Tumour symptoms and conditions

I am at the end of my first month on this pill. Things seemed fine until 3 days ago when I got a migraine (I never get headaches) and it has lasted for 3 days making it so difficult to look after my children or get the simplest things done. I started looking up side effects and found this site. I realised that this month I had also had thrush, no sex drive at all and seem to be very cold in relation to other people. I suffer from PMDD and this is my second pill in attempt to make the symptoms easier to manage. Without the pill I am over emotional, cry a lot, have severe mood swings and painful and heavy bleeding each month. With this in mind I am still going to come off Yasmin right now. I do not want to mess things up even more. I have been concerned about the ingredients of the pill too - I am a vegan and there is no birth control pills which do not contain lactose or animal ingredients so I think I must go back to the diapham for birth control (condoms are just awful!). it is frightening how easily all these pills are prescribed. I was on dianette when I was 16 to combat the same PMDD and when I came off it five years later didn't have a period for a year at which time I discovered I had an ovarian cyst and a tumor, both of which had to be removed. Was told I probably couldn't have kids but thankfully five years later (five years of trying to conceive) I had our first and then 10 months after that fell pregnant with our second). I can't believe I was stupid enough to go back on any pill but my PMDD is difficult to manage and I was at my wits end but after just a month I know I have to come off it. For good this time. My life is to valuable to me to mess up with this rubbish.

I was prescribed Zocor for high cholesterol. Almost immediately I began to experience body aches -- some days more severe than others. I would take ibuprofen and it would help. Then, I started getting a pretty strong pain on my hip which radiated down my leg onto my foot. The pain was so severe, even the Motrin 800 mg. pills didn't help it. I am 53 years old, but I felt like a 90 year old. I had problems walking, especially after sitting for an hour or so. I had problems with stairs. Even laying down was painful. I tried heating pads, ointments, etc. When I told my doctor about it, she said that this was a typical side effect of statins, and that because I am diabetic, I need to continue taking Zocor to keep my cholesterol down. Just the other day, I stopped taking Zocor for 3 glorious days and guess what? NO pain!!! I resumed it because my doctor insists that I stay on it, but I wish there was something else I could take that wouldn't cause pain.

My husband was prescribed 40mg of this drug 2 years back,for his high cholesterol reading. He is an ex-services and has always been extremely fit, he was tired for almost a year, then he began having headaches to the point he had a brain scan, because he thought he had a tumor. He also has had knee and neck joint problems and now the joints of his fingers are giving him pain He now wakes up each morning feels really ill and feels as though hes being strangled, the sensation lasts sometime for hours and he has to lie down. His doctor said it was blood pressure but he keeps a monitor and his pressure has been normal. His doctor said he should continue to take it, but when you read all the symptoms that people are getting while taking this drug it makes you realize they are all just guinea pigs for a large scale trial of the drug

I had the Mirena put in six weeks after having our daughter, on June 30th, 2006. I never was able to loose weight, and felt very bloated, moody, with pains in my sides (ovary level), and then in the Fall of 2007, I noticed a significant loss of vision in my left eye. I went through $40,000 worth of hospital visits, and one 8-day stay, to figure out that the Mirena had caused a rather large blood clot to form on the outside of my brain in the main vein that crosses over the top outside brain. I have suffered from multiple ER visits with migraines lasting up to 72 hours, even after shots and meds. I have been going to the University of Colorado Hospital for treatment and it has taken over six months to get me on a medication regiment that will hopefully alleviate my debilitating headaches and now am living with the possibility that my vision may never get better in my left eye. The Dr.'s I have seen: an eye surgeon, a Neurologist, a Neuro-ophthalmologist, a Retinal Specialist, and the multiple local MD's. The tests run on my body and head have been very extensive, including blood tests, multiple MRI's and the final MRVenagram that tests the flow and drainage of and around my brain that found the blood clot and have ruled out everything from MS, to Pseudotumor Cerebri (which is a lifelong disease offering only pain management for the most part), as well as a macular deterioration related with people over fifty, not 24, they have also ruled out any pre-existing tendency for being prone to blood clots . This has been the scariest thing of my life and so consuming and debilitating, that I would never recommend the Mirena to anyone. I have missed so much work and the traveling to doctors have been a drain on our financial situation. This kind of information needs to get out there because Dr's are denying any relation to the Mirena. My Dr's have definitely diagnosed my problem as the Mirena. The swelling of spinal fluid was my body trying to protect itself and that swelling caused such great pressure on my optic nerve that my macula, where a person has central and fine detail and focusing, wrinkled in a layer of my eye that cannot be operated on. I can no longer read out of my left eye and the stress that created for my right eye is a contributor to the migraines. I also see double at night, when lights or signs are illuminated by the headlights of my car. I am seeing two images! This is very hard to accept and not being able to read for very long also upsets me. The likelihood of my vision repairing on its own is slim to none. Thanks Mirena. SO please, please help the word get out!!!! Also caution anyone you know who is planning on getting the Mirena, or who has one in to be aware of any changes. My experience has been very extreme but maybe women out there are going through the same things I have been and no one will recognize the relation to the Mirena. I am only glad my Dr. was willing to admit the Mirena was the cause.

