Yasmin and shortness of breath

okinawak so sorry to hear about your daughter. All I can relate to you guys is my personal experience. I was on Norimin for a couple of years from the age of 19. For the last year (up until a couple of months ago) I was on Yasmin. I experienced anxiety whilst taking these pills which I attributed to stress, but since I have been off the pills I am feeling fantastic. I stopped taking Yasmin because I was experiencing other things like pains in my calves, hair loss and getting spider veins, loss of libido (I'm only 23). :-( I decided upon reading other experiences on this page to stop taking Yasmin. I am happy to report back that I am feeling great... Fantastic in fact. I won't say that its directly related to Yasmin as I have no way of proving that. All I can say is how I felt during and after. And for the last three months I have felt greater confidence in my ability to deal with what life throws at me. I am feeling happier all the time, and I think my libido is improving. All the best to you guys, and all those out there worried about symptoms, please go see your doctor!

hi
i am on my 2nd month of Yasmin. the first period i had was awful really bad pains and a lot of bleed compared to my normal period. I had headaches, trouble sleeping, been anxious and thirsty. Now on my second month headaches have gone, now have increased trouble sleeping and im even more thirsty as for weight gain i haven't gained or lost.I am going to see how my next period goes, take its for month 3 and evaluate the situation from there.But i used to have spots and now have very clear skin.the sleep problems are usually waking up in night and not being able to get bak to sleep not usually to start with and go away with herbal nytol tabs. as for severe thirst i hope its going to stop. No problems in the bedroom or dryness down below.

I am 20 and have been on Yasmin a year and a half now and to be honest I am still not 100% completely convinced that Yasmin is the root of all my evils. To all of you who are having horrible side effects after a few days, give it time. Your body is trying to adjust to all the hormones you are putting into it and it’s doing its best to get back to normal. My first month was semi-bad, some nausea here and there and a little tenderness, but not enough to stop my life over. My doctor recommended taking the pill right before I went to bed so I could hopefully sleep though the nausea, which I usually did. After the first month I was perfectly fine and back to my normal life. I then switched to taking my pill in the morning so it was easier for me to remember. After reading countless “horror stories” on this website even I started saying, “oh my gosh, I have that….i have that too….and that!...its all because of that horrible Yasmin!” But then I had to take a step back and realize Yasmin is not to blame. Sure, I have panic attacks sometimes, but I have had those way before I started taking birth control and sure I get depressed sometimes, but what woman hasn’t at least once in their life? I didn’t lose or gain weight, my acne perhaps got a little better, and my breasts didn’t change an inch. My only questioning factor is that I don’t really have that big of a sex drive, but then I realized I never have. Now, before you all start yelling at me, I am not calling you liars in the least, I believe you and I feel sorry for all of you who have experienced bad things because of this or other birth control pills. For those of you who are thinking of taking Yasmin and are scared after reading all of these articles, remember, every body reacts to pills and medication differently. Thousands of people die every year from taking Tylenol and aspirin, but does that mean we should take these medicines completely off the shelves? Of course not. All I am saying is for every one Yasmin horror story there are thousands of very satisfied customers. Give it a try, you only have three months of your life to lose and so much to gain.

I starting Yasmin when my daughter was a few months old, my doctor told me it would be good for me to take since I have PCOS. I started having anxiety, leg cramps, and shortness of breath to a point that I wound up at the doctor and ER a lot, not knowing what was wrong with me. However I did lose like 100lbs on it getting down to 130lbs. Since I quit I have gained 25lbs back, however I don't feel like I'm gonna DIE! This pill is the wonder pill!!!!
Tara - FL

My daughter took Yasmin for two months and 18 days. She began to experience anxiety but the nurse told her that Yasmin "took some getting used to." My daughter decided to give it one more month. In the 3rd month she experienced shortness of breath and some "funny little bloody noses." She had no symptoms of DVT's in her legs (pain or swelling). A doctor examined her on Wednesday and diagnosed "anxiety." On Thursday her nurse reassured me that the shortness of breath could definitely be caused by anxiety. Friday morning she collapsed in her dorm room. She turned blue. She was taken to the ER. She DIED eight hours later of massive pulmonary emboli.
Don't let this happen to you or someone you love. Know ALL the symptoms of blood clots in the legs OR in the lungs. These symptoms are buried in small print in the middle of the booklet. If you develop symptoms go to an ER IMMEDIATELY and insist on being checked for blood clots. Tell them you are on Yasmin. Do not accept the diagnosis of anxiety unless blood clots are ruled out. In addition, if you have a family history of blood clots be tested for clotting disorders BEFORE you start a birth control pill. She was my only daughter and my heart is broken. BE CAUTIOUS. We were falsely lured into a sense of safety because it was a "low dose" pill.

Heart palpitations, dizziness, migraines, fatigue, no sex drive, weight gain, panic attacks. Saw cardiologist was diagnosed with mitral valve prolapse however i don't think the doctor ever saw this on my echocardiogram. All of these symptoms appeared after being on yaz for over a year. I am stopping Yaz at the end of this pill pack..any idea how long it will take to get back to normal?

The health care system has failed me and led me to believe that I had many issues "inside my head." I was on yasmin since spring 07 and was fine for half a year until the symptoms one by one crept up. I too was experiencing the fatigue, the vomiting, the mood swings, the depression and anxiety. I've been known to be very laid back, very easy going, so when I had my first panic attack ever, I knew something was off.
Soon after, I started to experience heart palpitations, chest pains, shortness of breath. One day I was so freaked out I went to the E.R. with a standing heart rate of 142. When all the tests turned out clear, they told me that I should visit the psychiatric clinic. When they asked if I was on any medications, I told them I was on yasmin. The doctors looked at eachother with a confused look and asked me "What's yasmin?" Shows how much they know!
I was getting better overall until a few late-nite episodes had me waking up with my heart pounding and my thoughts racing. This happened two nights in a row which disheartened me since I thought I was slowly getting better. Then, I found this website, and everything made sense. I stopped taking the pill that night, and that night, I slept fine. It's been about three weeks since I've been off of yasmin and I'm 80% back to normal. I was at the point that I thought I would never laugh as loud or never smile as much as I did a year ago. The other day I caught myself with a huge smile for no reason at all . . . and that's when I knew I was on track to recovery.
I started to ask around and found out that many women have experienced very negative effects from yasmin. Last week, I told the woman whose office is next to mine and she proclaimed "I had the same thing too! So did my sister!"
The doctors won't believe you. Many of them are buttered up by the drug companies. Even my sister who's an RN told me that sometimes, you need to be your own doctor. And for symptoms of anxiety, depression, I would recommend 5-htp. It's a plant-derived natural supplement that increases the production of your seratonin. It's so easy to get misdiagnosed and placed on some other medication that has other adverse side effects.
Spread the good word, ladies. We must reach out to one another and take care of one another like sisters. Afterall, who else is there who we can rely on?

