Hindsight symptoms and conditions

I have been reading all of your Simvastatin experiences with high interest and would like to share my adventures with all of you as well. My story began seven years ago when I was relatively healthy and enjoying life. My doctor prescribed Lipitor for my elevated cholesterol and two months later I found myself in the emergency room after having a severe bout with vertigo for the first time in my life. I have since spent the last seven years fighting this debilitating illness which continues to haunt me after having seen every top neurologist in my area and having taken every neurological test available. It would be as difficult to convince me that I was not somehow "poisoned" by Lipitor as it was for me to convince my doctor.

I was eventually prescribed Simvastatin 40MG and seemed to stabilize for a few years even though my dizziness problems persisted. Suddenly I began experiencing bouts of upset stomach and severe lower abdominal pain. I allowed my doctor to order basically every nasty test known to man in an effort to discover the cause of this new problem, but all have come up negative so far. Eventually I began to experience total exhaustion in the middle of my work day, not to mention the back, neck, and muscle pain that has been described so vividly in this forum. Basically, I have become a 53 year old man who feels much older, has absolutely no energy, and rarely has a day when I can honestly say I feel alive and well.

I am not a doctor and I can't honestly prove that Simvastatin is the cause of all of my problems. However, I do have common sense and after reading all of your thoughtful comments on the subject I would be foolish to at least not suspect that the drug may possibly be making me less healthy and not more healthy. Thank you all for opening my mind to this possibility and I certainly plan on discussing this with my doctor very soon, who may no longer by my doctor should he continue to insist that I take this nasty drug.

OMG! I'm afraid to take this medication, after reading all of your posts!
I got an infection in my left knee from falling onto the concrete side walk. and the on-call doc. prescribed it 4x a day 500mg. I think I'll wait to see my own dr. this Friday. I am allergic to pen.G and sulfa. I don't think the on-call doc knows this. better to be safe then sorry.
thanks for all your informative posts! I love this forum!
L.

I've been on Yaz for approximately 3 months changing from Yasmin based on lower-level of hormones in Yaz. I had no negatives on Yasmin, in fact, it worked very well with my body. Although, I faced getting off birth control altogether (suggested by my gyne) or changing to a lower dose - I decided on the latter. Since on Yaz I've gained approx. 10-15 lbs. I workout 4X/wk so claims suggesting that working out regularly should squash weight gain are simply untrue. I can't seem to shake the layer of fat around my lower abdominal, hips, arms and chest. I thought perhaps I was going crazy but then my chiropractor and I figured out what had changed in my diet outside of taking vitamin supplements (i.e. Vitamin D, Omega 3 and a mutli-vitamin). Although there are claims vitamin supplements can cause weight gain as well, the extra weight coincided w/ the time frame in which I started Yaz not the supplements which began long before it.

I've decided to get off hormones altogether (originally suggested by my gyne) and take nothing. I'm hoping in conjunction w/ regular exercise and a healthy diet the 15 lbs. will come off.

In hindsight, I guess the birth control worked in one sense, w/ the extra weight I most certainly didn't get attention from male suitors!

I have been extremely happy with my Mirena actually. I had it put in after my second child in Dec. 2004 at my 6 week appointment. The cramping and bleeding didn't last that long actually but then again I was still bleeding after having the baby anyway so it was a good time to have it done. I stopped having periods after 3 months of having it in completely. That was the absolute BEST part. I haven't had to use a sanitary pad or tampon in almost 5 years!

Now for the other aspects...in hindsight I don't know if the issues I had during the first couple years with the Mirena were side effects of the device or postpartum. That's the problem with having an IUD put in right after having a baby. Side effects like baby blues, postpartum depression (in my case I was almost postpartum psychosis), hair loss, weight issues, etc. can all be related to post-pregnancy. My biggest side effect was the hair loss. I have fine, thin hair to begin with so it's VERY noticeable when I start to lose hair. However, this happens after birth. After 2 years it was such a problem I went for a physical and requested a blood work-up. Everything came back normal. I was told it could be aging (I was 31 years old then) or stress. I tried absolutely everything from changing my diet, taking tons of biotin pills, multi-vitamins, etc. Every year I kept noticing it getting worse. I went to dermatologists who said it could be age, stress, hereditary (I have NO female pattern baldness in my family) and so forth. I started taking Women's Rogaine last fall. Still no difference and I'm losing hair still. I've even lost 25 pounds and within excellent weight range, changed positions in my company to a less stressed job (since last year) and STILL have hair loss.

