Yasmin and horrible headaches

I started taking Yasmine in 2005 and almost imeemdiatley I started to have severe anxiety, depression, no sex drive at all and worse of all extremely bad migranes especially a few days before getting my period and during. My life had to be put on hold when I had my period because of the migranes. I stopped taking the Yasmine 3 weeks ago because I just couldn't take the migranes anymore. I have noticed I have gained some weight, my skin and hair feels alot oilier, and my hair has been falling out more than usual which is kind of freaking me out, don't have mood swings. My sex drive has gotten better which is a relief. I still don't know if my migranes will have gone away during my period. I'm just curious can anyone tell me if these side effects (hair loss, weight gain, oily skin) will go away after a few months.
When I went off another type of pill I actually lost weight, why is this one different?

Hello, I am 26 and this is my first time on a bc. My doctor Prescribed it to me to help me with my pms, cramping, and acne. It seems to be working for the cramping and heavy periods. I'm not too sure if it is actually working for my pms or if i have just been dealing with things in a better way. My acne hasn't changed at all, if anything i feel that it has gotten a bit worse. I experienced horrible horrible headaches and nausea the first month. The second month was a little better, and now the third is a lot better. Ok but now the reason that i am here is that i have been experiencing bad constipation to the point where i have developed hemroids. I have always had a few problems with my bowels but never this bad! Before Yasmin i was pretty regular with no trouble. I haven't changed anything in my diet or life other than started Yasmin. So I think its being caused by the pills. I'm on my last week of my third pack. If anyone else has experienced can you please let me know. If it is the pills, I'm not going to start on a fourth pack! Oh 1 more thing, has anyone experienced sudden heart palpitations because of the pill? It used to happen more during the 1st pack and has subsided a bit but still happens at times. It really freaks me out because it will happen over and over again when it does. Any feedback is greatly appreciated, thanks!

I'm glad I found this site. My OBGYN put me on Yasmin.. This is my first pack. I stated it on the first day of my period, that was more than a week ago and I'm still bleeding. The bleeding is also irregular, I used to have 3 sometime 4 day periods. Now I don't bleed at all at night, I have cramps all day and massive clots with sometimes no bleeding in between (never happened before). Should I wait and see if things will change? or should I get off this pill asap. I've been on other birth controls before (marvelon) and that was two of the worst months I had ever experienced...

I posted yesterday on my experience with Yasmin. This is my update. Today I called and left a message for my GYN, I explained to her that the Yasmin was causing me to have horrible headaches, I was weak all the time, and having horrible mood swings and anger outbursts. On my file it states that I suffer from anxiety and depression, which has been being treated by my primary physician successfully for 6 years now. In my message I asked her to please find me a new pill, I am on Yasmin so I can start having regular periods again. She had her nurse call me back, and explain to me that she will not switch me to a new pill, and suggested that I go and get a psychiatric evaluation, that I needed to see a psychiatrist. There was noway Yasmin or Yaz is associated with these behaviors I have described, it is the drug of choice for women who suffer from horrible PMS. I said I beg to differ, I researched the side effects myself on their site, and joined a forum to hear from other women. They were still adamant about Yasmin not causing behavior changes. In the meantime, I had also put a call in my Primary Care, with the same symptoms I told my GYN. The call back from them was different, they stated that there have been a number of women who have complained of all the symptoms I have been having, and my GYN needs to do her research, and she advised me to stop taking he pill immediately and I might want to consider finding a new GYN. So go figure. I usually take the Yasmin at 11:30 each night, and I skipped it today, well it is now 2 a.m. and I must say I am feeling a bit better. I am so glad I found this site...

I took Yaz for 7 days. In that amount of time, I began experience the most horrific symptoms I have experienced in my life. They included: chest pains, nausea, vomiting, arm pain, and the feeling of imminent death (these caused me to go to the emergency room since they are classic heart attack symptoms for a woman); leg and arm weakness; lethargy; migrane; panic attacks; severe insomnia, diarrhea, and vision problems that caused my contact lens perscription to change and night time vision had profound halos when driving, etc. I was literally unable to stomach any normal food portions I was so nauseous. I normally run 3 miles and could not even make it to the gym for weeks. I was afraid to stay home alone with my 4 year-old and 17 month-old for fear something would happen to me while they were in my care. At the ER they found low potassium levels (which makes no sense given Yaz has a potassium sparring diuretic component). In another blood test, I had elevated iron, which I have never had previously.

