Nervous stomach symptoms and conditions

Thank god I found this site! My body has been going crazy ever since I started taking Yasmin two years ago and I didn't put two and two together until reading all of these postings and realizing the Yasmin might be the culprit.

I'm a healthy 31 y.o. who exercises regularly, doesn't smoke and has been on various oral contraceptives for the last decade without too many side effects beyond slight moodiness and minor weight gain. About two years ago I switched over to Yasmin. About two months ago I came across this site as I was researching hypertension which I had developed. I was confused and didn’t know what was causing it as I am healthy, unstressed and have a history of low blood pressure. But as soon as I found this site it all started coming together and I realized Yasmin had done much more than raise my blood pressure. I immediately went off the pill and almost right away many of my side effects went away. Here's what I've experienced since being on the pill:

-Weight Gain: Almost right away I gained ten pounds. I’ve effortlessly lost five of those pounds since going off the pill.
-Seborrheic Dermatitis: After a few months of being on Yasmin I developed a painful scalp condition called Seborrheic Dermatitis. Side effects of this are inflamed scalp, redness and most importantly, hair loss. The doctor said it is generally brought on by stress but on further research I saw that it is also caused by hormones, so it wasn’t a stretch for me to realize Yasmin might be the culprit once I saw this site. Over the last couple years I’ve been using all sorts of prescription shampoos to make the problem go away and nothing helped. But as soon as I went off the pill my scalp condition cleared in only a month without the use of shampoos.
-High Blood Pressure: Before I went on the pill my BP was about 100/70. During the time I took Yasmin my BP slowly climbed to above 140/90. Within two weeks of going off the pill my BP was back down to pre-Yasmin levels.
-Irregular Heart Beat: After about a year and a half of being on the pill I started to suffer from seriously irregular heart beat which went away immediately after I got off Yasmin.
-Hyperpigmentation: I know any birth control can cause this but none of them ever have until I went on Yasmin at which point it sprung up all over my face. I’m hoping the dermatologist can clear it up now that I’m off the pill.
-Tightness in Chest: Happened around same time as irregular heartbeat and is now gone.
-Anxiety: I’m not sure I can blame Yasmin for this one since going off Yasmin has not caused it to go away. But enough posters on this site mentioned it as a side effect and it wasn’t a problem for me pre-Yasmin, so I wanted to mention it.
-Irritability: I’m generally easy going and don’t let the little things bother me, but as soon as I went on Yasmin everything started to bug me. Now that I’m off Yasmin I’ve been in a much better mood.

If anyone is on this pill or thinking about going on it, I implore you not to. Too many risks especially since there are so many other pills out there that don’t have many side effects. I mean, there are close to 5,000 postings on this site, mostly against this pill while if you search the web there are almost no other pills that generate this kind of attention. That alone tells me something. I hope the makers of the pill pull it from the market immediately or doctors stop recommending it.