My husband started doing research on the Mirena since I need to make a decision on birth control in the next 6 months. We both noticed that other symptoms were "wearing" off. I have increased sex drive (a significant amount - let's face it...14 years in a monogamous relationship doesn't all of a sudden just start to increase in the sex drive area normally), started spotting a little bit when I guess would be my period (remember I haven't had a period for 4 years now since I had the Mirena put in post 3 months) and this last month I had a REAL period for a couple days. He thought the hormones were wearing off.

I made an appointment with my GYN to discuss but thought I'd share my experience.

Again I've been super happy with the no periods aspect of the Mirena. LOVE IT! But I don't know if the other symptoms I've been having over the past 5 years are related. And now I have to make a decision. My husband wants me to switch to the Paragard Copper IUD (we love the ease of the IUD so much) yet I hate the idea of heavy periods and cramping after a decade without either. Do I take the hair loss (if it's related) but have no periods? Decisions....

I had been on fluoxetine for 14 years- I have never heard of fluoxetine *hydrochloride*, but there doesn't seem to be plain fluoxetine on here. I have taken a year off, and the only side effect I am being hit with in hindsight are the DREAMS! On fluoxetine, dreams were a huge part of my life. I remembered so much of them, it was almost hard to tell what was real and what was a dream, and I loved the dream life that I lived at night. It was like I was never asleep! I have only remembered one dream in the year that I have been "drug free."

I had mirena inserted in June, 2007. I didn't put two and two together until reading other's side effects on this site, however had a ningling feeling that it could be the reason for the side effects I am feeling. In hindsight, I have been experiencing, since around about the time I had mirena inserted, depression, panic attacks, constant anxiety, weight gain, bloated stomach and a lack of energy and enjoyment of the simple things in life. My family and friends are very concerned about the huge change in me. I've seen several doctors and bought books on how to deal with anxiety and depression and now I know exactly how to deal with it...get it out ASAP!!!

I have two experiences with Prednisone to share: I am a 52 year old woman, married, no kids. One year ago I came down with a serious case of shingles on the top and inside of my left eyelid. What started out as a bump that looked like a pimple or a bite on a Friday afternoon (and I don't have acne), spread across and under my eyelid by Mon, morning, up into my eyebrow and down the side of my nose. My eye felt like there was glass in it every time I blinked. I got to the doctor on Mon, the dermatologist on Tues and the opthamologist on Wed. All confirmed shingles. I have never felt anything to excruciating in my life! The dermatologist prescribed a 3-week descending dose of Pred starting with 6 pills a day. I was also given Gabapentin (a nerve blocked), Acyclovir, a muscle relaxant, pain medication and two separate eye drops, one of which was also low-dose Pred. After the 3 week course of treatment was done, I had to continue for another week, but with lower doses.
Side effects: I did not notice any side effects except that my appetite was seriously jacked up! I ate anything and everything -- and then some! Food was my best friend and I hogged everything in site! In hindsight, when I try to assess myself and any changed, I guess I do have some attitude issues in that I am quicker to anger, quicker to react and respond and seem to "snap" a lot quicker.... Oh yeah I am also on antidepressants.... I now have one droopy eyelid due to the nerve damage from the Shingles and permanent damage to the cornea and tear ducts.... However I am not really sure how much of that is due to the Shingles and how much is due to the Prednisone.

My 89-year old mother was hospitalized in August for emphysema and chronic lung disease, she was down to 81 lbs. They treated & released her and she was on a descending dose of Prednisone for a week. She needed to gain some weight & gained 3 lbs! This was very good.... She is still smoking and her doctor will NOT insist she quit (I think they have given up). They put her back on a 2-week course of Pred again last week. Her appetite is back up Yeah! but she has some serious attitude and anger issues. We are only 1 week into the 2 weeks and I don't know how our family is going to stand taking care of this evil old woman during this Prednisone treatment, and afterwards. I'm sorry I ever let the doctor put her back on it--- however she is gaining weight and getting (falsely) stronger, which she needed.

