Underwear symptoms and conditions

Your stories makes me feel much better. I've been battling with yeast infections on and off for the last five months. It's been scary and frustrating. Surprisingly I've been on NuvaRing for about 3 years and these symptoms have just begun to be a problem but they won't stop until the ring is out and my period starts. I've tried everything, I've changed soaps, changed to lube without parabens, stopped wearing cute underwear, started showering twice a day, and have used several types of over-the counter's. I've treated with so many over-the-counter creams for yeast infections that I'm getting concerned about what all that fungicide might do in the long run. They usually work but then the yeast infection will return. I think perhaps the NuvaRing may affect the chemistry inside the vagina making it more susceptible to yeast infections once one occurs. This has negatively affected my sex life with my fiance because sex stings and burns and I always get a yeast infection, I'd rather avoid it all together. I was going to go to the OBGYN and beg for Diflucan but from a previous post similar to my situation it may just be another temporary fix. I've never tried the pill but I'm going to switch this month and see if the yeast infections finally go away.

Omg.... I've had the mirena for a few months now and have a lot of the same side effects as a lot of the other women that have posted. I had a bad rash on my face and I thought it was acne at first and I had no clue it was caused by the mirena at first until it got so bad I went to the dermatologist and he told me that is what is causing it and he said they have at least 1-3 girls coming into their office weekly with the same problem. Since then I have made my appointment with my OB/GYN to get it removed. It is just not worth it.

My experience with the NuvaRing thus far has been disastrous. I was prepared to put up with the ruined underwear from unexpected menstruation but today whilst sobbing uncontrollably on the freeway with my husband gasping at me helplessly was enough. He actually was the one who suggested that it may be the ring and after reading the accounts of other women I am glad it is not me (and so is he). I actually just read some accounts to him and he was looking at me with a "told you so" look on his face. I have been in remission from clinical depression for a year and a half now, and these feelings I am having whilst on the ring are those of depression. I was seriously scared that possibly I had slipped back into a depressive state, but only a few weeks ago I was happy with my life and safe and stable. I am also ANGRY at everything. Again, something I was really concerned about- that is totally not the person I am. I am also having periods of dizziness and loss of consciousness which I thought was dehydration, but I could not seem to fix it. I am sure this is an effective form of birth control for some women, but I would just like to let you all know that constant vaginal bleeding, depression and thoughts of no self worth, anger, dizziness and pain are not worth it. Not in my experience.

hey everyone, i am 23 and just started using bc like a month ago. I am on th nv and the 1st 3 weeks seem fine then i got my period like 3 days after i took it out.now my period usual last 5-7 days and i notice i was having bad cramps and a brown discharge. So i decided to put the ring back in yesterday and sure enough the cramps stop but i still have this nasty sticky brown discharge. what the hell is wrong i feel like taking it out and just sticking to using condoms bc i can't deal with the mess. i pay to much for underwear for them to be ruined by brown sticky stuff.....
If i take it out what will happen i am planing to go to Florida in like 6 days and don't want the brown mess. Yuck....

Oh wow ladies. Thank you all so much, really, for speaking out about this horrible birth control. Everyone but my husband thinks I'm crazy for associating the Mirena with all of these symptoms. I got mine in December '08 after having my daughter in October. Within a month I had lost my breast milk. I bled for about 3 months straight, plus severe cramping (I screamed that I wished I was in transitional labor again and I gave birth without drugs), and all the other things you ladies have said. I thought there was something horrible wrong with me. I can't have sex because it's too painful for me. My entire genital area has been irritated and swollen since I got the Mirena. Since I have sensitive skin, I just thought (at first) it was some sort of skin allergy to detergent or something. I've since switched everything: underwear, detergent, soap, toilet paper, etc. and it hasn't helped. Now I've finally started finding out about the negative side effects of the Mirena and I know it's causing all of these problems. My doctor and everyone else I've talked to about this has told me that there was no way that the Mirena could cause these problems, but I know my body better than them.

Thank you again, ladies.

