Yasmin and 15 minutes

I'm so happy I found this site. I've been thinking I'm crazy or just getting old for the last 3 years while on Yasmin. I started taking it at age 29 and almost immediately after started having mood swings, extreme irritability and depression. I had previously been on Ortho Tri Cyclen and the Ortho Cyclen before Yasmin and was on them for MANY years and never had one side effect. I only switched in the first place because I like to have very very few periods and I run all my active pills together to forgo periods very often and I was having breakthrough on the Cyclen. Hence, the Yasmin trial.

I'm actually a doctor (which is why I CANNOT have frequent periods with all the accompanying issues), but I didn't even realize the possible connection between IBS and Yasmin. This needs to be studied and taken seriously. I never once had IBS symptoms until a few months after starting Yasmin. Now, 3 years later I have almost constatnt trouble, to the point everytime I eat I run for the bathroom, yet my weight has never been higher. I asked a GYN friend at work if they could be related and she said definitely no, but reading all of these "real life" examples, coupled with my own experience has made me think otherwise. Often, the symptoms will occur shortly after taking the pill, even when I haven't yet eaten breakfast. It's crazy!!

I'm going to switch either back to Ortho Cyclen or to something new ASAP and will report back. I'm both excited at the thought that my "IBS" might really be Yasmin related but also scared that it might not go away and therefore might really be IBS. I'll report back... It honestly never entered my mind that all of it could be the Yasmin. I had just moved, started a new job in a town I hate and I thought it was all stress related.

I've also had an interesting side effect no one has mentioned yet- my hair texture has dramatically changed. It isn't falling out, but has gone from VERY curly with a nice soft spiral curl pattern to very dry, straight and hard to manage. Nothing else has changed and now I'm wondering if it's not the DRSP. If pergnant women can have hair changes, why not women on the pill?? It's all hormones.

As always with a drug, there are always possible side effects. No one drug is perfect, and humans are so complex in their make up and they way they process drugs. Therefore, please don't judge your family docs or GYNs too harshly as not even the best doctor in the world can predict every side effect.

I started Yasmin on the first day of my period (Wednesday). I continued to take the pill as directed once a day at the same time, however started to experience dioherrea. One week later at night time I began vommitting every 15 minutes and had to see a doctor. I vommitted from 6pm-3am and was sick in the stomach (nausea) for 4 days following this. I ended up in the emergency room on the 10th day because the nausea had not subsided and my period had not yet stopped (11th day). The doctor and gyno put it down to the pill, 'Yasmin'. Just thought everyone should know that there are some horrible side effects to this pill and to be cautious, I was horribly sick for 5 days, unable to attend work and university.

I have been taking Yasmin just for 10 days.I dont have any hunger any more and i am eating almost nothing.Before starting Yasmin,i was so active and was able to work out and the fitness center 2 hours ,and then play tennis for 3 hours,but now i dont even feel like to walk the way to the fitness center for 15 minutes as i am feeling so weak.The worst side effect of yasmin on me is i am having nervous breakdowns,feel like crying most of the time for nothing.So now,i can see that this pills made me turn into a weak and deppressed girl who is even lazy for preparing a sandwich or walking.

This is my first birth control pill,so i cannot compare with the others but i hope there are better pills in this world,otherwise i will not be able to take them again !

Dear Silke,
That must have been very frightening for you! I do not know much about seizures. There appears to be many different kinds-- from "petit mal seizures" where the person 'tunes out in a daze' for a few minutes, to falling on the floor, to "grand mal" or "tonic clonic seizures" like I had where you fall unconscious, convulse, eyes roll into head, muscles contract, jaw clamps down on tongue. I was unsconscious for 15 minutes after the seizure and even after I reached the hospital I was groggy, confused, uncertain what was happening to me, etc. I didn't know who I was. In my confusion I assumed I was dying.
Yasmin is REALLY not worth all that! Silke is right-- there is no point 'adjusting' to this drug.

