Vitamines symptoms and conditions

@nkgulri:

This is a thing which many women are suffering from within hormonal changes. Some women have those problems after pregnancy or during menopause and so on....

And remember: Stopping the pill is a real big hormonal change your body has to go through, so it seems to be "normal", that you're loosing that much hair at the moment. As soon as your hormones are back in balance, this hair problem should stop!!

I have discovered, that my hair falls out more during special times within a month (ovulation or shortly before period)... Well, it's not that much but it definitely is there!!

So please try not to worry too much and give it some time... I know it sounds hard, but that's the only thing that can heal our bodies besides a good diet, drinking enough water a day and some supplements (B-Vitamines, Minerals (Magnesium, etc.)...). Those things seem to be very helpful as I experienced within the last 2 years...

I wish you all the best and keep us updated on how you're doing!!!

Greetings
Silke

Kim,

I totally agree with Sarah! And another thing: You should really try to stop caring that much about what others say or think about you!! One very important thing, Kim!! Only you can feel, what you need right now and if it's the Lexapro, than you should try.

And as I know, what we all are or were going through I'm sure, that you're not weak, if you don't get through this nightmare without help!! Looking back I really don't know, how I stood all this without medication (ok, besides my Valerian, which I had always with me for about 6 months, just to know, that I had them with me, most of the time already helped....). And believe me: Some days I thought "Please give me ANYTHING, I WILL TAKE IT, I can't stand this any longer!" And I think the only reason, why I nevertheless took nothing was, that I knew, that my body didn't tolerate this kind of medication.

Everything went even worse only after taking one of that pills (they tried to put me on an antidepressant in hospital because of my very bad constitution!!)... But this also happened WHILST TAKING YASMIN! So it might be, that my body would react different about that stuff today...

Kim, I wish you best of luck, that the Lexapro will help you somehow through those hard times. But nevertheless I'm also sure, that you won't have to take it over a very long time!!

Sounds very interesting, what your pharmacist told you! One thing I found out first about Yasmin and bcp in general: They deplete you nutritionally, which makes things as anxiety, weakness, dizzyness and everything else definitely much worse!! And I think the fact, that makes Yasmin even worse than other bcp is that diuretic in it!! The more water we loose, the more electolytes and vitamines we loose!! And I wondered for so long why I had to get up sometimes 2 times at night with an urge to urinate.......

Best wishes to you Kim and all the others and keep it up!! We're all on the right way, I'm sure!!

Silke

Kim,

you've mentioned that problems with the b-vitamines. I had a pretty similar experience with it. I didn't know if it was just in my head or really caused by the vitamines. Everytime I took one of the vitamin b (complex) pills about 2 hours later I felt something like uneasily, nervous and a dizzy. It was a very weird feeling that went away again after a few hours more.

I find it interesting, that you seem to have that feelings, too... So there must be a connexion..... Damn why can't anyone finally find out what that pill really is doing with our bodies and our metabolism!!!???

Your post really made my cry now kim! I know so much how you are feeling right now and reading all those things makes me remember, how I had been feeling about 1,5 to 2 years ago.... Life seemed so empty and meaningless, it was just a "being there somehow", not a "life". I exactly know what you mean with every single word you wrote!

But Kim believe me: You'll get out of there and one day you'll be able to do all the things you've mentioned again!! I'm so sure!! Try to believe us here, we really know what we're talking about. I never thought I'd be able again to sing in my band, I totally quitted thinking about. And now I'm back and still can't believe it!!

And try not to care too much about what other people, who DON'T really know you and your problems, say!! I know it sounds hard, but caring about their words, too, only makes it worse!! I know how they look at you and ask you, how you're doing, and the only thing they really like to hear is "Well, I'm doing completely fine, thanks...". And everything that is different from that they simply can't understand!! I've experienced that so many times...

Kim, also keep in touch with dejay and keep posting here, I think to have contact to other victims of that nightmare pill is really the only thing that really can help not to loose our mind totally!!

I'll think of you and pray for you both and all of the other women, especially for those, who are feeling as bad as we did or do and STILL don't know WHAT is going on!! I fear there are thousands of them out there, sitting in psychical clinics, taking thousands of pills that don't help and the only thing that really COULD help, would be getting off that Yasmin, but they simply don't know and their doctor's don't WANT to know!!!

Best wishes and big hugs to all of you!!
Silke (... eyes filled with tears)

Dear kim and dejay,

your posts nearly bring me to tears, because you exactly tell my story from about 1,5 years ago!!

