Yasmin Anxiety Problems, Extreme Anxiety, Anxiety Panic, Natural Progesterone, Xanax
Posted over a year ago
IF YOU'VE EXPERIENCED ANXIETY WHILE ON YASMIN, PLEASE READ THIS: I started Yasmin back in Feb. 2004, and started experiencing extreme anxiety & panic attacks a few months later. I didn't put two and two together until October 2004, when I finally ... more »
IF YOU'VE EXPERIENCED ANXIETY WHILE ON YASMIN, PLEASE READ THIS:
I started Yasmin back in Feb. 2004, and started experiencing extreme anxiety & panic attacks a few months later. I didn't put two and two together until October 2004, when I finally discovered this website. I was so relieved to discover that Yasmin had caused my anxiety (also some depression, and some OCD tendencies), and that I was not just losing my mind. I stopped Yasmin immediately, thinking the problem would just go away, but unfortunately, it got worse before it got better. The first three months off Yasmin were hell on earth. The anxiety was unbearable. Then after three months, the anxiety got significantly better. (FYI - it takes 3 months for a BC pill to clear your system. Coincidence? I think not.) After that, I still had some anxiety, usually really severe around the time of my period. I tried anxiety programs, relaxation CDs, deep breathing, etc., some of which helped, but the anxiety never completely went away. I resorted to taking Xanax as needed. I know my story is very similar to many of yours, so I wanted to share with you what I've learned since then:
As time went on, my anxiety got better & better. I usually just had it around the time of my period, and in some social situations. Then, this past Spring, a dear friend of mine (who I met on the forum, by the way) found a doctor who did some tests on her hormone levels & discovered that she had no progesterone. He told her that her own hormone imbalance coupled with the hormones in Yasmin, caused her to have her anxiety problems on Yasmin. He prescribed her some NATURAL PROGESTERONE (not the synthetic stuff), and she started feeling so much better! Seeing her drastic improvement, and admitting to myself that after two years my anxiety wasn't completely gone, I went to the same doctor. He did some blood work & guess what? I had essentially no progesterone as well. He put me on natural progesterone too. I am taking 100 mg. in a capsule form each night. I cannot tell you the difference I have felt. I feel normal again. Think about it - the hormones in Yasmin obviously caused our anxiety. Doesn't it make sense that the problem is inheritently hormonal? I have been helped so much by the ladies on this website, so I wanted to share my story so that if just helps one person, it's worth it. Go to a doctor in your area who specializes in natural hormone management & see what your levels are. In my case & in my friend's case, our anxiety disorders have been the result of a hormone imbalance, one made significantly worse by Yasmin. I hate to see so many people resort to anti-depressants & anti-anxiety meds, when it may be that all they need is to balance their hormones. Best wishes to all of you. Please hang in there, life does get better!
Cjean16 - Hi, I know it's been a while - like two years ago, since you wrote this, and I don't even know if you still check this, but, your story is almost identical to mine. The anxiety and ocd is almost impossible at times and I'm so sick of being on this roller coaster. I just want to go back to how I felt before all of this started. My question for you is, how do you feel now? Are you still convinced it was the yasmin? HOw long did yo utake the progesterone? At times I know it's just the anxiety, but when it's bad, I start to think all the scary thoughts from the anxiety might be true. There have been times where I feel like I've totally lost myself when, before this started (in Jan) I've always been very stable and had a strong sense of self. Do you have any advice for others in this situation?
Thanks for posting!
Crystal
Leena05 - I have been on Yasmin for 7 years, and recently decided to go off of it. I have always been a very stable person. I've always been a little bit of a worrier, but it wasn't until my Sophomore year of college I began to have serious anxiety. I blamed it on transferring colleges and working really hard. Over the past 7 years the anxiety got worse and worse. Recently (about 6 months ago) it started changing into anxiety over irrational situations. I felt paranoid and like I was out of control of my emotions. It was awful considering the past year I got married and bought a new house...my insane emotions were causing so many issues for me and my husband's relationship. For someone who had always felt so grounded, it was an absolutely horrible feeling. Well, because I had heard of some of the health issues with Yasmin I googled it one night and ended up coming across blogs like this talking about the depression and anxiety that Yasmin causes. That's when I put two and two together and realized this all started for me when I went on Yasmin my sophomore year of college. I talked to another friend who had been confiding in me about the same experiences and had recently told me she had felt so much better all of a sudden. Turns out she had been on Yasmin (which I didn't know) and the time period she started feeling better was when she stopped taking it. I stopped taking it that night, which was about 2 months ago. Right away I felt better, however within a month I had THE WORST obsessive thoughts and anxiety I have ever experienced. I felt like I was losing my mind. That has subsided thank God, and now I am starting to feel like my old self again. I have noticed my skin is a little more prone to pimples than it used to be and my hair has definitely lost some of it's fullness, but I've read that eventually that comes back just like after pregnancy. Either way, I would never consider going on Yasmin ever again. My doctor even recommended I switch before I told her I had stopped taking it. I hate this pill. Thanks for all your stories. It's hearing from women like you that helped me see what was going on with my mind and emotions.
