Synthetic estrogen symptoms and conditions

I have been on prednisone since I was two years old (I am now sixteen) because I have Autoimmune Hepatitis IIa. I would like to point out that there is still a life worth living being on prednisone, maybe I say this because I do not know life without it, but at least we're alive! Last year I had a flare up of the AIH and had to 6x my dose of prednisone. It sent me into a spiraling depression of constant sleep, crying, hopelessness etc....but I made it through. Just PLEASE keep hope that things would get better, because I know what it's like being on the dreaded drug better than most.

Hello,

I read about how YAZ birth control pill affects the body and psych and I am now scared. This is my 2nd day of YAZ (I've never been on birth control pills ever and I am 27 years old), it's all new to me but after reading all these negative posts about Yaz I don't know what to do. Before the birth control pills, I was depressed, annoying, serious weight problems - 210 lbs :~~((, low energy, low libido, always tired, terrible migraines every 2nd day, ridiculously increased appetite and excessive hunger, hair where it shouldn't be, menstrual blood clots, excessive cramping etc
I have all these problems for 3 years now and now that the family doc. put me on YAZ birth control pill I am even more scared - mainly of more weight gain, it would be a tragedy for me, I am fat enough already and what's worse I can't lose the weight, exercise doesn't help, diet doesn't help, NOTHING. Will YAZ birth control pill worsen my already tragic condition? I just don't know what to do and what to believe ... I appreciate any advice or help you can give me ... Thank You to all!

Hello Silke and everyone
Former guest 18063 here, maybe I should call myself bitterRN? :) Anyway I hope you are all doing well. Sorry its been so long since I have written. I saw there were some questions about spironolactone what it is and if it could cause problems. Birth control pills are a combo of synthetic estrogen and progesterone. From what I have read on Yasmin the progesterone they use contains a hormone that acts like the diuretic spironolactone. Spironolactone is a potassium sparing diuretic, and Im not talking about an over the counter water pill to fight bloating, Im talking about a DRUG commonly used on patients with severe health problems like congestive heart failure and other diseases where they need a drug on a constant basis to combat swelling and water retention, which complicates the diseases they are having. (Quick example, I dont want to get too technical.) People with congestive heart failure have a weak heart that doesnt force blood through the body like a strong normal heart does. Therefore the blood does not circulate as it should causes all kinds of bad things including a lot of swelling especially in the ankles and even causes fluid in the lungs, which can quickly fill up with fluid causing respiratory distress (almost like drowning from the inside.) Drs put these patients on diuretics to keep the body constantly flushing fluids out to keep the lungs "dry" and so forth. Spironolactone is one such diuretic they use. Lasix is another. The difference between Lasix and Spiro is that Spiro holds on to the potassium in your body, while Lasix excretes it all out. So patients on Lasix frequently have to take a potassium supplement so that their potassium levels do not fall too low. My point here is not to scare you. They say the spiro level in Yasmin is very low compared to someone who is on the full drug. But I was shocked to see that they would put such a drug (I dont care how small amount it is.) In a birth control pill?!?!? Just to combat bloating? It is just my OPINION, but I dont see how this can be healthy to a normal healthy woman. I have noticed a lot of the side effects people mention in this website seem to be kinda related to dehydration. The muscle cramps you had, Silke, In my OPINION, I would think would be related to dehydration, being as that is a sign of severe dehydration, though I cannot say for sure if the spiro caused it. Probably even the drug company cant. All I know is that I was on ortho 777 for years without problems. Then all of a sudden I start taking yasmin and my whole life fell apart and I felt like I was dying...some days I wished I was dead. I looked at other birth control sites online, there is one where you can rate birth control meds on how well you liked it. I looked at yasmin and other birth control pills Yasmin had about a lot fewer people who liked it compared to the people who hated it. And while it is true, as my doctor said when someone does not like a drug or have a bad experience with it, they will write about it or post it on the site, but when someone likes the drug they do not write about it. This may be true, but I tried to find complaints about other birth control pills like ortho novum, etc. The only thing I found that people didnt like were things like, my period wasnt lighter, it didnt clear up my skin, it made me bloated, or gain weight. NOT serious things like chest pains, palpitations, severe headaches, severe depression, etc. Nor did any of the others have SO MANY symptoms!! Has anyone else found severe complaints about other bcp's? I would be curious to see them. So yes in my opinion I feel it is the spiro, because that is what is so different about this bcp compared to others, and NONE of the other bcp have this (spironolactone) component in them. I could be wrong though. As far as feeling better, I felt like I was going forward until this past week, feels two steps back again, my period is due next week too. It baffles my mind how a drug can hang in your system for soooo long, but I wonder if this bcp or just bcp pills in general have a cell binding action, so not only does it just circulate in your system and then metabolize out of the liver/kidneys as most drugs do, but binds to the cells in your body so that it takes longer (months) for your body to get rid of it? Maybe that is why my OB said it would take a few more CYLCLES to feel better. Maybe the drug is resurfacing during ovulation and we are shedding it with our cycle? I dont know Im just guessing. I will try to do more research on it, or ask my OB when I see her again. Gosh I'm so sorry I wrote too much again! I hope I kind of gave you a little more insight to spiro and why I was so PO'd when I found out it was in my bcp after 3 months of taking it and the OB didnt even bother to tell me it was in there when she put me on it. I'm so bitter! I wouldn't recommend Yasmin to my worst enemy!!!! To those of you who are on it and like it, just please be careful, if you notice a lot of the people on this website who were on it for years seemed to have symptoms come on either right away or years later and they tried to explain them away with stressful times in my life, or just tired, or some other reason other than the pill. I did it myself because I just didnt even realize it could be the birth control. My symptoms surely were not in the pamphlet. Oh and to the girl who is bulimic GUEST 18998 Yes vomiting can lessen or negate the effects of the pill. When you induce vomiting you dont know how much of the pill you have absorbed and how much you are throwing up. Chances are VERY good you are NOT getting the full dose of the birth control pill, being as that the pill takes a while to absorbed by the body, thats why they even like you to take it at the same time every day. Be careful to use another form of birth control on top of the pills (such as condoms) if you are mid pack now, and then I would explore other options for birth control (patch, IUD) something that is not ingested until and this is most important, you need to get help for your bulimia problem. This disease is not only a serious problem for your health, but I fear that if you are on Yasmin, which has the diruetic effect I have been talking about, and you are vomiting a lot, you are not only losing fluids and electrolytes from your bulimia, but also from the Yasmin, which can cause severe severe dehydration and electrolyte imbalance in your body and serious health consequences, so please seek help, and I really feel if you are on yasmin please consult your doctor and be honest with him or her about the bulemia, because I really feel its a VERY dangerous combination. Please also consider if you decide to quit a pack of yasmin before you have finished the active pills, that you must again use another form of birth control such as condoms to keep from getting pregnant. A "withdrawal" period is normal after stopping a pack of bcp suddenly, even if you recently had a period. If you need help finding a treatment center please let me know, but please get help. The lasting effects of an eating disorder are so not worth it in the end. I feel for you and hope to hear fromyou and everyone else soon! Thanks for listening. BitterRN

