I am a 30 year old nurse and know first hand how birth control pi...

Hi,
I too took Yasmin for four months in total. Im no stranger to the pill and have tried many so im aware of the normal side effects.
After starting Yasmin i began to experience insomnia which ive never in my life had. When i did sleep it was restless and i had really vivid nightmares where i would wake up drenched in sweat. I had a few experiences of really severe hot flushes and im only 26!.
Also severe anxiety and heart palpitations and would cry my heart out over anything, people kept asking me what was wrong and a family member told me i constantly looked like a frightened rabbit!.
I had a strange feeling of being sea sick, dizziness and a sickly feeling which at times could get really bad causing me to be really clumsy. I felt really vunerable all the time and my eyes were constantly sore and twitched for days on end which drove me mad especially when driving.
I also had the weird lump in the throat feeling which at times made me feel as if i was being suffocated and i was gasping for air, i had to keep telling myself i was just imagening it as ive never experienced panick attacks or anything similar before.
I stopped taking yasmin after three months as i couldn't cope with all the weird things happening to me then later decided to give it another go to see if it happened again. I must state when i came off yasmin after about four days the side effects had subsided and i actually slept normally. On my second attempt all the side effects returned, i couln't belive it!. It was definately connected to me taking the Yasmin. After the month i changed to another pill and ive been fine since. It really was quite frightening the side effects on Yasmin, i can't explain the lump in the throat feeling , i also found my throat would go tingle on one side and feel numb !.
Im not sure if this was connected or not but i definately noticed my hair would break off really easily all the time when i was on Yasmin and ive always had strong, thick hair!.

I am 30 yars ols and have been on yaz for less than a week. I have also experienced theese symptoms. I have 3 children and would actually describe the symptoms like morning sickness when you are pregnant. We were in the mall this past weekend and we had to leave because i experience what felt like a panic attack. I am starting to thing it is the pill

I posted my symptoms back in September when I had severe side effects only after 6 days of taking yasmin and one of them was dizziness. I could not even walk 200 meters. I was out of work for a while as I just could not concentrate or think straight. But my main concern was dizziness as I thought it would never go away. When I stopped taking yasmin, it took me at least three months to get back to normal again... I would not recommend it to anyone, it's poison and should be withdrawn from the market

Thank for you responding.
I am happy to hear I am not the only "crazy one". My doctor basically told me I was.
My biggest concern was the vertigo/dizziness. It happened out of the blue and was accompanied by panic attacks, heart palpitations, etc. I would wake at night many times, and not being able to shut off my light because these panic attacks had me so scared as well as vivid nightmares. Needless to say, I was zonked the next day.
I was referred to an ENT (ears, nose, throat doctor) who then sent me for an ENG (balance and equilibrium test) and hearing test. Passed the hearing test and I am still awaiting results from the ENG-which I believe will be normal.
All this led me to have serious muscle spasms in my neck and shoulders. These spasms led to my C-Spine curving in the opposite direction. Now, I am in physiotherapy to correct this and massage for the spasms and tightness.
After all this, I looked back and realized all this started around the time I started yasmin. Also, Alesse is another birth control of the same company. It was developed before Yasmin and docs think that Yasmin is a new and improved Alesse. i was on Alesse for 5 months and came off that with dizziness and missed periods.
The other side effects I could deal with, such as emotional-suspiciousness, racing thoughts.
also experienced a metallic taste in my mouth, thinking it was from chewable vitamins, I stopped those. I still have it and wonder if anyone experienced this side effect?
I hope everyone has better luck and finds a better birth control.

wow, after reading your posting, i thought it was something someone had written about me! i've been on yasmin (and now the generic) since 2/08. i've been sick for about 2 months now, and out of work for about the same amount of time. i've had CT scans of my head and chest, an MRI, bloodwork that covers ALL letters of the alphabet, a holter monitor, a 2D echo and there have been so many follow up visits to the doctor i've lost count. the more i read, the more i find that all of my problems could be caused by my birth control? you've got to be kidding me. i've got tons of things in my family hx, they went thru everything from thyroid to heart diseas to lung problems and everything came back clean. i'm sleeping upwards of 14 hours a day and i still want more, i've got the motivation of a slug, i can't lose weight no matter what i eat, my hair is falling out and i'm going nuts sitting at home b/c my fiance won't let me drive... it's not really safe with how i feel. i can't breathe, a 10 minute conversation leaves me gasping for air, i get the hot/cold flashes, my appetite ranges from non-existent to ravenous, and sometimes when i do eat food has an awful taste. my migraines have more than tripled in their occurences, and they're MUCH worse when they come, they leave me in tears. for the first 5 weeks of being sick i had such a sore throat i could barely swallow.
they did finally find a very low vitamin D level which led them to send me to an endocrinologist to see if it's a hormonal issue. i'm still waiting to get into his office, being a new patient and all. it's been a horrible case of sit and wait, one test per week, and with the results, well the doctors weren't worried about them. now i'm just waiting to see the rhuematologist and endocrinologist, and i just happen to have an OB/GYN appt coming up as well. after reading what i have on this website, i can't see why anyone would prescribe this drug to their patient.

best of luck to all of you!!

to mowgli78:

yes, yes! i am SUFFERING from dizziness. although I wasn't taking yasmin, i'd been taking ortho tri cyclen lo for the past 2 years. starting in january, out of NOWHERE, i have had tachychardia, shortness of breath, chest tightness, that same weird cracking thing in my ear, fatigue that just comes over me, and worst of all the dizziness/lightheadedness. all the doctors say it cant be the pill because i have been on it for too long, but i am willing to do anything to get better.

how are you feeling? did u stop taking the pill??

I'm SO glad I wasn't the only one. I'm sixteen- I only took Yasmin for 2 days and I don't think I had ever been so messed up.
The moment I took that first pill I started feeling strange. That strangeness soon became heart palpitations... I felt like my ribcage would explode. I felt horribly drowsy and miserable, and wanted to do nothing more than lie in bed and sleep. The thing is, I couldn't sleep because my thoughts were racing to the point that I thought I was going INSANE. Worst stomach cramps I've ever had too.
I experienced one of my first panic attacks as well. I was in the car with my family and I would freak out every time a truck would speed by. I literally started crying.
Needless to say I stopped Yasmin after day 2. That was in august, and I haven't touched any BCPS since. I just got a perscription for alesse today... hopefully I'll have better luck this time around.