I think it is interesting the symptoms that you mention here. I h...

I had a similar experience with Loestrin in terms of heart palpitations. I am considerably older than you...43 now...42 when I tried the Loestrin for 5 months. I also began with BCPs at an early age....17...to control a functional cyst. Stayed on them until I was about 26. Did not try them again until last year. Was told by my Dr that for a woman of "my age" the options were Yaz or Loestrin. He said that in his practice he heard more complaints about diminishing libido with Yaz and more acne with Loestrin. I decided to try the Loestrin because a libido problem would have been more of an issue. Within a month I started with the palpitations. I, too, went to my GP and had an echo to check for MVP. My heart is fine but those sorts of feelings are very scary. Maybe they ARE panic attacks of sorts but I feel that they were very much brought on by the Loestrin.....I never had them before I started taking it! My blood sugar and cholesterol were also out of control with the Loestrin. I NEVER had a blood sugar problem before although I do have to watch my cholesterol (always have) due to heriditary concerns. I am 5'5, 130 lbs an don't smoke. I got off the Loestrin and tried the Mirena for 5 months. While my cholesterol dropped 43 pts, I had headaches, bloating, cystic acne, dizziness, insomnia....so out came the Mirena. 2 months later I started having hot flashes. My last period had been the month before I had the Mirena removed.

All this to say that I think toying with our hormones seriously affects your system and can cause lots of side effects you will never find on the box. With me, I think the high levels of progestin in the Loestrin and the progestin in the Mirena really messed up the balance. My estrogen was down to almost nothing when tested...no wonder I was having such trouble. Estrogen affects over 400 bodily systems/functions....including the heart! So if you upset the balance, I think that you will eventually suffer because of it. I went from normal fertility (for a woman of my age, of course) to completely post-menopausal in a matter of a few months. I now have an estrogen patch and take a natural progesterone cyclically to protect my uterus. I will have to do this until I reach a normal menopause age. I feel much better. I'm glad I wasn't trying to have a baby.....I feel bad for the ladies who end up having fertility problems after discontinuing hormonal BC.

I am going thru the same thing right now! Im having heart palpitations, I can feel it flutter in my chest and then sqeeze, I just started a low estrogen birth control pill, and my PCP said I was very sensative to the pill, I just stopped taking it 2 days ago and cut my coffee out, I feel a tad bit better, but the EKG was normal, my doctor was not overly worried, but it does not feel good! I thought I was having a heart attack or panic attack?1, but I was not. We will see if these heart palpitations go away. It is very common for young women expecially active athletic women to have a cardiac arrhythmia, but I will continue to push my doctor if I dont feel better.

My EKG and ECHO were both normal but it took a few months before the palpitations stopped altogether. I would feel the flutter in my throat and then the squeeze, like you said. Then my heart would race...probably because I would get scared! The worst episode with me, which is what got me to the Dr, was when I was in a movie theater....all of a sudden felt a rush of heat start at my toes and go all the way up to my head....and I couldn't move...my head then felt very heavy and spacey, I thought I was having a stroke. My GP felt that if I stopped the Loestrin it might make it worse...she was convinced that it had a hormonal connection...but this was also the first time my blood sugar was out of whack. I did read later that Loestrin can cause a glucose issue in some people. I quit taking the Loestrin and the headache went away. Decided to try it again to see what would happen....within 30 minutes of taking it, I felt like someone hit me in the back of the head with a 2 x 4. That was all I needed to know. What sort of surprises me after reading all these posts is that so many younger women are taking Loestrin when it was presented to me as one of the lower dosage BCPs that were targeted for "older" women. It has less estrogen but more progestin than most.

I am on Ortho Novum 777 and have been for 4-5 years. I have had the palpitations (PVC's) for 2 months now. I have been to the ER thinking I was dying. I frequently wonder if I will wake up at all. I am 34 and non smoke, non drink. I lift weights and jog several times a week. At least I did until these palps started ruining my life. All tests have checked fine. I have had food allergy tests, thyroid, regular blood tests, echocardiogram, 24 hour holter monitor, and all have checked fine. The cardiologist says I have a healthy heart and that sometimes healthy hearts act up but he thinks there is something else causing it. I am waiting on results for the MRI, 24 hour urinalysis, and echo of thyroid. They also want to look up my butt and down my throat. So far I was told I had anxiety and that it was panic attacks. I changed that Doctor because although I have panicked in response to the problems I know my body and it is not that. So, I have had fingers up my butt, pee stored in the fridge over the weekend till I could drop it off, numerous embarrassing visits to the ER and I feel as if it is a wild goose chase. I pray and hope it is the pills. I need a break from this insanity-it is really telling on my mental state and I can't do a thing about it. And I am going to school for pschology!

I am online checking for palpatations as a side effect and I'm glad to see I'm not the only one. I'm on loestrin 24 and i decided to stop last night because my heart has been racing at night after the pill and in the morning for a few hours. I also feel short of breath with the rapid heart beat and I really don't believe it's stress because it happens at night only after I take the pill and it wakes me up it's so fast and strong. If this is a common side effect, it needs to be listed in the packaging.

I too went through most of the stuff listed in the other postings. The difference is I was diagnosed with mitral valve prolapse a long time ago. Then 2 years ago they changed the diagnosis to bicuspid aortic valve. Both of which can cause the palipatations. About 6 months ago I started having terrible PVCs. I thought I was going to have a heart attack! So the doctor ran all those tests, EKG, sonogram , heart monitor, etc. I was even having so many PVCs that the tech who was doing my test could tell everytime it would happen. I was very scared. All the tests said my heart was fine. Well I decided to try a little test myself and I stopped taking the Loestrin last month. I haven't felt 1 PVC since then. Not a 1 ! I have even upped my caffeine (which I'm not supposed to) and I still haven't felt any. It was really bad when you lay down at night and that is when I took the pill. I'm sorry , but there is no denying that the pill had something to do with it. I don't care what any doctor says!