Panicky feelings symptoms and conditions

Hi there, I also thought I was going crazy...I've always been in touch with my emotions and have dealt with them in healthy ways, for example doing a lot of yoga and getting outside and being active. I got the Mirena inserted in July of 2008 when my son was almost a year old. I got one period, then nothing. At first it was just fine, I noticed the decrease in sex drive but I thought it was because of disagreements with my husband. Then the motion sickness and panicky feelings kicked in around Christmas. I haven't slept well since the summer- to the point of seeing a doctor for insomnia. The motion sickness has been the hardest part- I started getting motion sick on a ski chairlift for crying out loud!!!! After I found this website I feel "saved"! I had the thing taken out last Friday, and still not feeling myself. I just hope that I can flush this toxic energy from my body. Has anyone considered some type of cleanse? Best wishes to all of you, and big hugs.

I am so relieved to have found this web site! I had my Mirena IUD placed in early October 2008. It hurt a bit when they put it in like birthing cramps. I had some cramping for about a week but it was tolerable. I had spotting for about 3 1/2 months. I had one period about a month after placement which I experienced the worse cramps than ever before. Since then no periods and no cramps. Every now and then I will get some spotting, but no big deal. I have noticed an increase in acne but it's livable. I have had headaches of which I never got before. I haven't slept soundly for the past 10 years after my husband died because I know I am the only one here to protect my children should anything happen during the night. So I wake at every sound and make sure all is ok then go back to sleep. It's been different since the Mirena IUD. It's gotten much worse. It takes me a LONG time to get to sleep and when I do, my night is filled with intense, long-lived, vivid nightmares! (up to 4 a night) After which it again takes me a while to get back to sleep. What I am incredibly concerned about, though, is the emotional side effects that I have experienced! I have slowly become a basket-case. I have at different times experienced the following side-effects : anxiety, minor paranoia, racing heartbeat, MOOD SWINGS! unexplained crying episodes, foggy thinking, and panicky feelings. They don't all come at once and when one would occur, I dismissed it as weird or due to stress or whatever. I am not sure how long I have been experiencing them because it happened so slowly. It sort of all snuck up on me. However, in the last week or two, they have really made an impact! Two weeks ago, I remember telling a friend at work that something was wrong with me. She said "Oh you are probably just stressed or something. Don't worry about it." I said "No! I really think something is really wrong with me." I was scared to push it because, I don't know, I didn't want to sound like a freak. Then came this last Friday. At work, on my lunch hour, I just sat and cried for no good reason! Friday night it was unbearable. I HAVE NO REAON TO BE DEPRESSED! Saturday really scared me! I felt like I couldn't live this life! I was a mess!!! Thank God for my friend whom I called out of sheer desperation and who talked me through it! I had previously wondered about the effects of the Merina IUD but Saturday evening I immediately began to do the research (in between my crying fits that I had no control over). I found a little bit of info but just basic stuff like it can cause "depression and other mood changes." I knew something was terribly wrong with me and I needed to find more detailed info! (I am normally a fun, happy, in-control, go get 'em kind of person. I have to be. My husband died 10 years ago and I have had to raise my three children completely alone. A person has to have it "all together" to accomplish what I have accomplished! Let there be no question about that.) Now it's Sunday and I woke up this morning no better off. The crying fits have been even more often and all day long! My children have been scared for me because they know this is NOT my normal behavior! I just told them I would be ok. They have hung in there with me all day! I knew I had to just roll with it until I could get to my doctor tomorrow because there is no controlling them. I finally came upon this website this morning! OH! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR SHARING YOUR STORIES! I thought I was going crazy! I will be on my doctor's door step first thing in the morning to have this beastly contraption removed! They WILL fit me in their schedule because I WILL NOT leave their office with this IUD in my body! Sadly...Valentine's Day is around the corner so too bad for me and my boyfriend! I can't handle another week with this...so I have to do what I have to do! I understand that some women have good stories to tell about their Mirena IUDs but they seem to be few! If a woman was contemplating it and asked my opinion, it would be this.."Do what you think is best, but weigh the consequences first! I personally regret having it! It's been hell!" All I hope now is that it doesn't take much longer to get back to normal after the IUD is removed because I can't live like this! I hope I have helped another woman like me in writing this.

Hi everyone, I just came upon all this yesterday and can't believe it! I have been thinking I am going crazy and have been going down a shame spiral! I have had the Mirena for about a year after the birth of my twins. When I first got the Mirena I really didn't seem to like it...I had weird bleeding, cramping, headaches but my doctor told me there were really no side effects except for the on and off again bleeding so I didn't think much of it. Soon, I started having heart palpitations and weird panicky feelings when I would be out places which I have never had before. I wrote it all off due to the rough twin pregnancy and moved on. Soon, I really started worrying something was wrong with me because of all these weird things, the headaches and heart palpitations and panicky feelings, also I started feeling foggy like I was walking around feeling out of it and sometimes a little dizzy or something just having weird head feelings. We always had in the back of our minds that it could be the Mirena but never really took action. Just for the past couple of months things have gotten much worse. Those panicky feelings really got worse and combined with anxiety and sad and crazy depression thoughts and feelings. I also have been feeling this weird nervousness.....even in my quietest moments of my day. This is so out of my normal character and I feel like I can't even remember what I used to feel like. I have been to my PCP who gave me medication for anxiety and have had a hard time adjusting because I just can't believe all of this craziness and I just keep thinking is the problem really my IUD? Then my mom came upon this because she just felt that me feeling this way is just to weird and I feel like I relate to all of your stories! I have truly been feeling like I am going crazy...and I have never felt this way before...ever. I called my doctor yesterday to talk with her and I am going to have this removed...although I am a little nervous about the after effects. I just keep thinking a year ago I was fine.. and now look at me...I am on anti-depressants...how did this happen?? I know that I have stress but there is no reason for me to be feeling this way. I would love to hear about anyone else who felt this way and got the IUD removed and how that went. I know that I probably won't feel better right away...but I am hoping with time I can forget all of this and move on.

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!

Hello. I a 29 years old. My doctor recommended that i go on Yasmin to help with my acne treatment. It has been about three months or so.......my acne has dramatically decreased. However, i have gained about 15 pounds regardless of eating well and working out. I have noticed more "panicky" feelings than before and more mood swings.

I have considered going off them or switching, but i am scared that my face will go back the way it was before. I am upset about this "trade-off" clear skin or up 2 sizes. On all the commercials for this product the women look so happy. It was sort of all the rage for awhile. Yasmin. We will see......

How long does this stuff take to get out of my system??? I have been off it for about 2 months and sometimes still get panicky feelings! Can it take this long to be fully out of my system? Any information would be a great help!