Yaz and medication

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 so glad to have found this site. I really thought that I was losing my mind. I have been taking YAZ for almost 16 months. The first couple of months took adjustments which I gave to taking the new pill. Then I started to get mean. I have almost lost my best friend over this stupid pill. I wanted to hurt people. I became mean and very temperamental. I have never in my life been that way. I am a very kind, loving person. I enjoy people and being with others. I was suddenly closing myself off from the world and didn't want to see anyone or even talk to anyone.
I have been off the pill for a month due to having uterine ablasion and OH MY, what a difference. I am back to me. I am back to enjoying my husband and my children and all my friends again.
This medication really needs to be removed from the market. If someone were to take this who already had a battle with depression, the end results could be catastrophic. My sister's in law's were both on this same bc pill, and when I started to question, they have all the same symptoms that I have been having.
Why does the FDA allow this drug?

I spent yesterday in the emergency room with my 20 y/o daughter. She was experiencing severe cramping and twitching of her right side, swelling of the joints with shooting pains from her shoulders. The symptoms were those of a person with Parkinson's and severe charlie horses throughout their body. After many tests, I was floored when the doctor told me that he believed that it was YAZ that was causing this. She is also anemic, which she has never been. She has been on this medication for a little over one year. I came to this site to convince myself that the doctor was wrong..... isn't this supposed to be the wonder drug? After reading just a handful of the postings, I have found more symptoms that I have dismissed as 'stress from college'. She was placed on this medication for poly cysts caused by accutane! - Now this!!! What is going on with the FDA that they are allowing so many of these horrible side effects!

EVERYONE....LET'S HELP OTHER WOMEN FROM TAKING THIS MEDICATION AND REPORT THESE SIDE EFFECTS TO THE FDA. GO ONLINE AND FILL OUT THE FORM....IT'S EASY AND WELL WORTH IT! ALL OF YOU WHO HAVE EXPERIENCED THESE DRAMATIC SIDE EFFECTS KNOW THAT THIS DRUG IS HARMFUL

I took Yaz for 8 months. I suffered bilateral pulmonary embolism in April 2008. I have an enlarged right ventricle and tricuspid regurgitation due to the PE's, which I have to be on medication for the rest of my life. I am now unable to take any form of hormone replacements to control my endometriosis and ovarian cyst, so I am now looking at a possible hysterectomy. I am only 30 years old, which way too young to be having these health problems, all due to a birth control pill!!

I've heard nothing but good things about Yaz. The commercials make it look like a DREAM drug......one I truly needed. I'm 34 and getting married for the second time. My PMDD has become horrible. I started YAZ 7 days ago because I didn't want to be on my period for my honeymoon but mostly because I wanted to be a normal woman. I have 1 good week out of the month. I'm so tired of the mood swings and everything that is associated with PMS/PMDD. Well after day one I was horribly nauseated just like I was when I was pregnant. That has been daily. My stomach felt very"anxious" like I was nervous all the time and that is NOT me at all. It never dawned on me it could be the YAZ I thought it was nerves because of the upcoming wedding. I felt depression that I hadn't felt in a while since getting engaged. And it was almost a "hopelessness". Last night when I was driving home from work, day 6, I started coughing for no reason. I haven't been sick at all. It was like I couldn't quit. My left chest area was on fire and radiated to my back. I finally started thinking what in the world could this be so I got online and researched side effects of Yaz and boy am I glad I did. It blows my mind at the poor women who have either suffered threw a blood clot, or have died from it and ALL the other side effects I see on here that are just like mine. I'm so glad that I found this because today the Yaz went in the garbage. I refuse to take it anymore. I was worried all night I had a blood clot in my lung that I could barely sleep. I don't think anyone is aware of these problems associated with this medication. I hope they recall it soon!

