Ortho tricyclen symptoms and conditions

I have been on Loestrin for 1 year and 4 months. This is my last month because I am changing to Ortho-TriCyclen. At first, I thought my symptoms were common: nausea, headaches, cramping, spotting. After the first 3 months, nothing changed. I began to notice that I was having 2 periods a month and that continued till this month where I am waiting on my period to start (I am 2 days late). After reading this blog, I noticed that I was experiencing other side effects and I didn't associate it with the pill. I have gained 15 pounds over the year, hungry all the time. Moody doesn't begin to describe it. I have thoughts every period of divorcing my husband, I'm miserable. I just figured I was going through a low point. My husband has noticed that I am not the same person he married. I was once very outgoing and energetic but now I just want to sleep and be alone. I hope that my slight depression is due to the pill and that changing it will help be bounce back.

To be perfectly honest, the big thing that I'm noticing is breast tenderness. I'm a really chesty girl as it is, but even going up and down stairs hurts...

Also, I'm noticing that my sex drive is a lot lower, and that I do have a little more acne than normal.

On the bright side, I'm not gaining weight, which was not the case when I was on Ortho-Tricyclen. I've actually lost a little... It's kind of odd, too, because I've had more of an appetite.

Either way, it takes your body three months to adjust. I'm not that concerned yet. I'd advise you to just try and deal with it for a little while. A lot of it is in your head, especially when you go reading all these horror stories!

I've been on Yasmin for about 2 years or so, and before that, Ortho-TriCyclen for about 6 years. I've had no problem with Ortho-TriCyclen, but my Gynecologist switched me over to Yasmin due to my periods getting longer.

While I was on Yasmin, everything seemed fine, then a year later, I got a UTI. And I never get those! Nothing in my life had changed (same BF), and so I thought it was a one-time thing (or related to taking antibiotics at that time for a root canal). Well, I got UTIs 3 more times after that! Almost every month! However, during those months, I had switched to Ocella, so I thought it had something to do with taking the generic. Shortly after, I went back to Yasmin. I have had no UTIs since, but I also have been very careful to avoid it.

After the switch back to Yasmin (from generic), I noticed that I had NO sex drive and was dry, which was not like me. I also had melasma, which was noticeable to me and very annoying. I had recently stopped taking Yasmin altogether after searching for its side effects. It's been a month and a half now and my libido is coming back and the dark spots on my skin are beginning to diminish. Although my side effects were minimal compared to others here, I will not take Yasmin anymore. It's actually nice not to have to remember to take a pill everyday!

I'm in my 5th month of taking Yasmin, and in my 4th month I developed rashes on my face and all over my body. They look like inflamed skin with heads of pus, and very itchy. I first thought it was some severe skin reaction unrelated to the pill because I've taken bc before (ortho-tricyclen) for many years and that never happened. But after reading this forum, I think the cause is Yasmin. I've never had any skin issues like this before, and what's worse is that my immune system has been weakened and I got a bad flu-like illness with high fever in my 4th month of taking this pill. In fact, I'm experiencing my second rash reaction right now, and I'm in my 5th month. This time I'm heaving as well. I think I will stop this drug tonight. I'm so glad you are sharing your experiences on this forum because reading this helped me figure out why I've been so sick. From what I'm hearing, this drug is awful! Nobody should risk taking it because it is even worse than high dose pills, in my experience.

It's been 4 days since I've quit taking YAZ. I was on it for 8 months. It's only 4 days, but I'm thrilled to be free of a daily pill. Prior to this I was on Ortho Tricyclen. I'm not sure if I'll be going back on that or not. Right now, I'm happy to be pill free and referring to other forms of protection when needed. (I have two children and in my 30s).

I'm glad to have found this website. I recently had a complete physical and blood work and everything is fine. So that leads me to believe the only thing that is causing my "issues" is the damn YAZ. I feel so angry, tired, mood swings easily, tired, irritable, and fatigued...did I mention tired. That's the worst of all of it for me. I've been on it for 7 months. I'd have to say around the 3rd or 4th month is when I started noticing how tired I feel. I'll be changing back to my old BC, ortho-tricyclen in hopes of improvement.

I have been taking FEMCON FE for about 3 weeks now. I feel very nauseous lately at night and I have noticed extreme mood swings as well as an increase in appetite.I attribute these side effects to this being a new substance that my body has not yet gotten used to. I was on Ortho-Tricyclen for 10 years. But after reading all of the other post, makes me think I should go back to Ortho.