I have been taking Yasmin for 2 months and suffer the following symptoms for the last 7 weeks, lack of balance and co ordination, problems walking which consist of shaking wobbly legs its like they are made from jelly , shortness of breath, palpitations, panic attacks, clumsiness, stomach cramp, constipation, diarrhea, clots whilst not menstruating, headache, blurred vision, dizziness, seeing spots, light headed, aching muscles, fluid retention, swollen hands and feet, abdominal pain, lack of period, mood swings, nausea, lack of appetite, sore breasts, bloatedness, tiredness, insomnia, pais in my chest, has any one else got these symptoms?

I'm 15 and I've been taking yaz for about a month.
the side affects just aren't worth it, i didn't know my depression and tiredness was from the pill because my doctor told me there are NO SIDE EFFECTS.
well everyday i come home and i cant get out of bed, my boyfriend thinks I'm going crazy cause ill start getting mad for no reason and that usually doesn't happen. i play soccer and have been noticing extreme muscle aches and shortness of breath, which doesn't help at all. helppp! any other pills that are worth taking? thanks

My story is long....I have been taking Yasmin for almost 2.5 years, since having my son. About 8 months after starting the pill we relocated to another state. About 6 months after that I began having shortness of breath and anxiety. I thought it was due to our relo, which was all positive but still those things can be stressful. My doctor thought it was anxiety and prescribed Zanax. I rarely took them...seemed like the anxiety subsided. A few months later I was back at my doctors office with extreme nausea and this crazy burning sensation down my arms and on my chest. I was diagnosed with H Pylori and treated for that and then had an endoscopy and found I had mild chronic gastritis. I was on Prevacid and then finally prescription Zantac for that. I went a few months and then the shortness of breath returned and I began having heart palpations. I then went back to my doctor. My heart rate was elevated so she sent me over to a cardiologist. He said my heart was fine. I then came down with a stomach virus, which is what I thought at the time, and ended up not taking my pill for 2 days and then began menstruating. I stayed off of it for a month and continued to have this terrible burning sensation on my skin. I started a new pill pack the next month and that's when the real hell began. I woke up around 1:30am with severe nausea and heart palpations. My husband took me to the ER - they said it was due to my stomach. I went back to see my GI doc she said that my stomach didn't cause that. I went to see my doctor b/c my GI doc thought it might be my BC pill because it just started happening after taking it again after being off of it for a month. I was sure it was the BC so I immediately stopped taking it. I had yet another period. Since stopping it, now it's been 14 days, I have had one anxiety attack after another, chest pains, shortness of breath, the burning skin, headaches, and major nausea. I can't eat or sleep. I can barely function. All my blood work, adrenal gland and thyroid tests are perfectly normal. No signs of anything wrong with me. I went to see my doctor today for a follow-up, she told me bluntly that I was mental! It was all in my head ! The pill could not cause this and I need to see a physiotherapist. I have never felt so bad physically in my life and then been kicked in the teeth so hard all in one day. I know all this is due to this drug. There is no other explanation. I am not crazy but I have a lot of people who believe I am. I am amazed at how the medical community is so uneducated and have become drug pushers and have forgotten problem solving. Thank you all for reading my story. I pray every minute that I will get through this and be normal again. All I want to do is enjoy the Christmas holidays with my family without being sick. That my friends is my Christmas wish. Best to all of you.

I was compelled to write this because of all the negative comments that have been posted. I believe the symptoms people are experiencing are real, but I also believe that they don't happen to every single person who takes Yasmine. People tend to speak out more on the negative than the positive, and that may be part of the reason there's so much bad feedback. I've been on it for two weeks now and haven't had a single side-effect...nothing. Although I wouldn't mind the bigger breasts side-effect. ;) I'm 37 and haven't been on birth control pills in probably 15 years. At the time I started taking this pill, I also quit smoking with the help of Chantix, and still no major mood swings, depression, decreased sex drive, etc. I have very acne prone skin, but it's been MUCH less oily since I started taking Yasmine. I've had some breakouts, but no large cysts. I also started using Retin-A about a month ago and believe the pimples I'm getting now are from that, not the Yasmine. Bottom line, everyone is different, and not all meds work for all people. I would encourage anyone who is concerned about starting Yasmine or wants to come off just because of comments posted here, to think twice and talk to their doctor.

I have been on Yasmin almost 2 years. I finished a pack last week and do not plan on starting a new one. I googled "side effects of Yasmin" in a hope to see if there was a chance someone out there had noticed any facial hair growth since taking it. What I found was this sight that has given me a ray of hope. I left my husband 2-3 months after starting the Yasmin. As I assumed was normal, I experienced depression, mood swings, everything you might expect after ending a relationship you expected to last forever. I have been seeing a counselor for the past 8 months, because my mental state was not improving. Since then, I have had improvement, but the insane mood swings haven't stopped, especially the week before my period. I had attributed this to getting older (I'm 32) and was just pushing through, knowing I'd swing back to "normal" eventually. I am hoping so much that they will stop and I will get totally back to my normal self. Before starting Yasmin the emotional end of my PMS consisted of one day, right before my period started, of bitchiness. Since I started my period at 14, this has been it. No sobbing, no suicidal thoughts, no wanting to sleep all day. I would give anything to get that one day back and lose all of these other days of insanity.

I've also just recently noticed some slight hair growth along my hairline down to my jaw. Which is how I got to this sight in the first place. Funny how I put up with mood swings for almost 2 years, but some extra hair on my face has me running to the computer in a panic!! :) Additionally, I've experienced shortness of breath, and in the past couple of months, leg cramps. I have never had a cramp in my calf in my life until these past couple of months. I don't know if Yasmin is the cause for any of these things, but it'll be interesting to see if they persist. As for sleeping, I have noticed some issues, but also attributed that to the divorce.

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...

Headache, Disconnected feelings, Feeling of nothing really mattes, No emotions at all, shortness of breath, and worse of all the dizziness!!! Is it ever going to get better? I have been off of them for 2 months and still don't feel myself!

YAZ: I've been on Yaz for about a year after taking Yasmine for a year or two, and I have been feeling very lethargic for the past few months. I'll sleep fine, but after waking up in the morning about three hours later, I'm wiped out again. I've also been having heartburn and dry eyes-don't know if those are related. Has anyone had new or worse side effects after being on Yaz for a year or more?