Hello all! for everyone considering getting off of yaz because of the side effects, from experience i say DO IT!! I took it for about a year and definitely became a different person. I've never been really emotional, i've always been active, and never had many heath problems (fortunately!) - It took me a long time to associate my changes with yaz, because they didn't come suddenly, but became gradually worse after a few months. I started getting worried about everything, and acting irrationally...especially in my relationship. I got insecure, needy and moody, and that obviously didn't help, especially when he was used to being with someone laid back and easy going!! things mattered to me that would never have before. i hate drama, and i just seemed to be causing it! i also gained some weight, but didn't notice that right away either. at one point i began having sharp pains that my doctor said were at my bladder, and i only felt them during sex. I went to two doctors and they couldn't figure out what they were so i just had to deal. they were horribly painful, and i've never had anything like it before, or since. i ended up getting off the pill by accident when i didn't realize my prescription had run out. at this point my boyfriend and i had broken up, and i now know a big part of it was how emotional and irrational i had become. i decided to stay off of it, because i don't medication anyway unless its truly necessary.

I didn't start feeling any different for about three months. i didn't know there would be a completely different set of side effects for coming off of it either!! so about 3 months later i started having these awful stomach pains. i had no idea what it was, i had never felt anything close to it. a friend suggested it was gas but i knew better...it was very odd and lasted almost 2 weeks. i felt nauseous almost every day. i didn't know what was wrong with me! i couldn't find anything exact online, so i planned on seeing a doctor shortly. i lost weight suddenly, and another friend asked me about it. i hadn't changed my diet or activities so i was confused! then i thought....maybe i lost this weight bc of my birth control, and we continued to look up symptoms online. WOW. everything i felt was described perfectly, and many sources said it took about 3 months to get out of your system!

i noticed i felt emotionally stable again too. it was me again! i figured it was relationship probs that made me feel crazy before, but at this point i was able to sit back and think about everything rationally. i think my craziness caused a good amount of them...i cant believe all of the changes i had, and didn't even know it.

anyway, ive been off of yaz for almost a year now and its great. i have a new boyfriend, and everything is great- i'm no emotional wreck, i don't make issues out of nothing, and when we do have an issue we're able to discuss it like normal people. life is much more simple. and its nice knowing the decisions and acts i make are all just bc thats how i am...not because of some medication!!

i know that was long, but hopefully it was helpful :)

I started taking Yaz 2 years ago after my son was born. I didn't have any side effects for a long time and was generally happy with the pill. About a year after being on Yaz I started getting horrible anxiety and depression. It was really beginning to interfere with my life. I always felt on edge, my heart was constantly racing, I felt down, starting binge eating, etc. I also started noticing that my blood sugar was out of wack. I became hypoglycemic and had to eat little snacks every hour to keep myself from having my blood sugar drop too low. I sometimes even had to take a glucose tablet. My thoughts were always racing. I felt like I was going crazy. After going to my PCP and a psychiatrist and not getting any relief from the way I was feeling, I took it upon myself to stop taking Yaz to see if that made a difference. Well, since stopping Yaz my anxiety, depression, and hypoglycemia has completely disappeared. I feel happy again, normal and healthy. I have gained a few pounds and my skin is an oily mess, but I would much rather deal with that than the hell I was dealing with before. I'm not big on taking medicine unless I absolutely have to and this experience has only made me feel stronger about that. I think I will go back to using condoms and give my body a break. (forever)

Hi,

I've been taking YAZ for 2 1/2 weeks. First I should tell you that I suffer from PMDD and I wanted to give this a try. I would eat none stop...bad stuff like donuts and fried foods and I was just very touchy and angry for no reason with no energy. I know it's still early but I did have the extreme fatigue, sharp painful headaches, blurred vision, muscle aches the first couple of weeks but yesterday and today I feel GREAT! To early yet to notice if my moods will continue to improve or not be so drastic before I start my period but this is exactly the time that I would start being a monster before...I did feel a little sad during the first couple of weeks but that has gone away! I'm happy except I have noticed some hair loss just in the last couple of days. I hope this is temporary until my body adjusts to the medication because if you suffer from PMDD you will know that the minor initial side effects are definatley worth it (except I would rather have my hair and be mean) lol...we will see. I hope this helps...Sex drive is fine so far...Please write something regarding hair loss if you have been taking it longer and yours stopped after awhile. I don't wanna lose too much. Take care! God Bless Women...We have to be strong and we are!