My Aunt is 61 and had a one sided Mastectomy in January of this year. She had been suffering for about 8 years with the menopause (she took HRT for 18 months a few years back). She was told her cancer was hormonal and once she had the tumour removed (behind her milk gland) she was advised that she didn't need any chemo or radiation. She had 6 lymph nodes taken and all were clear. She was originally put on Tamoxifen for 4 months and then switched to Arimidex. She has suffered with hot flushes and extreme coldness (she had this beforehand) but has increasingly suffered with very painful indigestion/heartburn/acid reflux or possibly IBS. She has tried all the over counter indigestion medications to no effect. Is this normal? I am trying to get her to go to the DR about it - but she is very apprehensive. Is there another drug she could try other than Arimidex and Tamoxifen? Are these stomach problems normal? I would also say she seems to suffer with depression and tiredness. She doesn't sleep well because of the hot sweats etc. She also bloats out quite a bit and is still numb from where they took the lymph nodes under her arm. She also says her scar gets sore. Her mastectomy was Jan 3, 2007. She obviously didn't have reconstruction and doesn't intend to.

Is there anything I can get for her to make life easier? I am at a bit of a loss as to how to help her. Any thoughts would be very much appreciated.

hi,dejay78.
my heart goes out to you. i was exactly the same with the same fear that i had gone mad and was going to end up institutionalised. i also have 2 children. i started taking yasmin after i stopped breat feeding my youngest. i fed her for 1 year and did not have a period in that time.my doctor suggested yasmin to get my hormones back into whack,in fact it did the complete opposite but i didn't realise it at the time.i was on it for 6 months and all seemed fine.my skin cleared up,i lost a little weight and my periods were light and regular. Then i started to need to pee more.i had major IBS symptoms,then the panic attacks started,then came the constant anxiety,i was terrified all day every day. i had terrible unthinkable thoughts. i became scared i would do something awful like hurt one of my kids,i knew i never ever could but the thoughts in my head made me think i was mad and unstable. i couldn't go out and became scared that i would be raped or attacked if i left the house. i couldn't sleep or eat or function at all i just cried. i had aches,pains,numbness & tingling,i thought i had a tumour or cancer or something horrible. My doctor told me i had an anxiety disorder,i thought that was odd as i had never had a problem before but i accepted his diagnosis,i asked whether my pill could cause this as nothing else had changed and he just laughed and said no. the pills he gave me for the anxiety made me worse to the point that i actually wanted to die,i had had enough as i thought i would never recover.......then i googled yasmin and found this site and it literally saved my life! i read as you are now about all these poor women with the same experience as me. i stopped taking yasmin and started to feel better within a month. i have been off it now for 7 months and while i am not 100% yet i am well on my way there. The anxiety gets less and less every day,the scary thoughts are a thing of the past as are most of the other problems. i promise you dejay78 you are NOT going mad,your hormones are just so messed up that they are making you feel that way. take a good multivit,some B6 and some magnesium and think positive thoughts always! distract yourself,keep busy,sing dance and laugh.i know you don't feel like it now but it will get better. if you need any more help or advise or just someone to share this awful pain with you are always welcome here,there are so many wonderful women on here that will support you and understand you.

i wish you all the best.

sarah

to the last few postings...

i ust want you all to know your not alone... i was on yasmin for a month last july and had to get off it because i had heart palpitations and shocking anxiety...
i could sleep at nyt cos i was constantly shaking and thinking i was gonna die... i had headaches and sharp pains in the head at one stage i thought i had a tumour!!
doctors tested me and told me it was stress too but i know that it was yasmin...
now im six months yasmin free and i feel so much better... i still get a bit anxious every now and then but i can handle it so much better....
take note of the times when u feel that way as you may notice its around ovulation or the week leading up to ur period...
lots of luck to all u girls and i wish you all a speedy recovery....
please remember your not alone!!
chrissy xoxoxo

to the last posting.. im not sure of your name...
im chrissy.... im 23 and some of the things you wrote sounded very familiar to me especially this paragraph..