I know it's hard to believe while you're still in it, but: IT WILL GET BETTER!! You will be your old self someday, but you'll need lots of patience and endurance and the support of your family or husband or anyone around you!!

I know exactly EVERY symptom you both have mentioned!! And I remember me sitting in there and thinking "I never will be better again, this is how it will stay the rest of my life, I'm done!" and today I'm BACK!!

It can last a few weeks or months but I swear someday you'll think "oh, today I think I'm doing a bit better finally", that's how it happened to me!! It will be only little steps every day or week or month, but you'll get through this!!!

Remember that the pill is affecting your natural hormones completely and brings them out of whack. Now, after getting off that horrible pill, it will take some time for your body to learn how to produce hormones by itself again!! It's definitely not only a flu or a simple cold we're all going through, it's something more serious, but nothing letal and nothing, that will last forever!!

On top the Yasmin is lacking your body of very important electrolytes and vitamines and so on, because of the diuretic effect!! So, as flowerbabies already told you, please make sure to take some good supplements (most important seem to be magnesium, zinc and b-vitamines, because they are absolutely essential for nerves and muscles!!).

Another thing that might be possible (also because of the diuretic effect of Yasmin): Please ask your doctor for a blood work about your iron levels!! The monthly period (which, I guess, came really regular during Yasmin) AND the diswatering effect of Yasmin can also lack your body of that important substance.

For the very hard times another thing that might help to calm down a bit: VALERIAN. It's a natural medication which doesn't make you addictet and in my very hard times it was always a good thing to help me through!!

But DEJAY: Don't feel weak because you couldn't get through without antidepressants!! I swear there were times, where I thought "Please give me ANYTHING, I will take it, I can no longer stand this agony!" and today I still don't really know, how I got through without that stuff!! So please take something, if it might help you through the very hard times and someday you'll be able to get off it again!! I swear!

Ok, sorry, I'll try not to write a book again. But I really hope I could help somehow.

And please: If you feel bad and hopeless come around here and I swear you'll always find someone to support you (which I know sometimes is the only thing that helps not to give up completely!!).

But always remember: I's NOT YOU!! It's the Yasmin and someday you'll be better again.

Big hugs to you both and every other poor victim of that horrible drug and stay strong! You'll get through this!!

Best wishes and god's bless
Silke

Hi BitterRN!!

(Sorry ladies if this seems to get a "privat chat", but I think our "written books" can surely be helpful to others of you, too....)

Well, I absolutely understand, what you say. And this is surely an option I will get checked (ok, if I ever will have the power to go to another doctor again after my aimless oddyssey in 2005.......!). I think I should mention, that here in Germany the health system has gotten really difficult in the past 6 - 7 years so that the doctor's could not make every test on you which might be helpful. So it's really difficult to get blood tests (especially the expensive ones as homormonal testings...) done by a doc. That's what my situation always made even more difficult, than it already was...

But one thing I really don't understand: My perhaps low testosterone levels still don't explain, why I was doing so much better the last few months (as I already told here in former posts, I even started singing in my band again and I really felt good, about 85% like my old self!!) and now, after that bad cold 3 weeks ago, the tiredness and muscle weakness and stiffness (also craming in my legs during night and day) kicked in at once as if I was thrown back to nearly one year ago... I really feel and think, that his must be a lack of some minerals or vitamines again (magnesium because of the cramping legs and fingers, perhaps b-vitamines??? I feel so unsure......). Maybe this comes on top of the testosterone or other hormonal problem and makes my symptoms worse...!??? But I deeply feel, that there MUST be something else above the definitely still lasting hormonal imbalance...

Thank you BitterRN for answering so quickly and detailed!!

best wishes
Silke

Hi BitterRN!

You can't imagine how good it is to hear from you. I've been thinking about writing to you the whole last week, because I thought you could be the one to help or tell me your opinion about all that...

You've caught me in a very bad constitution... I had a cold about 3 weeks ago and since then I feel VERY tired, weak and drained out again. And I don't have to tell you how worried I feel, that all the nightmare from 1,5 years ago could start again....... My muscles feel weak many times a day, sometimes I feel tired like I could just lay my head down on my desk and so on...

My theory: I think this is another proof for the fact, that Yasmin had drained my whole body over those 5 long years taking it!! In my opinion a very big amount of my problems since 2004 were and are due to a hormonal and metabolism chaos!! I feel, that the diuretic in Yasmin had flushed many many of vitamines and minerals out of my body which always then got even worse, when I had a cold (with fever and as a result sweating in a very heavy way) or I had stress or in hot summers, when I was sweating more than usual!!