Leena05 - I have been on Yasmin for 7 years, and recently decided to go off of it. I have always been a very stable person. I've always been a little bit of a worrier, but it wasn't until my Sophomore year of college I began to have serious anxiety. I blamed it on transferring colleges and working really hard. Over the past 7 years the anxiety got worse and worse. Recently (about 6 months ago) it started changing into anxiety over irrational situations. I felt paranoid and like I was out of control of my emotions. It was awful considering the past year I got married and bought a new house...my insane emotions were causing so many issues for me and my husband's relationship. For someone who had always felt so grounded, it was an absolutely horrible feeling. Well, because I had heard of some of the health issues with Yasmin I googled it one night and ended up coming across blogs like this talking about the depression and anxiety that Yasmin causes. That's when I put two and two together and realized this all started for me when I went on Yasmin my sophomore year of college. I talked to another friend who had been confiding in me about the same experiences and had recently told me she had felt so much better all of a sudden. Turns out she had been on Yasmin (which I didn't know) and the time period she started feeling better was when she stopped taking it. I stopped taking it that night, which was about 2 months ago. Right away I felt better, however within a month I had THE WORST obsessive thoughts and anxiety I have ever experienced. I felt like I was losing my mind. That has subsided thank God, and now I am starting to feel like my old self again. I have noticed my skin is a little more prone to pimples than it used to be and my hair has definitely lost some of it's fullness, but I've read that eventually that comes back just like after pregnancy. Either way, I would never consider going on Yasmin ever again. My doctor even recommended I switch before I told her I had stopped taking it. I hate this pill. Thanks for all your stories. It's hearing from women like you that helped me see what was going on with my mind and emotions.
Sunnygirl82 - Im so glad i found this website. I am naturally a very relaxed happy person and can cope easily with lifes ups and downs, when im not taking the pill which in my case is also Yasmin. I stopped taking it for a while being single and I had never felt better. Ive been taking it again for about 2 months and have never felt so down and just wanting to lock myself away, anxious, irritable. I have a huge long term overseas trip coming up and im not one bit excited about it. I just feel like crying all the time. Im will definately stop taking it now and look for alternative contraceptions. I refuse to believe I have some thing wrong with me and it just shows how quickly my personality has changed in a few short weeks since being back on Yasmin. Me being like i am when taking Yasmin cost me what could have been a fantastic relationship with a guy. He broke up with because he couldnt handle my ups and downs and how reserved I was in social situations, it was embarrassing for both of us. My friends always say they love going out with me beause im so much fun and funny, not the last 6 weeks they keep asking me whats wrong and I cant give an answer because I have nothing to be unhappy about. So glad i read your story. Ill be finding a doctor to check my hormone levels on Monday. Like you said if you can help just one woman..... its helped me. Thanks.
