Yasmin and muscle pain

I have been off this pill for 6 days...was taking it for 11 months and I feel horrible today. My side effects while on this pill where:hair loss, complete loss of libido, vaginal dryness, headaches, muscle pain and twitching in my legs, rash on my breasts that was very itchy, nervousness, bladder problems: constant need to urinate and feeling pressure in my kidneys. The list goes on and on. I am scared coming off these pills, I have had dizzy spells all day and feel very nauseated, I have bad cramps. I stopped the pack mid-cycle and I have been bleeding fully since yesterday. I am so scared of whats going to happen next.

Within about 8 days of starting Yaz, I developed muscle pain all over my body, but especially in my legs and shoulders. Sometimes it felt like muscle cramps, sometimes like a crawling feeling, sometimes like a pinching, sometimes like a knot. Blood tests and a Doppler test showed no blood clots, but I went off the pill anyway. The symptoms started improving after a few days, and mostly went away within a few weeks. But then I came down with extreme itching and discharge, and trips to four different doctors revealed no infection. That finally cleared up after about two months. Now I'm on a different pill, and unfortunately the muscle pain is coming back. So I guess hormonal birth control might not be for me, but like someone said, this is not easy to deal with in a committed monogamous relationship. I'm going to take a break from all hormonal birth control and hope that the return of the muscle pain was just because my body isn't ready yet after the Yaz.

I started taking yaz about 8 months ago January 2007. I started getting some calf pain in the morning but didn't think anything about it, then when I went on vacation at the end of June both calves were hurting, I ended up going to a doctor on vacation and she gave me some muscle relaxers. By the time I flew back home in July, I ended up in the emergency room and given a strong pain reliever. I ended up going on line and went to my doctor the next day and told her that I thought it was Yaz, she send me for an ultra sound and I had a superficial clot in my left calf. Since I have ended up going to a vein specialist and am wearing support hose. Both legs are still really hurting (including my knees and ankles), I also have had severe eye pain and have gone to the opthalmologist, I have been prescribed glasses but feel now that it is the yaz, I have been off yaz for about 2 months and still having severe muscle pain, does anyone know how long this lasts...

EVERYBODY REPLY TO THIS Let's see exactly how many women have had negative side affects from Yasmin. Just reply with the sideaffects. I see lots of posts and was wondering how many women are out there sharing similar problems. So me.... migraines, extremely horrible mood swings all from taking yasmin for 8-9 days next..........? lol

I was on Yasmin for a long time- maybe a year or more. That was about 3 yrs ago - I've been off it for at least a year.

Here's my question: how long will these symptoms persist after I go off the pill? I'm not sure why I have my symptoms, but maybe this pill started it. I am constantly in muscle pain, high fatigue, swollen,painful feet daily, ache/painful shoulders, back, hips, but and legs. I am not myself and haven't been in years. Maybe this drug started it.?? Your opinions based on your experience?

I posted yesterday a response to a message from another woman. I have stopped birth control before and it caused me to begin my menstrual cycle early. I had been thinking about not taking YAZ anymore as I was convinced it was making me feel crazy and not myself. I felt out of control hormonally and that my brain and emotions were not connected. I was very moody and would be come depressed and anxious for no reason. I also felt like another person both physically as well as emotionally... I was exhausted all the time and felt like I lost my self confidence. I felt I was missing out on my life. I stopped taking the pill last night. I will let you know what the side effects I have experienced are. I am calling my DR. this morning to check to make sure I am not putting myself at risk by stopping the pill. I think I am doing the right thing for me. I think it would be best to call your Dr. and ask.
Also item to note: YAZ is used to treat the symptoms of premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), such as anxiety, depression, irritability, trouble concentrating, lack of energy, sleep or appetite changes, and feeling out of control. PMDD can also cause physical symptoms such as breast tenderness, joint or muscle pain, headache, and bloating or weight gain.
I feel like this describes my symptoms to a tee.

I've been on Yasmin for... honestly I'm not sure... at least a year, maybe closer to two years. I started (and still am) taking Yasmin because I had such painful periods that my doctor thought birth control pills would help.
At first I loved Yasmin and didn't have any problems... my periods were shorter and not as painful, and I didn't have any side affects that I could see.