My 4y/o son has asthma that was not well under control, so the doctor put him on Singulair and Flovent about 2 months ago. In the first few weeks, he started having severe leg pain. He would be up at night crying. I would massage his legs till he went to sleep. He also started soiling his underwear with small thick amounts of stool multiple times a day; despite the fact that he has large soft bowel movements at least twice a day. His asthma has been well controlled since the start of the medicine. We stopped the Flovent 1month ago to see if the Singulair would continue to control his asthma, which it has. We adjusted his diet, since the doctor attributes his stooling to constipation, which has not helped. He is now frequently peeing his pants and frequently complains of arm and leg pain which comes on suddenly and seems to last for 5 to 15 minutes. I am going to take him back to the doctor for a full check up to rule out anything more serious, such as a spinal tumor, but till then I am going to stop the Singulair and see how things go. I wanted to stop it as soon as the incontinence started, but was afraid of his asthma flaring back up. Is flovent causing anyone's kids any issues. My son also seems to be having trouble getting his words out.

I got the Mirena iud back in March of this year, and other that some slight cramping and spotting after the placing everything was fine. A month went by and i finally got my period; well 2 days into my cycle i found the Mirena in my underwear after i had been doing some light yard work. I naturally thought it was a twig!

Now I never had any problems other than some slight hair loss when i had the IUD in, but these past 2 months ive gained around 30 pounds, my period has been late twice, ive been nausea, vomiting occasionally, my skin has been itching like mad, ive been severely fatigued, and my sex drive has dropped down to nearly nothing.

Im going to go see my doctor sometime to see if theres anything he can do, heres hoping im not preggers!

I guess that my side effects were not as obvious as some of the ones described before me, but after reading these posts everything starts fitting into place! I've never have had big mood swings etc.. the hormonal changes did not affect me that way even during pregnancy or with the Mirena but i have actually bought pregnancy tests thinking i am pregnant again since i had it inside! Lightheaded, dizzy, nausea and tons of discharge is more of what i get, on top of it, i've had the Mirena for almost 3 years now and after my baby was born i lost weight very rapidly but a few months later i never was able to figure out how not to gain, I am about 15 pounds overweight even in places were i've never had weight problems. My blood pressure is perfect every time i see the doctor (of course) but at home i know it's not great all the time that is why i stopped birth control in the first place and no one told me about this when the Mirena was recommended. I've gone to the OBG to talk about my discharge, i never get any blood (last period was nov of 05) but i cannot keep on one dry pair of underwear for 15 minutes!! I am going crazy, i feel odd around people and sex thinking i smell, sometimes even my pants get wet, i know this is not normal and the doctor keeps telling me this happens to women all the time. c'mon!!!!!
After seeing this site i have decided to take it off but it has been decades since i check things inside.. maybe is get my doc to take it out, i guess no way to coach this right?
I will post my effects after the Mirena is gone.

Wow. This is amazing to hear everyones experiences. I've been on the Nuvaring for about 3 years and thought I loved it, until I realized all the symptoms I was having (brown discharge, moodiness, decreased libido, tiredness, etc.) was all related to that nasty little ring. I realized, I couldn't take it anymore. I took it out yesterday and I will never put another Nuvaring in again. I can't wait to get back to myself and have a normal cycle of menstruation. Before I ever started the NuvaRing I was very in-tune with my body and cycles and I knew exactly when I was ovulating. I am looking forward to having those days again. I will certainly not miss having all of my underwear ruined by that disgusting brown discharge. It got to the point where I had to automatically put on a panty liner everyday no matter what day of the month it was. NOT FUN!!

Glad I found this site...I have been on the NR for 1 1/2 months, this is my second attempt. First time I had it in after attempting an IUD (Murina), which gave me intense cramping (I have a tilted uterus) and bled for 7 weeks. I thought that the cramping from the NR was due to my body healing from the IUD, so I left it in for a month until I couldn't stand it anymore and took it out.

Now my second attempt at the NR, I have cramping on a daily basis, spotting to the point where I will be walking along and splat in my underwear major discharge (yuck!), heartburn, diarrhea (IBS), headache, unexplainable crying, little weight gain, I go to the gym 3 times a week and do yoga and pilates at home, my body responds really well to workouts and the scale has not budged to any weight loss.

My body is very sensitive to BC and was told by my gyno that NR has a low dosage and will not affect me like YAZ (made me a crazy person), Ortho Tri-Cyclene, Ortho-LO, which gave me migraines for 9 days out of the month.

Thanks to all the women out there (YOU ROCK!) who are posting their experiences, as of today this ring is out of my body!

Has anyone experienced anal fissures? Since Advair has mucus forming as one of it's side effects my husband and I were curious to see if anyone else was reporting weeping around the anus which is causing very painful skin irritation and a fissure. He also has terrible leg cramps while sleeping at night, hair loss, mouth sores, thrush in his throat. He has been on advair for over two years and we are now reading of all the same side effects that have been plaguing him for some time now. The anal fissure is difficult to discuss, but I did read of a mother below that wondered if her son's soiled underwear could be related. Does anyone else have this symptom?