Oh my gosh! I am so glad I found this website! I started taking loestrin fe24 three and a half months ago. Last month I started with the heart palpitations. Went to see a cardiologist....wore a 24 hour monitor....had ekg....everything is normal. NORMAL my butt! I feel awful! The palpitations are getting so bad I have not slept in 3 days. I know that only makes it worse. I am thinking about just stopping the pill cold. The gyn called in ortho tricyclen for me but I can't start on that until the end of the month. I don't know if I can take this bcp for three more weeks. Any suggestions?

I have been taking Yaz for almost 2 months now. Before Yaz I took Ortho-tricyclen for several years without any symptoms until recently. I felt very moody and emotional so I decided to give Yaz a try. All emotional symptoms have gone away, however, ACNE everywhere! On my face, neck and chest! Also, i'm getting cramps in every part of my body, along with headaches. Any ideas what other pill to switch to????

The gynecologist examined me and refused to insert a copper IUD because he said my uterus was too small. After I got dressed, he handed me a FREE SAMPLE of NuvaRing. I said : "But I don't want to use hormonal bc." He said : "This has less hormones and doesn't go through the liver." Well I guessed that was a GOOD thing, which he wanted me to believe of course. The mood swings, serious anxiety, irritability (I would go as far as to say, anger and impulse control problems) and burning vaginal pain during sex seriously affected my relationship with my boyfriend. We may even be broken up now and I blame it partly on NuvaRing and other hormonal bc I took after my 2 months on NuvaRing. I am so sad that I had to go through all that! I wonder how many gifts the doctors get for giving us the prescriptions of bc. Anyone interested in non hormonal bc? There is the cervical cap in many varieties and sizes. It doesn't affect sexual spontaneity because you can insert it several hours before sex and you can have intercourse several times with it on. You can even keep it in for up to 3 days.

Wow! I think i have just solved my problem(s)...i am 33 yr old healthy level headed woman,only med taken was ortho-tricyclen.
I began taking YASMIN 06/08, felt o.k. til beginning of July/08 when i switched to OCELLA. I began to experience some strange symptoms. I had eye pain, nausea, blurred vision,vomiting. 08/08 began getting severe headaches which lasted all day. then the eye pain became more severe. ended up going to several medical doctors, put on antibiotics, cat scan, just got my blood checked yesterday for graves disease /thyroid and addisons disease! i was thinking tonight what is making me feel this way... it dawned on me that i had a change in birth control and that is when all these symptoms started to occur. I really believe this is the answer, i don't think i have any disorder/disease i believe this pill has some serious problems. i fear that we will soon hear that it is pulled from the market due to some disease/disorder inducing side effects! I can not believe i found this-probably saved my life or maybe prevented something horrible from happening to me. i just hope i don't have any lasting effects from it:( i am still awaiting my test results...

I'm so glad I found this website! I'm 25 and I've been using Nuvaring for 3 years (Ortho-tricyclen and low dose for 5 years before that), and I also found that the bad side effects of Nuvaring came on gradually. I've been experiencing nausea, headaches, abdominal cramps and diarrhea, anxiety and depression, irritability, fatigue, and low to no sex drive. Because they all came on gradually, I really didn't attribute them to Nuvaring. This past month, I accidentally left the ring out for 10 days instead of 7 to have my period, and since I've put the ring back in, I've been VERY nauseous (this has lasted for 4 days so far). After reading all of your comments, I'm going to remove it for good. I just hope the nausea goes away soon.

I was just about to start my 4th month today, but wanted to do some research after going to the doctor the other day. I have had "loose" stool ever since I started taking this pill 4th months ago. I never associated my problem with the pill until my doctor had mentioned it and looked it up in the side effects. I have also felt like my head is cloudy and could'nt figure it out. I will get so angry at my husband for absolutely no reason - something would just set me off and I went on a verbal rampage. I bought my pack for this month but now I have decided to just throw them away and go back on ortho tricyclen. I did have mood swings on ortho right before my period, but they were not nearly as brutal as being on yaz. I have also felt depressed. I just had a baby in April and just chalked it up to that. After reading all of these posts though I whole heatedly believe it is yaz.

