Lack of motivation symptoms and conditions

I've been on Welbutrin for about six months, along with Zoloft. I had tried it because of the lack of motivation and the lithergy I was feeling (I suspect) as a result of the Zoloft. I came across this site after a search for memory loss connected with Welbutrin. I believe I'm having that problem. I don't seem to have the quick grasp of words I did. In a phone conversation today, I could not remember a certain medical term that I have been using rather frequently over the past six months. There are some other cases, but that incident put me on the trail of memory loss research. I actually suspected that it was the Ambien I had been taking for sleep (I have not completely ruled that drug out). But all the posts here seem to indicate that the welbutrin could be at fault.

I'm on 150mg, twice daily. However, in the morning, I will actually take one and a half pills (225mg) to get me going. I have noticed CONSIDERABLE jitters, hand tremors, enough that if I'm doing delicate work of some type, I have difficulty continuing ti complete the task. At the 225mg, I do seem to become over amped a bit, but it improves my motivation. A St. Johns Wart capsule will usually calm that, but you see the problem of one drug, helping one problem, but causing another, so you take a third! I have tried numerous other antidepressants and they all caused more side effects than they were worth.
Celexa cause an eventual complete lack of ANY motivation! Plus SERIOUS sexual side effects. Zoloft has been the best with the least side effects and I have always returned to it. But the sleepiness can just be extreme with me.

I have run out of Welbutrin and the result is return of the lithergy. I also believe that the Welbutrin may be causing my occasional up tick in anger. Possibly spreading the dosage will help. Not mixing it with caffiene may also help because caffiene can make me explosive if I don't limit my intake to about a cup of coffee. Most of you know that Zoloft, Prozac and the like increase the available seritonin in your brain, a calming neurotransmitter. Welbutrin increases the available norepinephrine, a stimulating neurotransmitter, akin to adrenalin. (Research for yourselves those facts, remember, I posting this because of a problem with MEMORY! :) So it makes perfect sense that people can become overstimulated with Welbutrin. The memory aspects of it, I don't yet understand. I'm going to experiment with dosage reduction and possibly replacing the Welbutrin with the amino acid L-phenylalanine. I hope this little post can help some of you as much as the other posts here have helped me!

Burt

I have had my Mirena for 23 months - placed 6 weeks postpartum. Like most, I too experienced the usual breakthrough and almost consistent bleeding/spotting for the first 6 months with cramping, headaches, and weight gain. What I have also experienced is an overwhelming sense of exhaustion that has not improved but gradually worsened.

Around 4 months PP I realized that something was off in my body. I did not have any energy, didn’t feel like myself, super emotional and no matter what I would try I could not gain motivation to accomplish the task of maintaining my house. I was struggling with a feeling of fogginess and cloudy thinking. I've experienced hair loss, increase in breakouts, dry and splotching skin.

During the first year I would have 1-2 good days in a week where I felt energized and I would be fooled into thinking that I was on my way back to the old me. I could accomplish things, rationalize clearly and deal with life. The rest of the week though would slowly slip back into a drained, over emotional foggy state. At 15 months into having my IUD in place, my days of productivity were dwindling further and further apart.

I have been blessed to have a husband that truly loves me. However, even still he has had a hard time comprehending what I have been dealing with and it has taken a toll on us. He will often say you are just not a happy person no matter what. I know that I am not unhappy with my life in general, my husband or kid and yet he is right. This thing robs you of your happiness and sense of self.

For the past 2 years I have said over and over again that I know something is wrong. I simply don’t feel right. I have been very aware of the changes within myself. I have struggled to be an active parent to my child and I have struggled with the most basic tasks. Things that use to take me 1-2 hours could stretch into days now. I was once this extremely productive individual that now barely is able to get the simplest of things done. I literally put all my effort into trying to accomplish things yet it barely makes a dent.

Until I started doing some reading, and I have found there thousands of women going through the same stuff I am, I really felt like I was going crazy. These symptoms are so subtle and similar that they most often get passed off as PPD, or dealing with the pains of motherhood and stress of life. Up until 2 weeks ago I couldn’t even verbalize the fact that no matter how much I slept, took vitamins, or exercised that I still felt tired all the time and was experiencing an inability to be productive.

