Bad experience symptoms and conditions

I am a 31 year old mother of a beautiful 13 month old daughter. From the age of 15 to age 23 I was on a birth control pill (I do not remember which one...I think it was Ortho Tri-Cyclen.). When I decided to stop taking the pill at age 23, I noticed a HUGE change in my personality. I felt much better/happier and had an increased sex drive. Going forward, I decided not to take hormones if I could help it.

Prior to the birth of my daughter, we tried the diaphram with spermicide and I had a reaction to the spermicide. My boyfriend would lose his erection any time we tried condoms. I did try the NuvaRing (hormones) and HATED that; it made me feel like my head was going to explode. I ended up pregnant, had my daughter and, after the birth of my daughter, tried the copper IUD. My body rejected that and it was a bad experience. I felt like I had no other choice, but to try the birth control pill again. I approached it with a positive attitude and was hopeful.

MY EXPERIENCE WITH LOESTRIN 24:

Dear women and concerned spouses,

Today is the sixth day I have been on Loestrin 24. I started taking YAZ and had diarrhea so bad that I had to switch after day two of taking the YAZ product. On day three, I started Loestrin 24 and (like I said previously) have been on it for almost a week. I went from being energetic, happy and sensual to the polar opposite.

The signs of depression and anxiety were almost immediate, but I was trying to give it a chance. It is not worth it to me any longer, as I have been upset with my boyfriend and crying almost every day. You might think it is coincidence, but it is not. I know my body and my mind; this behavior is not me. I have not been reacting rationally and I have been extremely emotional. I am an emotional person to some degree, but this is REDICULOUS. I have a constant feeling of irrational fear in our relationship and severe anxiety. I am aware enough to recognize that these feelings are not natural and that something is wrong and the problem is NOT with me.

The first day I took Loestrin 24, I had the shakes and felt very cold. Anxiety accomodated these physical effects. The second day of taking the YAZ product, I noticed a cramp in my right leg. By the time I was into my second day of Loestrin 24, I felt an aching in both my legs and lower back pain...both of which have NOT gone away. My periond stopped by the second day on YAZ, but started again with the first pill of Loestrin 24. This may be due to a change in pills, but it has not stopped since.

If you or someone you know is experiencing sadness and unusual behavior, or even a relapse in depression, the birth control pill may have something to do with it. I have been doing quite a bit of research on all birth control pills and the effects of depression that they have on women. I am speaking from experience and, so far, Loestrin 24 has been the worst at causing me symptoms of fear, depression, anxiety and just an overall helpless feeling. These leg cramps have me fearing blood clots, as well. Some of the other women on here have noted these leg and back pains, as well.

If I could find a non-hormonal solution to birth control (other than abstinence) I would use it.

Some women do fine on the pill and, obviously, some do not. I say, "Give it a try!", but listen to your body and that little voice in your head telling you that something might be wrong...it is usually right.

I've been on the ring for 3 months. Before that, I was on the Ortho tri cyclen Lo for like.. 5 years. I have had no noticeable problems with the ring, other than sometimes it gets in the way during sex, but if it becomes a problem I just take it out. I have not noticed any decline in sex drive. Actually, I think I have a stronger sex drive now. I have not felt depressed. The itching some of you describe would occur if you placed the ring without THOROUGHLY washing your hands with soap. So far, this method of birth control has been completely ideal for me, as a person who has serious trouble remembering to take her pill consistently. So far, I would recommend it to my friends. I'm sorry so many of you girls have had bad experiences. For those of you reading this who are considering the Nuvaring, just consider this: People who have bad experiences with a drug are more likely to get online and make their complaints know. People who are getting along fine are less likely to get on here to report everything is dandy. It's like a restaurant review.. "If they have a good experience, they'll tell two people, if they have a bad experience, they'll tell 12." Good luck.

I was so amazed to see so many people having the same side effects as I am. I thought I was just stressed out from working full time, being a full tine student in college and a single mother of a 3 year old. I have not had this much acne on my face since I was in high school and I am 28 years old. I have gained so much weight that most of my old clothes don't fit anymore and I don't have the money to buy new clothes. My mirena was inserted in May 2008. After reading these blogs, I think I will get it taken out, but I would hate to get back on the birth control pill and I had a bad experience with Nuvaring too. I read in a magazine that what Mirena does is make the uterus uninhabitable for the fertilized egg to grow, so this means we are pregnant every month and pass the fertilized egg out with our menstrual cycles.