I started taking Yasmin in 2000! The first problems accured around April 2002! I felt weak and dizzy and just not like myself and got the first panic attacks out of nowhere!! Ok, after a months lasting docs odyssey no one found out anything wrong with me!!! So I went on and hoped everything would get better by itself. I never spent a thought on the fact, that perhaps my BCP could have given those symptoms to me!!!

Things did get a bit better again within about 9 - 10 months (I think the drained storages of vitamines and minerals had been filled up again within that long time by itself!!) But very important: Since then I never felt that healthy and fit again as I was BEFORE Yasmin!!! So I always had shortness of breath. Climbing some stairs made me gasping for breath, a thing I never knew before in my whole life!! Sometimes I felt a bit dizzy now and then and so on.

Ok, I had another bad cold in about April 2004 and during the year, especially during summer (it was a very hot summer here!!) I started getting fainting spells just like "OMG, I have to sit down or I think I'm going to faint". Those spells got even more often as the year went on.

Then in ends of September 2004 I had another very bad cold (lastet about 3 weeks!!!) with losing lots of sweat. And after that cold went away I never got on my feet again!! I felt weaker and weaker as months went on and in december 2004 I had a complete breakdown!! Things have never been the same since then!! What followed was a living nightmare for about 7 months with 100s of doctor's visits and hospital visits, on January, 1st, I was brought to the ER by an ambulance and so on....... No one found out ANYTHING!! Only one doc (an neurologist) made a test, which said, that something in my body and metabolism was definitely wrong and not normal. From this time I started researching about vitamines and minerals in the internet and found all my symptoms, which are typical especially for a loss of b-vitamines and some minerals like magnesium, zinc and so on!

Then in February 2005 I luckily stumbled on this site and immediately went off Yasmin midpack!! The following 3 months were even a bit harder then the months before, because my hormones where completely out of whack after taking BCP for 10 years (the last 5 years Yasmin). But then things started getting better and better month by month. Very very slowly but surely!! Yasmin didn't drain out my body any longer and so the storages could fill itself up again with vitamines and minerals step by step.

So I think, that now the storages are low again because of that cold I went through 3 weeks ago and the symptoms come up again. I have to mention that I didn't take the supplements very regularly which, I think, was very wrong.... But I'm so afraid of ANY medication since my experience with Yasmin...

What do you think about that story BitterRN?? Could this be an explanation for my again upcoming problems?? Should I forget my anxiety and take that magnesium and b-vitamines??

I feel very down and anxious. I don't want to land again where I was 1,5 years ago!!!! I don't think I could cope with this again............

Ok, you've asked about my cycle.

Yes, it seems to get very regular in the meantime. I had the first bleeding in starts of August (very heavy and long lasting bleeding!!). The second in starts September (only 3 days spotting) and the last in starts of October (about 5 days spotting, only a bit heavier than in September).

And another thing: I always get sore breats around the 20th of a month!! I could set a clock after this!! Then always around 2nd/3rd of a month the bleeding starts or "tries" to start. I also still have those "more difficult" (anxious, dizzy, bad skin with lots of akne, more oily hair, hair loss, etc.) times around ovulation time and starts of my period.

That's how things are going today. I just hope, that this will ever have an end and I will be able to live a normal life again.....

Oh, and NO, I didn't take any other BCP ever since stopping Yasmin and I SURELY NEVER WILL!! I'm done with every form of artificial hormones for the rest of my life (I'm 32).

You mentioned some "news", I'd love to hear, what you found out again!!! Your posts always have been so helpful to me!!

Best wishes and many greetings!!!

Silke

PS: SORRY that my posts always get that long and if perhaps my English is not perfect, but it's not very easy for me to explain all that stuff and I try my best to find the right words!!

Hi Sarah!!

Good to hear that your doc finally has put 2 and 2 together!! Well, I think doctor's should more often REALLY hear, what their patients are telling and not just do or believe what they can find in their "big wise books".

It's very interesting what you wrote about anxiety and dehydration. So your doctor really thinks, that dehydration may cause a raise of anxiety attacks??

Well, I watched myself getting more problems with anxiety again during hot summer days, especially when I've been sweating very much and forgot to drink enough. The muscle weakness is then coming up a little again (well, though DEFINITELY not as bad as it was one year ago!!) and I have to deal with the anxiety again, more than usual!! And another thing I found out: Magnesium is helping me very good with that symptoms.

So it seems as if my body has still problems with that dehydration and loss of minerals and vitamines brought on by Yasmin while taking it 5 long years until February 2005... The slightest change in those things (well, like not enough drinking, etc.) causes still some symptoms...