This time last year, I developed insomnia, and I am someone who NEVER has had problems sleeping. There was alot going on in my household and I thought it was from stress... I finally ended up DROPPING OUT of high school in my senior yaer and doing independent study because I had depression, anxiety and insomnia that kept me from attending and I was at risk of not graduating. I took sleeping pills for awhile, but eventually my insomnia went away and I could function more. In addition to insomnia, I developed severe depression that kept me home and I stopped contact with all of my friends, stopped doing the things that I loved and my personality disappeared completely. This, too, went away after some time and I developed new symptoms.

Around summertime, I started getting daily headaches that were annoying. These annoying headaches turned into SEVERE migraines that would land me in the hospital... at one point I was in so much pain I remember thinking that I would rather die than deal with these headaches any longer. Daily migraines kept me home and my social life ended completely. Just like my insomnia, after awhile, my migraines got better and went away, although they come back sometimes (as well as my insomnia)... like a few times a month.

Now (in the past 2-3 months), I've been getting sicker and sicker and I had no idea why until I found this website. I have muscle pain and weakness 24/7, and when I'm not at work I'm laying on my couch at home and I don't do ANYTHING anymore... I don't go out with my friends, I don't want to get dressed, my room is the messiest it's been in years because I have no energy to clean it and I feel like I'm going crazy. My doctors have recently tested me for mono, diabetes, underactive thyroid, and a few other diseases and have found nothing. In addition to these symptoms I've had (periodically) experienced:

*ringing in my ears - enough to make me stop what i'm doing and make sure my ears are still working.
*chest pains
*numbness in parts of my body - usually when I'm falling asleep... the other night my lips went numb for a few seconds.
*severe acid reflux
*stomach problems - unexplained constipation and diarhhea without changing diet or anything else.
*faintness - i've nearly passed out two different times in the past two weeks, and i've never passed out in my life.
*muscle pain 24/7
*muscle weakness
*what i call "mini migraines" - i don't get the pain of a migraine, but i get slight nausea and the odd sensations or disorientation that i normally get before a migraine. for three weeks i would randomly get these "episodes" where everything looked strange and then that would develop into a mini anxiety attack.
*anxiety attacks - i've never been a person with much nervousness or anxiety but have experienced at least one full-blown attack in the past 2 months.
*dizziness - sometimes out of nowhere, and sometimes it wakes me up at night.
*nausea - for a month straight, every morning when i woke up i would feel nauseous... but like every other symptom, it eventually went away.
*loss of appetite - just in the past week. i force myself to eat but honestly have no appetite. last night i went to bed without dinner because of it.

These are most of the physical side affects that bother me on a regular basis, and after finding this website I have decided to stop taking Yasmin completely.

My thoughts go out to the ladies who are so completely ill that they have sickness every single day because of this pill. I think that it should be taken off of the market. Obviously certain pills don't work for certain people, but this website is proof that this pill could be deadly in many cases.

To Dejay 78

Do not give up, this muscle pain, aches, twitching will stop once your body gets rid off the Yasmin toxins. I've had too the muscle pains, swelling, stiffness in my lower legs and my arms with the twitching when I went off Yasmin.
I could not sleep at night because of the pain I had in my legs and feet like horrible cramps and constant twitching. Also for 3 weeks I was not able to walk properly and felt like I wanted to die and had to give up my favourite hobbies (walking and swimming). It will take a while before you can back to normal again (it was 2 months for me) and I still have the stiffness in my calves (pain and cramps have gone!!) and some days are worse than others. I find swimming to be excellent as it relaxes your muscles and improves your blood circulation.
I'm also taking vitamin B complex with food once a day. This is good for the muscles, brain and heart. Just be patient and you will get better.

Hello everybody. My wife had been complaining about side effects from the pill but I had been very skeptical. After seeing so many testimonials I'm pretty shocked. I now stand by her decision to get off Yasmin and possibly oral contraceptives altogether if need be. She is very happy she found this site, and quite frankly, so am I.
Her symptoms are reduced sex drive, tenderness in her breasts, blurred vision (she thought she needed lasik surgery again), muscle pain all over and ocassional dizziness. Does anyone know if these are all due to Yasmin or are common to all pills? Please comment.
She has been on Yasmin for 6 weeks and had been on another pill (Diane, Etinil Estradiol) for 3 months before that. She's 26 and had never used any pills before those.

