Yasmin and constant headaches

Hi all! I am actually really glad to have found this site, i've been on Yasmin for 2 years now. I have been on several different bc pills before this but I was told by my Doctor that Yasmin would be better for me as my weight fluctuates terribly. Normally after being on the same pill for about a year my body starts rejecting the hormones. However, Yasmin has sent my body into overdrive, I feel ill all of the time, have constant headaches, break out in rashes at lease once a week and my sex drive is non-existent. I have also been experiencing extreme pains and my stomach bloats to the size of a football (seriously!) about a week before i'm due on. My periods have also become heavier and extremely painful in the last six months. After reading all of your posts i'm feel happier knowing i'm not the only one and that its not just my body! I am definitely coming off this pill now! Has any bc pill worked for anyone?? I guess i'm going to have to try different things now. However i've heard such bad things about the injection and the implant. (My nurse said they could prevent me from ever having children? - I'm 20 and have my whole life ahead of me. This is the last thing I want!) Thanks again! xx

yaz is horrible.
I recently had a baby 5 months ago, and my obgyn gave me yaz to start taking 2 weeks after she was born. so i did........
I thought I had serious post partum depression or something. I was getting severe headaches EVERYDAY, i was always nauseous, irritable, horrible mood swings (actually thought i was bipolar or something) i was also gaining a lot of weight even though ive been working out like crazy and eating healthy since the day i gave birth. right now i currently weigh only 6 pounds less than when i delivered.....thanks to yaz.
I was also having severe itching spells, chest pain, difficulty breathing for no reason, constant headaches, always sick to my stomach, sleep issues (i would either have to sleep for more than 12 hours to feel rested, or i would be almost on a euphoric *high* with only 2 hours of sleep and function better than ever) and numbness is my arms and legs.
I took this for about 4 months before i finally just realized not to long ago, that all my symptoms date back to around the time i started taking this.

DO NOT TAKE THIS

I'm 23 and I got prescribed Yasmin because I have PCOS, where I only got my period every 3-9 months (very irregular) where I suffered severe period pain and my period would go for about 8 days. The doctor thought regulating my period would decrease the pain, which it did. My period is around 3-4 days, very light and no pain since starting Yasmin. But I have had migraines weekly, constant headaches, usually starting with my vision going blurry and seeing flashing white light. I also lost my appetite for the first month, but have gained weight. I was going to the gym and exercising everyday and now I have no motivation to exercise at all, but feel bloated ALL the time. I have had trouble sleeping since taking it. I suffered from depression and anxiety attacks about 2 years ago, but since taking Yasmin I have been feeling very depressed and had several anxiety attacks, although the anxiety has only started after being on it for 4 months. After having another migraine this week and having to leave work for teh second time in 2 weeks, I decided I was going to stop taking it. (I had also had 3 anxiety attacks this week) since stopping I have instantly felt relaxed, no anxiety, and I no longer feel depressed.

After suffering all of this for 4 months, 8 day periods and 4 days of being in pain doesn't seem so bad. The depression and Anxiety is the scaries part as I haven't experienced it for so long, and don't want to!

Does anyone know how long it takes to be fully out of your system? I just want to get back to normal weight, moods, energy levels etc as soon as possible!

