Gynaecologist symptoms and conditions

Hi everyone.Ive been on Yasmin now for 10months due to really bad heavy painful periods.I wasn't at all happy about going on it as i have tried different ones in the past and gained a lot of weight, but as this was my last chance in trying something to stop the bad periods or get pregnant as I wasn't in the right place to do that I had to give in and try it.I was told that I wouldn't gain that much weight,just a couple of pounds.But i have put so much weight on.About a stone in weight.And i work out 3/5days a week.And it doesn't matter how hard I try I cant seem to shift the weight which is really upsetting.I decided today that i would do some research on it as i know somethings not right with my body.My boobs have grown so much bigger and are so very much painful.My legs are swollen,my calf muscles really hurt when i exercise.As I use to be a dancer I have always had good legs muscles and ive always exercises so I knew it wasn't because of that.I became very moody,tired,insomnia,dizzy,head aches which I hardly ever got before and very snappish.I didn't want 2 do anything.I became very depressed about my body and life in general.Crying all the time.My doctor put me on anti-depressants and even though ive chilled out a lot more,everything else remains the same.You just know your own body,and ive known for sometime that taking this pill wasn't doing me any good.It may have stopped the painful heavy periods but at what cost!!! To have even more problems then you had before.I was reashured by my doctor who may I add was a gynecologist for 18years,told me it was the best one and hardly any side effects.Yeah right what a frigging joke.Im so unhappy about my self,and my life.Oh and you guest it,no sex drive.This pill has to be taken off the market.They haven't a clue how bad this is and what effect and long term damages its doing to us women.As im going to see my G.P tomorrow im going to be taken off it.Im so happy I found this web site.I thought I was going mad,and had a weird body.I just hope that when I do come off it that I don't go back to the bad heavy painful periods as it got to the point that i was on the floor and couldn't get up I was in that much pain that I couldn't take it anymore.I think thats why i have stayed on it for so long as im afraid of going threw all that pain again.So if anybody else out there reading this knows if theres any other way to stop it from happening again without taking the pill or having the injection or coil put in, please write back to me and let me know.
Samantha Blake from Blackpool.aged 24.

I'm 34 and my children are 3 and 5 years old. I had my Mirena coil fitted on 12 Sept 2007, so have now had it just over a year. During that time, I've had bouts of intense abdominal pain, almost constant vaginal discharge, bleeding after exercise or sex and a curious sensation in the region of the uterus that feels like when a baby moves inside you. My doctor dismisses all my symptoms as being nothing at all to do with the coil, but having read the other posts on this site I'm not so sure....
I'm also constantly exhausted and get spots. I am a coward though, and having the coil fitted was so excruciatingly painful that I'm not sure I can face having it taken out so (relatively) soon. I'm off to see the female GP at my practice next week so it will be interesting to hear her take on things.

i do believe this is the most horrific form of birth control ever created. i had this suggested as a birth control option after giving birth to my 3rd child. after having a bad experience in labor there was no way i wanted anymore. i would love to have a hysterectomy. hrt. i could probably cope with a lot better than being put through hell asnd back every month.
mine was suggested my my gynecologist and i do suffer strange reactions to anaesthesia so seemed to be a good idea to have this put in to see if it worked. how wrong was i. i was a very very angry person. i never ever suffered any nervous conditions before so this was new to me when i completely lost the plot. i was put on beta blockers and i thought i was having a heart attack on them. i suffered worse periods . cramps fatigue . headaches . my skin is still spotty. i always had a lovely complexion before this. my immune system isn't what it used to be. the list went on and on. i didn't like it at all. i asked for removal and they said i had to wait for another gynecology appointment. i knew all the side effects were off this thing in me. i had to wait for an appointment to get it removed./ said 9 months was the normal wait. i think they get paid to test run this contraception. and at what cost? our health

i will voice my opinion about this as its disgusting how much these fat cat pharmaceutical companies profit on what should be free to British citizens.its getting so bad in the nhs we are told to get seen quicker we have to pay. but 20 or 30 years ago people would have laughed at that.

has any real tests ever been carried out on what is in these devices and how it affects so many women in a really bad way.

my problem was when i finally got a sympathetic locum doctor at my gp surgery to agree to remove it. she asked me to give a sample for pregnancy. can you imagine how hysterical i was . yes i was pregnant. so much for the 99.9 % effectiveness. that meant i couldn't have it removed. one idiotic nurse congratulated me

i screamed are you insane woman . congratulations!! what is wrong with you? do i look happy?