Could I be right with that speculation??

Best wishes to you and greetings from Germany!!

Silke

Hi Lisa!! Good to hear you again!! :)

Well, I'm doing pretty fine, thank you. I hope you also get better every week!??

I still got those ups and downs, but not as severe as they were about half a year ago. Everything gets lighter every month.

But I still didn't get my normal period again. The first and last after getting off Yasmin was in March 2005!! I've never had any problems with my period before Yasmin!!

But some good news: The weight is FINALLY decreasing!! Since February I loose about 1 kg (about 2 pounds) every month. That's not too much, I know. But I don't do anything different than before and nevertheless the weight is going down!! So I think that this is another sign for getting back to normal. My metabolism seems to normalize finally month by month!!

I still got weeks, where I don't feel very good, I feel tired then or a little weak and dizzy. But the symptoms get lighter every month and the "bad weeks" don't last as long as they did a few months ago!!

I decided many months ago to give my body the time it needs to recover from this "Yasmin-Shock". And every doctor I talk to about that stuff tells me, that I definitely WILL need more time to get back to normal again. It's not only a "cold" or the flu we're all going through here.

Today I sometimes feel my muscles fasciculating again. That always happens, when I didn't take my magnesium supplements for too long (the last one I took about 2 weeks ago... shame on me!!). So that's another sign, that my body still needs help to work normally.

Yasmin has definitely caused a total lack of minerals and vitamines in my body over those long years which is now very hard to compensate again...

So you're absolutely right, Lisa!! The first and most important thing everyone whith those "Yasmin problems" should do, is taking some supplements to help your body!! Especially magnesium and B-Vitamines seem to be very important things, especially for the nervous system and your metabolism.

Lisa and everone out there, keep us updated!! Looking forward to "read" you again!!

Best wishes and big hugs!!

Silke

Dear Sopie,

you just sound like me around the same time after getting off Yasmin... I exactly know what you're going through, believe me!!

And another thing you can believe me: IT WILL PASS!! I'm sitting here, about 1 year after Yasmin and can't believe myself, that I'm telling you this.... I never thought I'd be able to live a normal life again, because the symptoms I went through were that sever.... Sometimes I thought my life was about to end!! Today I'm able to work again, go out again (wasn't able to even leave my house for shopping or anything for about 4 months around December to April 2005!!). I'm nearly back to a healthy very happy person!! Not 100%, yet, but it's getting better every month!!

After all I went through and all I have read here in this forum it seems to be very normal, that for the first few months after Yasmin you'll feel worse around the time your period starts and sometimes around ovaluation. It's all because of the normal hormonal changes your body has to go through within a cycle. While you are taking a bcp these monthly hormonal changes aren't there in the same intensity as they are without a bcp, so your body has to learn to handle that sometimes very severe changes during a cycle again!!

Hormones are affecting your whole body and chemicals. So it seems, that the hormonal changing during a month is affecting your brain chemicals also (serotonin, and so on...) which can bring on that anxiety symptoms. Sometimes the symptoms while getting back your hormonal balance after stopping a bcp are pretty similar to symptoms some women have during menopause!!

Things that might help: Perhaps you should take some supplements. Magnesium and B-Vitamines seem to be the most helpful things, because they are affecting your nervous system and whole metabolism in a very important way, and bcp is causing a lack of both of them!! If your anxiety seems to be unbearable sometimes, another thing that might help is valerian. It's a mild herbal medicine, which helps you to calm down a bit without making you addicted to it!! Around a few months I always had those pills with me for "the worst case" of a heavy panic attack. And sometimes it already helped to prevent me from such an attack just knowing that I had those valerian medicine with me!

Hope this helps a bit, but please believe: You will not stay in this phase, everything will get lighter and better slightly every month, please stay strong and believe in better and happier times, that definitely are ahead for you!!!

Best wishes and god's bless to you!!

Silke

Well, I'm from Germany and I don't know if I can get such a test here to. But I'll search google tomorrow (it's already very late here and I'm a bit tired to go and search for it now)!! But it really sounds very interesting!!

Did you have problems with your muscles, too?? That was one of my biggest problems (muscle fasciculations and weakness) and it is still not gone completely. Somedays some of my muscles like arms or legs feel very weak...

I blamed these symptoms mostly on the loss of vitamines and minerals that Yasmin definitely has caused in my body (I had been taking that stuff for over 5 years...... with sometimes feeling better and sometimes feeling really miserable without knowing why.....!!).

And it seems to be very difficult to get back in balance for my whole system as I'm still suffering from some of the symptoms after being off Yasmin for so long (February 2005)!!