I just wanna cry.I had mine put in on April 9th 2008. I thought for sure I was crazy and I was making a big deal out of nothing. I have it all the depression, lethargy, extreme irritability, mood swings, cramping, back pain, stabbing pain in my abdomen, bloating, abnormal and irregular bleeding, headaches, nausea, dizziness, lack of motivation, reduced interest in sex, continuous yeast infections, sore breasts, weight gain, itchy flaky oily scalp, joint pain, continuous gotta go feeling, and I so could go on.......... I just wanna give up. I have 4 children and can't afford anymore. I can't deal with the way I feel all the time. I want to get it removed but I don't want to end up pregnant and I'm just at a loss I don't know what to do.

I suffered from major depression last spring. The worse in my life ever, with a lot of anxiety.
I have been on Effexor XR 75 mg for 6 months. My main problems are :
LOW SEX DRIVE 9could also be from the birth control pill), SHORT TERM MEMORY PROBLEMS (a bad one), DIZZINESS.
My doctor felt that i needed to increase to 150mg because she thought i still had problems (like lack of motivation and negative thoughts): we started by adding 37.5mg extra. By day 2 or 3 of this increase, I was waking up constantly during the night, and felt extremely agitated. Like I would crawl right out of my skin. I couldn't lie still and moved about a lot in my bed, especially my legs. By day 6 of this increase, my anxiety was SO BAD, I was back to nearly the same anxiety I had in the spring before starting treatment. BE CAREFUL about increasing your dosage. TELL SOMEONE to watch if your mood changes and to take you to the ER if necessary. thank goodness I didn't need to go.
I now take fish oil (omega 3) and within a couple months of that, I noticed that my anger/impulsive and concentration seemed better. I am also going off the birth control pill this month 9ortho tri cyclen lo). I brought it up to my GP, to a psychiatrist and to my opharmacist that I was depressed and could there be a link with the birth control pills and they all said "I don't think so."; "no", "very unlikely". Well my major depression, MAJOR MOOD FLUCTUATIONS, anxiety and ANGER control problems all started with the beginning of the birth control pill.

I can't even type fast enough to describe how astonished (and relieved) I was to run across NUMEROUS web sites with women describing the same symptoms as have been perplexing me the past few weeks. I had the marina iud inserted a little over a month ago and the past couple of weeks I"ve noticed such a dramatic change in myself, but couldn't figure out what was wrong with me. Depression, lethargy, extreme irritability, mood swings, cramping, back pain, swelling in my abdomen, abnormal and irregular bleeding, headaches, nausea, dizziness, lack of motivation, reduced interest in sex...these just top the list. I thought maybe I was pregnant again, but knowing that it wasn't possible when you haven't had sex because I've either been bleeding, in pain from cramping, irritable, or just couldn't get "excited". These are all things that I've never experienced before and I cannot place blame to post partum depression because I had 6 weeks post partum that I felt "normal"....energized, happy, motivated, patient...all the things that are "normal" to me. I wish I had done further research about iud placement before I decided to go with this form of birth control, but the pamphlet made it sound so dreamy and my doctor swore by the thing. Before this thing does any permanent damage to my body, or my relationships; I'm having it removed. Pregnancy is a better option for me at this point (at least without the iud I wouldn't be so frustrated with my children!) I couldn't imagine dealing with these symptoms for years. I've read of women even being driven to attempted suicide and being on the verge of divorce. NOT ME....I knew from the beginning I had a bad feeling about getting the iud....and I wish I had listened to my intuition!

I've had migraines almost all my life. I've tried numerous meds but have found that Fiorcet helps the most. The only problem with it is that it is somewhat addictive and I've built a tolerance to it. So, recently my dr. prescribed Midrin. I've been taking one a day for the last 3 days and am experiencing terrible side effects - nausea, confusion, extreme fatigue, tiredness, laziness, lack of motivation and, worst of all, my headaches have gotten worse!!! I'm waiting on a call-back from my dr. on what to do but I can't imagine this medicine possibly working for me.

