Yaz and birth control pills

OMG I am so glad I found this site!!! I have been taking YAZ for 4 months. I have been on/off several birth control pills, some with no side effects and some with. These are the worst!!! I felt like I was going crazy until I found this site. At first all I noticed was moodiness, instead of having PMS a couple days before my period I had it all month except for before and during my period. Then about 2 months into it I started feeling fuzzy headed, unable to focus, started having tingles in my arms and legs like when your foot is asleep. If I take the pill at night I have horrible night sweats and if I take it in the morning I am tired all day and have horrible dreams. The worst of it was I was having severe episodes of vertigo, the room starts spinning and I have to grab hold of stuff. It was really scary, I am a single mom and was scared that I might fall at home and my toddler would be unable to go for help. I thought maybe my iron or blood sugar was low so I went to the doctor and had a full work up on my blood - everything came back fine. The doctor wanted to send me for a CAT scan and I didn't want one as I had started wondering if it could be the pill. I am calling my gynecologist today to get it switched. Thank you so much for all your posts! Me, my family, and my job all were thinking I was going crazy or just a hypochondriac.
On a side note - I do have 3 teenage cousins who take this pill and have no side effects. However I have always been very sensitive to medication. This pill may work for some, but not for me.

I am 33 years old and have tried numerous forms of birth control. I have been taking yaz for 9 months and just decided to stop taking it after my last cycle. I have tried birth control pills before, but I really think the side effects were worse with this pill. I had absolutely NO sex drive and felt very apathetic and listliss all the time. I described to my husband that I felt "empty" inside. I was mildly depressed and experienced a great amount of anxiety. The only good thing was the light periods and I had great skin! I have since decided to try the nuvaring, but I am having some of the same problems with that one too. My doctor suggested it since it doesn't have to go through the liver like pills do, but it still sends these hormones into your blood stream. If you have problems with hormonal birth control methods, I highly suggest trying the copper iud or other non hormonal forms of control. The only bad thing about the copper iud was the heavy periods. I have also tried the mirena iud and didn't seem to experience as severe of emotional symptoms with that one, since it only contains progesterone. But for the first several months after you have it inserted you have a constant light bleeding. Plus it caused acne problems, which I never had to worry about before. But I would take those side effects over the emotional roller coaster I was on when taking the pill.

Almost everyone is affected differently by different types of birth control pills. They are not all the same, please talk with your doctor about what is best for you. Sometimes is DOES take a few tries with different pills to find the best one for YOU.
This is my personal experience with Yaz... I have been on it for 1 year and 1 month exactly. I am 22. I was on Ortho-Cyclen (not tri-cyclen mind you) for a full year previous to Yaz. My periods without birth control were usually very heavy and lasted a week plus a day or two without birth control. My doctor suggested birth control to help with those problem. Ortho-Cyclen helped somewhat shortening my periods to about 5-6 days and made them a "normal-like" flow. After taking it for a year, she suggested Yaz to me help make them even shorter and lighter. Well I switched immediately after the last pill of my Ortho-Cyclen and things proceeded very nicely since I had already been using a method to regulate my cycle.
Yaz has helped me tremendously, my periods are only 3-4 days now and much lighter. I start them after 2 days of placebo and usually have a little bleeding into the first 2 active pills of my next pack.
The only side effects I have noticed are;
1) Weight gain: (I have gained about 8 lbs on this pill) and I even get more exercise than I used to when I was on Ortho-Cyclen. I eat healthy as well.
2) Breast tenderness: I have more noticeable breast tenderness while taking this pill. (But it is not every single day)
3) Cramps: I get cramps now on the first day of bleeding, but they are well taken care of with an aspirin or ibuprofen.
4) Slight depression: I cannot directly link this to Yaz as I am not a professional. However, I do find that a week to a few days before my pill period, there may be a day or two when I find myself crying over some nonsensical thing. (I never noticed this with Ortho-Cyclen.)

Another thing I have noticed though, and it's pretty nice, while I have gained a little weight on this pill, I do not get bloating before/during my period as I used to before I started using birth control pills. And yes, I used to get bloated using Ortho-Cyclen. So I can say that I have to thank Yaz for this "desired effect."
Also, I never suffered from any bad acne problems before using birth control, just the occasional breakout before getting my period, and Yaz actually did away with even that little issue.