I'll post again if I find someting similar to that saliva test you told about, here in Germany!!

Thanks again for your always very helpful and delighting posts, Bitter RN!!

I wish you all the best and am looking forward to hearing (reading) from you again!!

Silke

@ Guest 20952:

Well, after only 1 1/2 years ON Yasmin I would surely have said the same things as you do now! I never expected to go through that hell I went through after 4 (!) YEARS on it. And after my first fainting spell and really severe panic attack it still took about 4 months for me to realize WHAT really was causing me such pain and torture (well, I never expected MY Yasmin to do such things to me!! I swear!!)!!

So please be careful and watch your body!!!! If I would have done that and would have found this site earlier I'd surely gone off that pill much earlier and perhaps wouldn't have gone through all this agony I did for the last 2 years!!!

It seems as if in some woman the side effects occur slightly over the years because Yasmin has this diuretic in it which slightly causes an imbalance of electrolytes and vitamines in your body. So it may help, to always drink enough water and perhaps take some supplements like magnesium and so on during times, you are sweating more than usual (a hot summer's day, during workouts, during illness with fever (like the flu or a cold, etc.)).

Everyone out there: Please be extremely careful with that drug, even if you seem to be ok at the moment!!!

Remember I was very well on that pill for over 3 years until everything hit me at once!!!

Greetings
Silke

@perrythorobred:

You should try some Magnesium supplements.

Yasmin is causing a severe loss of elektrolytes and sometimes even vitamines. That's absolutely sure!! The diuretic in Yasmin diswaters your body daily and messes up your metabolism extremely!!

You should search google about the symptoms of a lack of magnesium!!. I'm sure you will find many of your symptoms there (such as headaches, nervousness, leg spasms, and many more)!!

All the best!!

Silke

Hey Rita!!

Thank you so much for your post!! That sounds very interesting and could be a solution for many of us. But I'm really afraid of perhaps again not finding the right doctor, who finally admits that our problems (I'm off Yasmin for over 1 year now, and still not 100% back to normal life......) are connected and brought on by Yasmin...

Exactly as you told, my gyn told me last year around july (had a blood test done there) that my hormone levels are "pretty" normal, though they were at the edge of what's normal (totally low)..... But I know, that this is already enough (hormones at the edge of being too low) to cause severe problems!!

I feel a little encouraged now to go and search again for an endocrinologist who could perhaps help me, too. I also have to mention, that I still didn't get my period. I had only one normal period around easter 2005 after getting off the pill!! So there definitely IS a connection between my still lasting symptoms (sometimes dizzyness, a little anxiety, a little weakness and so on, though everything much lighter as it was last year!!!) and my hormone levels, which are obviousely still messed up.

Did your doc tell anything further about that dehydration and the effects of that diuretic in Yasmin?? I would be so thankful to hear, if he thinks that this stuff could have caused my very heavy muscle weakness and muscle aching during the last year (has eased up but is STILL not completely gone!!).

Well I think that the dehydration brought on by that diuretic is on the other hand causing a heavy loss of vitamines and electrolytes. That could be an explanation for the fact, that in my case (I guess many other women would say the same) the symptoms slowly increased over the years and always got a little worse while I had some illness like a flu or such or while I was working out (because of the sweating)...

Over summer 2004 I got weaker and weaker and after a heavy cold with fever and sweating over 3 weeks in october 2004 i broke down completely with muscle aches, weakness and dizzyness and many more symptoms......

Sorry, if my posts always get that long, but I'm still searching for reasons of my severe illness I've been going through and which has lasted for over 8 months (that were only the hardest months... There were another 12 months where I didn't feel really fit and already had problems....) and is still just very slowly getting better...

God bless you all!!

Silke

Hey Lisa!

Are you taking any supplements as magnesium or vitamin b? It seems as if your body needs more of them around ovaluation and right before your period starts or during that time! Numbness or tingling can be symptoms of a loos of electrolytes and vitamines (which are doubtless caused by bcp and especially by yasmin!!).

I suggest you should search over google or such for symptoms of a loss of a lack of vitamine b and magnesium. I'm pretty sure you'll find there many of the symptoms we are all going through!!

So if you don't take anything like that until now it maybe worth a try.... I'm taking Magnesium nearly every day and I feel that it helps with some of the symptoms, that are still there.

Hi dianamal!

The best advise anyone can give you is:

Get off Yasmin immediately!!

I wish anyone of those doctor's would have put 2 and 2 together and recoginzed that early, what was wrong with me!! I think your doc is absolutely right with his opinion!!