I hope this helps someone.

I was never allergic to anything in my life until I went around this cat at the age of 33. I sneezed and got a really scratchy throat. I thought it would go away, but it turned into a cold. I thought the cold would go away, but it turned into bronchitis and then pneumonia. I was jogging everyday at the time and realized something was wrong when I couldn't finish my run.

I was hospitalized for two days and upon discharge I was stocked up with a cocktail of drugs: Singular, Advair, Albuterol inhaler, and Claritin. Needless to say, I took them all, because I was scared of dying. Thank God I'm not a good medicine taker, because I missed many doses and only took them as needed. I think this is why after 3 years I have only started to see the effects of these meds in the last 8 months.

Okay... I have major joint stiffness(all over) especially neck and fingers, heart palpitations, nervousness, short patience, horrible memory, lack of motivation. Oh my God! The weight gain...Please!

Before this, I was completely healthy. After reading this I will reduce myself to my inhaler and Claritin. I notice they are cool. Otherwise, if I keep my stress level down my breathing does really well. It would probably help if I got rid of the cat. Shhhh...Don't tell anyone. LOL.

I have since put my self on a juice fast using a high powered juicer to cleanse my system of all the trash the doctors gave me.

God bless you all and I speak life and breath into each of our lives.

BreatheWrite.

I hope this helps someone.

I was never allergic to anything in my life until I went around this cat at the age of 33. I sneezed and got a really scratchy throat. I thought it would go away, but it turned into a cold. I thought the cold would go away, but it turned into bronchitis and then pneumonia. I was jogging everyday at the time and realized something was wrong when I couldn't finish my run.

I was hospitalized for two days and upon discharge I was stocked up with a cocktail of drugs: Singular, Advair, Albuterol inhaler, and Claritin. Needless to say, I took them all, because I was scared of dying. Thank God I'm not a good medicine taker, because I missed many doses and only took them as needed. I think this is why after 3 years I have only started to see the effects of these meds in the last 8 months.

Okay... I have major joint stiffness(all over) especially neck and fingers, heart palpitations, nervousness, short patience, horrible memory, lack of motivation. Oh my God! The weight gain...Please!

Before this, I was completely healthy. After reading this I will reduce myself to my inhaler and Claritin. I notice they are cool. Otherwise, if I keep my stress level down my breathing does really well. It would probably help if I got rid of the cat. Shhhh...Don't tell anyone. LOL.

I have since put my self on a juice fast using a high powered juicer to cleanse my system of all the trash the doctors gave me.

God bless you all and I speak life and breath into each of our lives.

BreathWrite.

Started on Metoprolol about two months ago for a sudden onset of heart irregularity, mostly skipped beats. I'm already experiencing some of same problems described on this site. Because of that, I was looking for information and ended up on this site. My symptoms include daily headaches, inertia and lack of motivation, feel like sleeping all day long, wt gain, foggy headed, bloating and stomach discomfort. These symptoms have either started or intensified since I started on this medication. I plan to wean off this as soon as possible, with or without the doctor's cooperation. I've had a cardiac workup since I started the medication and no problems were detected.