HI - I had my Mirena removed yesterday. I had it inserted on Valentines Day 2006 - so 2 and a half years. A week after having it inserted I woke up one morning sweating and shaking like a mad woman....also starting Vomiting and then fainted. I went to my OB/Gyn and he told me that I had a virus and it was nothing to do with the mirena...Hmmm???? In hindsight (yes I know hind sight is 20/20) I have to say I am sure that I didn't have a virus - I think it was some kind of shock reaction to the Mirena - 12 weeks after having it put in I threw my boyfriend out - he just started getting on my nerves!!!....and every month or so I have been getting a severe dry swollen throat they have been getting progressively worse over the past 2 years - once again my doctor told me it was nothing to do with the Mirena, but that I had reflux...or allergies....The reflux medication that I took for a year nearly stopped my natural stomach acid production - so I swelled up (was it the reflux medication or the Mirena?? or Both?) About a year ago I stopped the reflux meds and concentrated on Allergies....at first it seemed to help - I think it was wishful thinking - last month my throat was so dry I could hardly swallow....as I said yesterday I had the thing removed - today my tongue is tingling strangely, but I have a feeling that it is actually trying to go back to normal....here's hoping!!!!
One more thing - I started exercising in Dec 2007....have lost about 5 kgs but for the amount of work I have done, it is nothing. I really hope that now that it is out, I will start to show something for the fitness regime I have been on the past 9 months.
I'm scared of the crash that will probably come on Saturday or Sunday - I started taking 5HTP last week in preparation - I hope it helps.

Honestly thank you for this website! I mentally feel better if not physically yet. I was prescribed 3 day/2 dose Bactrim for a UTI. I have NEVER had a reaction to antibiotics or any type of medicine. I can no longer say that.

That said...thought I was dying. My temperature was 102 for days, every muscle in my body felt so sore I felt like a car had hit me and then hit me again, ridiculous size headache, massive stomach pain, insomnia, thought I would faint every time I stood up, could barely walk, no appetite, etc. It was ridiculous and I thought I was going crazy because how can one medicine do all that?? I now have a whole new respect for antibiotics.

Since I was feeling so horrible by the 2nd day on it I went ahead and finished the last day. (hindsight probably stupid)

This is my first day off and all my muscles are still killing me, especially my neck, chest, stomach, back. Still feel weak and my temp. this morning was 101 and went down to 100 now.

And I don't know if it was the medicine or just being sick but I've been so 'out of it' today and just depressed. I can not WAIT for this medicine to be out of my system! And I will never use it again.

To add insult to injury I'm not sure if it cured the UTI all the way. Not running to the restroom but still have slight (non-painful) tingle down there.

Oh my god. I can't believe I have just stumbled upon all these women talking about the same problems. Feeling chronic fatigue, depression, listlessness, anxiety and insomnia, bloating and loss of a sex drive! (THATS birth control for ya! Ha!) I also experience aching muscles, headaches, and a brain fog that makes me feel like a fraction of my former self. All of these symptoms, among others, can describe Candida overgrowth.

I have had my Mirena for 2 1/2 years, and I never put together these symptoms and the IUD! Even though they started shortly after my insertion, I also had some serious life circumstances happen to me and assumed I felt crummy from that. Also, I loved not thinking about birth control and was convinced that the small progestin-only tips had to be the most gentle form of hormonal birth control out there. And no period! Sweet. I also worked in the field of sexual health and trusted my doctor completely. I recall in hindsight getting really sick right after it was inserted, and asking my doctor if I could be having bloating and intestinal problems from it, and she said it was unrelated.

I called to make an appointment to have the Mirena removed shortly before finding this site, because since I have discovered I have candida overgrowth, I have learned it can be onset by hormonal birth control. Candidiasis Albicons is the same yeast that causes yeast infections, and when the healthy flora of the digestive tract are compromised, it can spread out of control, becoming systematic. That's what happened to me. If this sounds all to familiar, please check it out and see if you have it too.

I am getting better already, after committing for the last two weeks to the candida diet, where my body is detoxifying and I am coming back to life. (Many western doctors know very little about this, so don't be surprised if they laugh you out of the room and prescribe prosac. Trust your gut, literally ;)

I don't believe the Mirena caused my candida overgrowth, only that its a factor in it, like taking antibiotics or heavy metal poisoning. I felt compelled to share my story, because I am starting to recover, and I can't tell you how good it feels to feel better after 2 1/2 foggy years. Don't give up on your health.

Also, I am writing because removing the IUD won't fix your problem completely, just like it didn't completely cause it, so if you have think you may have systemic candida, find out. You will need to continue treating it after you get the IUD removed, so you get the full recovery you deserve. Hoping for more healthy ladies!