I'm on my 3rd month of Yaz and I couldn't be happier. I was on ortho-tricyclen for a year and a half but my PMS was getting horrible and I was retaining water like you wouldn't believe (I was actually gaining 10 pounds of water!). Once I switched I get no PMS at all. No aches, no soreness (my boobs would get unbelievably sore and would sting if touched or bumped even in the slightest way), no mood swings. I didn't have any breakthrough bleeding (I'm wondering if it's because I finished my last pack of ortho and went on to yaz on schedule?) and haven't had any side effects EXCEPT for stomach pains the day before I get my period, but it's not so bad that I can't go on with my day (and truthfully, prior to yaz, my stomach gave me problems the whole week before my period -- and that has ceased.). I know some people experience bad things while on yaz, but I have to say, it's working really well for me. Everyone reacts differently to medicines. Read the sheet and report anything to your doctor.

I am a 30 year old, been on L24Fe since beginning of Aug 06 due to breakthrough bleeding for several months on Ortho TriCyclen which I had been on since 1994, with no problems. Once I started it, my breakthrough bleeding stopped-in fact I never had a period again.

However, after a month, I started experiencing shortness of breath, and my heart was racing, I went to the Dr, they did an EKG, chest xray, pulmonary function tests, allergy tests. You name it. Dry mouth, dry eyes, vaginal dryness, hot flashes, insomnia, acne and wheezing and coughing followed. I was seen by several top specialists. They decided that I had Vocal Cord Dysfunction and it was caused by either something called Sjorgren’s syndrome or Acid Reflux. They decided it must be Acid Reflux-even though I didn’t feel like I had indigestion. They started me on protonix, that didn’t work, then switched me to prevacid, then when that didn’t work, they decided to put me on prilosec, then doubled the dosage, then tripled the dosage. By that time, I was doubled over in pain and was going to the bathroom every ½ hour. My stomach was swollen so bad, I looked very pregnant. I am a petite, thin person. I gained about six lbs over this time and I’ve been the same weight since I was 18, and I worked hard to keep it just at six lbs. (working out 2xs a day-seriously became a huge gym rat). I couldn’t wear my wedding rings b/c my hands were so swollen-when I complained-they said they weren’t “that swollen” and I just needed to buy bigger rings. I finally had an endoscope in Nov 07 and they ruled out acid reflux (which I knew bc I had no symptoms).

They then decided it must be the Sjorgrens-a very serious auto-immune disease-which causes-dryness everywhere, and they were guessing the dryness was causing my vocal cords to spasm-so they tested me-with a blood test-it was negative. They said sometimes the blood test is negative-so they then did a lip biopsy-also negative. The doctors all finally said, we don’t know what’s causing this, we’re stumped. You’re just going to have to live with the Vocal Cord Dysfunction-here’s some anti-depressants. I didn’t want to take them so I didn’t. I was stressed b/c I wanted to start a family-but how-I had no sexual desire, and I wasn’t an emotional wreck-not ideal conditions for starting a family-right?

Throughout all of this, I kept asking each dr. could it be my pill? No, it’s not the pill and I believed them b/c I had never had any problems with Ortho. I decided that I would go over my huge medical file 5 weeks ago. I spent two days and then got online and found this website and spent about 6 hours reading everyone’s comments. I was at the end of my package. I threw all of them away. It has been a month, I’ve never felt better. Suddenly, I’m able breath, my mouth isn’t dry, and I’m sleeping at night. I’m still periodically having hot flashes (but I’m not sure if its just the weather) and I’ve noticed that the vaginal dryness is getting better, but not fully. I have been getting a little dizzy, but I’m told that this pill has iron in it, and I’m likely just noticing the reduction in iron. I have started taking an iron supplement and it helped. Also, I got my period after 4 weeks, it wasn’t terrible-it lasted 5 days and it was light. I was massively bloated though. I just weighed myself after 2 days finishing my period-I haven’t weighed myself since about 2 weeks before I stopped the pill and I’ve lost 3 lbs.

If you think about everything. The signs I had ARE THE SAME AS MENOPAUSE. This pill mimics menopause. I’m 30, I’m not ready for that. I am paranoid that I’m never going to be able to have children. Oh yea, and my face has been clear.