Hi, I have been on Yasmin for 2 years now. I have ALWAYS been a very confident and outgoing person. For the past year i have had panic attacks regularly. I am very hot at night, I have trouble sleeping, yet my period pains are at a minimun and I have few symptons of PMT. (Mind you it is still bad enough to take codeine and paracetamol on the first day of bleeding).

Other side effects that I thought would clear up but which haven't are:- dark patches on my forehead and above my lip (doc said they would go, but seem to 'come' and go) and a very sore throat accompanied by swollen glands, sometimes on the right, sometimes on the left side of my neck. My fingers are tingly and my joints are swollen. The Chest pains could be related to anxiety. I get a migraine 24-72 hours before I bleed, regular as clockwork now.

The worst is the mood swings and the depression, I just really don't recognise myself, tired and teezy all the time.

I was very happy for the first 3-6 months that I took Yasmin, but after that I have known I haven't been 'right', but my anxiety and depression have made me unable to make a decision or be focused why.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed on the site, it's great to know I'm not the only one.

i have been taking Yamine for about a month and a half, after being on a generic pill for a couple years. I didnt know if these symptons i was having was caused by yasmine, but now i think it may be. I have been getting lightheaded, blurry eyes, shakiness, hot flashes..almost like a panic attack, and i have become very dehydrated, even though i have been drinking alot of water. I even went to the doctors for these symptons and they still don't have an answer, so i think it may be yasmine.my newest sympton as of yesterday is chest pain. also i feel like my heart is beating fast all the time, and i feel fatigued way too often, which is causing me to eat more, becauase i am starving way to often, and if i don't eat i feel like i am going to collapse. Also my sex drive has gone to non-existant- is that common? I workout all the time, and eat pretty healthy, so i don't know what else these symptons could be coming from. Is anyone else experiencing these sympons?

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

Hi. I just wanted to let everyone know what has happened since I stopped taking Yasmin 4 days ago. (I only took it for 2 months.) I'm still having heart palpitations, feeling of a lump in my chest, and still a bit dizzy at times. My ears kind of feel like when I'm on an airplane coming in for a landing when the dizziness comes around. I'm also still having an occasional urge to cough. I still have shortness of breath and it's very noticeable when I'm talking and saying a long sentence. I thought the symptoms would really decrease but it seems to come and go. I feel the palpitations more frequently during the evening hours. I don't know why that is though. All of this makes it really hard to concentrate a work. I was reading one blog that said to take extra magnesium and zinc. Has anyone tried that and is it effective?

I am still trying to figure out all this yasmin stuff. I am the one whose 13 yr old daughter was given yasmin as sorta a favor because she was having long periods. It seem to me that yes, yasmin or yaz whatever the difference is works well for lots of people. Thats great i'm glad to hear that. What about the handful of women/girls that it does not work well for even potentially dangerous. I am starting to thinkl that the ones that have had bad reactions to this are the ones that didn't have good followup with thier obgyn. It seems to me that there is sometimes no association made with bcp and some of these adverse reactions. I mean when my daughter started to get sick and stuff I took her to the pediat. not the ob/soccer mom. I just happened to stumble upon this site in my own desperation to figure out why my daughter has been and is so chronically tired all the time. I do wish when I recieved these sample packs of strong hormones that i would have been told of things to look for. Honestly ,I don't think this doctor knew of these side effects. I will say they stopped the bleeding she hasn't been on yasmin since the end of march and still hasn't had a period. I was told this should be out of her system by now. I don't believe that though.

Lauren- May 2005 through August 3, 2007: The following is my daughter’s story which I put on paper so that she could bring it with her to the gynecologist in case I couldn’t be with her. I didn’t want her to forget anything. Someone suggested that I post it to a website:
The most recent issue seems to have started when she first went away to college in the fall of 2005. She came home one weekend with a stomach virus (vomiting, nausea), but it seemed to never completely go away. She was taken to the ER a few times, just to be treated for dehydration and sent home because there was 'nothing wrong with her'...Over the next few months she seemed to constantly feel sick, nauseous, fatigued, and get a lot of headaches. We took her to her primary care doctor, who did blood work and treated her for heartburn, acid reflux, etc.. During this time, she actually had appendicitis and had her appendix removed. After that she continued to feel sick. So we moved on to the gastroenterologist who ran many tests: cat scan endoscopies, more blood work, and were told that they couldn't find anything wrong. Then we started with a nutritionist to help her eat healthier and hopefully reduce the nausea which subsided occasionally but never let up. Nothing there helped. Then it was back to another gastroenterologist with no results. Over this time, anxiety was hitting her big time. She was finishing up finals in her first year of college and was constantly skipping classes because she was too nauseous to get out of bed for her 8:00 classes. Home for the summer - no relief. She decides she couldn't go back to her college for her 2nd year so she enrolled in community college - not exactly the plan, but at least she was on course with her classes and doing well. Still stressed and nauseous, we started with the neurologist who prescribed many medicines and ordered an MRI, which showed nothing (no problems, not no brain!). Back to the primary care doctor who finally diagnosed her with Irritable Bowel Syndrome, which fit the current symptoms of nausea, severe diarrhea while vomiting and the finale: passing out. So, back to the state college for 2nd semester of sophomore year. But the medication for IBS was making her too sleepy to get through the day, so she discontinued it. The symptoms had subsided a bit but towards the end of the school year got worse again - just in time for finals, again. During that semester at school, she sought counseling at school which seemed to help her stress level, but she still had daily ‘melt-downs’, so the therapist sent her to a psychiatrist for meds. The doctor started her on the lowest dose (25mg) of Zoloft. As she started to feel a bit better, they increased the Zoloft over the next few months until she was at 100 mg. Home for the summer, the symptoms came and went, but about 2 weeks after she started the 100 mg, she confided in me that she was feeling depressed and actually had thought of 'not caring if she died'. We immediately took her to the psychiatrist upstate who had treated her at school and whom she had seen once since she left school. (She had also continued with the cognitive therapy at the college.) The doctor told her to start weaning off the Zoloft, but start Seraquel (another seratonin-based drug). She also said she was going on vacation and Lauren needed to be seen often as she switched medications, so she advised us to find another psychiatrist closer to home to monitor her progress. So the new doctor put her on Wellbutrin, continued to wean her off Zoloft, and continued her on the Seraquel. He also ordered blood work and a fasting glucose-tolerance test (all of which came back normal/negative). The symptoms got severely worse over the next 2 weeks: constant nausea, vomiting, dizziness, weakness, fainting. On Monday, she spoke with the psychiatrist and he told her to stop all meds. We continued to believe that the recent symptoms were caused by either the psychotic meds themselves, still in her system or the withdrawal of the meds. By Tuesday night, she had been vomiting for almost 24 hours and I had to take her to the ER, not because I thought they could figure out what was wrong, but to re-hydrate her because she was becoming dehydrated. After 7 hours, and more blood work, x-ray, EKG, she was released and proceeded to get nauseous on the way home at 4AM. BUT, a very nice nurse came in while Lauren had fallen asleep and asked me why my daughter was on so many meds. I basically told her the above story and she asked me when Lauren started on birth control pills. I told her that I took her to my gyn. in May of 2005, before she was going off to college and we told him about the terrible menstrual cycle (heavy bleeding and 1 day a month home with cramps all through high school) and he put her on Ortho-tricycline low. At her 3 month check, she told him she was losing large amounts of hair. He changed her contraceptive to 'Ov-con 35'. In November, she complained of nausea and he switched her to Yasmin. She has been on it ever since. The nurse asked me if I was aware that every symptom that Lauren has had since October of 2005 could be a side effect of oral contraceptives!! She told me about a book to buy, written by Dr. John Lee about hormones and imbalances. She told me not to stop the b.c. pills abruptly, because since they are synthetic hormones, and with what her body was going through, it might put her into an hormonal chaos, similar to a full-blown menopause! So we are now reading the book, waiting to do saliva- testing and trying to see a gyn. to help us. Her own gyn. has a personal family emergency and is on a temporary leave of absence (as we found out when his office canceled her yearly check-up twice in the last 10 days). We are trying to get her in with one of the other doctors. She cannot start a 3rd year of college still feeling ill!
Added to the above is the fact that my husband’s sister called to see what was going on with Lauren after she got a phone call from her mother. It turns out that my niece, Heather (age 23), has been making the rounds with the doctors and having testing done (MRI, blood work, etc.,) because she has been nauseous and passing out. Guess what medicine she is taking…..Yasmin!