Oh boy! Side effects to coming off this med! UGH! I am going through them as I type! It is the most horrible way to feel! I have tried in the past on several occasions to get off this med...but never had accomplished the feat as it is nearly impossible to get through the day! At my highest dose I was taking 300 mg daily... the Dr. weaned me down slowly and now am trying just to get off of 75mg daily! I am on day 4 without Effexor xr... needless to say the side effects are getting worse instead of better!
I am experiencing: dizziness, tingly feeling in my whole body, night sweats, almost hard to do anything because I feel as if I have the flu!!!!
To anyone who is given the choice to take this med...DON"T!! Getting off of it is the hardest thing to do! In hindsight... when I am on it fully it is a great med. It helped me regain my life without panic, anxiety, depression etc... Idk... people don't understand the hell we go through with all these meds. My poor husband can't take my complaining anymore! Although either can I! I feel like going and getting a pill right now just to feel better!

I have been reading about the side effects of lipitor for several days now and am scared silly! I have been taking it for nearly 5 years now. My doc warned me about the muscle weakness/pain when I began taking it, but I didn't have any problems and it definitely provided good results for my cholesterol level. During the past several months though, I've begun to have severe symptoms. Actually, looking back, I realize I've had some of these symptoms for awhile but they were so easily attributable to other causes that I didn't pay close enough attention. I am weak to the point of not being able to walk a city block without being tired; my breathing is so labored sometimes just moving around my apartment is a problem. My knees and lower legs are painful, especially after walking. I get frequent, painful spasms in my lower arms and wrists. My speech has become slurred (I sound drunk) and my voice very hoarse - both so much so that people have trouble understanding me. I have trouble concentrating, am forgetful and am often dizzy and light-headed. I take medication for GERD, hypothyroidism, depression and asthma. But in case you think these symptoms could be from one of those (as I did!), I can assure you that I have had multiple tests which determined my thyroid levels are good, my BP is excellent, I have no signs of cardiac disease or diabetes, no sign of any type of stroke, no signs of any type of cancer or blood disease, no sign of pulmonary problems (other than asthma). I stopped taking Lipitor four days ago after consulting my doc. But I got to tell you, I am scared to death that I've been on this drug so long these symptoms won't go away. Any advice or suggestions would be most welcome.

My son is 21 month old and he's been taking singulair for two months now, and I can notice that after he started taking it he is having nightmares. Every night he starts crying while sleeping without any reason. So I am wondering could it be possible that these happens because of singulair just in 2 months or there is something else. Doctor told us to continue giving singulair for 6 months, Shall I stop giving it or not?

I posted earlier, and I just felt it was necessary to add a few additional comments. My daughter is 9.5, and after I got home from work tonight and spoke with her pediatrician, I felt it was important to have a long overdue heart to hear with my daughter. First off, I told her that I no longer wanted her to take the Singulair, and that her Dr. supported that. I told her what she needed to in place of the Singulair. Then came the hard part... My daughter has made comments to me over the last several years, as often as 2-5 times per week about suicdal thoughts. I am not sure when it even started, maybe when she was 5?... about wanting to die, or wanting me to just kill her, her killing herself. This has troubled me for years, and again, thought this was my parenting, and found it too embarrassing to discuss. I briefly mentioned this once to the pediatrician and once to my son's therapist, and didn't seem to get any reaction from either. In hindsight, I wish I would have taken these more seriously, but given her age, I thought she was just having an angry temper tantrum, which there were many.

At any rate, tonight, I talked about these comments with her, and asked her to tell me more about why she said them, and did she mean them, or was she just angry with me? Her answers were very disturbing. It took a great deal for her to be willing to answer me, she was afraid I would be upset with her, and when I reassured her that if she didn't talk to me, I couldn't help her, she finally talked to me. She told me that frequently she did feel like she wanted to die. Sometimes it was a feeling of wanting to make me suffer. Sometimes it was a feeling of just wanting to end her life. Many times she would have these thoughts and they were just kept to herself. She would often think about how she would end her life while laying in her bed, after she had taken her Singulair at night, and not falling asleep. Or, it would wake her from her sleep. She stated that these thoughts would occur 4-5 times per week. Many times she had nightmares that involved me, and did not feel that she could tell me. What frightens me most, is how many times my daughter would awaken in the night and sleep walk. She has not harmed herslef before, but had I not learned about this, and stopped the Singulair, who knows??