OK MY DOC JUST GAVE MY 14 MONTH OLD SINGULAIR THE YOUNGEST IVE SEEN IN HERE WAS 2O MONTHS. WHAT WAS SOME OF THE FIRST SIDE EFFECT THAT YOU ALL SOW THAT I NEED TO KEEP AN EYE ON

After i had a miscarriage I wanted nothing to do with ever getting pregnant and since I had previously had the copper iud I decided for mirena. I didn't enjoy the forever lasting spotting, the pain it is causing to my already existing cysts, days of depression, and my bad experience of a first anxiety attack ever happening to me.

My daughter will be 4 months in a couple of weeks and I had the Mirena IUD inserted at my 6 week post-partum appointment. I have been bleeding everyday since then...non-stop with large clotting and heavy bleeding. The doctor said that it would lighten up after a few weeks, but nothing yet. A friend of mine said she knew someone who had the Mirena and after a year of bleeding every single day, she had it removed because she became extremely anemic. I thought that this was the only option for me. I have used the pill in the past and have a bad experience with it because it was hard to keep up with taking it on time every day. And when I forgot to take it, I became pregnant almost immediately. I had two miscarriages during those times when I forgot to take my pill. And since I am already heavy, I thought that this would be great to take because it said little or no weight gain. I lost my baby weight during those first 6 weeks without the IUD, but am now stuck and can no longer lose any. I just hope that this thing straightens itself out because I am really annoyed with it all together. It is becoming more a nuisance than something good. Now I know why they say that you won't get pregnant for 5 years...Heck, you bleed every single day so you can't have sex!!!! That is how it works, lol.

i posted previously about my (possibly) bad experience with nuvaring. i don't want to discourage others from trying it. it seemed great the first year or so. its hard to remember now. i really like that i don't get so nauseous on nuvaring. i could barely take BC pills. i like that it is low hormones and i only have to deal with it every three weeks. it's so convenient. i do think it might have been affecting my emotional state but i can't be completely sure. it's also great for my skin. i don't break out like i did when not on BC. however, i'm beginning to believe it is the cause of my low sex drive (another thing that might have caused my breakup) i thought it was just that we'd been together for 7 years but maybe not. anyway, i also get the extra discharge and i do remember the burning after sex and that sex could be painful but i had a bartholin cyst that i was dealing with and i thought that was the cause but the pain/burning kept happening after the cyst was taken care of. Now after reading the other posts, i'm wondering if that is the cause.

anyway. i emailed the doctor about going off of it temporarily. i was wondering if it was unhealthy to take a break from BC. i heard in the past that it was but she said it was fine. so i think i'm going to finally go off of nuvaring. i wish i had tried that before but i really didn't make the connection till recently.

I too have had a very bad experience with Yaz. I've actually started a website several months ago to help other women and girls with side effects from this very dangerous drug. I've been off of Yaz for eight months now and I am still suffering from the awful side effects. I pray that one day I will feel normal again. Thank you for all of your stories and very good luck with all of you.

Yaz Forum

Has anyone had these problems......I have had many dizzy spells, yeast infections, nausea, headaches that get worse when I bend over. I kept telling the doctors and he just went on like I was crazy. I finally went to have it removed and he claims it is stuck and he has scheduled surgery for me to have it removed! I am so mad at him and this stupid bc! I am mad at him for talking me into it and ignoring me when I was in pain! just email me your responses if you can jennysanders03@msn.com . I really need ppl to talk about this and the time thank you.

The gynecologist examined me and refused to insert a copper IUD because he said my uterus was too small. After I got dressed, he handed me a FREE SAMPLE of NuvaRing. I said : "But I don't want to use hormonal bc." He said : "This has less hormones and doesn't go through the liver." Well I guessed that was a GOOD thing, which he wanted me to believe of course. The mood swings, serious anxiety, irritability (I would go as far as to say, anger and impulse control problems) and burning vaginal pain during sex seriously affected my relationship with my boyfriend. We may even be broken up now and I blame it partly on NuvaRing and other hormonal bc I took after my 2 months on NuvaRing. I am so sad that I had to go through all that! I wonder how many gifts the doctors get for giving us the prescriptions of bc. Anyone interested in non hormonal bc? There is the cervical cap in many varieties and sizes. It doesn't affect sexual spontaneity because you can insert it several hours before sex and you can have intercourse several times with it on. You can even keep it in for up to 3 days.