This is the list of most of the medicines (besides the 3 oral contraceptives) that she has been on during the last 27 months because of the side effects of Yasmin, and no doctor suggests she stop her oral contraceptive pills for a few months!
Prochloroperaz (5mg), Topamax (25mg), Prevacid (30mg), Zofran (4mg), Omeprazole (20mg), Amitriptyline (25mg), Amitriptyline (50mg), Inderal (60mg), Propranolol (10mg), Amitriptyline (10mg), Sertraline (Zoloft) (25mg), Sertraline (Zoloft) (50mg), Metoclopramide (5mg), Sertraline (Zoloft) (100mg), Seroquel (25mg), Wellbutrin (150mg), Dicyclomine (10mg), Compazine (severe reaction: Extrapyramidal), and other anti-nausea meds in 4 trips to the ER (one due to the reaction to Compazine!)

My 13 yr old daughter was given yasmin because irregular periods. Bleeding all the time. she got regulated but after reading this site i realize why she has had the awful side effects that she has had. She started taking y around october of last year. She plays competetive soccer and she was not able to keep up ..Shortness of breath tiredness looked as though she was out of shape. We never thought it could be those y pills. never crossed our mind. march she was diagnosed with mono so we just decided to take her off because she had mono. she has not had y since march and she is still tired all the time. back hurts hot flashed heat intolerant. will this y leave her system soon?

I am 26 years old and was prescribed Yasmin to help deal with Polycystic Fibrosis. I have been on it 6 weeks and immediately saw weight gain, but this past week I have had an EXTREME loss of breath. I am a teacher and began breathing as if I had just run around the block after I simply walked down the hallway. I haven't seen that anyone else has mentioned this, please let me know if you have

I am due to start my third pack of YAZ, and I am getting off today. My dr. gave me a three month trial after I switched from ortho-tricyclin low because I had break-through bleeding. I realize with any contraceptive there are going to be side-effects, but this is ridiculous... I have had extreme fatigue, I am sleepy all the time. I also feel like I cannot think clearly, like my head is clogged or something. I also feel very anxious and this feeling like I am going to pass out. Also my eyes feel very dry and unfocused. Nothing is worth feeling like this, and it is very obvious that all these symptoms are coming from this pill. I am scared to try anything else!

Girls Girls Girls! My experience with yaz was a near fatal one. I took yaz for 21/2 months and ended up in the hosp with a massive blod clot to my left leg and a small one in each lung. I'm 42, and basically healthy except for the killer periods. I also felt nauseaous the first month then things got better, lighter flow, less cramping and back pain. halfway into my third pack is when things got ugly. Sudden onset of shortness of breath with normal activity and a leg that was 2inches bigger in diameter. For you older girls I think the ob/gyn should take labs prior to starting yaz. check cholesterol, clotting time,and potassium and hormone levels then monthly for the first 3-6 months to see how your body is responding. Dont let moderate side effects go on >1month before calling Dr.

About six months after my daughter started taking yasmine. her moods changed, her personality changed, she was is a state of depression and was having panic attacks regularly.she lost an excessive amount of weight and was thinking about suicide. I asked her doctor and a gyn if the yasmine could possibly be causing these side effects. They both said no. So she started getting treatments for depression and anxiety and was put on medication. Paxil. This medication seemed to be helping at first but then she started having the same effects as before and she was still taking the yasmine. in the last 3 months she has been taking the birth control shot and has not taken yasmine or paxil and is now doing great. I'm really disappointed in her doctor's because a lot of her misery could have been avoided if we had been told this earlier. My daughter was on Yasmine for 2 years before I finally decide to check the side effects from the internet myself. Now she says she feels so much better and is back doing things with her friends again is having a fun teenage life. Never again will I let her use Yasmine!!!!