So, this all came out tonight, as I held her, we cried together, and I assured her that these thoughts were not her normal brain thoughts. I told her I would help her, as long as she communicated with me.

My son was put on singulair in fifth grade and I watched as an A student all thru elementary school all of a sudden be diagnosed with ADD in middle school and be hospitalized with major depression by 8th grade. Put on antidepressants,Strattera along with still taking Singulair. Grades improved slightly thru 9,10,11 but last year took him off everything and now in 12th grade -he is straight A's. Only YOU know your child best! This is hindsight but I do believe problems started with Singulair and stopped with Singulair!

I'm not one to contribute to open forums, but in this case I feel there is a need. I have been on the NuvaRing for roughly one year. I decided to start the ring due to my inability to correctly take the pill (my schedule was too hectic). I encountered a few issues in the beginning to include nausea and headache, but I had anticipated that. These symptoms gradually subsided within a month or two. (Speaking in hindsight) Very gradually I began to develop more of a need to be independent....I had started a new relationship and really cared for him, but found myself progressively wanting to spend time away from him. I also became far more irritable and to combat that, I would spend more time alone. During the past year I have had some significant transitions in my life and I always would attribute these emotions to stress, but the transitions were all positive. Recently, within the previous two months my irritability and need for isolation have truly spun out of control. Furthermore, I developed a yeast infection for the first time in my life (28 years old). I have never considered consulting a mental health specialist in the past, but I have contemplated it recently. Fortunately, I consider myself a logical person and would try to pick apart why I felt the way that I did and finally I couldn't attribute lashing out on everyone close to me to 'temporary depression' or transition and I couldn't justify giving up activities that once were of great interest to me or deciding that it would be 'easier' to break it off with anyone close to me in order to save myself from feeling remorse for treating them badly.
One aspect that contributed to my realization of what was causing this was that I knew that I was far more interested in intimacy when I was on my period, which led me to that it was possible that my symptoms were related to the NuvaRing.
I removed the NuvaRing 6 days ago and with each day I feel exponentially better. I've even had comments from those that are close to me. I have been far more motivated and in touch with my feelings in the very short period of time that I have been without the ring.
I am very happy that I was able to piece this together before my destructive behavior did more permanent damage, but I am also upset, because there was a short period of time where I thought the ring was the answer. Although I am thrilled that I feel like myself again I am concerned about being able to find a contraceptive method that is effective and does not provide such side-effects.
The worst part about this experience was that these side-effects really do creep up on you. It is not obvious at all.

I am experiencing a long term effect from taking Depo that I would not wish on anyone. I was on Depo for 1-2 years about 10 years ago. Prior to depo, I had a normal cycle. Post-depo, I NEVER returned to getting a normal period. Doctors put me on oral contraceptives to 'regulate' me which in hindsight just masked my natural cycle. I am now married and trying to conceive. I cannot ovulate or get my period on my own and am now taking cycles of assisted ovulation (which involve nightly injections, almost daily ultrasounds and bloodwork, and much anger and stress). My cousin is experiencing the same thing - was on depo for a few years about 5 yers ago and STILL cannot ovulate on her own.
Bottom line - if you ever plan to conceive, stop taking depo immediately. Who knows how long, if at all, it will take you to get a natural cycle again.

I am 38 years old and had my mirena put in in January 2007. Since than I have gained 40lbs. I have been extremely frustrated because I have been eating well and run all day bc I have a home day care - 6 children under the age of 4 plus 3 have autism. I have a serious post surgical spine condition and all the specialists keep telling me to lose weight. It seems the more active I am and healthier I eat I still am gaining. I have even been using Xenical/orlistat prescribed by my doctor and my belly just seems bloated and getting bigger.I feel less in control of my emotions than I did before the mirena insertion and I am convinced it is the mirena. My husband is on his way to have a vasectomy and I am going to have it removed as soon as I can get an appointment. Makes sense though in hindsight - put a foreign hormone in your body and it will fight back. I have not had any bleeding or a period since January. My breasts are often tender and have chronic IBS - was not that way before January .....can't wait to have it removed .....horrible side effects - I think the emotional side effects will last long after I have it removed.

