Yasmin and tsh

Dear Jen,

wow, this TSH of 0,009 (or 0,09?) sounds very very low.... The normal ranges (well, here in GErmany, I think it's in US the same...?) lie between 0,5 and 2,5...

Didn't they do anything for your thyroid? I think you should get checked this again.

In my case it's the opposite, I'm experiencing a subclinical hypothyreoidism, my TSH was a bit high (4,1). And I read very often, that the pill is also interacting with our thyroids.

So perhaps time will heal that thing but everyone should get checked for thyroid-problems, I think, because this can also cause all those symptoms of anxiety, dizzyness, tiredness, nervousness, muscle weakness and many more...

I wish you all the best, Jen, and keep us updated on how you're doing!!

Greetings
Silke

Hi Kim123,

Your story sounds like an exact exact replicate of my own. I stopped Yasmin in May 06, and until now am still suffering from it's effects. The first 4 months off were the absolute worse. I became an exact opposite of my former self. All of sudden, I would get SEVERE panic attacks esp. while eating.... I too lost 14 pounds and went from somebody who couldn't stop thinking about food, too somebody who absolutely detested and feared it.

I went to tons and tons of Doctors. The one thing that they finally found was subclinical hyperthyroidism with a tsh as low as .009. Finally in October of 06, after getting to the point of wanting to end it all, I gave in and took fluoxetine 10mg, every other day. I feared taking any more drugs because of what Yasmin did to me., but at that point it couldn't get any worse. At that point I finally started making slow, but steady progress. The fluoxetine helped a lot with the anxiety and also with my gastrointestinal problems. I researched many hours on the drug type and realized most Dr's prescribe to high of a dose and it is better to take the lowest possible dose to avoid the extra side effects.. Btw, I never had any side effects from the drug.

The first four months, I couldn't eat anything. I had chest pressure, tightness, difficulty swallowing/ sometimes breathing, anxiety, panic attacks, all day nausea, chills.

Now at almost a year off, the chest pressure and swallowing problems ceased. The nausea ceased though depending on my cycle I still cannot eat too much and sometimes feel ill after eating. The anxiety is much less and the chills went away. So even after a year off, I still cannot eat as I used to, but I did make progress and so will you.

Kim, it's probably going to be a long hard journey back to health as all of us on these boards now. The one thing that keeps me going is knowing that eventually there will be more good days then bad... and that one day I will have my health back and that I will never ever take for granted again.

Best wishes, and God bless.

Jen

Hi bitter RN!! Hope you read my last posts... (I fear they were displaced in the meantime to site 2 or 3).

Just had a phone talk with my doc's office. They didn't tell me every result of the bloodwork but I asked them especially for those here:

TSH (Thyroid) 4,1 (!!) --> the highest it has ever been...

Transferrin: 340 (within the normal range but at the upper end of them; so it seems to be a bit high, which could show, that my iron storages are a bit low........

Iron: 76 (which is also still within the normal range but at the lower end of the normal ranges!!)

I have an appointment with my doc to talk about all the results on tuesday next week in the afternoon...

I hope they can finally help me somehow.......

Flowerbabies:

As you told, you have hashimoto's... do you know or could you tell me, how your TSH is??

Thank you both in advance!!

Best wishes
Silke

hi kim123.
i also had a lot of the symptoms of early menopause,i'm only 32 so was hoping that was not the case for me! my hormone levels came back "normal" but they were in the low end and also what is normal for one person may not be normal for the next. i also suffer from hashimotos disease and even when my blood tests say my tsh is normal i can feel really rubbish,so you can never rely on lab test results as "normal"! i also think that although your levels may have been the same last year they were naturally at that level, a lot of women pass naturally through the menopause with no effects at all. but i think the fact that yasmin is synthetic hormones and that it also messes with other hormones and androgens causes our body to react to the low levels as it drops others that would not normally be touched by a natural menopause. i am not a doctor,this is only my conclusions. hang on in there kim123. maybe try increasing your dose to 10mg lexapro if you feel no different after 2-3 weeks.you may just need a little more,it depends how badly your neurotransmitters are affected. try to keep your brain busy,the more you occupy it , the more pathways are created,the human body is an amazing thing,i never realised before all this just how complex it is! i hope that you start to get some relief soon.

sarah

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

hi alicethecamel. it might be worth getting another test done now you are off yasmin. when you are told your levels are normal ask for the actual numbers of your tsh. there is a wide margin to what the dr's and labs call normall. to feel at your best you need to be in between 1 - 2. a lot of people feel symptomatic at levels above or below this level. most labs normal is 0.3 - 3.0 but some are 0.5 - 5.0.
hope you feel better soon.

sarah

Shari,
Your daughters TSH numbers were high because hypothyroidism is made worse by oral contraceptives. I am hypothyroid as well, and through research found that oral contraceptives are actually contraindicated with thyroid medication. Estrogen binds with the thyroid hormones your daughter is taking and doesn't allow it to be used. Family doctors know little about endocrinology and didn't know I should not be on Yasmin. I had to do the research myself. It also sounds like your daughter hasn't stabilized on her meds and may need further advice from an endocrinologist. Ideally her TSH should be between 0-2 although the so-called normal ranges can go as high as 4. I doubt she will ever feel healthy if she continues taking Yasmin, or if she consumes large amounts of other thyroid-binding foods like soy or walnuts.

For some reason this didn't post when i first reported it, but I'd also like Yasmin users to be aware of serious side effects. I had a very severe grand mal seizure this month and was taken to hospital. I have never had a seizure before. My doctor was totally unaware seizures are a reported side effect of Yasmin, even though they are not common. My life has been completely turned upside down because of this. I had only started taking Yasmin 2 weeks prior to the seizure and there is enough evidence that Yasmin is to blame that my doctor ordered me off of it! I no longer take Yasmin but it's effects linger. I feel ill, I'm recovering from all the problems associate with a seizure (pulled muscles, bit tongue), and am not allowed to drive etc. Yasmin is not candy even thought doctors hand it out like it is!