I have been off Yasmin now for a little over a week and i'd like to think that i'm seeing an improvement in myself but I know it's too early to tell... I did wake up this morning with a sore throat once again. The past 2 months (I was only on Yasmin for 4 months) I have had a sore throat at least 3 times which is very unusal for me. The thing's i've experienced and how I have been feeling since December 2006 has been nothing short of very bad (I started Yasmin in November 2006). I guess the worst thing was my moods and the least little thing would set me off. I couldn't deal with the stress of everyday and that is very unusual for me. I've had a rapid heart beat at times and a little shortness of breath. There are nights when I don't sleep or get very little sleep. I have instances where I am either extremely cold or very warm - seems there is no happy medium lately at all when it comes to my body temperature. My head feels 'foggy' a lot of the time and I never feel rested. My eyes are a lot dryer then they ever used to be and by the end of the day I can't wait to get my contact lenses out whereas before they never bothered me. I have episodes of vertigo where I can be stood up at work then all of a sudden i'll go to move my position and i'll stumble.... thing's like that which never happened to me before. I can't believe how much I have noticed over the past few months of thing's that didn't make sense to me and I didn't think Yasmin at first until I fainted at work last week and was brought to the ER. All blood tests and EKG were all normal so it got me thinking. That night when I got home I did some research and found this site and am relieved to know that I am not the only one that has had a bad experience because of this pill. I don't know what else can explain what has been happening to me the past few months if it's not Yasmin. I was only on it for 4 packs and I felt like crap the whole time. I was initially put on it for breakthrough bleeding but needless to say because of it I experience a whole lot of other things. I'm coming off birth control pills altogether and want to have my body get back to normal. I don't know how long Yasmin has been on the market but from what i've seen - the negatives of this pill are far outweighing the positives.

I started taking Yasmin about 3 months ago. About a week ago, I fainted and had to go the ER. There they found that my heart rate was irregular so they put me on a heart monitor. A day later I was back in the ER because of chest pains and a shortness of breath. Two days after that, I was in the ER once again due to my extremely high heart rate and pain in my legs. They told me it was my thyroid levels that were causing this, so I found a different doctor who said it was not my thyroid but had no idea what it was. I ended up going to a cardiologist who just told me I was under a lot of stress. I asked each doctor if my birth control could have anything to do with it, and they all told me no. Well, after finding this website, I can now see that it is Yasmin causing my health problems. Thank you all so much for posting your stories...they really saved me!

I am so glad I found this site!!! I started Yasmin last month and had some weird side effects that at first I blew off. Right leg muscles cramping, severe indegestion, and shortness of breath. Along with a heaviness in my chest and breast area. The leg pain and cramping was the worst---although I did lose over 20 lbs. the first month. I started having pain in my left arm and went to the ER afraid I was having a heart attack! Everything checked out, no clot in the leg and my breathing eased. Then my cycle came(lots of bleeding and clotting) and the migraines started.....my gyn said all was ok.
So I restarted the pill and felt a lot better(thought it was just the first month sdjustment). Turns out I realized I'd started the pack wrong side up and been taking the placebos pills...feeling like an idiot I started the pack right last night and within hours the cramping returned and the heaviness in my chest returned! I was afraid I was having a heart attack! I am done with these pills and am seeing my doctor on Monday to check for any heart damage! Has anyone ever filed claims against this pill? All these forums with women and their horrible similiar side effects seem like a reason to recall the pill.....?

Flowerbabies-

Posted to the site you created as well to see if others would like to weigh in on this:

lowerbabies-

so heres is what I wonder. If the chest pain we are both experiencing is in fact due to the loss of magnesium as part of taking this pill, than how many other women that are experiencing that are having direct heart damage and being told that instead, to cover it up, that it is anxiety and stress? I mean seriously? Afterall, if magnesium prevents the heart muscles from spasming-and Yasmin causes a deficiency in magnesium ......then what, I am wondering is the link to the week before our menstrual cycles that this chest pain shows up?

There is an article in Health magazine I read called A Woman's Heart. Basically cites/talks about the fact that the public nor most doctors are taking the time to understand the single largest killer of women in America-Betsy Berne was the example they provided and that often women do not take themselves and doctors do not take women seriously enough. She ignores her chest pain for a week. Then is encouraged to see an internist who detects a murmur. This is true in my case as well...., then they did an electrocardiogram, and a chest Xray to discover that her heart was enlarged. An transeophageal echocardiogram (a more invasive test) that required she undergo open heart immediately.

This article goes on to state how many women are often not taken seriously who complain of chest pain and are often misdiagnosed with panic attacks while what's actually occuring is a misfunctioning valve between the left ventricle and atrium-with severe leakage and improper blood flow. Ordinary MVP is nothing to worrry about . They say it effects between 5 and 20 percent of population-mostly women.

In this article she also mentions that classic symptoms for women are: chronic fatigue, shortness of breath, nausea, abdominal pain, dizziness, and swollen feet. Also advises that for women, who have smaller arteries than men, when they have a heart attack there is usually no plaque in their arteries-a heart attack is when one of the vessels occludes-and they're more prone to artery spasms.

Other symptoms/warning signs: uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, or pain in the chest that last more than a few minutes, or pain that spreads to the shoulders, neck and arms. Chest discomfort with lightheadedness, fainting, sweating or nausea. Unexplained anxiety or weakness, palpitations, cold sweat, paleness. Shortness of breath, chronic fatigue, jaw pain. Isn't this alot of what many women are describing experiencing?

To all women who have suffered from Yasmin,

I stopped taking that pill early July 06 after taking it for 4 years. Before I stopped I was suffering from:
- anxiety, irritability, irrationality (nearly split up with boyfriend)
- ear problems (damaged eardrums, constant ear blocage (none of the ephedrine medication worked)
- Severe muscle cramps (feet and calves)
- Pains in my right shoulder and arm
- Regular faintings (I found myself a few times in ER/ none of the tests they did show any abnormalities)
- Pain in my lower stomach
- Complete lack of energy
- No enthusiasm about what I used to enjoy doing
- Felt sick everytime I did some hiking (going up a hill for ex)
- Heart palpitations especially in the mornings when getting up
- Shortness of breath
- Swollen and aching gums (even the dentist thought they were strange and could not understand why as I had a perfect mouth hygiene)

At the time, I did not think at all about Yasmin as a poison, but slowly I realised I was sick because of it. Everytime I took it I felt disgusted like my body was saying: 'ENOUGH, I HAD ENOUGH OF THIS STOP IT!!'
I stopped early July 06 and since then slowly, I am becoming myself again. I suffered when I stopped especially of muscle weakness and ear problems but after 7 months off it, the muscles are becoming strong again (I have been doing light excercises since I stopped the pill) and my ears start to feel normal again.

The only new thing at the moment is that I gained 2kgs (about 4lb) in weight only around my tummy !!
Has anybody out there got the same problem? Is this normal ?
Does the weight go down once your body has completely recovered? How long does it take?

