Managable symptoms and conditions

I am in my second month of Yaz having switched from Yasmin -- Yasmin (or rather, the generic form) did not seem to have perfect results for my acne and after a year I decided to switch to Yaz because I thought that the longer amount of the drospirenone would help my skin.

Unfortunately, it seems as if my skin has gotten WORSE. I have no cysts on my face, but I have a lot of small whiteheads on my forehead and around my chin. And additionally, I seem to have little bumps on my chest and back -- places where I never had acne before. While my skin was not perfect with Yasmin, it was DEFINITELY clearer and more manageable, and this is just terrible.

I am worried that this is because Yaz has less estrogen than Yasmin. Is it the estrogen or the drospirenone that helps prevent acne? Is this just my skin reacting to the change in hormones? Should I stick with Yaz for a third month, or should I switch back to Yasmin at the end of this second month? How long should I wait before giving up?

I should also note that I started Epiduo gel about two and a half weeks ago, so I don't know if that would contribute to the fact that my acne has been getting worse, too.

HELP!

Wow... I'm glad I stumbled upon this site. I'm 24 years old and had been on NuvaRing for the last 2 1/2 years. I had used the pill until then since I was 16 to regulate my horrible periods, but I decided to switch when I got married because I was always forgetting to take the pill and since I was starting medical school a few months later, we didn't want to become pregnant at that point in our lives (and with NuvaRing I was much more likely to forget it once a month compared to everyday!).
I was always very happy with NuvaRing: my periods stayed regular and manageable, which was all I expected from BC. But oddly, over the next year I gradually developed symptoms which greatly affected my life (and my new marriage): VERY tired & exhausted all the time, horrible IBS symptoms, an aching pain throughout my body, especially in my hips/lower back and shoulders, inability to get a good night's sleep from this aching, HUGE weight gain (25 lbs in 2 years - can't shed it no matter what I do between gym/diet... Dr. doesn't understand of course), NO sex drive, and worst of all, when we did have sex it was very painful. It was horrible. I keep seeing my primary and he insisted it was from medical school & the stress. Being a rational person in med school, I understood the logic in that, but I still felt like it was more... I've always been a "busy" person, and with the increase in symptoms I gradually let other activities go in my life, leaving the only thing left to be med school; to be honest, it was the "least stressed" and most "health conscious" I'd felt in a while. But when we kept going back in my history, it all seemed to start right after I got married / around the time I started med school. So to him it always made the most sense that med school/stress was the cause of it all (of course, I never put 2 and 2 together that it's the same time I started NuvaRing!)
It became so bad I finally took a year off from medical school to spend time to figure it out. After seeing LOTS of specialists and getting lots of tests, the best anyone could come up with was Fibromyalgia. So, I took steps to feel better w/o drugs (water therapy, massage therapy, etc). I didn't like the idea of a synthetic chemical fixing something that doesn't have an exact known cause (drugs can be dangerous when not well studied - as I'm sure you're figuring out), so that's why I went the holistic route. But it never really got 100% better but it was good enough that when my leave of absence was finished, I was thankfully well enough to return to medical school a few months ago.
Oddly enough, in that time off, my husband and I had a lot of time to think about our future, and we've happily decided to try to get pregnant! So a month ago, I stopped NuvaRing. And ironically (I'm sure you can guess where this is going), things have improved over the last 2-3 weeks: I've had lots of energy, and while I still get tired, I feel like it's the "normal" kind of tired, the kind someone in med school should have (not total complete exhaustion like I used to). And wow, the sex drive... we've gone from once every 2-3 weeks (if that) to 2-3 times per week at least (or more! which seems huge for us after what we've been through!).... and the best part, no pain during sex... for anyone knows what I'm talking about, as I've seen in other posts, that's a huge and wonderful improvement!
I always kind of thought NuvaRing might be the problem (I even asked my gyno about it when I had my annual exam during that year off... she said no, most likely not of course)... it was just this odd suspicion, but I have access to all the med journals I want, and when I looked it up, I couldn't ever find any studies that reported these kind of symptoms, so I kept looking for another answer.
So, for anyone who is experiencing these symptoms and others similar to the ones others have posted, I highly recommend you consider NuvaRing as a possible cause. Everyone's different and everyone reacts differently to the same drug. Also, keep in mind lots of other things can cause these symptoms (such as thyroid or anemia issues) so definitely see your doctor about these things first, but if all of that comes out clear, consider giving yourself a break from NuvaRing, and if things improve, at least you'll have your answer finally! Drugs have lots of effects that aren't life-threatening and therefore usually go unstudied (and therefore unreported), but when this many people report similar possible side effects on a post , it's definitely worth considering!

I have read over a lot of the comments and I must say I am one of the few people who does not have many complaints. No acne, no difference is my sex drive, no headaches, no depression. I don't have much of a period anymore. But this is where my complaints start. Before Mirena, my period would come and go without much pain but since insertion, I have noticed more cramping during and two weeks prior. The cramping does include back pain. I have also noticed the first two days of my period I am exhausted. But other than, I have been pleased with Mirena. Just like any medicine, there are side effects and it varies from person to person.

Effexor XR has been a life-saver for me! I have been taking 150mg per day for about 8 yrs. Recently, 75mg was added to my daily dose because of a temporary new stress or on my plate - divorce. With the increased dose came constant sweating and unbearable dry mouth. I dropped back to the 150mg dose and the sweating is back to being manageable and the dry mouth is much less. I can't imagine living without Effexor XR - this anti-depressant has literally saved my life -- I know now that life doesn't to be so horrifically painful as was the norm for me prior to taking Effexor XR. I have no other side effects - I have gained some weight but only over the past two years and that possibly can be attributed to my age (50) and the stress of a bad marriage. The half life of Effexor is short and I do sometimes get the electrical shock feeling in my head -- that usually a red flag that I missed a dose. To be on the safe side I keep a dose in my purse as a back-up. All-in-all, it feels great to be 'normal', even if it means using Effexor XR - I hope it never goes off the market. Way-back-when, I initially started out w/ Paxil (helped, but I felt just below the surface of reality and had horrid withdrawals) - then tried Wellbutrin and after a day was so terribly spaced out that I could only minimally function and couldn't even leave the house - got off of that stuff immediately! Effexor just lets me function and feel feelings at a normal volume. Thank you Lord!!

I am almost 2 weeks into this now. I am technically on "junel" the generic form of Loestrin 24. Within about 3 days, my forehead broke out! I look like I have the skin of a 17 yr old (I'm 32). I have also been very hungry most of the time. I also now get headaches about everyday which was rare for me. I often feel bloated and I get a strange stomach gurgling (as if I ate something bad) about every other day. So far, NOT a fan of this at all! I am planning to the the Mirena IUC soon and hope that whatever side effects it has, will be at least more manageable.