When a class action lawsuit is filed, let me know....this drug should be taken of off the market immediately. We started all of this with an OB/GYN that prescribed this “miracle pill” and now have had to go not only to our primary doctor, but also a psychiatrist, gastrenologist, college campus counselors, psychologists, psychiatrist, and the campus medical doctors; All the while, accumulating enormous doctor bills. All the doctors say, "No, Yasmin won't cause those problems" (except the college campus doctors..wonder why? Hmm.. could it be that they are not in private practice?)....well, I beg to differ. Everyone needs to give this website to their doctor so the doctors can hear from the patients that have taken this drug, and not listen to the pharmaceutical companies that are pushing this drug to be the "miracle pill". Maybe if enough people complain and go to the media, we can get rid of this drug!
My daughter who is 18 was put on Yasmin because of irregular periods, hormonal imbalance, etc. We were told it was the new “miracle pill”. It will make you loose weight, regulate your periods, clear up acne, you name it, it will fix it. Yeah, right.
She started taking this pill in March 2007. She was off at college but called to tell me she was experiencing horrible headaches, behind the eyes. She complained about her stomach hurting, but we just figured it was the stress of freshman year at college. Then she said she got where she couldn’t eat when she went to a restaurant. When she came home in May for the summer, I noticed a total personality change. For example, she was always a neat freak, and now she wouldn’t clean her room. The first day when she drove home, she started crying she was so mad about the traffic. Yes, she has always had a little road rage, but this was ridiculous.
By June, not only could she not be in crowds, like at a restaurant, but now she is having full blown panic attacks and IBS. We called the OBGYN and they said, “Yasmin won’t cause this, go see your primary doctor”. I knew that the only thing that had changed with her was taking the YASMINE. I knew it had something to do with all of this so I “Googled Yasmin” and this website (http://www.medications.com/se/yasmin) was the first one I looked at. All of her symptoms matched everyone else’s! I am so glad we found this website, it explained everything and I had her to stop Yasmin immediately.
So we went to the primary doctor, explained about the Yasmin and how we thought it was the culprit of everything. Of course this doctor also says, “Yasmin won’t cause that”. We told him to look it up on the internet and see how there are over 3000 complaints on this drug, more than any of the other drugs on the market.
Besides the emotional problems she starting having, her pulse and blood pressure was sky high, so he puts her on medicine for that, and puts her on an anxiety medicine and sends her to a psychiatrist. She is very thirsty all the time, and develops IBS. She can’t eat without having pains in her stomach. So, now we’ve have gone from having just irregular periods, to all of the above, plus a psychiatrist.
The psychiatrist doubles her medicine (and puts her Pamine for the IBS) because the panic attacks are gone, but she still is having a lot of nervousness, anxiety, can’t sleep at night, crazy thoughts, worrying all the time, etc. A month later he changes her medicine again, to Effexor. The first 2 weeks, she does okay, but the packet doubles the strength after 2 weeks. It takes 4 weeks for it to take full effect. Right after she doubles this medicine, it is like her senses are on hyper-mode. She can taste everything that is in her food (chili powder, seasonings, etc…), taste the metal in water, and she can hear someone’s phone vibrating, in another room.
Then she goes back to college at the end of August 2007, and it’s horrible. The Effexor is having bad, bad side effects. We called the psychiatrist that she was using at home and he doubled the dose. That was the worse thing they could’ve done. The side effects were worse than ever. I had her to immediately go to a psychiatrist on campus. She told him the whole story and he believed her! Needless to say we switched doctors. He then lowered her dose back down to ½ a dose and hopefully can slowly get her off of all this medicine.
The newest thing she has developed is being hypoglycemic. The campus psychiatrist sent her to a campus medical doctor and he told her that they would get to the bottom of this. He tested her for everything under the sun. Low blood sugar is the only thing they found. But, she hasn’t taken the Yasmin since May. No telling what the results would have came back like if it was done at the time she was taking Yasmin.
Thank goodness she has counselors and doctors there at the campus that believes that Yasmin can cause all of these problems, and are working with her. From what I have read from the people that have used this medicine, although most doctors do not agree, Yasmin takes like 6 months to get out of your system. I think I am going to believe the testimonials of the people who take this medicine, over a doctor who prescribes it.
If everyone goes to the media, their doctors, the FDA, congressmen, and make them aware of these horrible effects, surely we can get this drug off of the market! Does anyone know a class action lawyer that would pursue this? For my child to have to go through all of this is ridiculous, not to mention costly. What do we know of the long term effects this drug will have if it is doing all of this when you first start taking it?
If you have the same concerns as me about this drug, and would be interested in looking into a class action lawsuit, please email: ****** I would be interested to see how many would want to pursue this.

I am a 34 year old and have been taking Yaz for almost a year.

I had some minor side effects until this past month when everything came apart at the seams. I do not know if yaz is the culprit - but the number of women with the EXACT SAME SYMPTOMS as me listed here SCARES THE HELL OUT OF ME.