In 2006 at the age of 38 after 4 years on Yasmin I had a mini-stroke. I am writing a non-fiction memoir about my experience and am very interested in hearing from anyone who has had a bad experience with Yasmin (or indeed, any other hormonal contraceptive.) I invite you to have your story included in my book. I am particularly interested in incidences of blood clot and of course, stroke, plus any withdrawal symptoms experienced from the drug. Please email me at ****** including your full name, age, location, a brief gynecological history, and the main facts of your experience. Thanks!!

very bad experience with Mirena that after having it for 1 year (inserted at age of 43, taken out at 44) it looks like caused me an early menopause at age of 45. not one medic looking at the causes of my nausea, pains has thought that mirena might be the cause. Only after having it removed all these symptoms have calmed down but otherwise always punctual periods (before the insertion of Mirena) have not returned ....would not recommended it anyone!! also the Gynea told me that has some other cases with problematic Mirena...

i do believe this is the most horrific form of birth control ever created. i had this suggested as a birth control option after giving birth to my 3rd child. after having a bad experience in labor there was no way i wanted anymore. i would love to have a hysterectomy. hrt. i could probably cope with a lot better than being put through hell asnd back every month.
mine was suggested my my gynecologist and i do suffer strange reactions to anaesthesia so seemed to be a good idea to have this put in to see if it worked. how wrong was i. i was a very very angry person. i never ever suffered any nervous conditions before so this was new to me when i completely lost the plot. i was put on beta blockers and i thought i was having a heart attack on them. i suffered worse periods . cramps fatigue . headaches . my skin is still spotty. i always had a lovely complexion before this. my immune system isn't what it used to be. the list went on and on. i didn't like it at all. i asked for removal and they said i had to wait for another gynecology appointment. i knew all the side effects were off this thing in me. i had to wait for an appointment to get it removed./ said 9 months was the normal wait. i think they get paid to test run this contraception. and at what cost? our health

i will voice my opinion about this as its disgusting how much these fat cat pharmaceutical companies profit on what should be free to British citizens.its getting so bad in the nhs we are told to get seen quicker we have to pay. but 20 or 30 years ago people would have laughed at that.

has any real tests ever been carried out on what is in these devices and how it affects so many women in a really bad way.

my problem was when i finally got a sympathetic locum doctor at my gp surgery to agree to remove it. she asked me to give a sample for pregnancy. can you imagine how hysterical i was . yes i was pregnant. so much for the 99.9 % effectiveness. that meant i couldn't have it removed. one idiotic nurse congratulated me

i screamed are you insane woman . congratulations!! what is wrong with you? do i look happy?

the doctor was more sympathetic. everything was a daze at first. she explained chances are i will either miscarry or have the baby and dispel it in childbirth. on my own again. i had a miscarriage 2 days later. not impressed with this at all. i then had to wait 2 weeks for an emergency scan as chances were it came away complete.

how did i feel .angry. empty. physically and mentally drained. i think if i could have i would have ripped that thing right out of me

so i had the scan. luckily it had came away. i begged them to take it out. sent me back to the doctors a week later. and they removed it. i refused to do another pregnancy test said , please just get on with it.
two hours later i was feeling a lot calmer.

i so thoroughly enjoyed having that thing removed for good . never again would i have that in me. or any other coil.

however this is the beginning of a very upsetting case of long term side effects at there worst.

i decided to get sterilized after all this . understandable as being highly fertile sex was a big issue and i wouldn't meet anyone let alone sleep with a man. fear was the biggest thing. getting pregnant was a big no no.