I am a 45 year old woman. I have been on advair (it is called serevent in Australia) for about 2 1/2 years. I have noticed the following symptoms:
insomnia, headaches, weight gain, severe mood swings, chesty cough, sore chest, aches and pains all over and many more. Every time I would try to go off of it my asthma would seem to get worse so out of fear I would resume using it. I have now been off of it for 3 days and already I can feel the chesty cough starting to dry up. The irony is that I never had severe asthma, I was given advair because I got a very nasty flu and my asthma got worse. In hindsight I think it would have proably cleared up on its own. I would urge anyone to be very careful with this drug it is very, very dangerous!!!!

I have been taking the shot for nearly 4 years and the only side effect I have ever experiences is loss of my period, and frankly it has been wonderful not having to deal with that every month.

I've been on Advair for less than one month (22 days exactly), but have experienced several side effects noted here, i.e. acne, fluttering hearbeat. I also noticed a slight wieght gain of 4-5 pounds in 2 short weeks. Needless to say, I have taken my last does as of today. I also think I was misdiagnosed with asthma. I suffer from mild allergies and hindsight tells me I had contracted viral bronchtis, which can mimic asthma symptoms. I have since changed my diet to more natural and minimally processed foods and I feel great (outside of the Advair side effects). I rarely get sick, but this last bout of illness has made me realize that you have to be wary of misdiagnosis and doctors pushing new medications of which knowledge of long-term effects is nil. I've changed my primary doctor as well (I wasn't surprised to find a low rating score by current and past patients, which means I should have shopped around first like any good consumer).

I discovered this site on Monday and stopped taking Yasmin on Tuesday. I've been on the pill for four years and had asked my doctor multiple times if my depression, anxiety and moodiness could be related to the pill. You know the answer. I felt such a sense of relief after reading everyone's experiences. I too am an upbeat person although I have a strong tendency to worry but it was never to the point of not getting out of bed, crying over very silly things and just know excitement about living life. With a new boyfriend and a new job, I thought I was just going through some MAJOR adjustments although in hindsight it's ridiculous to have lived feeling that crappy for so long. The side effects definitely got worse after the first year and that's when my libido started to tank as well.

It's only been a few days and I'm so elated to think that I'm going to get MY LIFE BACK that I'm optimistic the side effects many have mentioned in trying to get off Yasmin will not effect me. I will endure because anything's got to be better than how it's been. Thank you all very much!!!

well this is the second time for unknown reasons I get an allergy attack in one eye that swells it shut. Antihistamines don't make it go away so they put me on a course of prednisone and send me on my way even though I have told them it gives me violent tendencies. I am not an angry person by nature, but the last two times I have been put on a course of prednisone I fly into rages at the slightest provocation. I practice meditation and stuff routinely, so I know a lot about mind control etc. so it's not like i can just take a breath and count to ten. I can't afford to go on vacation by myself every time I have to take a course of this stuff ;) LoL. I think my doctor thinks I'm whining, but I can't seem to convey this message that I really probably should not take prednisone. They insist all the steroids are the same and therefor prescribing a different one would not help.

Yesterday, I had another attack and had to go back and get more prednisone, this time I think my pharmacy may have screwed up because the highest dosage I was every given before was 60 mg a day then taper down for 2 weeks.... Yesterday the doctor decides that perhaps a short "burst" of pred would be better for my side effects to get it over with faster.

I came home with larger pills than I normally take. the bottle said to take 3 pills twice a day for one day then 3 then 2 then 1 for a total of 12 pills. I took 6 yesterday as directed and woke up with profuse night sweats and the shakes. When I got up this morning, I looked a little closer and each of those pills were 20mg a piece for a total of 120 Mg in ONE day... I am still sweating and shaky, and for all that my eye is still swollen ;) lol.

At least I can open it today though, so some good news. I am wondering now on hindsight did she mean 3 pills a day for two days then 3 then 2 then 1... it would still add up to twelve. I trusted what the pill bottle said and now I am paying for it. I wonder if I can take myself off this stuff, and if anyone else has had violent reactions (ie throwing things and crying) or Night Sweats that go on and on....

It takes a build up of it in my system usually before the tantrums occur, but with that high of a megadose yesterday I am a little afraid of taking it again. I am really getting frustrated by this whole process, and my doctor says an allergist would be turned down flat by my insurance because they haven't "tried everythign" yet... sheesh how much do I have to go through before my 'insurance' declares it worthy of a specialist.