All the doctors think I’m crazy, even my gynecologist. I’m considering contacting the FDA to force them to review our complaints so no one else has to go through all of these problems. Please contact me at this email address if you are interested.
I also found this website that we can report complaints to the FDA.

https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/medwatch/

I lasted just 20 days on Yaz. I had a persistent "kicked-in-the-stomach" feeling that just wouldn't go away. This is the kind of stomach pain that makes you want to bend over and not sit or stand up straight. For days which I wasn't even on my period, I had cramping and a backache -- which usually only occur for 1-2 days during my period. So it's like I got to experience the pain of my period most of the month! Finally, I couldn't stand the stomach ache any more, and read the leaflet that came with the pills. Then I jumped online and -- surprise! I'm not the only one experiencing nasty side effects. Thank God I finally figured it out. However, it's been 3 days OFF the pills, and still my stomach has been hurting. And for all that pain, my period is still heavy! I had tried Ortho Tricyclen in the past and had very few side effects. It was NOTHING as bad as this. These are some of the worst pills I have ever taken.

May 2006 I stopped taking Yasmin after being on it for a few years. I was having bad sinus congestion, sinus pressure, headaches and post nasal drip but never thought it was because of Yasmin. I went to a ENT doctor and the tissue in my sinsus cavities was so inflamed he recommended surgery. I also had a deviated septum and bone spur which were corrected. After the surgery (August 2006) I felt great. I exercise A LOT and it was now so much easier because I could breathe without all the fluid buildup. I kept thinking what a miracle the surgery was. March 2007 I started taking Ortho-tricyclen and quickly gained 10lbs in 2 months. I also had mood swings mostly feeling down. But I was still able to run and exercise more than I had in many years. March 2008 I went in for my annual exam and after mentioning my side effects from Ortho-tricyclen my doctor recommended going back on Yasmin since it had worked before. Two days after starting Yasmin my sinus problems and headaches returned. I was so low on energy and my chest felt tight. The only good thing is that I lost my appetite and in one month I lost 7 of the 10 lbs I gained on Ortho. I stopped taking Yasmin this past weekend in the middle of a pack. I am feeling better and have not had a headache this week. I was also able to run yesterday which felt so good. I hadn’t exercised in a month because of my lack of energy and difficulty breathing. Had I not been on it before I would have thought this was just a bad allergy season. I am convinced Yasmin was the cause of all my sinus problems and headaches.

First of all, Yaz and yazmin are two diff pills, yaz was approved a few years after yazmin b/c it held a lower dose of estrogen.

I am a female who had a bad reaction to ortho and the depo shot. I was turned onto yazmin about 4 years ago because I had bad reactions to the other forms I'd tried. I suffer from depression problems as well, and my doctor said that it tested well among people with my background. I loved it.

Anyhoo, the whole reason I am writing, is because I've noticed a pattern in all of the statements on this website: the women who had bad experiences w/Yaz or Yazmin, had good experiences w/Ortho Tricyclen and vise versa. I just find that so amusing!!!

Thank you for your time,

Mel

I am reading this thread and will, as a male, caution everyone about the possible effects of Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo. I am 41, have been married 19 years and have two children. I believe I occasionally suffer from bouts of mild depression which I have treated through therapy (about every 18 to 24 months). My wife had been on OT Lo for a long time until 6 months ago when she finally went off about 6 months after I had a vasectomy.

I cannot do justice to the transformation, at least from my perspective, that resulted after about 30 days of being off OT Lo. Sex drive went from very low to higher than anything I have ever seen. Call me a typical male if you want, but I can tell you the emotional impact of feeling like your wife really wants to be with you versus having almost no interest in sex.

Also, the way she approached problems changed dramatically. Therefore, the way I participated in those problems was able to change. No more highly emotional responses that were very difficult for me to understand while managing my own emotions and our level of conflict. The way way we were able to resolve problems became a partnership, not me bending to emotions I suspected neither she nor I could control.

Biggest problem: Irregeular periods. So, she goes back on the OT Lo and 1 week later we have a huge meltdown because she thinks I am ignoring her and the kids while away on a business trip. I am not for a minute going to tell you I am perfect, but this is precisely the type of issue that hurt our marriage for 18 years (in part because I am not great at handling emotional issues like this, particularly when I don't believe they are true) and went totally away during the 5 months she was OT Lo-free.

Kicker: She doesn't recognize how much differently she is processing her emotions and I have not found a way to address the issue without going through another major emotional battle that historically wouldn't have worked anyway.

Sidenote: I never wanted to get a vas. until I read an article that referenced depression as a possible side-effect of the Pill. I was willing to do anything to help change the emotional equation of our marriage because I didn't know how long I could last managing my bouts of depression in our environment.

So, probably not everyone had or will have the same effects. But please make sure you are paying attention to yourself, your level of happiness and how you handle things. FWIW.