I've been using Yaz for about three months now, and towards the middle of the first month was when I began to experience a few mild side affects. I became irritable and emotional, and so far I've gained about 5 pounds, but I learned to control it by month two. Now I'm at the end of month three, and new symptoms have emerged. If I'm hungry, I feel nauseated and lethargic. When I eat, the nausea becomes worse, and I actually ended up vomiting recently because I felt so sick. I've been bleeding every day, and have had difficulty becoming aroused even when sexually excited. I definitely do NOT recommend this medication. As soon as possible, I plan on seeing a doctor and switching to a better one!

My 14 year-old Daughter was prescribed YAZ for her acne. After the first 48 hours daughter began to have severe leg spasms, mood swings, anxiety attacks, numbness in hands and feet, heart palpitations, and migraines so severe that she had to miss school for 1 entire week. At first I didn''t put it all together but by day 5 I took her off the pills and waited....the symptoms went away but did leave her with a 3-week period.

This is a bad, BAD medication. When I was a teen girl I was on traditional b/c pills and I never, ever had any kind of reaction like this.

I contacted the FDA and filled out a complaint report.

Since my last post I have decided to stop taking Yaz! The majority of the side effects have faded, but the emotional rollercoaster is still very much active! It is killing my relationship and making my life a living hell. My poor family must think I have lost my mind! I started taking this medication to help my PMDD and it has done nothing but make things worse for me and my family. I want to thank everyone for being so open and being so honest, this has helped me beyond belief. I wish everyone good health!

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 was on YAZ for only 7 days before I felt suddenly and completely crazy! On the Yasmin site there are several women complaining about YAZ side effects and asking if anyone is interested in starting a lawsuit. I feel there is enough severity and consistency in the complaints to start one. I don't believe a medication should be on the market that causes so many so much distress. If I could just save one women and her family from what we've gone through I would be willing to put quite a bit effort into it. Please respond to me or one of the women on the Yasmin site if you too think your suffering was enough that no one else should have to go through it. I read the side effects very carefully as I always do but I don't remember any that warned you may lose emotional stability. I had no history of such severe, or unmanageable anxiety, depression... . Please help us take this drug off the market, Imagine how many other women are suffering but either not looking on this site or stopping to share their stories.

Hello! My name is Lisa and I had a HORRIBLE experience with Yaz. I took Yaz for 2 months after 3 months of Seasonique. I had switched because Seasonique made me extremely moody (all of a sudden I hated everyone on the planet). My OB gave me a few months worth of Yaz. Within weeks I noticed a strong stomach pain. I contacted my OB and he thought I just had a stomach virus. This pain continued on for several more weeks. I called my OB again and he just said, "The pill doesn't do that." I got a second opinion from another OB and he also agreed.... "The pill doesn't do that." Then out of desperation I made an appt with my Fam doctor and he diagnosed me with Gastritis.... said that he thought my diet was the cause of my pain. Uh, let me mention this.... this stomach pain is so severe you literally CAN'T eat anything cause if you do, 5 mins later you will be in SEVERE pain. To get a better picture of this pain just think of glass shards piercing through your stomach walls (I thought just maybe I was getting an ulcer). My Fam doctor gave me a months worth of Aciphex (which never never never helped at all) and I also saw him twice more in that month (which was my 2nd month of Yaz). He got so frustrated with me... it was Gastritis and if I wanted it to go away I had to be willing to make changes in my diet (I still was not eating and was losing weight) and also be patient enough for the Aciphex to take effect. Finally, out of frustration I quit Yaz. Within weeks my stomach pain was completely gone.
Let me say this to all women reading this. I don't care what your OB says.
There is no need to tolerate any pain from a medication.... especially when there are other options out there. To have a doc tell you to "wait it out for a few months" is ridiculous. To not be able to eat for days or even weeks is dangerous to your health. I eventually googled Yaz + Side Effects and found that the severe stomach pain I was having was a possible side effect and it even instructs you to tell your physician if you experience such pain. Why is it I opted to tell not 1 but 3 docs this and no-one would listen??????? Personally I would like to see all 3 docs lose their jobs because they should have known this.
Ladies, tell anyone you know about this pill. Get the WORD out about this pill. I frequently go on Yahoo Answers and girls are always asking advice on birth control pills and I jump at every chance to spread the word. Let's get this pill OFF OF THE MARKET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you all for sharing. I couldn't figure out why for the last 4 months I have been extremely exhausted and the only thing I had changed in my life was starting Yaz. This morning I just couldn't take it anymore so I started to google "side effects" from Yaz. I had gone to my doctor and told her there is something wrong but I don't know what it was. She blew it off and said it was depression and told me to take anti-depression medication. I have had major depression in my past and know what it feels like and I was 100% sure that there was something strange happening to my body, not depression. My other side effect, besides the common ones many people wrote about was severe body aches. I am 34 and it feels like I am 80. It is hard for me to get out of bed without giving a good holler. My moodiness, sleeplessness, bloating, headaches, body aches, and feeling exhausted 24 hours a day has halted my life. I am stopping Yaz TODAY!!!!
Charity