I was diagnosed with Crohn's back in the 80's finally, after suffering since I was 12 and being told I was a child with a "nervous" stomach...dad used to tease me because I had to use every bathroom I came across, not realizing there was a problem. I had a portion of my bowel removed in 84 - the ileum valve along with a portion of the upper and lower bowel surrounding it, which, at the time was the most diseased portions. Removing the valve means that I must inject vitamin b-12 for the rest of my life as that valve is the place - the only place in your body that absorbs and uptakes that vitamin for you. As with any inflammatory disease, other inflammatory problems can occur because of the high inflammation running in your body. For me, this meant a form of arthritis, rheumatism or whatever. Doc wants me to go to the rheumatologist, but so far I have gotten by without YET another diagnosis on my plate. Before the surgery I asked my internal specialist if seeing a nutritionist would help me. I was so, so sick at the time. He scoffed, looked disgusted and asked what do you eat that makes you sick? I said everything. He said, then what is a nutritionist going to tell you to eat that isn't going to make you sick? At the time, I was so sick I just wanted to die and accepted that as an answer. After the surgery and many courses of different drugs for Crohn's - all of them with side effects that kept me from living a "normal" life - all side effects seeming worse than the actual disease itself I did a tremendous amount of studying on the history of Crohn's.- Burrill B. Crohn (1884-1983) was the man to discover it. In one of the articles I read he prescribed a very low carb diet to his patients which seemed to help in the majority of them to keep flare ups at a minimum. I have found, through years of experimentation with different diets ranging from health food diets on down the line, that the low-carb diet keeps my disease in check. People are like kids though. They don't always do what they know is good for them. I love chocolate, breads and sweets. In some studies I have read that you crave what may be bad for you because the bacteria your gut harbors wants to live and makes you crave what it needs to live. So, when I yank carbs from my diet - after the initial withdrawal stage and cleaning out of the gut from having done so (much diarrhea), I begin to feel almost like a normal person again with energy and pain-free. I slowly introduce fruit back in - but, through a series of colonics I had some years back, the practitioner was able to determine many foods I was allergic to just by noticing what comes out in the movement that has not been digested. Apples I can have, but not the peel. Cantaloupes - no - watermelon - not very often, etc... you can mostly tell by looking at the stool what your body is rejecting. It is its way of telling you what not to eat. Like a kid though, I stray from what I know has been tried and true and when I stray too long, joint pain comes on with a vengeance. That is when I get slapped back on the steroids to get the inflammation to back off again. When I'm not on the diet the joint pain can be controlled with Celebrex, but, when not on the diet and not taking Celebrex, the pain is out of control and has to get reeled back in with a course of steroids. So, if I can stop being a stupid kid (I'm 50) and just friggin' do what I know I need to do, I'm 95% pain-free and medication free. I have stayed mostly med free now since I was diagnosed in 84 or so through the no-carb method. The only times I had to take meds for this was when I was stupid with food for too long and one other - I had a kidney infection that I didn't know I had. It threw the Crohn's out of remission big time causing me to have to be on heavy-duty antibiotics, steroids, etc. It nearly put me in the hospital. I thought I was having a Crohn's flare-up only, but turned out the kidney infection was there and caused the flare-up - inflammation - when it hits you anywhere in your body it can cause that Crohn's to rear its ugly head. It took them years to diagnose me and through my own trial and error, I have learned how to live nearly and mostly drug free with this disease. For me, the drugs and effects are worse than the disease itself. The drugs make it hard for me to work and live. I can live near normal without them and with the diet. Your doctors will tell you differently. Doctors are put through med school on grants from pharmaceutical companies, therefore, they only learn how to treat with meds - they get kick backs from the meds they prescribe too. They do not learn how to treat through nutrition, nor do they want you to know that either. There's big money in meds - look around at all the hospitals and the many, many people taking all these drugs - synthetic drugs that are created to mimic receptors in your body so that your body accepts them, only to have to work hard to throw off the toxic substances - the synthetics they are created with so they can be patented. It is the PRACTICE of medicine and they are PRACTICING on you. Do your own research and study and conduct your own trials. I'm not saying don't go to your doc and don't take the meds - get it under control, but once you have it under control, find a way to keep it there as drug-free as possible. Your liver that has to process the toxicity of those meds will thank you for it. Your entire body will thank you for it. When the bad flare-ups happen, get your juicer out and drink nothing but fresh juices for 3-4 days. Juices are pre-digested. Your body doesn't have to work hard to assimilate the nutrients in them. Did you know that your body never does anything MORE strenuous than digesting? You could run a marathon and the amount of energy your body expends would not even come close to the energy it takes to digest your food! When you are ill - pull the food so your body can free that energy for your healing. You won't believe how much better you'll feel. Once you get it reeled back in by only having liquid for a couple of days, make sure your starch and sugar intake are lower when you begin to eat again. The bacteria in your gut feeds on carbs - starches and sugar. A good read is Marilyn and Harvey Diamond's "Fit For Life" - it has a good explanation as to how the digestive system operates - how the bacteria works - how your body has different acids that are used to digest your foods and how some of the acids that digest some foods do not mix well with other digestive juices and how to avoid that combination. This has been my trial and error - I prefer to NOT have to see the doc for Crohn's often...I haven't been to a gastro guy in 9 years or so. I do have a regular doc that, if I have flare-ups, will put me on a course of steroids for a couple of weeks to reel it back in, but the fact that it has to be reeled back in at all is my own fault because I was a bad little girl and didn't watch what I ate. For me - that's the simple solution - the food. But, you have to get it under control first before you go that route. I take the drugs til I feel better. Then I get off them and mind the diet. By the way - the arthritis - when on the diet troubles me very little. When I'm high carbing and high sugaring - the arthritis KILLS me... hope this helps any of you... I have studied this disease and nutrition since my diagnosis in the 80's... if I had it to do over again, I would go back to school and become a nutritionist...