the doctor was more sympathetic. everything was a daze at first. she explained chances are i will either miscarry or have the baby and dispel it in childbirth. on my own again. i had a miscarriage 2 days later. not impressed with this at all. i then had to wait 2 weeks for an emergency scan as chances were it came away complete.

how did i feel .angry. empty. physically and mentally drained. i think if i could have i would have ripped that thing right out of me

so i had the scan. luckily it had came away. i begged them to take it out. sent me back to the doctors a week later. and they removed it. i refused to do another pregnancy test said , please just get on with it.
two hours later i was feeling a lot calmer.

i so thoroughly enjoyed having that thing removed for good . never again would i have that in me. or any other coil.

however this is the beginning of a very upsetting case of long term side effects at there worst.

i decided to get sterilized after all this . understandable as being highly fertile sex was a big issue and i wouldn't meet anyone let alone sleep with a man. fear was the biggest thing. getting pregnant was a big no no.

i got sterilized. this is where the problems start for 3 months periods would be getting worse. horrific migraines. couldn't fathom it. my cramp was bad before but god this was like hell. about 6 months passed and steadily was getting worse each month. no amount of painkillers would help. and i could see in myself my skin getting worse. spots. my eyes feeling tired. red sometimes. itchy and dry. feeling sick and tired. then unable to get any sleep on a night. catch 22 . cant sleep then cant get up .i could sleep all day and night no doubt if it was possible . mood swings very bad depression. so much so i had a breakdown in December 07. i took 6 weeks off work and it helped somewhat .but still the periods and bad painsdwere getting worse. i am not a whimsy sort of person. cramp is tolerable this is so bad i cry and cry and wonder why i have to be suffering like this every 3 weeks. i nearly pass out with the pain. i do not like going to see my gp as i find them no use at times. feel like a conveyor belt and you lucky to get ten minutes as the norm is 5. i finally went up to the doctors July 08 and he gave me lots of pills and said i shouldn't mess with mother nature and get sterilized. i don't think he got that right. i still blame that coil. my depression is quite bad at times. my pain is a constant dull ache in my abdomen still. i feel like its on fire when i have my period. i have to work out when i am due on my period and take a week off work. its really bad. i end up in bed. due to the fact i cannot stand upright. it is so bad it feels like labor. but its excruciating. i feel ive aged a lot in the last yr too. i cry most days as i am so tired and feel myself dreading the next one. i try to remain positive and think it will last a week and then i will have two weeks where its not so bad. but my cycle is so messed up that i suffer headaches a week after the bleeding and i am still suffering occasional contractions. if anyone has any experience like this i would be grateful of some sort of assistance be it advise or medical. i don't mind any sort of critical opinion either. i have a very open mind to all sorts of issues so will take any advise on board. i may see an end to my battle of suffering. i am waiting for another hospital appointment to see my gynecologist and hopefully it will be very soon.

tracy.

Hi everyone,
Found this site and found it very reassuring, as I can relate to so many of you out there. Here is what is happening to me:

December 08 had Mirena fitted for irregular heavy periods, spotted/bled almost continuously once it was inserted, but gradually the periods became a bit lighter. A typical period lasted around 18 days, which was much longer than before I had the Mirena fitted. Had visual migraines (partial loss of sight), doctor whipped out the Mirena on 7th July, still spotting - into day 26 now! Feel really fed up with all this, have lower back ache, which I didn't have before, pelvic pains as though I am about to start my period, anxiety levels up to around 8/10, insomnia, just generally feeling really low, shakey and tearful thinking something is terribly wrong with me. Have an appointment tomorrow with the gynecologist and am going to ask him for a hysterectomy as my life is being ruled with these ongoing problems. Last year I had a scan which revealed I have fibroids and a thickening of the womb.

Does anybody else have a lot of spotting? Is it a post Mirena symptom?