If you don't like having sex, take Yaz... if you want to kill your sex drive completely and then try to force yourself to have sex (it's very painful) take Yaz... if your just trying to take a good birth control that doesn't mess with your moods too much and gives you a light cycle, Yaz is perfect. Unfortunately for me, I started taking it right before I got married. I stopped 2 weeks ago and feel fantastic! Goodbye sexless marriage! FREEDOM!!! Really, though, it's not just Yaz that does that.. almost all birth control pills will. A recent study came out saying that it puts you in pregnancy mode which makes you not only less sexually driven, but also less attracted to your partner. Check it out at ****** in the health section. I'm sticking to condoms... oh, side effect of getting off the pill, SORE nipples... anyone else experience this... I'm worrying a bit about pregnancy....

In taking Yaz and having it clot up my blood so badly, that I had stroke symptoms, I had some blood testing done. The doctor ordered a "Thrombophilia" test. The results came back with me being positive for MTHFR. A genetic blood clotting disorder. The type I have is very treatable with Folic Acid, Vitamin B and Baby Aspirin. But no birth control pills for me. Estrogen causes major clotting. And I could end up with a stroke or die. Considering many people have this disorder and don't even know it, I am surprised how birth control pills are handed out like candy, without these things being taken in to consideration.

I know birth control pills affect everyone differently, this is what happened to me. I started taking Yaz in January after being on Yasmin for 6 years (I had severe abdominal pain on Ortho Tricyclin and Yasmin gave me immediate relief. I had PMDD the last 6 months I took Yasmin and asked to switch to Yaz after seeing commercials on it, other than that I had no problems being on Yasmin for 5 1/2 years). The second month of Yaz, my PMDD went away, I felt normal and loved being on Yaz. I haven't had any weight gain, have mild cramping about a week before my period starts and my period is about 4-5 days and I hardly get bloated but I get a severe headache the day my period starts. The last 3-4 months, I've noticed I've had no energy but still try to exercise, I feel so tired no matter how much sleep I get, at times I don't feel very alert and have to focus hard when driving, have bouts with feeling depressed, and occasional constipation. I didn't have any vaginal dryness but often felt like I didn't have the energy to have sex. I had a blood screening last month which came back normal, this month I noticed my hair seems thinner. I suspected Yaz was the problem then I knew for sure after I found this website. My OB/GYN called in a new prescription for Yasmin today, I'm hoping that will help again - at least until I see him in a couple months, and that the PMDD symptoms do not return.

Most comments on here are from women who recently started taking Yaz. Their opinions are biased. When you start taking a new pill of any kind, your body has to adjust to it. Yaz, along with other birth control pills are going to have some unpleasant side effects because look at what they are doing to your body. They are stopping a natural occurring process that your body has done for years. So if you just started taking Yaz, and the symptoms are unpleasant, but bearable, keep taking it. You will feel better. However, if you are on the extreme end, then stop. Coming here to complain really is not going to make you feel any better, because yes, we are all having side effects. When i first started taking Yaz, I was an emotional/anxious mess. My breasts and back were sore, nausea, and flu like symptoms. Yes, they sucked. But now, they were worth it. I feel good. People just need to give their bodies the necessary amount of time for their bodys to adjust, and if you don't want to, stop taking the pill.

I took YAZ for 9 months. Within those 9 months I have noticed that my mood was completely different from my mood when I was on Loestro 24. By the end of 9 months I was depressed, worried about everything (especially right before my period) crying all the time, and down right crazy! I don't have PMDD, and I don't think it is good to take this pill unless you know that you have it. This pill emotionally made me crazy and caused me a lot of depression which is something that I am not used to. I switched back to Loestro24.. and felt 1000 times better the next month, my only issues with that pill is that after a long period of time of taking this pill, I get acne all over my legs, which is weird. I recently tried to switch to Femcon FE... and that was terrible, I was really sick from that pill. I don't know that birth control pills are the answer, they all have some kind of weird side effects, but I do know that I would not recommend YAZ to anyone who doesn't want to cry every month. This pill made me crazy!

Coming off of Yaz, about 3 days after my "near stroke". Started my period, of course, Only 2 days after stopping. My blood is like SLUDGE. It is very dark and so thick. It makes me sick to think this has been in my system like this, and i have been trying to function normal, and active. And my blood doesn't "flow" through my veins. And hearing some really scary stories of women who, weren't as lucky as me, taking birth control pills.