As I know now, Yasmin is causing a very heavy loss of minerals and vitamines in your body (well, every bcp does but Yasmin in a very special and heavy way, because of the diuretic "spironolactone" in it!!!), which doesn't show symptoms at once, but very slightly more and more over months and years!!

In my case everyhing began after being about 2 - 3 years on Yasmin! I suddenly became terribly tired, the way, where I thought I would fall down to the floor and fall asleep immediately, I got muscle cramps, muscle hurting, dizzyness and many more symptoms. But NO ONE thought about that wonder pill Yasmin!!! I had thousands of tests done but none of them brought out, what really was causing me such heavy health problems!! They thought it was just an unspecific virus and I had to wait and see, if it would get better as months go on.

And so I went on an on without knowing, what my body already was going through. I just thought, I HAD somehow to get through and go on, but never felt really healthy again!!

Then after about 4 - 5 years on Yasmin (during 2004) everything got worse and worse... Within one year I became weaker and weaker, always very tired, the dizzyspells got almost unbearable, I was very often nauseous without any reason, etc. Then after a heavy cold (I was ill for about 3 weeks and had sweated profusely during that time.... and without knowing that therefore I lost another amount of minerals and vitamines...).

Another 3 horrible months later (I got weaker and weaker month by month!!) I broke down completely with anxiety attacks, heart racing, hurting muscles, muscle cramping, muscle weakness, dizzyspells, fainting spells, and many many more in December 2004. I thought I was about to die.... And no one was able to find out, what was wrong with me!! Until I finally came to an endocrinologist, who admitted, that such heavy symptoms COULD be caused by a bcp and I just had to try and get off it immediately.

And you know what? Bingo!

Now 1 year later I'm feeling so much better. It was a very slow process and a very hard way getting here, I just felt better month per month very slowly with many setbacks and am still not back to 100% but I'm able again to do whatever I want without breaking down completely. And it all got that bad because I didn't know for so long, what Yasmin was already doing to my body and I went on taking that sh.... every evening...

So I just can beg you: GET OFF THAT YASMIN STUFF IMMEDIATELY!!! You got the chance to prevent that my and the story of many other women here will happen to you!!

I don't want to frighten you, but prevent you from experiencing the same hell that many of us did!!!

All the best!!

Silke

Hi guest 18063!!!

Thank you so much for your post!! You spread the words that I'm feeling and you describe the same thing I experienced ("NO, the pill can't cause SUCH heavy symptoms, YOU JUST have a panic disorder", etc..... And deep in my heart I always knew, that it wasn't at all JUST me, because that's no way the person I am normally!! And I was right!!!).

Just ONE female doctor (endocrinologist) admitted, that the pill CAN really cause such symptoms and that the only thing I could do to find out, is try to get off Yasmin and see what happens!!! (And SHE was so right!!!)

You are absolutely right and it's so delighting to read your words and see, that we are really not alone and there is someone who understands what the docs are doing to us by NOT LISTENING and just looking at their lists or such....

You also wrote about that spironolactone in Yasmin; do you think that this perhaps could have caused the sometimes very heavy muscle aches and muscle weakness in my case (which was one of the worst symptoms besides the panic attacks and fainting spells during december 2004 to may 2005)?? Well, I know now, that Yasmin is definitely causing a lack of vitamines and minerals (especially b-vitamines and magnesium, etc.) and that this could cause such symptoms (and not to forget, that I had been taking that sh.... for 5 long years....). But I don't know how that spironolactone can affect your body....

Would be very helpful to hear from you again!!

Best wishes and big hugs to everyone out there!!

Silke

Hey Denise!!

I understand so much how you're thinking and feeling now and what you're going through and to read your post nearly makes my cry again!! Exactly one year ago I was sitting within the same sh... as you do now! I had to stay the first week of 2005 in the hospital, taking such things like xanax (in germany it's called "Diazepam" or "Valium"), every day, because I thought I couldn't bear those weird feelings of anxiety without it any longer!!

And after getting home again (they gave me enough pills for about 1 week longer or so...) I immediately went off that shit again, because I was afraid of every med and especially very afraid of getting reliant to that stuff, too!!

Well, I know that sounds hard, but you will get through your attacks even without that xanax meds I promise!! The only thing that I had been taking when I felt very anxious again was "baldrian", sorry, I don't know how it's called in usa, but it's a herbal medicine which calms down and helps you to relax again just with natural ingredients. Either to mention that it doesn't help that much and as fast as the chemical meds (like xanax), but it calms you down a bit and helps you to get through the attacks by yourself more easily!! During the hard times there was a package of that medicine just right by my side, even when I had to leave the house for a doctor's visit or such I took the pills with me and a bottle of water. Even just to KNOW that I COULD take it, if I thought I had to, helped me to calm down a bit, when I got anxious!!