i got sterilized. this is where the problems start for 3 months periods would be getting worse. horrific migraines. couldn't fathom it. my cramp was bad before but god this was like hell. about 6 months passed and steadily was getting worse each month. no amount of painkillers would help. and i could see in myself my skin getting worse. spots. my eyes feeling tired. red sometimes. itchy and dry. feeling sick and tired. then unable to get any sleep on a night. catch 22 . cant sleep then cant get up .i could sleep all day and night no doubt if it was possible . mood swings very bad depression. so much so i had a breakdown in December 07. i took 6 weeks off work and it helped somewhat .but still the periods and bad painsdwere getting worse. i am not a whimsy sort of person. cramp is tolerable this is so bad i cry and cry and wonder why i have to be suffering like this every 3 weeks. i nearly pass out with the pain. i do not like going to see my gp as i find them no use at times. feel like a conveyor belt and you lucky to get ten minutes as the norm is 5. i finally went up to the doctors July 08 and he gave me lots of pills and said i shouldn't mess with mother nature and get sterilized. i don't think he got that right. i still blame that coil. my depression is quite bad at times. my pain is a constant dull ache in my abdomen still. i feel like its on fire when i have my period. i have to work out when i am due on my period and take a week off work. its really bad. i end up in bed. due to the fact i cannot stand upright. it is so bad it feels like labor. but its excruciating. i feel ive aged a lot in the last yr too. i cry most days as i am so tired and feel myself dreading the next one. i try to remain positive and think it will last a week and then i will have two weeks where its not so bad. but my cycle is so messed up that i suffer headaches a week after the bleeding and i am still suffering occasional contractions. if anyone has any experience like this i would be grateful of some sort of assistance be it advise or medical. i don't mind any sort of critical opinion either. i have a very open mind to all sorts of issues so will take any advise on board. i may see an end to my battle of suffering. i am waiting for another hospital appointment to see my gynecologist and hopefully it will be very soon.

tracy.

I have just started taking this drug today for drug and alcohol cravings. After reading all of the testimonials about the drig on this website, I am definitely scared. I definitely won't go up to more than 50mgs a day. I just weighed the possible side effects against giving into a craving that might kill me. It took me 3 weeks since I've had this medication to start it. Wish me luck! Mahalo and Aloha from Kauai!

Ive had mirena for 2 years now, I haven't had very many problems. not like some of the other women here. I sorry for all of you. I think mirena is great. at one point i had severe mood swings, but that was for about a month. other than that everything is good. sometimes it does hurt when I am having sex, if it gets too rough or too deep. I don't have a period. when I first had it put in, which was in august 2006, 3 months after having my little angel, I bleed for about 3 months and had severe cramps, but my doctor did warn me about that. everything is great now. every once in a while I will get some nausea. almost like being pregnant again! Im good though. Sorry that you all had a bad experience with mirena. good luck finding something else!

Initially, numbness and tingling in extremities which subsided, but memory loss and loss for words is very uncomfortable, and my neurologist suggested caffeine every AM to compensate, which helps some, but not enough. Difficulty reaching orgasm has become very frustrating as a side effect, but is better than the horrible headaches every day. What a choice!!1

I am a 55-year old woman. I was first diagnosed with paroxysmal svt at age 7. It has never been much of a problem, but as I have aged, I have worried enough about it to make sure my doctors are all aware of the condition. I have had many ekgs, echos, worn a holter monitor, had every kind of stress test, but it wasn't until April that the svt was actually seen on an ekg. My internist freaked out, wanted to put me on Toprol immediately, but I resisted, since I knew that my irregular heartbeat could be back to normal by the time I reached the parking lot. I did heed her urging to see a cardiologist (two in fact), which led to an ep study, with the hope of a radio frequency ablation on August 5. I have been taking a full strength aspirin since April to decrease the slight risk of stroke during an svt episode. The ep study showed that the electrical problems in my heart were in places that made an ablation too risky, so nothing was done, but the doctor advised me to try Toprol (25 mg) for a month "and see how I liked it." I had my first dose in the hospital on Tuesday, August 5, and proceeded to take it as prescribed. By Thursday afternoon, I felt oddly on the verge of tears. On Friday, both of my knees were hurting, by Saturday evening, I was in bed feeling like I had the flu. Every joint in my body was aching. Sunday morning, I felt even worse. I found this website and decided to stop taking the medication at that point. Today, Thursday, August 14, is the first time I have felt vaguely like my usual healthy self. After stopping the medication, I had 2 episodes of svt, lasting about 10 hours each. I have had excruciating stomach cramps, headache, inability to sleep, depression. This is after taking it for 5 days!! My heart (no pun) goes out to those of you who suffered for months on the drug and then even more months off of it. I know it helps many people, my mother included, but thank goodness that those of us who have a bad experience have a place to realize that we're not crazy.