Hello there. My wife showed me this site today and it's pretty shocking what Yasmin has done to several of you. I had been very skeptical about side effects of the pill in general, but seeing so many testimonials made me reconsider. I'm now standing by my wife's decision to at least get off Yasmin and possibily oral contraceptives all together if need be.
Her symptoms were decreased sex drive, tenderness in her breasts, blurred vision (she thought she needed lasik surgery again) muscle pain all over and ocassional dizziness. I'm hoping these symptoms are related to Yasmin and not all pills? Any comments on that?
She has only been on Yasmin for 1 month and was on another pill Diane (Etinil estradiol) for 3 months before that, she had never used any pills before and she is 25.

hi sophie,
sorry to hear you are still suffering so badly,were you on yasmin for long? i was on it for 1.5 years and have been off now for nearly 6 months like you. i think it depends how long you took yasmin and how badly messed up your hormones have become. i'm not sure if i have replied to you before (i think i have ) have you had your thyroid checked? i ask this question of most people who are still feeling bad. your thyroid levels (tsh) should be in between 0.3 - 3.0 .most people feel best around 1 - 1.5. my thyroid was out of whack whilst on yasmin so i had a dose increase (i have hashimoto's) when i had my test 1 month ago it showed that i needed my dose reduced again so bcp's definately can effect thyroid function. thyroxine is afterall a hormone so it is quite likely that it has been effected too. Your periods could be an indication that all is not right with the thyroid. underactive tends to cause depressive feelings,muscle pain and heavy periods and also headaches. yours may be fine but it is worth ruling it out. the previous poster recomended prozac..i know nothing about it or any other anti-depressants as i never took them (apart from a short time on diazepam for my anxiety/panic attacks) but as she says if you are still not finding any relief from your symptoms it might be a route to consider (do rule out the thyroid 1st though). i read many helpful books that helped me learn to handle my anxiety/panic attacks and that has done wonders for me,even if i have a few bad days i KNOW they will get better and i just use what i have learned to work through it,it's not easy, some times are worse than others but i know i am getting better slowly. i hope this will be the case for you and that you will start to see some improvement in your symptoms. with regards to your periods it may be a sign that they are trying to regulate themselves again.mine were 28 days for the 1st 2 cycles but now can be anything up to 38 days apart and are so light they are gone within a day or 2. my periods were always regular as clockwork before i went on yasmin. even after i had my last child and breastfed for a year. as soon as i stopped feeding her my periods came back at 28 days on the dot,then i started taking this rubbish.

best wishes to you sophie.

sarah

Please help. I took Yasmin for 3 years wothout much problem. Last year I started to get migraines... bad migraines with yucky neurological symptoms.. dizziness, aura, a moment of weird speech. All terrifying possibilities (stroke, brain tumor, etc)were ruled out with various tests. This was so scary that it pushed me into a series of full blown panic attacks. (I had never had a panic attack in my life!) My neurologist suggested I try to get off oral contaraceptives just to see what would happen. He never attributed anything directly, just said that hormones are very powerful substances in the body and it was worth a try. I have been off Yasmin for 3 months. I had crazy PMS last month, depression on and off, muscle pain and MAJOR anxiety. i had to leave a crowded restaurant tonight because I thought I would be sick. I got very hot and jumpy and had to get fresh air. I have never had stuff happen to me like this before. I am terrified. I feel crazy.

I can't believe what I have read about Yasmin, I thought it was all in my mind...I have been on Yasmin for a 1-1/2 and symptoms have really been getting worse. I have headaches, muscle pain and spasms, joint aches and what really scares me is the shortness of breath...I walk alot and I noticed during the week I am off Yasmin the symptoms are not that bad but when I start up again the symptoms come back ten fold including nausea. I am so greatful for this site. I am seeing my doctor next week and will get off Yasmin...

Hello Ladies!

I can't believe that it has been almost 4 months since I stopped taking Yasmin! I originally posted back in April with a myriad of side effects and problems that I was having being on this Hormone+Anti-Inflammatory combination pill. The first month off was rough, and I still felt weird at times. The second month was better, and now after 3 (almost 4) months I feel 100%. I attribute my feeling of 100% to drinking lots and lots of water (about 2 Liters/day) and working out several times a week. Since I'm not on Yasmin anymore, working out is much easier because I don't suffer from all of the muscle pain and fatigue that I did before.

