena is sold by the same company as Yasmin is (in Germany it's SCHERING)....

So PLEASE be careful what you do again to your body!!! It's again a hormonal treatment and not at all as harmless as the doctors might tell you (well, remember that the same was told by them about Yasmin...).

I hope you're making the right decision and think twice about taking another hormonal medicine, which can bring on similar symptoms, as you already went through!!

Greetings and best wishes
Silke

to guest 12318:

You're not alone with the weight gain problem. I'm here, too!!!

After all this shit I'd gone through WITH Yasmin, this problem is now depressing AFTER Yasmin!! It's horrible!! I don't feel like my old self at all, especially when I look in a mirror.... Sometimes I don't like to go out of my house because I feel so ashamed about how I'm looking now!! All this weight came up in only a few weeks and without eating more or doing anything different than before, I swear!!!! It's a nightmare!!

But my family doctor told me that in his believe all this gained weight will go away as soon as my body is totally recovered from all the symptoms of Yasmin and the hormones are back in balance again. So there seems to be a little hope for us!! Don't despair!! It's day 62 off for you and that is not very long. So there will be better times ahead for all of us.

I too have to take some (NATURAL!!) medicine to get my cycle back in balance, because I didn't have a period after getting off Yasmin, too!! So that seems to be a common "after Yasmin problem".

Stay in there!! We'll be back to normal some day, and if not tomorrow but in a few months!! I'M sure!!!

All the best to you out there!!

Greetings from Germany
Silke

7/18/05
My daughter was given Yasmin for cramps. She had taken it for about a week and the nausea continued to get worse. She began to have hot flashes, extreme sweating, flushing, which I believe was her blood pressure. She would have episodes of her vision blacking out. She felt awful! She could not sleep at night, even taking sleeping pills. Her legs would jerk at night, which she never had happen before. She was extra sesitive about things. When I found these postings, I was actually excited to see that other women were experiencing the same thing. I could not wait to tell my daughter. She has not take Yasmin for a week now, and most of the symptoms have gone away. I also read that Yasmin is on the Black Triangle List in Germany and that it should not be taken. That was the final straw. Good luck to those of you trying to come off of it.