Thank you for your comments. I simply want to add :
IF YOU TAKE YASMIN AND FEEL BAD STOP IT NOW ! YOU WILL FEEL WORSE FOR A WHILE AFTER STOPPING IT BUT YOU WILL RECOVER SOONER OR LATER!! IT IS JUST A MATTER OF PATIENCE

Ok... Here is my complete list of side effects from this horrible drug...
Major depression, anxiety attacks, rapid heart rate, insomnia, shortness of breath, jerking arms and legs, weight gain, bloating, paranoia, excessive crying spells, night sweats. I hate this pill! Im never going to be on birth control again!
Tracy

Hi Bitter RN and everyone,
Bitter RN, I would love to talk. Maybe we can meet for lunch or something. It would be nice to meet someone that is going through the same thing. My email is******. Email me and I will send you my number.
Reading all these post make me mad, sad, and alittle better that I am not going crazy. We are all suffering. I had the shakiness alot in my arms in the begining. That has gotten better for me. I still have the shortness of breath sometimes. I also have headaches in the back of my head and dizziness. I am ovulating now, so I really feel yucky. I just sit and wonder if I will ever be me again. Now I am on Lexapro and I worry that I will never be me again. I guess as long as I am happy, anything is better than the way I have been feeling. I just wanted to add that I too, had problems with the vitamins. They were making me more jittery and nervous. Which is weird because I never had that happen before the yaz. Does anyone else have the oily hair and painful cystic like pimples in scalp? Just curious. This is annoying me too. I have been having more good days than bad days this week. Yeah i guess! I still get the anxiety alot at night. It just hits me out of no where. If there is anyone that has the oily scalp. Do you have any suggestions on a product that helps. I had never had oily hair.

I've been on Yasmin for nearly 4 years and decided to stop taking this pill because like most of you I felt REALLY bad!! I had symptoms like cramps in my feet and legs, regular blackouts (I was taken to ER everytime), dizziness, shortness of breath, migraines, ear congestion, complete lack of energy and worst of all anxiety. I've also developed arthritis in my right shoulder for which I went to see a physio and thank god it is getting better.
I saw so many doctors and none of them could find anything wrong with me and none of them had the wonderful feeling that this may have been caused by Yasmin. When I told them I wanted to stop the pill, they told me there was no reason why and that I should carry on. So that was my decision to stop it and a very good one!! The doctors are wrong !
I am off Yasmin now since 1st of July 06 and it's only now that I start to feel better! I've been through so many weird symptoms: pains and swelling in both of my calves, cramps in my legs (streching helps!), nausea, heavy sweating during the night, my ears feel like they are blocked but no more of the other symptoms (blackouts have not come back)and my periods have come regularly but are very short (3 days).... My body is recovering and my calves are getting better. I also found out that I start to get cellulitis on my legs (what a nightmare), I was told by a friend that' s because of the pill!!
I am now full of energy, the anxiety has gone (I can face the world now), and I am determined NOT TO GO BACK on any C pills anymore.
I am 38 years old and have been on different pills since the age of 19, I would like to know if anybody of my age (or anybody) experienced symptoms like mine after they stopped Yasmin and how long it takes for them to disappear....

Unfortunately, I had a severe side effect on Yasmin. I was on it for three straight months, pretty happy with the result. Lighter, shorter flow. Weak cramps and headaches were easily dealt with. However, I noticed an occaisional shortness of breath, and my heart would seem to skip a beat. Figured it was normal. It got worse, a whole lot worse. Turns out that I have severly elevated potassium levels in my blood, and I was well on my way to having heart problems.

I have NO history of heart problems in my family, and I am ONLY 21. Talk about being turned off of BCPs for Life. I encourage everyone to get off it.

Hi BitterRN!

You can't imagine how good it is to hear from you. I've been thinking about writing to you the whole last week, because I thought you could be the one to help or tell me your opinion about all that...

You've caught me in a very bad constitution... I had a cold about 3 weeks ago and since then I feel VERY tired, weak and drained out again. And I don't have to tell you how worried I feel, that all the nightmare from 1,5 years ago could start again....... My muscles feel weak many times a day, sometimes I feel tired like I could just lay my head down on my desk and so on...

My theory: I think this is another proof for the fact, that Yasmin had drained my whole body over those 5 long years taking it!! In my opinion a very big amount of my problems since 2004 were and are due to a hormonal and metabolism chaos!! I feel, that the diuretic in Yasmin had flushed many many of vitamines and minerals out of my body which always then got even worse, when I had a cold (with fever and as a result sweating in a very heavy way) or I had stress or in hot summers, when I was sweating more than usual!!

I started taking Yasmin in 2000! The first problems accured around April 2002! I felt weak and dizzy and just not like myself and got the first panic attacks out of nowhere!! Ok, after a months lasting docs odyssey no one found out anything wrong with me!!! So I went on and hoped everything would get better by itself. I never spent a thought on the fact, that perhaps my BCP could have given those symptoms to me!!!

Things did get a bit better again within about 9 - 10 months (I think the drained storages of vitamines and minerals had been filled up again within that long time by itself!!) But very important: Since then I never felt that healthy and fit again as I was BEFORE Yasmin!!! So I always had shortness of breath. Climbing some stairs made me gasping for breath, a thing I never knew before in my whole life!! Sometimes I felt a bit dizzy now and then and so on.

Ok, I had another bad cold in about April 2004 and during the year, especially during summer (it was a very hot summer here!!) I started getting fainting spells just like "OMG, I have to sit down or I think I'm going to faint". Those spells got even more often as the year went on.

Then in ends of September 2004 I had another very bad cold (lastet about 3 weeks!!!) with losing lots of sweat. And after that cold went away I never got on my feet again!! I felt weaker and weaker as months went on and in december 2004 I had a complete breakdown!! Things have never been the same since then!! What followed was a living nightmare for about 7 months with 100s of doctor's visits and hospital visits, on January, 1st, I was brought to the ER by an ambulance and so on....... No one found out ANYTHING!! Only one doc (an neurologist) made a test, which said, that something in my body and metabolism was definitely wrong and not normal. From this time I started researching about vitamines and minerals in the internet and found all my symptoms, which are typical especially for a loss of b-vitamines and some minerals like magnesium, zinc and so on!

Then in February 2005 I luckily stumbled on this site and immediately went off Yasmin midpack!! The following 3 months were even a bit harder then the months before, because my hormones where completely out of whack after taking BCP for 10 years (the last 5 years Yasmin). But then things started getting better and better month by month. Very very slowly but surely!! Yasmin didn't drain out my body any longer and so the storages could fill itself up again with vitamines and minerals step by step.

So I think, that now the storages are low again because of that cold I went through 3 weeks ago and the symptoms come up again. I have to mention that I didn't take the supplements very regularly which, I think, was very wrong.... But I'm so afraid of ANY medication since my experience with Yasmin...