I am a 27 year old female. I tried taking 5-HTP to relieve my depression, after having trouble with prescription antidepressants. I started on 50mg, and immediately after I was having hot flashes where I would feel like I was burning up all over, but I wouldn't sweat. I was so hot that I would strip down to my underwear and sit in front of a fan - and it was only 70 degrees in the house. I also had a hard time sleeping, waking up 4-5 times at night, and wild nightmares which is odd because 5-HTP is supposed to treat these things.

I used loestrin for a little over a year. The first 6 months of taking this pill were great. I had a 1-2 day period which was wonderful. After 6 months I started with this abnormal discharge that was itchy. The itching turned into burning and everything down there would get swollen and red. I was tested for every STD there is and everything was negative. The doctor did find yeast a microscopic exam every time I was there. All these symptoms started in the second week of pills each month. I am now using the nuvaring and praying that the same thing does not happen with this. Did/Does anyone else have this problem?

Thanks to all of you for sharing your experiences- I should have done a search on Nuvaring long ago. I have been using it for almost a year. At first I loved it but now the bouts of itching have become unbearable and embarrassing. No one wants to be caught scratching herself! I have also had lots of watery discharge- my underwear always feels damp. Not comfortable and certainly not helping the itch. I also often have thick white discharge (but smooth and without odor and so not exactly like I understand a yeast infection to be). I say "understand" because I have never had anything remotely like a yeast infection up til now (34), which is another reason that I suspect the ring. My sex drive is also nonexistent, a problem I have had with oral contraceptives too- I feel bad for my husband. I didn't connect it all at first because the itching is external, but then I noticed that I felt better when I took it out for my period and even better still when I stopped using it for three months due to other health issues. I hate to admit it because I loved the convenience of the ring but I took it out an hour ago and think I already feel better. Now I'm wondering if it was the cause of any of my other health issues but will have to wait and see. Can anyone recommend any non hormonal methods of birth control (other than condoms) or at least any oral contraceptives with less sexual side effects?

the day i take it out i start experiencing bloating so bad that i can't bear to wear underwear, cramps, back pain similar to early labor, dizziness, fatigue, nausea, constipation. i experience anxiety all the time on it. i have to figure out how to ease off of it, though, because the side effects are unbearable when the ring comes out. i just put a new on in to see if it would ease the symptoms.

I took Levaquin for 2 1/2 days for walking pneumonia. I had to lay down for no less than 5 hours after taking it. It made me crazy while I was on it. i would be speaking to someone and just like that, I had no idea what I was taking about. First night my boyfriend found me outside on the sidewalk in my underwear trying to figure out how to clear my throat. Next day I'm told I went to work and then just walked out in the middle of a class and got on the wrong train. I have no memory of this whatsoever. That night I slept in front of the refigerator because I felt I had to for some unknown reason. Next day I went to the doctor and told him what happened and he said he didn't think it was the levaquin. I thought for sure it was so I told him I wouldn't take it and seemed a little miffed. He's not my doctor anymore. I know it was the levaquin especially after reading all this.

I have been on Yaz for eight months and absolutely loved it at first...about three months ago, my boyfriend and i broke up and i had a full blown period when i wasn't supposed to.....I just figured it was from stress. But for the last 5 weeks, I have had two full blown periods that lasted four days each and spotting every week to the point that I have to wear a tampon just so i don't ruin any more underwear...ive heard this could be from stress or weird hormone levels, but its just weird that i did so well on it for the first seven months and now this???? whats going on??