I can't believe I didn't find this sooner! I was on the Nuvaring for about 4 years and just last month traded it in for the Mirena.

At first, I was thrilled to find the Ring as I have a very hard time taking pills because I've always had a sensitive stomach. The patch was messy and sticky so I was excited to find the ring. For the first couple of years, the only problem I had was keeping it in place (it would continuously fall out) so I just got used to having to push it back into place every time I used the restroom. Every. Single. Time. But it was worth it because it made my periods much, much lighter and more manageable (i usually am down for the count for a few days). I also did the ring continuously without taking a week off because I still had some pretty terrible periods.

About two years ago, I started gaining weight uncontrollably, became very depressed, lethargic and achey. One day I came down with a terrible case of bronchitis and was put on a heavy duty round of antibiotics and steroids. After, I started having terrible heartburn and IBS symptoms which lead me to a gastroenterologist. Every test imaginable was performed, but nothing was found. I was told I had a nervous stomach. Unsatisfied, I got some bloodwork done and had abnormal blood glucose levels. My diabetic husband gave me a glucometer and I realized my blood sugars were totally out of range. I ended up at an Endocrinologist and all tests came back normal. I was also referred to a Rheumatologist for my achy body and joints. I found a list of symptoms of hypothyroidism and was convinced this is what I have, so I was put on a very low dose of Synthroid. At the same time, I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and put on a whole mess of anti-inflammatories and pain killers.

Unsatisfied with my diagnosis of Fibromyalgia and totally unwilling to admit this is something I have to live with for the rest of my life, I began working with a nutritionist who has helped me get off all the medications (except Synthroid). But still, I hadn't slept through the night in years (getting up 3-4 times a night to use the bathroom), I was terribly achy, irritable, nauseous, constipated and still gaining weight.

Recently, my insurance changed and I decided to get the Mirena. Within a few weeks, most symptoms have drastically improved, my family notices a major change. I actually slept through the night last week, only 3 weeks after using the Ring for the last time. I haven't lost any weight yet, but the fact that I even CAN exercise is monumental. More than anything, I'm thrilled at the prospect that everything was caused by the Ring, the one constant no matter what I tried, and maybe I won't have to live with Fibromyalgia for the rest of my life.

I can't say with total certainty that the NuvaRing caused all my problems, but it is absolutely astounding that all of us are experiencing the same terrible symptoms and none of our doctors have bothered to think that it could be the Ring. I'm angry about this. Why don't they know about these side effects??

Yes these side effects are listed in the package, but they're the same side effects from pretty much every medication... and I don't know about all of you but this thing came damn near close to ruining my life. I couldn't work, sleep, eat, exercise, clean my house, etc. etc. It's no heart attack or stroke, but definitely life altering.

I think health care providers need to be alerted to these symptoms and the possibility that the Nuvaring could be causing it all. It would have saved me thousands of dollars in medical bills and despair. Patients should be warned that the side effects are very real and can be debilitating. I'm almost sorry I found this so late (after I already got rid of it!) but I'm glad I found it nonetheless.