My "minor" sude effects were the following:

* No period for 5 months
* No sex drive (was not the case before taking Yaz)
* Panic attacks / anxiety (no history fo this. My doc has now put me on Zoloft.)
* Bloating / weight gain
* Brown blotches (like age spots) on one side of my face

This is NOTHING compared to the last month of my life. Basically my life has sucked for the last month. Roughly a month ago my symptoms started with a red rash on the left side of my face and pain in my left ear that led to a migraine that has not gone away at all. (The pain level goes between a 5 and 10, but never lower than a 5.) The rash went away in 2 days, but my ear still hurts today (a month later).

My vertigo began roughly 5 days after the onset of my rash and ear pain and has been non-stop since. I've taken phenergan, valium, etc. - but they are not working. I get spinning/dizzy every time my head moves (up, down, left, right) and with up and down eye movement. It seems like my migraine pain intensifies when my vertigo hits me. If I lie completely still - I have no vertigo - but my migraine is still there. To make matters worse, I have become very disoriented, like I am in a fog all of the time. I am only 34 years old and feel like I am losing my mind. I cannot remember simple words at times and have a tough time completing sentences.

All of these symptoms coincide exactly to the day I began a new packet of the birth control pill called YAZ (Yasmin). I had taken this brand of pill for a year, and though it has worked (not pregnant) I have had some minor side effects up until the last month. The biggest side effect is that I have not had any period at all for the last 5 months. I have also had anxiety (no past history) and have no sex drive (not my normal self.) I stopped taking the pill about a week ago - after reading literally thousands of people with the same side effects I am experiencing on a website called medications.com (My neurologist also told me to stop taking it.)

I am NOT having ringing in my ears or loss of hearing. I mention this because I know other ailments have these as symptoms.

I have already been seen by my dentist, physical therapist, ENT, 2 neurologists and a gyn. So far - they are not helping. I have even been hospitalized for 5 days and all they really did was try and dope me up to sleep and had me take a very potent anti-migraine drug called DHE that must be administered over a 36 hour period via IV. Guess what? It did not work.

The most scary thing is that even though I get severe vertigo any time I move my head (even to the point of waking me up while I sleep) - NOT A SINGLE DOCTOR EVEN MENTIONED I MIGHT HAVE BPPV ( BENIGN PAROXYSMAL POSITIONAL VERTIGO) and they did not test for it at all. They were all interested in treating my month-long migraine with anti-migraine drugs. They all swore up and down that my vertigo was related to my migraine. They also said my fogginess was because I was "tired and sick" and many migraine sufferers are that way.

After my husband and I searched the internet and found dozens of websites, we are pretty much convinced that I have BPPV. We are going to get in front of a vestibular specialist ASAP.

So you know, I have been through a CT scan, two different MRIs, basic blood work on my white cell counts, thyroid levels, potassium, etc.

They have ruled out a sinus infection, brain tumor, pituitary tumor, stroke, blood clots, etc. They have simply treated me with anti-migraine medication - and it has been worthless. I have taken Topomax, Frova and DHE (the drug mentioned above) and my migraine is still there. These drugs have not helped one bit. My neurologist swore that the DHE would do the trick. Guess what? He was wrong.

I discharged myself from the hospital yesterday and am now at home.

I just want my normal life back. I cannot drive, work, take care of my family, etc.

My two biggest questions are:

DOES ANYONE KNOW IF BPPV CAN CAUSE MY MIGRAINE? The reason I ask is that the doctors all think that the migraine is causing my vertigo. All along they have been treating my migraine (with zero success) and have been giving me valium and antivert to simply mask my vertigo (no success there either.) No one has tried to really diagnose and treat my vertigo. Is it possible if I get my vertigo fixed my migraines will disappear?

DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY INFORMATION ABOUT BIRTH CONTROL PILLLS CAUSING BPPV? I saw woman after woman on medications.com have the same symptoms of vertigo, migraines and brain fog while taking the birth control pill Yasmin. I also know that my avalanche of symptoms eerily coincided with my first pill from a new pack. If they are related, I am most interested in what to do to get my hormones back on track in an effort to stop my vertigo.