Today I'm even afraid of taking some vitamines or such, just because of my experience with that Yasmin sh......!! Sounds weird but that's the way it is. I never want to get there again where I was for very long 1 1/2 years (with about 6 very hard months!!) and still not feeling 100% back to normal again!!

I would wish to be able to give you a big hug right now and tell you, that everything will be fine again and you'll get through this!! Anb believe me, I know what I'm talking about!! All you need right now is strenght, patience and the help of your family and friends around you.

If there is any way I could help you, please post again or write me an E-Mail, I and many other lovely women come around here everyday with an open ear for your problems, no matter how weird you thing they might be!!

Greetings and god's bless to you!

Silke

Hi Chrissy!!

<>

DEFINITELY YES!!! I had those weird feelings, too, and still do some times in a slighter way!!!

This was one of the worst symptoms during the very hard time being on Yasmin on December 2004 to around March 2005, when I felt like my life was about to end......

It felt as if anyone took my brain between his hands and shaked it!! Someone here in this forum described it as an "earthquake in the brain", and I think thats how it's described best. Did you mean such feelings??

Well, nearly a year ago that was so cruel, that I wasn't able to watch tv with sound (I always had to switch the sound off or put it to a very low level...) or listen to radio or any other noise around meor even reading anything especially read something on a pc screen, everything seemed to be too much to take for my brain... I had to sleep with some cotton wool in my ears because every slightest noise made me think, my brain was shaking and cramping!!

Well, I found out, that this maybe a symptom of that heavy loss of vitamines and minerals that's definitely caused by Yasmin, especially magnesium and b vitamines (do you say so in english???) is able to cause such weird symptoms, even anxiety and so on....

Well, it maybe worth a try to take some supplements against this. I'm taking some magnesium every few days and it seems to help with these feelings in my head and even with the anxiety and stressed out feelings.

To everybody out there suffering under or after Yasmin: Stay strong, a better year lies ahead!!

A very merry blessed Christmas and a healthy, happy and strong new year!!

Silke

PS: I'm going through very strange thoughts at the moment, because exactly on January, 1st 2005 in the morning I was taken to the ER, thinking I was about to die...... Not easy to forget all these shocks and hard times brought on by this wonder pill....

To the last few posters:

yes, sore legs is one of the symptoms that can be brought on by Yasmin! I had them, too, during taking Yasmin and even a few months after getting off!! And so are the leg cramps!! Yasmin can cause a lack of magnesium in your body (and many other minerals and vitamines as b-vitamines and so on). So perhaps it might help you to take a magnesium supplement to help against the leg cramps.

But first of all and after all I went through I would recommend to get off this pill as fast as you can!! There are so many other and better ways for bc!! Please read through all of the stories here and seriously think about what you perhaps are doing to your body with taking this pill!! Be careful all of you out there!!

The very heavy symptoms hit me after 2 years and my life was about to end (because I didn't realize, that it was all this pill!!) after about 5 years taking it!!! So don't think, that if you're doing well with Yasmin now after a few weeks or months, that it will be all the time that fine!! I thought so for about 5 years until realizing the harm I was doint to my body!! I don't want anyone of you to go through the torture I had to go through!! It nearly ruined my life, I'm serious!! And everything gets better very very slowly (off the pill for 8 months now and still not as fit and healthy as I was all of my life before Yasmin!!!).

The heart palpitations and the rapid heartbeat is also a symptom brought on by this wonder pill!! I went through every day with a heartbeat about 90 to 120 for about 8 months!!! And it took the whole amount of 6 months (!!!) AFTER getting off Yasmin, until this symptom stopped and my heartbeat went to normal about 70 to 80!! So please don't worry!! It will get better. Give your body time to recover after putting this Yasmin poison into it!! And even if you were taking it just for one month... !!!

Take care and don't give up!!

Best wishes!!
Silke

Hi guest 13001, Hi sherry, hi everybody!!

Well, thanks at first to sherry for reporting your experience with the water pill. I'm so sorry, that it didn't work for you. You said you were only one week on it; should it help within such a short time? I would wish for you, it would help maybe after taking it longer because I'm at my wits end at the moment, too and really know what you're going through!! I feel terrible!!