Increase in POCS and obesity due to young-age use of progesterones?2 March 2006

Ellen C G Grant,
physician and medical gynaecologist
Kingston-upon-Thames, KT2 7JU, UK
Send response to journal:
Re: Increase in POCS and obesity due to young-age use of progesterones?
Professor Balen and colleagues write that PCOS is increasing because more women are becoming obese.1 Progesterone use can cause rapid weight gain and many adolescent girls therefore refuse to continue taking the Pill.
In an attempt to cut the numbers of unplanned teenage pregnancies more longer-acting forms of progesterone are being used. Unfortunately depo medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) caused significantly greater weight gain with longer use in adolescent girls than the Pill. After 18 months obese girls gained 9 kg while non-obese girls gained 4 kg. The authors considered that the potential contribution of DMPA to severe obesity in adolescents is concerning.2 DMPA is reported to have no inherent oestrogenic or androgenic effects, which suggests that weight gain induced by DMPA is a progestogenic effect.
Use of progestogens can also increase the risk of PCOS. In the Walnut Creek Contraceptive Drug Study significantly more oral contraceptive users aged 18-39 had non-functioning ovarian cysts than never users (50/7506 with 4/2556).3 Fewer functioning cysts would be expected in users of progestogens designed to stop ovaries functioning. Use of fertility drugs can also cause ovarian cysts.
Progestogen use also increases the risk of diabetes. In a study of 210 women taking 150 µg levonorgestrel and 30 µg ethinyl oestradiol, 60% had stopped by 15 months and only 8% were current users at 3 years. Glucose tolerance tests deteriorated into the diabetic rangein 6 women but improved when oral contraceptives were stopped for side-effects including weight gain.4
It is reasonable that obese women with PCOS are not given fertility drugs risking more ovarian cyst development and further weight gain. Advice about weight reducing high protein/low allergy diets and life-style changes is preferable.
1 Balen AH, Dresner M, Scott EM, Drife JO. Should obese women with polycystic ovary syndrome receive treatment for infertility? BMJ 2006; 332: 434-435.
2 Bonny AE, Ziegler J, Harvey R, et al. Weight gain in obese and nonobese adolescent girls initiating depot medroxyprogesterone, oral contraceptive pills, or no hormonal contraceptive method. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2006; 160: 40-5.
3 Ramcharan S. Pellegrin RR, Hsu J-P, et al. Walnut Creek Contraceptive Drug Study 1981; Center for Population Research Monograph; Vol 111: P 162.
4 Wynn V. Effects of duration of low-dose oral contraceptive administration on carbohydrate metabolism. Am J Obstet Gynecol 1982: 142: 739-43.
Competing interests: None declared

Thanks, Mo! ;)

I had my mirena coil fitted at my 8 week post-partum check after my second child, this was feb 07. I was breast feeding until july so didn't resume periods until last aug. When they did resume they were so heavy blood would drip onto the floor - and occurred every 2 weeks without fail. I was assured this would settle down, but by April this year I'd had enough. I was referred for a scan to check for cysts - nothing, then sent to a gynecologist who decided to remove the coil...except she couldn't find it. Another scan showed it was not there and I'd probably expelled it, but I had to have an abdominal x-ray just in case. Two weeks ago I finally got the results - my uterus has been perforated and the coil now lies in my abdominal cavity just near my left hip. I am in constant discomfort, and sometimes searing pain (I had to miss work today because the pain was so bad it made me sick) Yet I have to wait a full 2 months to have the operation under general anesthetic to remove the damn thing. I just want it out of me, and am unclear as to whether it can do any further damage. The consultant told me they can fit a new one whilst I'm under, but I'm having serious doubts as to whether I want another one. Interestingly I've steadily put on 4 - 5lbs since October but yet haven't changed my lifestyle at all.

I had a kenalog injection in my shoulder at the end of October during my period, my next period was 4 days late and appeared to be normal, 18 days later I started bleeding again which went on for 13 days, I had 5 days off and am now bleeding yet again. I have an added complication of being on warfarin for life for recurrent PEs so Drs are unable to give me anything to stop the bleeding. I was referred for a pelvic scan and am now waiting to see a gynaecologist. No medics seem willing to admit kenalog may be the cause. As my blood has to be kept thinner & I bleed easily, I am very concerned at the amount of blood I am losing. When I had the initial jab the consultant did warn me I may have menstrual irregularities which I interpreted to be a few days early or late, certainly not non-stop bleeding.
I couldn't believe what I was reading when I found this site, so many of us are suffering, why weren't we warned of the side effects. I certainly wouldn't have had the first injection if I had known and I will not have any further ones.