Peri menopausal symptoms and conditions

This website had made me sane!!! I have recently become a crazy woman searching side effects of birth control like it was my job, it has taken up my entire head!.. I started nuvaring four months ago (first form of birth control ever) to help control my horrible pms and very irregular period, and it helped that out, HOWEVER, I have recently decided I would prefer the pms over these awful, AWFUL symptoms. Although little spurts occurred here and there, this month is the absolute worst. I have managed to gain 12 lbs in under a month ...(keep in mind I am a work-out freak and have made sure to burn as many calories as I take in each day simply because I just can't stop gaining the weight!) I don't fit into any of my clothes and I just do not like the way I look. It is as if my body has just gotten wider and larger. I used to love my body and now I cant stand looking in the mirror everyday. My eating habits are awful....I try to starve myself for periods of time because I simply cannot help myself when I enter the kitchen. I feel like a bulimic girl, without the puking afterward. My binges are DISGUSTING, I'm actually ashamed. The worst symptom of all, though, are the mood swings. I cry at the drop of a hat every single night, I'm 20 years old away at college, and last night I cried because all I wanted was my "mommy." That's embarrassing. Not to mention my boyfriend thinks I am absolutely nuts because I have "changed." When you tell a severely hormonal woman she has "changed" you better expect a shoe or the nearest object to fly at you, which is exactly what I did. I CAN'T HELP IT! I also have been having negative thoughts about life as a whole lately and have even entered the realm of slight suicidal thoughts, or at least thinking my life was worthless. I've been through too much with my cycle to stop it now (even though I feel like ripping this thing out ASAP) and have 2 weeks left before I can take it out FOR GOOD! If anyone has any feedback they want to share to keep me sane through these last 2 weeks PLEASE PLEASE share! Also, does anybody know how long it will take for me to get my life back?! =(

I have previously been taking Desogne since 1991. It was a mracle worker for me. I suffer from endometriosis, and it took a while to find Desogen. I had no weight gain on Desogen, my cystic acne evened out and so did my anxiety attacks and mood swings in general. No cramps. I took it everyday - no breaks for periods for 11 years; stopped to conceive (preggo in 3 months, with one remaining ovary); and went back on after finished nursing. I'm going to try loestral now that I'm peri-menopausal - hoping the lower progestin will help.

Has anyone out there had an increase in urination? I started Yaz in Feb. and since then I've been peeing like a race horse. My OBY said it was probably an overactive bladder, typical for a peri-menopausal woman. I had tests for bladder infections and they read negative. I was in the middle of relocating my family across many miles and I just put up with the symptoms. Now I find out there is microscopic blood in my urine and I am scheduled for a slew of tests probing for tumors, cancers, polyps, etc. in my bladder and kidneys. My Dad had bladder cancer so I'm pretty scared. However, I am starting to wonder if there is a Yaz connection. I hate the thought of returning to periods where I couldn't leave the house because I was bleeding so much but all the risks here are scaring me. I don't have an OBY here yet but assuming I am not harboring cancer or an other disease (i.e., kidney stones) I think I'll go off Yaz. I already have horrible migraines and acne so I'm wondering if it will all get worse. My headaches are the same (2-3 times a month) with Yaz and my skin is better. It's been pretty good for water weight but as I said, I am in the bathroom way too much.

I have been on Loestrin fe 24 for 6 months for peri-menopause symptoms. It seems to work better for that than for younger women who are used to higher hormone levels. It sounds like to me, from reading above, that the dose is too low for child bearing women, and you're getting peri-menopausal symtpoms while on this.

My hormones were already low, especially my progesterone being 48, so this medicine gave me huge relief from mood swings, insomnia, mid month periods with terrible cramping and even lifted my libido just a tiny bit. It did not stop the hair loss. I never had complexion problems and never got any with this either.

After I had been on it for 4 or 5 months, I started getting the mid month cramping again, then almost every day, felt like I was having a period. The depression came back, just like it was before I started.. So I don't know WHAT happened. It felt like it did me good for a few months, then suddenly
I felt like I did before taking it and now I have gained 15 pounds!

I dont know if this was because of having to take Rhinocort for 3 months for allergies or what, it seemed to all go bad after that. Now I don't know what to do.

But from everything I have read, it does not seem to be the pill for younger women as it lowers your hormones too much. Peri-menopausal, yes it does have it's benefits because it lifts your hormones a bit and keeps them evened out during the month instead of the roller coaster which happens during peri.

Good luck
TD.

I am a 47 year old peri-menopausal woman who was put on this pill to regulate irregular and very heavy menstrual periods. I did not bargain for what I got in return.

I was on this pill for 2 years before my internist suggested that the problems that I was having might be related to this pill. I had had ulcerative colitis many years ago and then it calmed down for 10 years, until about 4 months after being on this pill, it came back with a vengeance, as did many other intestinal and issues with my digestive system.

In addition, about 1 1/2 years after being on this pill, I started having insomnia for about half the days in the month, and also feeling wired and paranoid about things that did not make any sense. Then the panic attacks started. I was told that I was anxious because of my colitis and prescribed anit-anxiety medications.

I did not realize all of this was from this pill, I thought maybe a change in life coming or maybe my colitis. Well, I decided to throw all the pills away mid-cyle anyway. Why take a chance?

It has been about 3 1/2 months since I stopped taking them and it has taken all this time for me to feel like my old self. I have not had a panic attack in quite awhile, and I have anxiety only occassionally. Also, many of my digestive issues have improved, but I am still not back to 100 percent. I think some of this IS related to a change in life coming, but definitely not all of it.

If you are a 40+ woman, and your doctor suggests a low dose pill, specifically, Yasmine, think again. Yes, it does control pre-mentstual bloating, and Yes, it was easy to keep my weight down on this pill. But in doing so, I did not feel well most days. Think about it. Taking it may be like making a deal with the devil.

Good luck to all who have been on this awful "medicine"

WOW, has this site been a life saver!! I was put on Yasmin 3 months ago, because I had a 4 inch cyst on my ovary. I also was told I was peri-menopausal because of the hot flashes. I thought all of these symtoms I was having was from the menopause....until reading all of these testimonials. I immediately went off of Yasmin one week ago. I to had horrible side effects:

- Frequent spotting
- Extreme mood swings
- Irritability
- Low self-esteem
- Headaches/Migraines
- Heart palpitations
- Lightheadedness
- Difficulty concentrating
- Insomnia
- Fatigue
- Severe bloating and weight gain (even with diet and exercise!!)
- On edge all the time
- Breast pain
- Toe pain (as if I had broken them)
- NO libido
- Rash/itchy armpit

I had been suffering severe hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia, severely dry skin and uneven tone AND pigmentation
- Terrible mood swings and PMS, much worse than before yasmin, and depression
- dry skin over ALL of my body
- restless sleep
- forgetfulness
- cellulite looks worse
- enlarging of pores on face

My periods used to be 2 or 3 days and very light... with Yasmin they are were very clotty with severe cramping that would wake me from my sleep. I used to have headaches the first 2 days of my periods before....now they are worse and lasting a week!! They have prescribed me Flexeril and 800 mg of Ibuprofin, which doesn't do much for the headaches either.

And to think I was blaming this all on Menopause!!! I will do an update after I am off of Yasmin for a few weeks.

Has anyone else had soooo many symtoms??

Thank you to ALL of you for sharing your experiences!!