I just wanted to thank every woman who took the time to post their story. I just had a baby in March and was scheduled to have the Mirena device inserted tomorrow. I'm still breastfeeding and the pill makes me sick to my stomach all the time anyway, so my doctor made Mirena sound like such a perfect alternative. She stressed how low in hormones it was so it sounded so innocent and easy. I've just spent an hour reading all of these terrible stories and called to cancel my appointment. I'm actually going to direct my Doctor to this site and recommend she read up on a little real life, rather than pamphlets of clinical studies. My best to all of you recovering from this experience and again, thank you, thank you, thank you!

I'm a 32 year old male. This is probably the 5th time I've taken Zithromax. Unlike previous experiences, this time I got a horrible rash on my face, chest, neck, and little red spots all over my body. They itch horribly and I'm hoping they go away on their own. I am going on week two and they are still around. Last year, I was given a very strong antibiotic for an infection that just wouldn't go away. I took one dose and threw the rest out because the resulting full-body rash was horrible. I think that some of us may develop an allergy to certain families of antibiotics as we age. Either that or our immune systems are degraded. Who knows. I've also been dealing with chronic anal itch for 2 years now, and that is a horrible thing to live with. FEELING OLD!

I'm not sure what I should be feeling with this yet...I'm just wondering who's experiencing what side-effects. I've had bad experience with Advair...pain all over the body. Qvar is not helping...so I was given this. I'm afraid to try it, considering the side effects listed are similar to that of Advair. Would anyone recommend this drug at all?...or is it the same deal as the rest?

... I just want to say that I did not have a bad experience with Yasmin or Yaz (I had been on both). I took Yasmin for about 3 years and Yaz for about 2 years. The only thing that has been rough is actually stopping it... the first month Yasmin-free, nothing much changed, aside from some weight gain (only about 2-3 lbs or so), but my period was still pretty much the same... HOWEVER, month two... what a train wreck! Spotted for 4 days, thought I was pregnant, but oh, no... my period arrived with a vengeance four days late, and it totally brought me back to those high-school days when it was so heavy, I was self-conscious of leaking! I have also gained another couple of lbs, which I can only attribute to stopping the pill because I have become very active since the beginning of the summer, and have been cutting down on food portions. So, we;ll see what happens... but if anyone else has experienced weight-gain after coming off of the pill, I'd love to know.

Otherwise, no issues! Yasmin seemed to work well for me.

The following article in the WSJ may explain the reason for the significant number of Adverse Reactions to statin drugs.

Why You Can't Tell Where
Your Medication Was Made
April 8, 2008; Page D1- Wall Street Journal
Bananas come with those little stickers listing their country of origin. Why not pharmaceuticals?
That's what some consumers -- and even some physicians -- are asking since the Food and Drug Administration linked the deaths of 19 people to contaminated batches of the blood thinner heparin from China.
*******

I encourage every patient with a bad experience taking statins to contact the FDA (see, July 1, 2008 posting for FDA contact info).

The following article in the WSJ may explain the reason for the significant number of Adverse Reactions to statin drugs.

Why You Can't Tell Where
Your Medication Was Made
April 8, 2008; Page D1- Wall Street Journal
Bananas come with those little stickers listing their country of origin. Why not pharmaceuticals?
That's what some consumers -- and even some physicians -- are asking since the Food and Drug Administration linked the deaths of 19 people to contaminated batches of the blood thinner heparin from China.
******

I encourage every patient with a bad experience taking statins to contact the FDA (see, June 29, 2008 posting for FDA contact info).

I haven't really had a bad experience with this pill! The only thing that is unusual is the fact that for the past month and a half my boobs have been leaking somewhat of a breast milk like substance. ♥ really gross♥ But I started my period today and the pills are not helping this month, I have never had a heavy period being on this pill until now and Ive been on it for 14 months.
Another downfall is that when I was on Ciproflaxen which i am still on for a UTI, I was extremely emotional and really freaked my boyfriend out for a week. I was soo out of it, and looked like i was on some kind of drugs. I would start crying for no reason and just lash out on him for something stupid! It made me a wreck!
I am thinking about switching to seasonale because after 14 mo. this pill is doing nothing for me!