My experience with Ambien CR is from a family member point of view. My father-in-law has only been taking it for 2 weeks and I was unaware of any side effects, until last night. My husband & I live directly across the street from my father-in-law - so at about 9:30 pm we received a call from his dad saying he had fell (he is not an elderly man either - 44 yrs. old) walking to his door & needed help up. He told my husband he had taken 2 - 5mg of Ambien about 40 minutes ago so he was tired & going to bed- so my husband walked him into the house. Everything seemed okay so he came home. An hour later I went out on our porch and noticed his dad was lying at the end of the drive way face up not moving. I yelled for my husband and he went over and woke his dad up - my husband & brother-in-law helped him in the house. He got undressed and got into bed.
About 20 minutes later (I was still on the porch at this point) I saw him walk out of the house AGAIN and get a beer out of the cooler and start walking down the street in his underwear. I again yelled for my husband and when he caught up to him he was talking to the shrubs and telling my husband our neighbors cat was out (which it wasn't) and he was trying to catch it. Again we put him in his room and told him to lay down - which he did. We went home and were watching a movie in the living room and all of sudden we hear his dad's truck start up! My husband ran out the door - thankfully in time to catch him. His dad proceeded to tell him he needed to go get ice for the cooler (which BTW - was full of ice) and he is still just in his underwear. We convince him to come inside and lay down (at this point very argumentative). This time my husband stays there for a long time. An hour later he came out again ate half a gallon of ice cream and went to bed. This morning he got up went to work and has no memory of anything that I just described.
This medication seems horrible. My husband caught him the other night eating a pack of 20 cupcakes and didn't realize he was sleepwalking/eating. The more I read about this medication it seems like our trouble is just beginning. I just fear that one night we won't be home and something will happen to him or someone else. Please consider all the risks before taking it - it not only effects you, it puts your family at risk also.

Hi ladies! I have had the mirena for 2 years and just had it removed 2 days ago. I originally had it put in because of heavy bleeding/clotting. I am 42 yrs old and have endometriosis. When I first got that thing implanted I thought it was great. I thought, wow, no more heavy periods. Well let me tell you, I would rather have a heavy period than to have dark brown spotting every day of my life! All of my underwear are stained. Besides having that yucky brown spotting everyday I also started experiencing severe right ovary pain and lower back pain. My lower ab was always tender. I suffered from anxiety and insomnia. As soon as the mirena was taken out (it did NOT hurt at all at removal) my lower back pain was gone. The achiness in my pelvic/lower ab felt relieved. It was like my uterus cried out rejoicefully and thanked me for taking that foreign object out. The doctor showed it to me and it is BIG. I couldn't believe I had that thing inside my body for 2 years! I slept really good the past 2 nights and was able to sleep on my stomach which I have not been able to because of the pelvic tenderness. I have had steady bleeding as soon as it was removed and its healthy red not brown like it was for 2 years. I am so glad I had it removed and I wish you all good luck with your decisions.

I got the Mirena because I felt it would be a good idea to use a birth control whereas I would not have to worry about getting pregnant since I wanted to continue pursuing my career. I am also 26. My OB stated that this was the birth control that reigns supreme over the rest. The OB stated that it was hardly any side effects and I should try it and I did. This is when ALL HELL BROKE LOSE. I had side effects immediately but did not link it to Mirena at first. Those side effects were acne(never even had it high school), acne underneath my neck, breast got bigger(from a G to a H)---thanks Mirena. I spotted for the first month and went through 15 underwear like it was no other. Did i forget to mention the worst side effects--15 pounds of weight gain within two months(I even got on an all vegetable & fruit diet) ANNNNNND my vagina had an odor (I always prayed that noone would sit by me). I felt my vagina was on fire and noone could extinguish the flames. Strangely, I always took pregnant tests because Mirena made you and your body think that it was pregnant.
Yep, so exactly 2 months later, I made an appointment to take the hell out of me. It has been 2 days and I don't have the pregnant feel like I once did. I still possess all the rest of the side effects . The Mirena needs to be retested because it shows false information about the side effects.

My daughter was born in August of 2007; when I heard about Mirena, I was really excited. My sister in law has the copper IUD and loves it. I thought the Mirena was basically the same thing but with a different name. Boy was I wrong. I had the Mirena inserted in March 14, 2008 and ever since then, I feel like my life is slowly falling apart. I have gradually gained 6lbs despite being an avid running and eating well. During my cycle (I tend to gain anywhere from 3-4 lbs of water weight). For the first month, I bled for about 14 day straight, which was not a good time (ruined lots of nice pairs of underwear).
The worst side effect, for me, has been the mood swings; I think I'm psycho; I want to kill my husband most of the time, the poor guy. I have ZERO sex drive, which is also a huge problem for my relationship, so if I keep going at this rate, I think I can blame Mirena for a divorce. Fortunately, I am having this thine REMOVED TODAY!! I cannot wait! I feel as though I was "talked in to" getting the Mirena because I orginally said I wanted an IUD with NO hormones; for some reason though, I left the office with this horrible product. Something needs to be done about this product!
The insertion was not horrible, but it wasn't fun either.
Mirena is the devil!!