Summer5 - Reading all of your stories has really opened my eyes to what the root of my issues may be. I have been going through a lot lately: a break up, change in family dynamic, etc., but my anxiety worsened after I started Yasmin. I started the pill in general 7 yrs ago when my, now ex, and I started dating. I was on it for 3 months and I fell apart immediately. I cried everyday for absolutely no reason and I was snapping at my best friend and bf over nothing. It was the worst 3 months of my life. This past year, for reasons I still don't understand, I decided to go back on the pill. My bf and I ended our relationship and I was looking for any way to help with my emotions. I was told by someone that it would help regulate my hormones and reduce the anxiety associated with what was going on in my life. I have always suffered from mild anxiety but after I decided to go on Yasmine, it has increased tremendously. I have been crying everyday feeling a tighness in my chest, trouble beating, rapid heartbeats at times and an almost burning sensation throughout my chest and upper arms/shoulders. I have experienced a surge of anxiety every single morning for the past 8 weeks...about a month after I started the pill. I wake up feeling so consumed with this feeling and so out of touch with myself, that the only alternative now is to STOP the pill. I should've learned the first time I used it, but I thought that I was still going through puberty and that may have been why it didn't work out. I am also going to see my doctor today, so I will also request hormone testing to see if I am lacking progesterone or whatnot. I am grateful that I was able to read your stories because its opened my eyes. Thank you and good luck to everyone...There is light at the end of the tunnel, you just have to open your eyes to see it:)
Sds - I started Yasmin right before we got married. That was definitely a life change, but I've been through significant life changes before and could always find the positivity to make it through. I can't even count all the times I feared my marriage wasn't going to work, for silly little things that I KNEW in my head were ridiculous, but emotionally, I was a WRECK. The first few months I was completely NUMB. I didn't understand it then. Next, I experienced months of DYSPHORIA. Then, what seemed like BIPOLAR disorder. (I'm a psychologist, so I'm aware of the symptoms) It took two years for me to put it together, and it hit me head on with a PANIC ATTACK, for which I checked in with my doctor and she basically diagnosed me with PANIC DISORDER. (I'm Type A, but have, for my whole life up until these last few years, been able to manage stress) I didn't buy it. I stopped taking Yasmin and within the FIRST MONTH I felt like a fog had lifted. I still experience emotions, but I feel in control of them. My marriage has improved ten-fold (possibly because I'm not freaking out or bawling my eyes out over undone dishes...seriously, it was that bad)
Taking Yasmin IS MY REGRET IN LIFE. I don't think women are educated about the effects of BCP on our bodies...I can't imagine where we would have ended up (had my husband not been the patient man he is) Makes me wonder how many marriages are rocked by the effects of BC, or how many women are prescribed anti-depressants or anti-anxiety medications (which tamper with your body system even more, by the way).
Thankful for this blog.
Hope my story provides a bit of insight...
you're not as crazy as you might thing!
Yasminpms - I have been taking Yasmin for 8+ years. Early on, I used to skip my period with no problems but over the past few years I have noticed that after I skip my period when I am next due to get my period I get really, really bad PMS for about 5 days before I get my period - anxiety, depression, constant crying, bloating etc and I feel like I can't cope with anything. I am glad to know I am not the only one who has fallen to pieces over the dishes not being done, or something not being where I left it. I am seriously thinking about changing to another pill after reading your posts. Thanks ladies :)
Sunbeam - I'm so thankful to the person who created this site and also thank you to the people who have taken the time to share constructive feedback.
To be honest when I am not on Yasmin I feel much more emotionally balanced. It seems as though all my emotions & anxieties become amplified when I am on the pill. The hormones in the Yasmin Pill just don't seem to be compatible with my body. I suffered from challenging OCD 4 years ago during that time I was on Yasmin. I decided to come off it.
Since I have gone back on the Pill symptoms of OCD have increased. I think it must be the chemicals in the pill that make my anxieties worse, I've been feeling unusually tearful like wanting to cry but not being able to; one minute I'm happy but for most of the day I feel like crying, it's a foggy out of touch depressed numb sensation. I've flooded my body with too many hormones and now that's why I feel upside down. I mustn't take the next pack of Yasmin.
Sunbeam - I'm so thankful to the person who created this site and also thank you to the people who have taken the time to share constructive feedback.
To be honest when I am not on Yasmin I feel much more emotionally balanced. It seems as though all my emotions & anxieties become amplified when I am on the pill. The hormones in the Yasmin Pill just don't seem to be compatible with my body. I suffered from challenging OCD 4 years ago during that time I was on Yasmin. In that time I kept a diary to make note of my feelings and thoughts or any changes I noticed. I decided to come off it.
Since I have gone back on the Pill, my symptoms of OCD have increased that is what led me to begin researching this topic. 2 weeks ago I re-read that diary I wrote 4 years ago (from when I was last on Yasmin) - in it are pages and pages of anxious accounts that I can hardly recognize as my own thoughts and barely have any correlation with the kind of pleasant, resilient personality I had before I began that specific pill. I think it must be the chemicals in the pill that make my anxieties worse, I've been feeling unusually tearful these past few weeks, like wanting to cry but not being able to; one minute I'm happy but for most of the day I feel like crying, it's a foggy out of touch depressed numb sensation. I've flooded my body with too many hormones and now that's why I feel upside down. I mustn't take the next pack of Yasmin. I'm going to come off it and let my hormone levels return to how they naturally are.
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