Yaz and types of birth control

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.

I am so glad that this site is here. I too was given Yaz not as birth control but as an alternative to mood swings, No periods for months, and heavy bad periods.. I am 31 and the mother of 4. I had my tubes tied at 24 after my last child. I had taken other types of birth control at younger ages and had no problems. Well this was the start of my 4th month. I too didn't get my period till the week after the white pills. It was shorter and lighter at first, but since its terrible. I bleed longer and harder than before I started taking Yaz. I too cry for no reason and get very mad very easily. My sex drive too went from anytime any where to none. My husband has begged me for weeks to stop taking this pill. With the heavy bleeding he was concerned for my health. I stopped taking the Yaz pill one week ago today, and I am still having very heavy bleeding. This is the second week of it. I just want it all to stop. I too was feeling very tired and would catch myself falling asleep in the middle of the day. But at night when I would go to bed I would lie there awake. I was lucky if I could sleep for 5 hours at a time. My only concern now is when will this bleeding stop, and when is it something that I should contact a doctor about. I will never go on this pill again and I will tell anyone who wants to not to. I don't like going for three and four months with out my period, but I am not sure after this experience if I will try another for of the pill or not.