I have never before posted on a forum like this, but if my inform...

I have never before posted on a forum like this, but if my information helps or forewarns one other woman .... I am grateful. I am 51 years old, been in perimenopause since Lincoln was President, it seems. I was prescribe a generic version of Yasmin, and, because I had been experiencing general symptoms of perimenopause before, did not attribute to Yasmin by increasing feelings of being in hell. I will say one positive thing about it: I have had only one mid-life zit since I started on it. However, the experiences I am going to list now dismisses that aspect completely. I have been on it for 4 1/2 months. The awfulness of it crept up on me, but there is no denying that now. I have gained weight. I have always been slender; however, I've gone up a pant size and even those pants are feeling tight. I'm constipated, no matter how much fiber and mild laxatives I take. My stomach pooches out and feels tight. My breasts are tender. They have NEVER been tender or sore, no matter the time of the month. My hot flashes and night sweats have reached an unprecedented level, and I have been having those off/on for a decade. I don't have hot "flashes" anymore. I heat up and I am uncomfortable all day, save for maybe a couple of hours. Now, here is the WORST side effect: I am so f-ing angry almost all the time and my energy goes into hiding that from others. And there are the companions of anger: depression, feeling SO alone, feeling like a freak and that there is something fundamentally wrong with me... something wrong w/ my very soul. I recognize that some of these symptoms reflect aspects of my personality, but I work on that very hard in a spiritually/practical way and achieve successes along the way. This is different. This is very, very bad. I will NEVER take another one of those horrid pills. I am going to see a doctor who works w/ women's issues and prescribes bio-identical hormones. And if THAT doesn't work, I will find another answer; rather, another answer will come to me, because I hit rock bottom and my intention is SO strong that the Answer cannot NOT come to me (okay, that's a metaphysical pronouncement, but there you go) . For those of you who want to talk to me on this forum, or email me personally, I welcome and appreciate your thoughts. We are ALL together in this! Much Light and Love along the Way, K.