I am 35 and have been on bcp's periodically for 12-15 years. I have never had any of these symptoms prior to this experience. I have never had anxiety, depression, or any other underlying health condition. I immediately stopped taking the pills once I made the connection. So far, my recovery has been slow, but at least it is improving. I resent that my ob/gyn and internist both said that the pill would be out of my system in 24 hours. The effects are clearly long lasting (I am approximately 7 weeks off of Yaz).

Finally, my eye doctor, of all people, said that he has seen and heard of people having problems similar to mine and that it was understandable that I would have anxiety when I felt like I was dying from a heart attack. No one perscribing this medication bothered to tell me of the diuretic component or any component that was going to affect depression. I am attorney and have always thrived under pressure, not turned into a panic attack ridden mess like this medication caused.

As for the previous post who stated these are common symptoms described by women, at 35, I know the difference between my normal body function and the hell that began when I started taking Yaz. Unless you have experienced this, then you clearly would not understand. I appreciate that Yaz and Yasmin have worked well for some, but that clearly has not been my personal experience. So, I write this not to discourage someone who has had a positive experience, but to provide support for anyone else who has suffered like I have.

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 have been off Yasmin for almost 2 weeks and the panic attacks are gone!!! I feel much better. I decided not to use another form of birth control "with hormones" until my hormones are balanced! The only thing is I am having HORRIBLE headaches, the muscles in my legs and arms are still aching and my mood swings are still there. I hope this ends SOON!! Right now I am taking vitamin B complex to see if that helps any.

hi guys! about four months ago my doctor switched me from ortho tri cyclen lo(which I had been on for two years) to yasmin. It was the worst experience I have ever had in my entire life. About a week into the medicine I started getting horrible headaches, terrible anxiety and suicidal thoughts. I was sooo scared from this medicine that I stopped taking it thinking that everything was going to get better! Well wasnt I wrong. I developed OCD really bad to a point where I would sit and worry that I would hurt someone I loved or that I would hurt myself. and I had disturbing thoughts in my head that made my anxiety worse. I have been off the medicine for like 4 months and I am now taking 50 mgs of zoloft for my OCD, anxiety, and depression. I am unsure that it is working yet it's only been two weeks! I hope and pray eveyday that I finally start feeling myself! It's been horrible! Has anyone had this experience from this medicine? and if so do you think that I should get a hormone test, because I am almost convinced from reading other posts that my hormones are wacky! Well thanks for reading! and I hope everyone feels better! :)

I was on Yasmin for a little over a year and I have just come off Yasmin a month or so ago after suffering so many side effects, such as crazy water retention and swelling as a result, rapid weight gain of 30 pounds (!!) despite no changes in diet, exercise or lifestlye (other than taking Yasmin..), mood swings and general weepiness, literally no libido or interest in sex and vaginal dryness, cramping virtually all the time, severe breast pain, etc. I decided enough was enough and I was going to stop taking it or any other type of pill because I wanted my body back and I wanted it to be normal again. For anyone having problems with Yasmin I'd say come off it asap because the difference for me was almost immediate after coming off it. I felt SO much better in general and all my symptoms went away. The first week after coming off Yasmin I broke out in spots and I had horrible headaches but these all passed after that first week and slowly everything is going back to the way it was - my sex drive came back about two weeks after stopping Yasmin and it is back to how it used to be which has been a welcome miracle, my cramping and breast pain are gone (yay!), my moods are stable and happy, I didn't even miss a period (which is probably unusual) and went straight on to have a normal cycle, and overall I just feel like my self again. The only thing I need to battle now is the weight gain but actually within four couple of days of stopping Yasmin I had already dropped 3 to 4 pounds and I did absolutely nothing to make that happen. Anyway, I wish everyone out there good luck with everything and don't give up hope becuase you will go back to normal once you stop taking this horrible drug. Stay strong! It will all get better and you are not alone with these problems.

I am stunned at what I am reading. I have been on Yasmin for about 3 years and I have had a really rough 2.5 years. Mostly depression and my moods are up and down. That has been tough because I married 2.5 years ago and moved to a new state. I thought it was because of that even though I know myself and that I thought I would handle it better. I know that there would definatly be a greiving time of leaving my family, but 2.5 years....I did ask my doctor about this and they did the same, suggested anti-depressants, which I just didn't want to do yet, so I just said I would see later if I felt better. Anyway, I did not realize that this could be the pill. I have had horrible headaches for the past year and a half and I thought that it might be the pill but the doctor reassured me that this was one of the best pills to be on and maybe it was just stress related. This is crazy, good crazy, news to me. Now I don't feel as crazy as I have made myself feel. I stopped taking my Yasmin about 3 weeks ago. I am feeling very bloated and I did have bleeding for a couple of days this past week. Is that a side effect that any of you have had?? I was a little concerned when I started bleeding that I went to the doctors, she said that I would need to wait a couple of weeks to make sure that I wasn't pregnant and if I was still bleeding then to call her. I feel tired and foggy and like I said, very bloated. Do these things go away?? When?? One thing I do know is that I will never go back on this pill again. Thank you to all of you for speaking out. This is an eye-opener and I can only imagine how many women this will help. Thanks!!!