Hi everybody, I just wanted to say that I am on the patch and it is the only birth control I've tried that gives me NO emotional side effects (mood swings, depression, anger, etc). I have tried Ortho TriCyclen, Yasmin, and the NuvaRing...all were terrible for me. I experience some breast tenderness and bloating around my period while on the patch, but the period is normal and always comes at the same time. If you have tried several pills and you find that you always end up turning into an emotional mess...I would try the patch out. It's a little annoying because it can get itchy, depending on where you put it...but it's still convenient. I would also only recommend it to women who are under 35, weigh under 198 lbs, and have low blood pressure. Hope this helps some people out. Again, it's worth a shot if you can't seem to find a pill that you like.

I am in the same boat as the rest of you. I was on Loestrin a year ago and switched because of the cost. I then called my doctor up and switched back, but not without asking if it could cause me to gain weight. She said no, but I now know she was wrong. When I was off the pill I lost about 10 pounds. Since being back on it, I have gained the weight back in spite of working out and trying to eat better. I know it is the pill doing this. I also have had horrible headaches. After reading this blog, I am calling my doctor tomorrow and switching back to Ortho Tricyclen. Don't want to gain the weight while I am working out to lose it! Good luck to you others.

I was taking Ortho-Tricyclen low for a year and everything was fine. I had no side effects. Recently I told my doctor that I feel my hormones have gone down drastically and I haven't been in the romantic mood with my BF. I figured my daily routines may have changed something in my body. So she gave me 3 packs of Microgestin FE 1.5/30 and told me that would boost up my hormones A LOT. So far, after finishing the last pack, nothing. I mean NOTHING. All of a sudden I got the common cold perhaps the flu and now receiving lower back pain. The first night it was on the right only and now its only on the left side. Could this be a side effect to the pill???

I started Femcon Fe a week and a half ago for irregular periods. I am halfway through the second row and I am DONE. I have tension headaches, insomnia, nausea that wakes me in my sleep, I feel lazy and tired. The worst part is that is making me itch all over my body. I had cholestasis of pregnancy TWICE, and I am experiencing the same symptoms. I also felt these symptoms with Ortho Tricyclen and NuvaRing. I guess I'll just have to deal with the irregular periods.

I've been taking Femcon for about three months now, and while I haven't noticed 'typical' side effects i.e. weight gain (I've actually lost weight), moodiness/PMS, breast tenderness, etc., I've had my period THREE times in one month. They've been true periods, too, complete with cramps and fatigue. It's so frustrating.

I've also experienced a severe UTI while taking this pill; I thought it was due to sex, but upon reading an earlier post I can't help but wonder if it was from this pill. The pain was horrific, and I have a high pain threshold. I went to urgent care and had to have my boyfriend drive because I was in such severe pain. It felt like I had thrown my back out (pain was centered in my lower back).

I've been on and off birth control since I was 17 - for 6-7 years I took Ortho Tricyclen with no side effects, then the patch (which I absolutely HATED), and now have been trying different pills (Tricyclen, Tricyclen Lo and Femcon) to see what works best for me (I'm now 29) since I plan to take the pill continuously again.

Overall, I'd highly recommend Ortho Lo. I felt great, didn't appear to gain any weight and it made my period very light and as pleasant as possible (if that is possible!). Unfortunately, there is no generic for Lo and with insurance it's still $50/month. However, it's worth the extra money....I mean, who wants to perpertually bleed and feel like crap? Not me.

I just switched to Yasmin 3 days ago after being on Ortho Evra (patch) for over 5 years (since I was 15, due to severe cramps). I had continual spotting on the patch, and a bit of nausea but other than that I felt normal. After 3 days on Yasmin, I am convinced it is not for me. The first two nights I took it, I felt mildly nauseous. I have been breaking out in very strange places over the past fews days (my neck and stomach) and I have had relatively clear skin for years. I've noticed I've been quite moody, crying very suddenly and constantly snapping at loved ones over the past few days but wrote at off as stress. Now I know that there is something not right. I took the pill at 10pm and felt find until 1am when I laid down to go to bed and felt VERY nauseous. I was somehow able to fall asleep but at 4am I woke up and vomitted 5 times. Two hours later and I still feel nauseous although I think (hope) the worst of it is over. I even called my poor mom who lives hours away in the middle of the night crying about how sick and sad I felt. Which I knew was ridiculous but I didn't know what else to do! I couldn't stop crying or throwing up! I am hoping to switch to Ortho Tricyclen or back to the patch. I never realized how good I had it!