Ugh. I'm so glad I found this list and that everyone has been so candid!!! I am in my 2nd pack of Femcon and the symptoms are only getting worse. Toward the end of the first week I began spotting and did so on and off for 2 weeks. When I took the brown pills, I had my classic day-later start of a true period, as I have done with the Ortho versions I used to be on. Naturally, the period was very light--actually it never did go to red, only icky brown for a whole week. Then I started the first 2 pills of the 2nd pack before seeing my doctor for the pre-op appointment before my Esure procedure. (He put me on this pill when I told him that I didn't trust condoms alone in the 3 month waiting period while the procedure takes--I don't trust the Divine Sense of Humor this close to finally being sterile.) He told me to stop taking them for 5 days while they put me on something else that would thin out my lining so they could better see the entrances to my tubes, then continue them like I had never stopped. Great. I did that and the procedure has healed nicely. I went back on the pills--much to my dismay. I'm back to all-month-long PMS, tender breasts and spotting. I have been baffled and attributing the constant headaches, cycles of insomnia & exhaustion, lack of motivation, depression, acne breakouts, weight gain, dehydration even though I'm guzzling water, bloating, mood swings, and decreased sex drive to the stresses of everything BUT this pill, because I have never had this problem before. In fact, previous ones helped alleviate mood swings, cramping, irregular and heavy periods, acne, and bloating, but I've been experiencing the opposite for nearly 2 months now. The other day, in addition to the cramps and spotting, I started having major stabbing pains in my lower abdomen--where the Esure could be possibly causing pain--except that they didn't do it on that side because my fallopian tube is blocked naturally. My breasts have been getting more and more sore, and tonight they hurt terribly without touching anything except clothing! The cramps are continual, as are the headaches, and I wake up with my hands completely numb. I haven't been able to get to sleep well for weeks (it is 3:05 a.m. now) and I'm dragging all day. Trying to wake up from a nap is like waking from the dead, and then I'm disoriented and out of it. I'm having dizzy spells too. I can't focus and every little thing sets me off--my poor friends and boyfriend! I'm up and down like a toilet seat!! I don't know if the sore throat I've had for the past couple days has anything to do with this, but I don't feel sick. Could be allergies...??? The last couple days I've had diarrhea and an upset stomach, and with how quickly the breast tenderness level rose to horrible, my insomnia and anxiety rose to an all-time high as I feared I was pregnant. So I bounded out of bed to start looking up pregnancy side-effects, only to see that many of them could be caused by birth control--particularly this birth control--and hence I found this list. THANKFULLY! Grrrrrrrr. Needless to say, I'll be making a phone call to my doc tomorrow. Thanks again for sharing your experiences. I hope mine helps others!

Wow I'm glad I stumbled across this page.
I only started taking Yasmin 1 month ago after switching from LevlenEd which I was on for 4 months.On LevlenEd I found I was developing a redness in the face (not acne but almost like rosacea) which is something very uncommon for me as I have always had very clear and even toned skin. After visiting the doctor he switched me to Yasmin - something about the different combination of hormones in the tablet and that this should clear things up. Well it hasn't. In fact I've experienced so many horrible side effects of the pill that I decided tonight that I'm just going to stop taking it all together. Side effects include:
Extreme emotions
Massive increase in appetite resulting in excessive weight gain
Lack of motivation
Tiredness
Skin redness and swelling of the pores
Hot flushes at night resulting in sweat break outs (usually I'm actually cold at night and never sweat)
Decrease in libido and dryness during sex
Puffiness in the skin and a hot feeling
Sensitive muscles all over - around the ribs, tummy, arms - just touching and they feel lightly bruised
I'm usually a very active and fit person but have just felt so lethargic on the pill. Combine this with an increase in appetite and I now have a task ahead of my to loose this excess weight that I have put back on after working it off for so many years.
Before taking the pill I generally did not take any medications at all.
I am particularly interested to hear from anyone who may have experienced the same skin conditions that I found when on the pill.
The funny thing is that my sister is on Yasmin and has had no problems at all.
The only plus was that my breasts went up a whole size! A great thing for me!!
My boyfriend is just going to have to deal with the change in how we manage birth control because the side effects I've experienced over the last 5 months are just ridiculous!

I have been on Lisinopril 20mg.for 4 years now. At first I just noticed fatigue and a lack of motivation to do things. A year later, I started having chest pain, fast pulse up to 130/min. and activity intolerance especially after meals. I went to my Dr. and he put me on a beta blocker to lower my pulse. At first it worked and I felt slightly better. Now I have all these symptoms again together plus I have gained 22 pounds from the activity intolerance and the beta blockers. I went to my Dr. this week and told him I am going off the Lisinopril with or with out his help. He reluctantly agreed and lowered my dose.It is very important to wean off this med and not stop taking it suddenly.I am weaning off the beta blockers too. He has given me HCTZ to assist to lower my B/P while I wean and to help lose weight which I am motivated to do. Wish me luck!