I have been taking Yaz for a month and a half. The only medication I have been on in several years.
At work yesterday, my head started getting foggy. And my perception, was all messed up. After about 15 minutes of this not getting better, I started to lose my speech communication. I couldn't finish sentences or words. Stuff was jumbling together. In my right hand, two fingers went numb, then the whole hand. A client ended up driving me to the ER. I tried to call my receptionist, but I couldn't get the words out, my client took the phone and told her I was going to the ER. By the time I got to the ER, feeling started coming back, and I could communicate, in full sentences, if I paused between. By the time I was checked in and saw the doctor, I was able to tell him all that happened. With no problem, then a huge headache came on.
He wanted to rule out stroke, so did the CT scan and MRI. The nurse had some trouble getting blood from me. She kept mentioning that the blood kept clotting. The doctor sent me home saying my brain was perfectly healthy, and to go see my regular doctor.
A friend told me it was the birth control, because she could not take it, as she has lupus, and could have a stroke. She said it causes clotting. All of this was making sense to me. I looked up the side effects I had and found the "stroke symptoms", listed as rare, on Yaz.
My opinion of what happened, I had a blood clot that ended up passing through, and it could have become a stroke.
Another thing I read, besides the clotting. Was that oral contraceptives increase the potassium in your blood. I had been eating a banana for breakfast, 3 mornings in a row (the third on the day of this episode). The added potassium, could have been related to this episode.
How is anyone to know they can't eat something like "bananas" with birth control? I certainly didn't.
I am afraid to try any form of birth control at this point.

I have been taking birth control pills, patch, NuvaRing for 12 or 13 years now and I am now going on my 2nd and last month on Yaz. Since I started taking this pill my tiredness has turned in exhaustion. My finance and family members have been saying that I am moody lately. I feel highly irritable. During the first month the headaches were on/off. Now I have a headache for two days straight. I can’t wait to finish up the month and be done with Yaz for good. The only reason why I am planning on finishing out the month is because I am getting married in August and don’t want to change when I will get my period.
DON’T switch to this pill.

I've been on various BCP for almost 10 years now (was diagnosed with dysmenorrhea and menoragia). The last year and a half have been on Yaz. I've had extreme fatigue (to the point where I was thinking I had fibromyalgia or CFS) for almost that entire 10 years. My blood tests always came back perfectly fine (no anemia, no thyroid problems; which at that point doctors did not want to deal with me any more and would try to through it off as depression). I've also almost constantly had stomach pain, not severe, but nagging and am nausiated most of the time.

My doctor switched me to Yaz in order to help stop the hormonal migraines, terrible mood swings, and increasingly bad periods (bleeding and cramp wise), and dizziness (that had come on within the past 2 months) that the Mircette was giving me. At first I felt relief (mostly in the dizziness, mood swings and migraines, but not from the fatigue or stomach aches). Increasingly though the migraines have progressed to where I now get them for 2-3 days before my period and 2-3 days after my period. Skipping the period does nothing because 2 days after starting a new pack I get a migraine (my doctor tells me that all the pills are the same except the last few, but it has happened multiple times now, so something must be different).

After a conversation I had with a friend who noticed that her fatigue would lift while she was menstruating and said that her doctor had said that this was because of the break in hormones (and not having put two in two together that those were the only times I wasn't fatigued either), I've decided that I have had it with birth control pills and am going to see if my older body will now work without them. I recommend to anyone who does not need birth control pills for a severe medical condition to NOT use them. They mess up your body.

I am 41 years old; I've been on several different birth control pills since I was 19 (never had any problems with any of them). I took a break for 2 years recently while trying to get pregnant. After two miscarriages, I decided to go back on the pill until the genetic tests come back.
I am into my 3rd pack of YAZ pills & all I can say is they are by far the WORST birth control pills I have ever taken. After reading all of the side effects that are posted, I am discontinuing immediately. It also eases some of my worries that I am not the only one suffering. These are the side effects that I have experienced since starting YAZ:

1. Daily migraine headaches.
2. Throbbing pain in my head if I turn too quickly.
3. Sensitivity to light.
4. Frequent cramps in my feet.
5. Clouded vision & sharp pain in my eye sockets.
6. Sinus pain.
7. Constipation.
8. Ringing in my ear.
9. Insomnia.
10.EXTREME mood swings.
11.Depression.
12.ZERO sex drive.
13.Fatigue, along with constant neck & back pain.
14.Painful cyst-like acne on my face.

With all of the birth control pills out there, there is no reason to have to take YAZ. It is the only pill on the market that contains drospirenone, which leads me to believe that drospirenone is causing the side effects I am experiencing.