Good luck to every one of you! I'd get off of it while you have some semblance of health. If you later discover that your side effects were caused by something else you can always go back on it. I truly regret I ever tried it. The upside: just look how Yasmin is uniting the world in side-effects and ill health. :)

Hi ladies. Chrissy, I wanted to see how you were feeling since we went off the pill about the same time. I'm definitely feeling better, however, I have been having constant attacks, which I think is anxiety. I've never really had it before so I'm not sure.
When you say you guys have anxiety, does it just come on for no reason? For me it's like I just start to get tingling, or numbing in my face and arm and leg, (sometimes stomach) and then it happens for about 15 minutes, I'm dizzy and off balance and quite foggy. I try to breathe slowly and it eventually goes away. It's definitely scaring me, especially when it happens while I'm driving. I just wanted to see if this is what you guys are considering anxiety. Since I've been off the pill, I've had this happen about 5 times. I have been taking an aspirin every morning just in case.

I'm feeling a lot less lethargic, and am able to actually not just sit around all day, I have a lot more energy which is good. But I still get dizzy spells and I'm weak every so often.

Also, how long do or did you guys have your period after you went off it? I was Ok for the first few days, but now I've had it about 5 days.

And I'm also wondering how long until I feel normal again? Like I said it's only been 8 days post Yasmin, but I am still freaking out that something else is wrong with me even though the doctors said I'm fine, since I'm not feeling back to normal yet!

Thanks everyone for your posts, they are really helping a lot.

twogirlsmom -

Go to www.FDA.GOV. Under the section "Let Us Hear From You", there's an option to "Report a Problem with a Product". It takes about 10-15 minutes to complete. Good luck!

Hi girls, first of all thank you all for your postings, which have really helped me a lot. I was on Jasmine (as we call Yasmin in France, where I am writing from) for 7 months and I have felt the same depression and lethargy you are all talking about. My worst problem was constant hunger and obsession with food. My family didn't recognise me as I was constantly bloated, I looked like I had a tyre around my belly, plus I needed to urinate every 15 minutes or so, but was also very constipated... Great! I would also wake up every two hours at night; I have never been a good sleeper but it had come to a point where my nights were at maximum four hours sleep. I stopped taking the pill 2 weeks ago and my belly is much flatter now, I still feel pessimistic about life can contol my feelings much more. Feeling a little more in control of my body really helps. Bonne chance to you all!

I was on Yasmin for almost 6 months. I didn't have the anxiety attacks, etc. I had acne before being on Yasmin, and it was greatly reduced. I lost almost 30 lbs on Yasmin. However, I had really horrible.. HORRIBLE... periods before being on Yasmin, that's why my doc put me on it. My periods lessened in intensity, but lengthened in duration (lighter flow, but longer time). Then, in July, I had 2 periods a week apart. The first one was "normal" for me on Yasmin. The 2nd one was so bad, I thought I was hemorrhaging. I was passing clots the size of apples, and going through super plus tampons at a rate of one every 15 minutes. I had to be taken to the ER because I was bleeding so badly. Docs there did ultrasounds, etc. Doc said I wasn't hemorrhaging, but that my uterus was "full", as if I hadn't had a period in a while and things backed up. Needless to say, I stopped the Yasmin, but I'm still spotting/bleeding after 2 months. How fun!

I had been on my period since December of 2004!!!
May 1,2005 my OBG recommended that I started taking yasmin to regulate my periods. I wish I hadn't!!!!!!! I was very irritable,I experienced nausea, fatigue,depression,dehydration, the constant urge to urinate (every 10-15 minutes.), and the worst was the constant nagging itch in my vaginal area. My vaginal area was so irritated that I could barely touch it to clean or wash myself. I thought this would go away after a few days but it only got worse. I stopped taking the pills 5/19/05 my period has returned, but the side effects are started to go away. If given the choice between Yasmin and a period that may never stop....I'll take the period.