It's very aggravating to me because I think an allergist could help me narrow down the cause fo these attacks and maybe know why it only attacks one eye... why do Insurance companies have the right to take away a doctors discretion? I am fed up with the establishment at this point.

This is an interesting and informative forum. I'm sorry to hear of all the anguish many people have expressed here while on Yasmin. Here's my story:

I have been on b/c pills for about 8 years - and I am just about to STOP them to get my body back to normal and give it break. But - that aside.....

My OBgyn prescribed me on Yasmin in mid-2003 - citing it as a new b/c pill and therefore she seemed to figure it would be the best thing for me. They didn't tell me it was $36 a month - niiiiice.

When I began Yasmin in summer of 2003 - I noticed a strange pattern in my scalp hair. The right-front quadrant of my hair thinned to where one could see the skin beneath if my hair was tightly tied back, and a small area of hair on my right temple began sticking out - like it would not grow past 2" long (my hair is longish - down to the middle of my back). This made me look a bit weird, to say the least - but I didn't attribute it to Yasmin- yet. Only when I began doing research on lists like this did I find out that hair thinning and shedding appears to be an all-too-common side effect of YASMIN. Lovely. Hindsight is 20/20 - but if I had known that before going on it - I wouldn't have bothered.

I cannot tell which complaints of mine are due to Yasmin and which are just woman-stuff - but I have several very dabillitating side effects which I am hoping are caused by YASMIN. Alll through the month - at all times of my cycle - I have a CONSTANT vaginal discharge ALL THE TIME. Every time I go to the bathroom I dread it because I know I'm going to have to spend half an hour (OK time overestimated but you get my drift) sitting there wiping and wiping and wiping and wiping - frequently having to flush more than once and/or get more bathroom tissue. WHAT A HASSLE!!!!! The discharge varies from green to yellow to brown to clear.

My face complexion is a DISASTER. My pores on my nose are enlarged so much that when I put foundation on I look like a golfball, and I have to use facewipes every 3 or 4 hours to scrape the grease off my forehead, nose and chin. I literally SHINE with the stuff. It's really horrid. When I go and look in the mirror, if I look close enough - I can see my pores dischrging immense amounts of sebum that sits in their small indentations like water. I have begun using toner in hopes that it would help. It doesn't appear to.

Also - YASMIN does NOT alter or alleviate my PMS. I still get cramps (although I never have had TERRIBLE ones) - but by far the worst is the mood swings and anger-management issues I have in the run-up week to my period. I snap at the slightest thing (husband puts a dish in the wrong place) and I am overly-emotional.

HOWEVER - by far the most DEGRADING, EXASPERATING, DEPRESSING AND WORRYING problem I have right now which seems to be attributable to being on the Yasmin birth control pill - is the COMPLETE lack of LIBIDO. Now, after doing research, I find out that Yasmin contains antiandrogen and antitestosterone agents in it. That means that it lowers or suppresses the male hormones inside of you like testosterone - which is what gives you sexual excitement and desire. YASMIN appears to be the single worst pill to take if you do not want libido problems.

The only time I have any sexual desire is DIRECTLY AFTER my period after I have been taking the inactive (or placebo) pills for 7 days. Does that ring alarm bells??

I'll stop now unless somebody writes back wanting to know any more specific advice on what I have been going through - but I can tell you that for $36 a month and considering we're usually too tired to "do it" at nights anyhow - I'd be as well stopping YASMIN and buying our family Life Insurance.

KEL

For the desperate boyfriend.....

Something similiar happened in my relationship when I was taking ortho tricyclen. I had a great boyfriend, but about a month into the pill I became very discontented with my relationship. So much so, I broke up with my boyfriend. After the breakup I stayed on the pill and I started having anxiety attacks about events that happened years earlier, and I started developing some obsessive behaviours. I stopped the pill, but not because of the side effects. You see, I wasn't aware that there was any. Those feelings I had about my relationship were very real to me at the time, and It's only in hindsight do I realize that those negative feelings were hormone induced. I got into another relationship and I decided that I was going to try a new pill, Ortho cyclen. Well, the same thing started happening! I became very discontented, and anxious - but this time I put it together and realized what was causing it, and stopped. Now I'm on Yasmin, and things are great. I'm back with the original guy that I broke up with - who incidentally is a saint for putting up with me.

These feelings your girlfriend has are very, very real to her. They may be justified, or they may be hormonal - There's no way to know. I just noticed similarities in our situations, and I thought you might like to know a different point of view.