Good luck to all of you!

My Mirena Removal....
So i posted here a few weeks ago after I found this site. I had EVERY side effect listed and was so freaked out that i immediately made an appointment for removal.
For those of you reading and wondering what the removal is like..
Well, NOTHING like the insertion. I was so so nervous and it was over before we actually started. The DR was surprised that i was back in his office to have this removed. He then proceeded to do an ultrasound to be sure it was placed properly before removal. And yes, all was OK on the position of it. I explained to him my reasons and he looked at me like he had never heard this before. I honestly can not imagine with all the women he sees that NONE of them have complained. But...as I was getting dressed afterwards, I took a good look in his office. There was Mirena literature ALL over the place. In fact, that was the ONLY thing he was advertising. Not to mention...they made me pay up front with the insertion back in Nivember...billed my insurance and I still have yet to receive my reimbursement. Oh yeah, and that...they charge more than the actual Mirena costs, then they bill your insurance for the price they know they will pay and the DR then makes about $150 profit. Nice.
Ok, back to my side effects post Mirena. The removal was not painful at all. I did spot for about a week- nothing too heavy but it was clotty and def there.
A couple of days after the removal it felt like I was coming out of my skin something terrible. I figured this was my body adjusting to the lack of hormones. I also had some headaches.
It has now been 2 weeks and the spotting has disappeared. I also can see the bloating of my stomach is starting to go away. It looked like I was about 4 mos preggo while I was on it. I also have an increased sex drive. And sleep-- well let me tell you, I have not slept this good in a very long time. I am actually sleeping more than 6 hours now and the night sweats have also discontinued.
I can't believe EVERY time I come to this site and look up Mirena ALL the people that have posted their experience as being negative. Yet, the DR looks at me like I am crazy! I have been seeing him for years and I have never complained about something like this. I really am so happy that I have it out and wish I would have done my research on this prior to insertion (which was one of the most painful things ever!)
So..for those of you out there that are either contemplating having it inserted...I say NO WAY. And for those of you out there that are nervous about the removal or not sure..I SAY YES, DO IT! For our bodies to be reacting this way, it is clear to me that it should not be inside of us. Listen to your bodies...they really do speak to you and let you know when something is not right. Forget about the DR saying it is safe or he has not heard of any of these side effects...YOU be the judge.
Good luck! And I promise it gets better once you get that lil' demon out!
Mona

nausea, nervous stomach, back pain

I went on Apri almost a year ago and had no weight gain, no breakthrough bleeding, virtually no side effects until this summer. I started having anxiety and panic attacks during my spring semester (I'm now a senior in college) and although I usually deal with stress pretty well, I thought that it was just because I was having a rough semester.

But in the past two months I've had a consistent nervous stomach and I've lost almost 15lbs from not being able to eat as much (not a good thing, I'm already a little underweight for my height). I started to have mood swings and that led straight into depression, so bad that even on vacation in Aruba I cried almost every day and night. I felt pathetic and anti-social and angry and basically scared that I'd never come out of this "phase." I called a therapist but couldn't even follow through with that. Then last week I went to the emergency room for severe stomach pain and they did some bloodwork and sent me home because "nothing was wrong." I'm also breaking out, which hasn't happened since I was like 15. Finally I went to a gyno who said this could all be side effects from the pill. If that's true than this all could have been prevented, and that upsets me greatly, but I also feel relieved that this might be over soon.

Everyone is different but if anyone is feeling things like this on Apri, see a doctor because it might be as simple as changing the pill or going off of it completely, which I plan on doing asap. Sorry but using condoms is better than being physically and mentally unstable.