<<<<>>>>>>

i can tell you this month i was convinced i had a tumour... seriously i had such sharp pains in my head and it felt like it was as heavy as a watermelon... all i wanted to do was curl up in bed and pray i wouldnt die.
not to mention my eyes, i couldnt move them from left to right without getting dizzy and it hurt so much.
believe me these are yasmin symptoms... and the loss of apetite, that got me too!! i love food and for my height my weight is pretty good.. i weigh 52 kilograms i think in america u say 104 pounds???
but sometimes the though of food makes me feel so sick.. or if i eat like two bites im full... its weird but i promise it deos go away... i am 5 months off yasmin and im starting to really feel alot better....
u will too but you have to get off this pill... its poison!!
its a slow process but all the girls on this site are great to talk to and this site is wat saved my life...

hugs to you
luv chrissy xo

omg lisa you are exaclty like me!

i experience that too and i still get it sometimes now... this month the week leading up to my period was shockng... i had sharps pains in my head and i felt like my head was full of water....or that i had a tumour... its terrible i know..

i did read a while ago on this website that a few girls had blurred vision... mine wasnt blurred but my eyes were so sore it hurt just to move them from left to right...
so dont worry it is another side effect... i think u have experienced the exact same symptoms as me...
at least i can help u threw it..
lots of hugs
chrissy xoxo

ok girls i need help bigtime!! i think i am going mental.. either that or i have a tumour in my head!!
ive been off yasmin for about 6 months..... wasnt on it for long because it gave me heart palpitations and made me so anxious its not funny... thats been taken care of now... but this month i have got these funny feelings in my head...
its relly weird. sometimes if i turn my head one way i get like a 2 second head spin... kind of like when you smoke a cigarette that is too strong for you.
anyways my whole head in general just feels totally stuffed...
ive read a few other ppl experienced this but is it normal to feel it after 6 months of being off this pill??? shouldnt my symptoms be getting better not worse!
im really scared that something is going on in my head that could be fatal....
any help would be so appreciated!!

worried !! : (

Its chrissy again!

oh my god Silke you saved my life!! YES the feelings are like an earthquake in my head...
its like if sum1 laughs out loud suddenly or drops something on the floor at home my head feels like an explosion has taken place inside it....
i was so ready to go to my doctor and tell him i thought i had a tumour... see how paranoid this pill has made me!!!
but now i know its not just me i feel way better...
i will definitely take some vitamins to fix this for sure....
thank you agian for responding i was so scared...
dont be worried that the new year is coming up ok... just think how far you have come this year and how much better everything has gotten....you will get through next year even easier... and you will NOT be in ER on new years day... take care and stay positive..

a million hugs to you
chrissy xoxo

To Cristy

I stopped Yasmin 5 months ago, 2 months ago I started to get headaches every day, I was very concerned I had a tumour, my headaches were in the back of my eyes and on the left and right back of my head like a tight band, I have since seen a neurosurgeon and he has assured me there is nothing wrong, I had a scan done and I am still waiting for the results. The only advice I can give to you is read up about anxiety and headaches, I found my headaches were through anxiety (tension headaches) and nothing I took for them worked, after weeks of persistent headaches they are finally easing. I worried about them every day and made things worse but the anxiety kept them there, when your anxiety eases you will notice your headches ease as well.

You will get better, the ladies on this site have told me I would get better and I am, it is slow but I am getting there and so will you.

Joanne.

Hello There,

As someone who has now been off Yasmin for 7 months and suffered from acute anxiety from week 4 after getting off it, I can honestly say it has takent his entire time to feel like the 'old me'.

Another piece of advice for the lady worrying herself about a tumour, all of us who have suffered from anxiety and panic know that rationality does not always over power the irrationality of our thoughts, fears and 'what if's'. I would recommend you actively seek out medical advice to assure yourself that you do not have a tumour. I don't believe you do, but know how strongly your fears take over your life. It is better to take action and work through these fears then try and ignore them. The worst thing you can do with anxiety is let it rule your life and stop you from living it. You need to actively participate in everyday life to 'sensitise' yourself to it.

Believe me I know how hard life is when you are suffering from this. I also know how easy it was to shut down, not leave the house and just 'exist'. I now know that I always felt better when I pushed myself to experience things that I was fearful of (things mind you that I'd previously never feared...until Yasmin of course!).

Again I'd recommend anyone suffering from anxiety have their hormone levels checked, as low progesterone plays a major role in this. Our progesterone levels are so high when we are taking Yasmin that when we stop taking it they dive down. Herbal remedies such as Agnus Castus can be of assistance.

Warning about magnesium supplements. I started taking them about 3 months after I'd finished Yasmin as I was desperate for the anxiety to go and had heard they could help....unfortunately after a week on them I suffered 3 full days of complete panic and as a result had to stop. Be careful.

Another tip...STOP ALL CAFFIENE. This helped me a huge deal.

Goodluck all and god bless :)