My son 10, has been on Singulair since he was 4 yrs old for Asthma and allergies. His last dose was 3/26/08. He has always been my emotional child, he is 2yrs older than this younger brother. Some of his side effects included headaches, stomaches, leg cramps, emotional breakdowns, major mood swings, crying outbursts over small situations, night sweats, lack of motivation, weight gain, ADHD, wishing he were dead and the list goes on. His younger brother has always been involved in sports but he was always too afraid he would get hurt. This medication has robbed my 10 yr old son from 6 yrs of his childhood. Since he has been off Singulair he feels motivated and looks forward to joining the football team his younger brother plays for. I look forward to meeting this new young man who for so long has been hiding behind this so called allergy medicine. I am so thankful to know that my son can look forward to a bright future without these side effects. God Bless you all who are going through this as well.

My son is 17years old and has been taking sigular for 5 years due to allergies and a minor asthma condition, I am also seeing many of the side effects. The major ones are explosive anger, easy frustrations, laziness/lack of motivation, leg pains and cramps in legs, and when he sleeps it is almost impossible to wake him up in the AM. He mumbles and says OK I will get up , then after 15-30 mins and he is still in bed and constant attention by me to wake him, he finally wakes up and says, why has no one tried to help get me up and he is very anger. He has raised in bed, screaming, and punched at me during these 15-30mins, to later say, NO way I didn't do that, I don't remember. He seems to be in a trance!. I have been struggling to figure this out for 2 years now,

I do agree that I saw an easy going kid turn into one filled with anger and frustrations for no real reasons.

I am a 55 year old male. I have been on 40mg of Lipitor for 2 years after having a stent put into my heart. About 6 years ago I was on 20mg ov Lescol for a year but I stopped taking it because my knees became very weak and I could not walk up stairs without holding on. I am now experiencing severe lower back pain down into my left buttock, leg muscle and knee weakness, and I also have mild depression or a lack of motivation may be a better term. I am going to stop taking the statins and see if I have any improvement. Several years ago, when I stopped taking Lescol, my knee weakness and pain did not improve. Through research on the internet I discovered that some symptoms do not improve by stopping the medication. My goal now is to ensure it does not get any worse.

I have been on Yasmin for about 2-3 years or so... but i remember thinking i was the luckiest girl because i found a pill i thought was great and made my periods only 2 days i loved it.... but lately for the past year i have been very depressed i realized something was different when i laughed i wasn't laughing i was just doing cause i knew i should laugh, i just didn't find myself happy and i should be I'm getting married to a wonderful guy who has put up with my loss of sex drive and being dry which makes it hurt so it makes it that much worse and my loss of exercising i feel fatigue over taking a walk or doing nothing i thought it was laziness or lack of motivation... then i have a bad knee and within the past year and half i have had severe neck issues with my muscles
i talked to my doctor she told me to see a psychologist for my depression, i have yet to do so but now realizing many other people are feeling this way on this site makes me happy I'm not really a depressed person and I'm just really messed up over this pill
I'm calling my doctor now to see if i can get my pill switched i cant last like this for much longer ill go insane and so will my fiance!!!

Ive been taking Biaxin for 11 days now - about to finish up my 12 day course of the stuff. The doctor gave it to me to treat a staph infection on my leg. Staph infection appears to be going away.
I haven't noticed the metallic or gross taste at all, which is weird, because of so many accounts of it here. I have noticed an increased appetite and really intense gas - sleepiness, lack of motivation, dreaminess, blahness. My dreams have been vivid too, but not nightmares. I just noticed swollen gums today. Its strange that I didn't experience the anxiety that is frequently reported - as I used to have panic attacks and constant anxiety back in the day. I guess a mild restlessness is pervasive.
The main thing is the increased appetite and the gas... But this could be possible tapeworms or parasites as I just got back from Guatemala. Maybe I got off easy with this drug? After reading this, not sure if I want to take the last 2 pills in my possession. hmmm..