What do you think about that story BitterRN?? Could this be an explanation for my again upcoming problems?? Should I forget my anxiety and take that magnesium and b-vitamines??

I feel very down and anxious. I don't want to land again where I was 1,5 years ago!!!! I don't think I could cope with this again............

Ok, you've asked about my cycle.

Yes, it seems to get very regular in the meantime. I had the first bleeding in starts of August (very heavy and long lasting bleeding!!). The second in starts September (only 3 days spotting) and the last in starts of October (about 5 days spotting, only a bit heavier than in September).

And another thing: I always get sore breats around the 20th of a month!! I could set a clock after this!! Then always around 2nd/3rd of a month the bleeding starts or "tries" to start. I also still have those "more difficult" (anxious, dizzy, bad skin with lots of akne, more oily hair, hair loss, etc.) times around ovulation time and starts of my period.

That's how things are going today. I just hope, that this will ever have an end and I will be able to live a normal life again.....

Oh, and NO, I didn't take any other BCP ever since stopping Yasmin and I SURELY NEVER WILL!! I'm done with every form of artificial hormones for the rest of my life (I'm 32).

You mentioned some "news", I'd love to hear, what you found out again!!! Your posts always have been so helpful to me!!

Best wishes and many greetings!!!

Silke

PS: SORRY that my posts always get that long and if perhaps my English is not perfect, but it's not very easy for me to explain all that stuff and I try my best to find the right words!!

Hi, I was searching on the internet for potential emotional and hormonal side effects to Yasmin because I started taking it 2 weeks and 2 days ago, noticing immediate changes in my physiological and emotional state. The advice nurse of my OBGYN stated that my side effects seemed extreme in comparison to the stated side effects the company warns against. I am so glad to have found other women experiencing similar things.

From the beginning I have experienced nausea daily. I developed severe cystic acne within the first week. My appetite shrunk considerably. I began feeling some shortness of breath and have consistent sleep disturbance. I feel as if there is some type of electric current running through my legs. I guess we could call that anxiety. My body temperature has shifted drastically and out of nowhere I have hot flashes but am only 29 years old. My emotional state is in constant flux. I can be laughing one moment and crying the next.

At the start of the 2nd week I woke up in the middle of the night, looked at my fiance, and decided I wasn't in love with him. In fact, I wanted him to get away from me completely. It was at that point I realized that the only change in my routine had been the addition of Yasmin. I am highly irritable and headaches come on daily towards the end of the day.

I was advised to at least finish this first month cycle if not a full three months. I have just this week to get through before the placebo pills kick in. I will be switching back to Levlen which was good to me for 14 years. I only switched because I had been on the same pill for so long but I am convinced now that if your hormonal balance is right, one should not mess with that. I hope I will not have much transition time before feeling normal again. In addition, I hope that some of these drug companies start disclosing the potential emotional and physiological side effects to changing one's hormonal balance.

Dear Katrin,
Leg cramps and chest pain while on BCPs may be symptoms of DVT and pulmonary emboli which can be fatal. I would suggest going to the ER to rule out the above conditions. If you are having chest pain with shortness of breath, do not delay. A spiral CT scan can diagnose pulmonary emboli. I wish you all the best.

Hi flowerbabies!!

Your story sounds as if it had been written by me!!

I've experienced exactly the same symptoms and even some others like muscle weakness, muscle aching, joint aching, extreme shortness of breath (and I was so fit and healthy before that nightmare......), sometimes I felt as if I was going to faint after walking a few steps or doing something in my house, and so on..... I didn't recognize myself at all. A 31 year old healthy woman turned into an 80 year old ill grandma within a day....

And another thing which every woman should remember:

I've met so many women here during the last year, and the least of them had experienced the side effects already within the first months!! Most of them even felt good with Yasmin for over 1 or 2 years until they'd been hit at once by the worst health problems, they ever experienced!!!

Please ladies, be careful with that Yasmin stuff!! I've been on 3 other brands before Yasmin without any problems. This is definitely the worst pill I have ever been taking!!

All the best to you flowerbabies and keep goin on!! Things will get better and better (as you have already seen within the last weeks)!!

Silke

And this was brought to me by that "wonder pill", as I thought Yasmin was for the first 2 years. I know it, because I've been off that stuff now for over one year and I'm constantly getting better... In January 2005 I thought my life was about to end and I will never get better, because no one found out, what was going wrong with me!!

Hi Julia,
I had a lot of the symptoms you have had and more. I was on it for about 3-4 yrs. I have been off now for 4 months. But while on it in the begining it was great, however it slowly crept up on me and turned horrible. I had severse shortness of breath, chest pains, leg cramps, arm, leg and face numbness. Was super dizzy all of the time. I could no longer run which I did 5 days a week, it was an effort to drag myself out of bed to just walk. If you read a lot of the old posts you will find a lot of similar posts to yours. Oh and I also couldn't tolerate anything like pizza or junk food, however I gained about 30 lbs. in 3 months. It was really crazy how it happened especially since I couldn't really keep anything down. I was constantly having to go to the bathroom. I also had what I thought was food poisoning about 6 times, however now I know it was the darn pill.
so if you are not already I would go off of it.
Hill

I was prescribed Yasmin almost 4 years ago after complaining to my Gyn about side effects of all the other pills i'd tried in the past (and the Depo shot, which was awful). She said women who have trouble with other ones, sometimes do well on Yasmin. For a couple years, I loved this pill, and experienced only one side-effect: loss of body hair (I was excessively hairy and this was a plus for me). However, over the past couple years, I have gained some weight and have developed some other issues. I'm not sure if they're all attributed to Yasmin, but here they are: extreme motion sickness and dizzyness, heart palpitations, periods of shortness of breath, intolerance for fatty foods, trouble sleeping and once when i started taking glucosamine for my joints (I'm a runner) I developed severe leg and muscle cramps and extreme thirst... perhaps messed up potassium levels? I'm curious if anyone else has had these problems, especially the motion sickness, which has become a serious problem for me.

Hi- I've been taking yasmin consistantly for 2months. The month before I was on the nuva ring for a month. Since then I've had increasing anxiety. It gets really bad at times with shortness of breath and heart palpatations. Has anyone had this??

Huh, I have had no side effects from Yasmin. I have polycystic ovary syndrome and took Yasmin for 2 years, my doctor changed me to another pill for about 3 months and I had all kinds of problem, bloated, shortness of breath, dizziness, fatigue, etc... but none with the Yasmin. I begged her to put me back on it and she agreed. My periods are normal, no cramping, no headaches. I am not as tired and basically feel great as long as I stay on the Yasmin. Sorry to hear so many problems with it, I absolutely love the stuff myself.