I made a choice to not go back on hormonal Birth Control Pills ever again. Of course, this isn't a choice that everyone can make for themselves. It is a lot of responsibility being in a monogamous relationship and not being on a hormonal form of bith control. But, it's easy to rationalize being careful and taking the proper precautions when you know that you are Healthy and Happier not pumping your body full of artificial hormones.

My practitioner agrees that hormonal pills are not for me- and even appologized for allowing me to suffer as I did. Because I brought this to her attention, she said that she is sure to ask each one of her patients on hormonal birth control specific questions about how they are feeling. I guess I just thought that I felt "normal" after a while because I didn't know any better. Afterall, I had been on some form of hormonal birth control since about 16 years old, so for the past 8 years of my life I had grown accustomed to feeling like shit.

The worst is over for me, and I'm just happy to be able to let you all know what happened to me and alert you of my progress. I hope that you all take care of yourselves- and remember to not suffer silenty like I did, and many do, for far too long.

Much Love!

I have been on Yasmin for 6 weeks now...i have horrible joint pain and muscle pain in my legs at ngiht...and i have that awful itchy, burning feeling on my legs like Resltess Leg Syndrome...has anyone else suffered with bad muscle pain in their legs being on Yasmin...happened with the last pill I was on, but not this bad...

My GYN prescribed Yasmin for me approx. 5 months ago after I had been diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Yasmin has supposedly proven to be an excellent treatment for women with this diagnosis. I wasn't sure if I would be able to tolerate it at all since I've had a history of my body has rejecting any type of hormonal birth contral methods in the past (I would get SEVERE migraines, nausea, vomiting and vision problems). At first I loved it.....I was actually getting my period again and it was coming regularly. My bloating has almost completely gone away (I am constantly urinating), and my PMS systoms and mood swings have diminished substantially. However, as time goes on I'm noticing increasing problems with muscle pain, spasms and "knotting" particularly in my neck, shoulders, back and calves. The muscle cramping has gotten so bad at times that I have been unable to walk for short periods of time. Within the past 2 weeks I haven't had a single pain-free day, so that my chiropractor prescribed a muscle relaxant just so that I can get through my day. I'm not sure if this is the Yasmin or not, but I've never had these muscle problems before and it only began after I had been taking the Yasmin for a period of time. I have made an appointment to follow this up with my GYN because at this point, I still have one month left of this treatment to control my PCOS, which has the potential to cause me some other severe problems if left unchecked. I will repost additional comments after I meet with my doctor. Has anyone else had this problem while taking this pill?

Hi, I'm a 39 y.o. woman who was place on Yasmin to even out my hormones. According to my recent blood work, I am in the post menopausal range. I had been suffering severe hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia, and memory loss; hence, the BCP. I also have hypertension, and lost about 25 pounds over two years ago. Between my weight loss, and medication my BP was controlled.

Then, I started on Yasmin. Not only did my BP shoot up, but I began having symptoms of a potassium imbalance (shortness of breath, exteme fatigue, muscle cramps, etc.) I called my gyn, and did not receive a return call. However, my internest saw me almost immediately. he switched my BP medicine, so that is controlled.

I am still having headaches and nausea on a daily basis, cramps in my feet and legs, mood swings, irritatability, shortness of breath, depression, dry skin, fatigue, and muscle pain in my back and jaw area. I also noticed that the veins in my lower left leg are prominent, almost protrubant. I also have occasion nagging localized pain in my calf muscles. Further, my libido is not reduced; it has ceased to exist!! That was one thing that had improved with the onset of menopause for me. My husband and I are NOT happy campers.

This website is great. I took my last, and I do mean my LAST yellow pill today. I start the white tomorrow. My mom died of a stroke, and I'm really unhappy that my doctor played up the benefits of this drug while omitting all of these possible side effects. Oh yeah, in a matter of days, I packed on between 7-10 pounds. I'm not eating any more than before. I think I'll call her office Tuesday, and let her know I'm quitting. Thanks for letting me know I'm neither crazy nor alone.