This site may have saved my life! I, too, experienced a nightmare due to Yasmin, and if it weren't for reading all of your stories and feeling your support, I'm not sure what would have happened. I don't know any of you, and yet you have all been so supportive to me! I watched myself go from an outgoing, friendly, mellow person to numb, anxious, and completely different person altogether. I began Yasmin in July 05 and in hindsight, I recognize how I slowly became a different person. Here are the side effects I experienced:

stomach trouble - nausea, diarrhea, nervous stomach, loss of appetite

dizziness

general weak feeling - especially in my legs

frequent urination/dehydration

extreme fatigue - I realized I hadn't gotten a good night's sleep in a year because I would always interrupt my sleep pattern because of having to go to the bathroom up to 4 times a night!

hair loss

dry mouth/extreme thirst

extreme moodiness - also numbness. I have always been a compassionate and caring individual and I found myself thinking that any emotional situations were stupid and that I was "above all that" touchy-feely stuff. NOT me, at all!

irrational thoughts/grim thoughts - in my research about Yasmin (and the Pill in general), I found that when your brain is lacking the appropriate levels of seratonin, you experience dark/grim thoughts about loved ones and yourself.

anxious panicky feelings

NO sex drive - and I had a very healthy sex drive prior

I simply attributed all the side effects to other sources, because I had no idea that a little pill could change a person so much. Then about 5 weeks ago (late July 06) I had my first panic/anxiety attack. I was convinced that I had snapped, and didn't even know what it was at first because I've never before struggled with anxiety/stress. It was one of the darkest, most frightening experiences of my life. I decided to google "Yasmin and anxiety" and found this site. I thank each of you for being honest about your experiences. I saw myself in many of your stories.

I quit Yasmin immediately, but then made the mistake of going back to another pill (Ortho-Cycen) that I had been on for 5 years previous to Yasmin. My Yasmin side effects weren't going away as quickly as I wanted them to, so I went to the doctor to make sure nothing else was wrong with me (I had thyroid tests, diabetes tests, etc.) She said that she was 99% sure that ALL of my symptoms were directly related to a hormone imbalance due to the pill. She said that even though I went on another pill that had been okay in the past, that my body had just reached a threshold and couldn't handle any more hormones. I have decided that I will never go back to a hormonal contraceptive method every again. It compromised my health and personality way too much! I'm working now to get my body its health back.

I've been off any form of BC for 2 full weeks now (after being on BC for 6 years straight) and I'm noticing a HUGE difference in my personality, my general health and wellbeing and my outlook on life already. I'm still not 100%, and understand that I won't be for awhile because my body needs time to sort itself out hormonally, but I do see a major improvement. I'm hoping that within 3 months I'll be completely back to normal. I have tried the vitamins that many of you have mentioned: I'm taking One-a-Day Womens, and supplements of B-complex, and one that includes calcium, magnesium and zinc. I've also tried Valerian (herbal remedy - I bought it in pill form), which I take when I feel an anxiety attack coming on, and it really helps! I feel calmer/better usually within a half hour.

I want to thank you all for posting your experiences. You have each made a difference in my life, and I hope I can do the same for someone too. I didn't even consider adding my experience to this site until I realized how much you all helped me. You are all in my thoughts as we each attempt to leave this awful pill in the dust! Take care, and again, thank you!

emotionally i am doing much better,i am however having major troubles with my (ahem!) bowels! i seem to be going to the loo about 15 times a day,i think it is a recurrence of IBS but it is really throwing me off because i like to know i am not going to need the bathroom when i am out! this brings up my panic attack worry which in turn sets off my nervous stomach! i have not had these problems for about 12-13 years and i can only attribute it's return to all the problems i had while taking yasmin,i am taking various remedies to try and calm it down again,hopefully once the yasmin is out of my system and my anxiety levels are back to pre-yasmin levels my stomach problems will improve again..in the mean time if anyone has any advice on IBS or nervous stomachs i would love to hear from you!

sarah

Shortness of breath if I skip a dose.
Anxiety with nervous stomach which leads to nausea