This is all driving me crazy. A month ago I was absolutely normal. Now I am 100% disabled. I just want my life back.

Please help!

Severe Depression, Trouble Focusing eyes, Lumps in Breasts, heavy feeling on chest.

When I was on Yasmin I had constant headaches and I felt like I had to concentrate on remembering to breathe. It's the weirdest feeling having to "remember" to breathe. This may sound strange, but It felt like my chest was so heavy and my energy levels so low that if I didn't think about breathing, then within 30 seconds I would gasp. BAAAD medication.
I remember laying in bed thinking, ok... and breathe again (my life sucks (due to the depression the Yasmin caused))... oh that's right ... I forgot to breathe there for a second.

What I would like to know is what condition I have that would cause such a response from my taking this medication. I have low blood pressure as well. Perhaps I should get an EKG done?? I've been to the doctor many times about my PCOS symptoms and she thinks I'm a hypocondriac. Which I know I am not. I am just more in tune with my body than some people. I have to be, because I don't respond to medications the way others do and so i have to be my own doctor.
I don't know why they haven't checked me before. When i was on Diane 35 I felt like i was going to have a heart attack and I slept for 2 days straight in my bed without getting up to do much other than eat and drink.

Being so young (23) i think the doctors think that i'm not at risk for heart or stroke. But according to this book i've been reading hormone imbalances can cause heart attack or stroke without any other predisposing factors. Why doesn't my GP know this. Why do I know more than these doctors!!!!!!! And yet still don't know what the heck is going on??

i had constant headaches whilst on yasmin,my friend who suffers from migrains found that they become much worse and she stopped taking it. i think it can be quite a common side effect with a lot of birth control pills and synthetic hormones,another friend of mine has just started HRT and is suffering badly with headaches.

Well, I just stumbled across this site but WOW am I happy I did. I just started Yasmin about a month ago and have experienced some weird things. I've been having these random occurances I guess you could call anxiety attacks? I start getting really hot and then start shaking and a huge headache and my throat starts closing up and then my head goes blank with a MASSIVE headache. I also have constant headaches, random food cravings, and I am constantly thirsty. I've also been in such pain and it's a hastle to walk places and I am constantly tired. I thought it could just be growing pains untill I came across this site.

Could this all be related to the pill?

And what are the attacks called that I had described above?

Is this pill worth taking since it's doing all of this to my body?

Is there any other pills less risky I could take?

Thanks in advance.

been on Yasmine for 3 months. 28 yrs old. been on other pills that made me suicidal, moody, etc, but this was the first pill that made me feel actually normal. this is the most expensive pill in Australia- $60 for 3 packs. had severe headaches & nearly fainted. speach problems. thought i had a stroke, but was just a severe headache. major decrease in sex drive. loss in appetite (yeah). numbness in legs (really sore) if sit at desk during day. did actually like that my periods were so much shorter & lighter, & not painful. i get the fainting & feeling dizzy thing too. BUT- am going off it now, due to the constant headaches, leg soreness. am going to miss the non- consequences of spontaineous sex.

Hi Ladies...
How about headaches? Was on Yasmin for 4 years and have been off for about 6 weeks. For the last 3 weeks I have had the worst constant headaches you can imagine. Very migrain like-with lots of pressure in my eyes-sinus area. Anyone else with this...starting to wonder if it's something horrible like a tumor!
Cristy

wow, wrapped to have found this site let me tell u!! I just got back from the dr's fearing i had chicken pox... it seems i have dermatitis all over my body!!!!! The Dr believes it is from a cream... i am certain its from Yasmin... One of the main reasons i took it was because i have been very sensitive to all the other pills i have tried... the last pill i was on also gave me a rash on my face only. the fluid retention is worse then ever...i am eating like never before (not helping that it was just Easter!) I have constant headaches and feel premenstral all the time. I burst out crying when i saw an email i would have normally thought funny and am having fears of dying and really dark thoughts about how short life is!! I stopped it 2 days ago and am still feeling batty... this hormonal stuff is powerful. I heard such good things about this pill- its good to know i am not the only one having trouble.

Blurred vision, twinting in my face, weight gain and constant headaches. Feel tired a lot.