Hello I am 25 years old and just had the Mirena inserted April 4th 2008. I just gave birth to a beautiful son January 14th of 2008. I thought the Mirena would be a great idea for birth control since I am living with my boyfriend and I didn't want any unwanted pregnancies. I have never been on an form of birth control before besides condoms. During my pregnancy I would say that I was highly emotional and had a very difficult time, but I think it was due to the pregnancy being unplanned and it being a very dramatic life-changing experience. I'm not sure if I had post partum..because it seemed as though everything I was going through was normal. The insertion went swimmingly for me, probably because I just had a baby. It wasn't too painful, just felt like period cramps. However this past week, I have felt so sick and tired I'm just wondering if the Mirena could be the cause. I didn't bleed right after insertion too much, but I am still bleeding. Not heavy, just enough to be annoying and to ruin my underwear. I think there was a day when all of a sudden I felt very nauseous. This past week since Monday, on and off I have had flu like symptoms where I haven't been able to keep any food in my stomach. I developed a rash on my face Monday of this week,which is now still there but is going away. and now I can't seem to come up with enough energy to go throughout my day. This is difficult because i have a 3 month old and I'm trying to take care of him at the same time. All i want to do is sleep, I have severe headaches that make me want to close my eyes and sleep with no light in the room. I am also breastfeeding. My doctor knows this...but it mentions in the pamphlet to let your doctor know...and I'm wondering is that a problem? As far as the emotional part goes, I've felt like my life has ended...very dramatic, depression symptoms to the point where I've thought of suicide at least 5 times this week. Crying, wailing, not feeling good about myself at all. It's awful. My boyfriend thinks its the Mirena and told me to look it up online. I'm glad I did because it seems like other people have the same symptoms. It also says side effects can last up to 6 months. I don't know if I should wait that long because I just got it, for the side effects to go away..but I think I will just as long as I know in my mind that I'm having side effects and I'm not really a crazy woman.

I am a 34 yr old mom of 2 and have had my Mirena for 4 and 1/2 years. I actaully have been having a great experience, but again, have the same weight gain issues with almost no loss, no matter what. MY BIG QUESTION: has anyone else experienced mysterious vaginal discharge and symptoms? Starting about a year ago, I began having mystery discharge and have been to 7 different doctors who have tested for everything under the sun, and FOUND NOTHING. they can see it, keep giving me yeast treatments. etc, but in 2 or 3 months, it is right back. There is a pungent fish odor, especially after sex with my hubby, which Dr's have been saying is normal... MAYBE NORMAL FOR THEM, not me!! I actually thought it was due to a lack of hormones now that my IUD is ending is life.. However, I did have a couple of crazy panic attacks, which I have never had, the dryness for sex and friction is intense, and my hair has been thinning, which I thought was just me... Can anyone let me know if you've had the vaginal symptoms... I know no one wants to talk about it, but I have to ask!!

This is an update. We took our son off Singulair 10 days ago. We continue with Flovent once a day, and the asthma has not deteriorated. My son's overall mood has gotten better, he is less aggressive and became very verbal about how much he loves us. He is still emotional but not as much as before: while he still wants to cry at the drop off a hat, he manages to stop himself after 15 seconds. That is a huge improvement. Things are by far not back to normal, but overall I see my old son shining through.
However, we still have an issue with obsessive compulsive behavior. We have an appointment with our pediatrician this Thursday.

It kind of feels good to read these posts because now i know it's not just me. i started birth control when i was 18 years old. i started out taking lutera. i don't really remember having many side effects. after maybe a year of being on lutera my doctor switched me to loestrin 24 to give me lighter and shorter periods. well, the pill really took it's toll on me. my mood swings have been so bad my boyfriend and i fight constantly, i have been so emotional crying over every little thing. and my sex drive? it is GONE! like non existent. when my boyfriend wants to have se i just can't really get in the mood, and I'm really dry down there. it just hasn't been fun. it's really taken a toll on my body and my love life. i finally just went back to my doctor and told him to switch me back to lutera. i was on loestrin for a full year! so for me it wasn't just the first couple months your body goes crazy because of new hormones, it just wasn't worth it to me. there were so many months that went by and i didn't get my period. i was constantly going out buying pregnancy tests to make sure i wasn't pregnant. I'm 21 now, i don't need to freak out every month thinking I'm pregnant. and then there were months when i had my period for a week sometimes two! and i had spotting like you wouldn't believe. i had to throw out a lot of underwear because of those little surprise visits in the middle of the month. i know birth control effects everyone differently but i just wouldn't recommend this to anyone.