I have been on Yasmin for 6 years and just stopped taking it two weeks ago. When on yasmin I experienced horrible headaches, depression, anxiety, tight throat, and fatigue. My PMS symptoms were better during menstration, however I had 7-8 day periods. I am 32 yrs old now and want to rid my body of these fake hormones so I can have kids in a year or so. My first symptom while off yasmin has been water retention/weight gain. I actually gained 6 pounds in a matter of 1 day. I couldn't fit into my pants. These pills are horrible. Hopefully, this water retention will subside.
Good luck to all!

I have been getting horrible headaches & one of my eyes is hard to see out of suddenly. I then came across you're website and now I am nervous, do you think that Yasmin can be causing these things?

Hi.
I appreciate all of your thoughts on this.

I have been on Yasmin for close to 3 years now (started it in europe and then when i returned, it received FDA approval).

My husband has said that I have become increasingly anxious. I didn't know if there was any correlation but it appears that there might be.

I will discuss this Wednesday with the OB/GYN. Does anyone have a good alternative suggestion if I wanted to stay on the pill?

I have tried Ortho Tri-cyclin and gotten horrible headaches.

Hi, I just wanted to post some problems I seem to be having also. I have been on Yasmin for almost 2 years now. I was put on them for water weight gain and heavy periods after my son was born. The pill seemed to help for a while but I have noticed about the last 6 months or so that my periods are becoming more and more heavy each month and I start cramping about 5 days before my periods now. Does anyone else have that problem? The pill seems to be helping with the water weight gain. I have also noticed every month around my period I get horrible headaches. My hair seems to be very dry and my labido is gone !!
Does anyone have a similar story to mine.

thanks,
tami

Hi All

Im stunned...i truly am i went of Yasmin about 6 months ago and went through hell on it and am experiencing difficulty currently...

I can not get my weight down i used to weigh 120 at 5'2 im now at 138 and i cant take it off

Before i get my period i suffer from horrific back pain, swelling to the point where i have to just wear sweats till it goes away

Im tired all the time which made it extremely difficult to go to the gym
I was in and out of the hospital with anxiety attacks and bad spells of depression they medicated me for a while

I really truly suffered my body feels like it has been destroyed i really don't even know what to do with myself

I have horrible headaches quite frequently...please let me know if there is anything you have found to make these symptoms subside

I knew there was something wrong with me, but I wasn't sure what it was! I am so glad I decided to research YASMIN. Since I have been on it, I have gained 15 lbs, I have horrible headaches, I am always in crazy mood swings. I never had these troubles before and never gained weight like this. I didn't change my eating regimen so I knew it was something else. I even train 3 times a week with a trainer and the weight is sticking. I will be finding another birth control method!!!

Hi room... Well, I think I am also a victim of this Yasmin Pill !! I went on Yasmin one year ago this month (May). For heavy periods and PMS. Well, for about the first 6 months I felt just fine. I found this site about 4 months ago and read a ton of the postings, but at that time I felt fine and just figured I was one of the lucky ones with no side effects. Then about 2 months ago my world changed. I felt major tired all the time, could cry all day if I let myself, horrible headaches in the back of my head and down my neck, every month my period seemed to get heavier and heavier and the PMS started to come back, my hair is so dry I cant stand it. I went to the doctor this month and she told me to try something else so I am on another pill now. I have been off of Yasmin for 7 days now and I can totally tell a difference, I have energy again, I dont have that weird FOG feeling in my head, still a little tired but not bad, I can really tell I am feeling better. Oh and did I mention that while I was on Yasmin I had no libido, I mean nothing.!!!
Any questions please email me I would love to talk with ya...

Thanks, Tami

I've been on Yasmin for 4 months and just got off of it. Thanks goodness! While I was on it I had been getting horrible headaches and had my first migraine a month ago! I've never been one to get headaches and all the sudden I was getting them at least twice a week and so bad that no matter how many Aleve I took the headache would not go away. I originally went on Yasmin because it's supposed to be good for people with acne. It did clear up my face quite a bit but the headaches are horrible.