Post your symptoms since stopping Yasmin!!!

Hey everyone it's Kay21 here and I just wanted to post my 3 month off Yasmin update. Because stopping the pill is a hard decision, I figured we should all post are updates here to help/support those who are planning to stop or who have recently stopped Yasmin.

I have been off of Yasmin since April 17. As some of you already know, I was experiencing horrible side effects while on Yasmin for 3 years (particularly stomach problems, vaginal dryness, muscle cramps, increased blood pressure and heart rate and anxiety).

The first 1 month off of Yasmin was okay. In fact, I felt the best I had ever felt in a while. My blood pressure and heart rate decreased and the migraines and muscle cramps went away. But when I hit the 2 month (8 week) mark, I felt HORRIBLE. I was severely depressed and anxious. I was crying all the time and felt a severe sense of DOOM! The physical symptoms also started to become problematic. The acne increased and I started growing more facial hair. The worse symptom, however, was that I started losing a ton of hair. I would lose stray hairs all day (probably about 200 a day). Since I have hit the three month mark, the hair loss has gotten MUCH WORSE! Now I am losing CLUMPS of hair all day. I have seen several doctors about this. Some say it's because of stress and a few (a derm, GYN and endo) say that hiar loss is common after stopping bcp. I have already loss about 1/3 of my hair.

I am also really concerned, because I have not had a period since April 22. So my doctor has put me on provera for 10 days to induce a period.

For those who have stopped Yasmin, what have your symptoms been (i.e. increased acne, weight gain, anxiety, etc.). Has anyone experienced hair loss? How long did it take to get a period???

Thanks...