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,
It has been exactly 6 weeks since I've been off Yasmin. I was feeling about 80% better however, this weekend I started having shortness of breath again as well as slight leg pain in my calf. I just finished up my period, first real cycle since stopping pill. I am also extremely swollen. This has been on and off since I stopped, but when I wake up in the morning, I can hardly make a fist my hands hurt so much. My fingers look like sausages. They are almost the size of my boyfriends hands. My face is a bit puffy too. I know some of you have had the swelling, but is it normal to have it after already being off of yasmin for 6 weeks. I know it's going to take some time, but I really thought I was doing better there for a while. I am a bit foggy abd dizzy again too. I guess it could be related to menstrating, although I kinda expected this to come before I menstrated not after. just wondering if any of you have had this.
Thanks, Hill

I started taking Yasmin last Monday (it's Thursday today) I was perscribed the drug for the beginning symptoms of menopause (I am beginning to have 21 day periods and severe mood swings) My ob gave this to me and sarafem, which I have been on before, but have had no reaction too. So anyway, Tuesday I did not feel like eating. Furthermore, it has just gotten worse. I have severe indegestion and almost vomited last night. I also have had a pretty bad panic attack and shortness of breath last night, which is a sympton that I have never experienced AFTER starting sarafem. I wokeup this a. m. and decided to look for possible side effects on the web and found this site. Wow, am I shocked to see others with the same result as me. And very thankful that I put the 2 together before taking this pill for an extended period of time. So gals, if you feel ill, it might not be the flu. Call your OB! I'd rather have mood swings and bleed every 21 days than feel like this...YUK!

I started taking Yasmin 4 days ago and immediately I could feel something very weird happening. I've had headaches, flightyness, shortness of breath, heart flutters, I'm not really ever hungry...I really feel like I'm taking a diet pill. I've heard that you loose weight on this stuff, but I've put in a call to my doctor cause I'm really not sure what the appeal is??!! Haven't women in Europe beeen taking this for a while now? Don't they have any of these side effects?? Is there anyone taking it who isn't having problems with it?

Hello everyone,

I am so glad to have found this website. This has been the BEST therapy ever... to know that I'm not alone in this. I started taking Yasmin on Jan 1, 2006. To give you some background, I am 27 years old and have always been very healthy. This was the 1st bcp I had ever taken... and what a nightmare it has turned out to be. Within weeks of taking the first pill, my heart would race a mile a minute, I had some shortness of breath, a complete lack of appetite, I was dizzy and sometimes felt like I was in a fog... in short, I was a shadow of myself. I think i gradually got depressed b/c I was so frustrated from feeling like total crap. Finally, i couldn't take it anymore and quit taking the pill (mid-pack) about 6 weeks after I started. I immediately began to feel better. However, a week or so after quitting cold turkey, I started to have some headaches (nothing major) and still feel dizzy and experience shortness of breath from time to time. I still don't feel 100%... I've been off Yasmin for 3 weeks now.

How long did it take you all to feel normal again? I was only on this awful pill for 6 weeks and I feel like it's completely wrecked my hormonal balance. Suffice it to say, I will NEVER recommend Yasmin to anyone!!!! They need to take it off the market. My OB has recommended I use Mircette/Kariva, which has a lower dose of estrogen. I'm not going to take it until my body is back to normal...

Any thoughts would be much appreciated! Thank you, girls, for your support. We WILL get through this!!

Hi everyone,
Here's my weekly update. It's been 3 weeks now post yasmin. I'm not 100% but I would say probably 70%. I have not had an anxiety attack in over a week which is great, I'm still a bit tired, but fully functional and happy.

I went to a new Dr. yesterday, and at first he said "birth control doesn't cause these problems", then after showing him a bunch of other peoples stories, as well as explaining that I am feeling better and better with each day post Yasmin, he changed his mind.

He said that Yasmin has progestrine in it which may be the cause of the anxiety. He also explained that although I had been on it for over 3 yrs. it could happen at any time. He also explained that although it only takes about 1 week for the hormones to leave your body, the after shock so to speak could last a few months. Meaning the anxiety, fatigue and all of the other symptoms could take a while to end.
He also explained that all of the chest pains, and shortness of breath that most of us experienced were anxiety. Even if the actual attack, ie, numbing, tingling, etc. weren't along with it. He said tehre are different versions of it. And unfortunately once you have one attack you are prone to more.

He did suggest prescribing me medication for anxiety, but I stated that I wanted to wait since after stopping Yasmin, the anxiety was present the first two weeks, however it hasn't occured since.

Therefore, I just wanted to let everyone know that we are not crazy and finally someone admited that if my symptoms are less and less every day off the pill, then Yasmin must be the cause.

He also told me that when they study side effects of medications, particularly Yasmin, they only study about 1,000 people for about 6 months. Therefore they do not know the long term side effects it may cause. He said if enough people report it they will pull it off the market.

For new people to the site, I had chest pains at various locations in the chest, numbing in my arm, leg, and face, fatigue, weight gain, nausea, shortness of breath, memory loss, the list goes. on..

For those of you who have gained weight on this pill and are now off of it. How long did it take to lose the weight? I have lost 3 lbs, in 3 weeks, not nearly enough...

Thanks everyone hang in there.
Hill

I have been on yasmin for 3 yrs. Six months ago I started having horrible chest pains on my right side. They would come and go. Sometimes it moves to the center of my chest and sometimes on the left, but predominiately on my right side. I went to the Dr. 3 times and he said I was fine. Then a few months ago, I started having numbness in my right arm and leg, as well as shortness of breath, a slight cough and major anxiety. They tested my throid twice and that's fine. I finally got a second opinion last week and they took more blood and a chest xray. The Dr. said Yasmin has been know to cause blood clots. My old dr. thinks it's in my head. It's certainly not in my head. I feel like I'm dying every day of some wierd disease, b/c no one can figure out what's wrong with me. I have had two full blown anxiety attacks. And I am constantly tired all of the time. I used to run for at least 40 minutes every day, now I have to run for 20 and walk the rest, or just walk. I have also started walking at night too, b/c I have gained 20 lbs, in the last 4 months. Has anyone experienced any or this. I went off the pill yesterday, after finding this site. My boyfriend is starting to think I'm nuts. I'm hoping it is the yasmin. I've been on a pill since I was about 17 so that's 10 yrs. maybe my body needs a break?