Looking into a mirror is absolutely horrible for me, going out for shopping or even do some garden work if some of my neighbours are in their gardens, too, seems to be so frightening for me because I'm so ashamed about how I'm looking now and I don't want anyone to see me in such a shape...

I really have gained about 20 pounds after getting off Yasmin within 3 months!!!! I swear I wasn't eating more or doing anything different than before. Don't know what to do now, because I look like I'm pumped up with tons of water and all this doesn't seem to go away....

To Sherry:

I've been on Agnus Castus for nearly 2 months now but I can't say that there are really big noticable changes in me. Ups and downs just like before Agnus Castus, the water didn't go away and the mood swings and anxiety neither. But it all got less month by month just like the months off Yasmin before Agnus Castus.

Well, many women and doctor's say, that you have to take this medicine much longer (about 3 - 4 months) to feel some really noticeable changes. So I think I'll give it another chance and take it 2 months longer. It didn't do any harm to me so far, so what have I got to loose??

After lots of research in the internet I'm now taking other supplements, too. At the moment such like potassium, Magnesium, zinc (can help to bring your normal cycle back!) and b-vitamines (very important for nerves and muscles!). Yasmin can cause a lack of these minerals and vitamines (caused by the diuretic in Yasmin!!) and too low levels of all that can cause the muscle fatigue, anxiety, depression and so on. All the withdrawal effects off this horror pill... So perhaps it maybe another chance.

Many women I've met in the net got a prescription by their gyn of Agnus Castus combined with zinc, selen and b-vitamines which should help to get your hormones back in balance and lessen all the other symptoms. Well, it's a little hope, so I'll just try it!!

But deep in my heart I just feel, that it will take much more time for me, than it already did, to get back to a normal life... I really had been taking this shit much too long...

So please every woman, every girl out there: If you have the SLIGHTEST doubt about how you're feeling on Yasmin and if there is just ONE little side effect: THROUGH YASMIN AWAY IMMEDIATELY and search for another birth control. There are so many ways to do that; the little positive effects of Yasmin (well, my skin had really gotten better, that's all... wow!!) are not worth risking your health or even your lives in such a heavy way!!! I still don't know, if I will ever get back to a normal life, on some days I still just can't believe that I would...

All the best to everyone out there and keep us updated, "After Yasmin Sisters"!!! It helps so much!!!

Big hugs and greetings to all of you!!

Silke

@ Guest, #12837 (water retention):

I've got the same problems with water retention after Yasmin and I'm feeling horrible. Looking into the mirror shows a completely other figure and person as I was before this horror trip!!

I had been thinking about a water pill, too, but at last I figured out, that perhaps it would be better to wait on and let my body recover by itself. And in my family doctor's opinion all the water will go away when my body is back in balance after this Yasmin horror. Surely it may take months to get there, but after I had been putting so much Yasmin poison into my body for over 5 years I don't want to go on taking chemicals and perhaps making it worse and worse...

Yasmin has got a diuretic in it. So during taking Yasmin your body got diswatered every day and every day. So I suppose that after getting off Yasmin all the cells of your body, which had gotten used to being diswatered all the time, are now absorbing the more water they ever did before just like a dried out sponge!! Perhaps that's the reason for this horrible bloating of our whole bodies.

Another way would be to get your potassium levels checked. Low potassium levels also can be causing water retention and many other symptoms most of the women here are suffering from after Yasmin. I read, that Yasmin interferes your electrolytes, minerals and vitamines and in some women in a very heavy way. So after getting off Yasmin there may be an imbalance in all that too!!

Other things that should be checked out (or by yourself taken as a supplement) is your blood levels of magnesium, zinc, b-vitamines and potassium (as already mentioned above), cause Yasmin can cause a total lack of all that and that can cause many of the withdrawal effects of Yasmin as anxiety, lack of energy, muscle fatigue, nervouseness, depression, and so on!!

If you're not sure, if the mentioned happens to you, too, you should search the internet for symptoms of that mineral- and vitamine lack. Perhaps you may find a solution for your problems there!!

For that reasons at the moment I am taking agnus castus to get my hormones back in balance (didn't have a period since easter this year!!), magnesium, zinc (which can help to get your normal cycle back, too!!), potassium and a complex of b-vitamines in hope to help the after Yasmin symptoms to go away (still got muscle fatigue sometimes, nervousness, anxiety and a little dizziness, but all in a very low way, not at all as heavy as during taking Yasmin!!).

I hope my little researches can help some of you getting better again soon!!

We'll get our lives back, believe it!!! It just takes very much patience from each of us and big support and understanding from our family and friends!!

All the best and a big hug to every Yasmin victim out there!!