I have just spent the last hour reading some of the post about Yaz. I have yet to read one that states she is diagnosed with PMDD and that is the reason for her dr. putting her on Yaz. Yaz is not only a birthcontrol pill but also effective tool in treading PMDD. PMDD is the more life effecting sever side effects of your menstral cycle. Some of the side effects people are experiencing on Yaz are those that I suffer with on a regular basis. You see I have been diagnosed with PMDD. I suffer every month for at least 7 - 10 days before my period starts. I literally hate human contact during this period. The slighest thing makes me uncontrollably irrate with things from fuzz on my carpet to the site of my husband. I experience svere road rage. Have absolutley no desire to do anything but eat and sleep. These side effects make life for everyone around me pure hell. Once my cycle starts they subside. I literally turn into cruella deville every month. I have been put on other antideppresants for the treatment of PMDD with no good results. I gladly welcome nasuea, headaches and break thru bleeding versus no sleep for days on end, halluctinations, memory loss, and flat affect all symptons I experienced on Prozac the most common treatment of PMDD. Not only do I suffer from PMDD but I have horrible horrible monthly periods consisting of major bledding with excessive clotting. I go thru 2 40ct. boxed of tampons each month and a box of maxi pads too. So if a headache is the price i have to pay for a few months I say bring it on. Any dr will tell you and the pamplet that comes with Yaz state that you may suffer some side effects until your body becomes adjusted to the new medication. You can't just pop one pill and say whalla my life is perfect now. I just started Yaz this week and so far no symptoms listed on this site have i experienced. Maybe some people need to be more patient. Medications are like diets, they don't all work and they were not intended to be overnight miracle workers. I will keep and eye on this site and further update with any success and or non success I have with this med. Remember talking a med used to treat an ailment that you don't have can make you suffer from worse side effects.

I just wanted to give an alternative perspective to the comments on this board.

I've been on Yaz for two months, and I'm very happy with it. The first week or so wasn't great: weird muscle aches, fatigue, lightheadedness occasionally. I had light brownish discharge/spotting for about a week. The second week I had some striking headaches, and over the first two weeks I lost 10 pounds (water weight).

But since then it's been smooth sailing. My period came exactly on time and lasted about 2.5 days. I no longer have any symptoms besides breast tenderness (akin to what my breasts felt like before my period, before).

So - keep in mind when you're reading these negative comments that usually the happy folks don't feel the need to post!

Very Bad Experience.
I didn't want to take a BCP since I try to not put any medications in my body if I don't have to...now I remember why. This medication has had a very negative impact on my quality of life. I have extreme tenderness of my breasts, I am exhausted all the time, my periods are longer and fairly irregular, the cramping is very painful and more regular than before I took Yaz...but the worst thing is my moods. I'm irritable and anxious and crabby. I am critical of everything my boyfriend does even though he's a great guy. I am impatient and seem to find fault and negativity in everything around me where before it was 'glass half full'. The headaches and blurred vision doesn't help either. I'm going back to my old ways and would not recommend taking this bcp to anyone.