Dosage: 0.4mg / Day for 5 days.
Age: 26
Occupation: Chemist

Physical:
Feels like something is pulling down on my lungs inside of my chest. Sinus blockage. It feels actually like Viagra where there is swelling in the sinus cavity but not due to mucus. Result is a slightly blocked airway in nasal passage. NO EJACULATE, able to orgasm, but nothing comes out. (A good male birth control pill?) Sporadic, short headaches (~2-4 / Day). Shallow breathing, shortness of breath after going up stairs. Feeling weak all day long. Most of these probably due to lower blood pressure.

Mental:
Wanting to sleep more. A small lack of motivation to socialize, but not major. Annoyed / Angered more easily and often. (could be due to NO EJACULATE!!) A little humor there. No, seriously, I am really easy to agitate now. I wouldn't say lower sex drive, but more controlled sex drive. I felt horny most of the time before Flomax, but now only when engaged in sexual activity. (kind of nice actually) Haven't noticed anything about dream alterations.

Side Note:
The ejaculation part scares me a little bit just as others have expressed. As long as it comes back when I am off that is fine. Flomax DOES NOT shrink the prostate, it relaxes the prostate. I can see why this may cause a lack of ejaculate since the prostate in a way, a sperm valve. I feel like this should really be listed in the side effects but I know that masturbation is not part of clinical trials. Interesting though...could it be used as a male birth control pill? The first few days, a small small volume of ejaculate came out. Now, at day 5, dry as a bone.

I've been on various pills over the past 8-9 years, including OrthoNovum, OrthoTri-cyclen, Orthocyclen, Estrostep and others. I basically switched every year because I had constant break through bleeding.

By contrast, Yasmin is by far the worst birth control I have ever been on. I'd been on it around 2 years, maybe longer. I am a level-headed, career minded woman. About a year ago I started to suspect I might be bi-polar or depressed.

Here is a list of the side-effects I had while on Yasmin that have disappeared since I stopped taking it 3 months ago:

-Depression
-Suicidal thoughts
-Paranoia
-Anxiety
-Nausea
-Decreased libido
-Intense Anger/Rage
-Irritability
-Increased thirst
-General disinterest/lack of motivation
-Acne
-Break-through bleeding
-Irregular periods
-Overly sensitive/swollen nipples
-Yellow discharge

I only had the above symptoms during the time I was taking Yasmin, not before and not after. This stuff is vile.

If you don't have any side-effects from this pill you are lucky. But I still urge you to pay very close attention. It is very easy for these symptoms to slowly grow over time until one day you wake up and don't even recognize your own self.

Since I stopped taking hormonal birth control I feel normal again, which by comparison means even the worst day is 10x better than a single day on Yasmin.

I had been on Yasmine for about two years with no complications until last week. Last week my heart began beating extremely fast just while sitting at my desk typing. Later on in the day my chest began feelign tight and I had an "anxious" feeling in my upper body. At the same time my lower body felt completely weak- as if my legs could not support my body weight if I were to stand. Evenso, I thought nothing of it and just assumed my normal one cup of coffee just so happened to have a strong effect on me that day. The next day the anxious feeling and weakness had subsided but my left arm and hand were tingling. It felt as if they had fallen asleep and now had that "cotton" feeling. The next morning I lost all feeling in my left hand except for my first three fingers. This is when I began trying to figure out what on earth I may have eaten, where I had been, had i drank too much coffee, etc.

I rarely drink alcahol, don't smoke, have no family history of heart problems, etc. I don't take any other medications, I don't take vitamins, I dont eat strange foods, and exercise regularly. The only thing I could possibly change is my birth control. I immediately quit taking Yasmine and all problems disappeared in two days.

I

I've been using Lisinopril for about a year and have experienced almost all of the side effects that everyone else has described. I have frequent severe sweating, headaches, sinus pressure, sore throat, tickling throat, annoying cough, frequent periods of when my face and solar plexus area feel very hot and/or flushed though my face looks normal, dizziness, weakness, fatigue, depression, no energy or motivation......etc, etc, and I did not have any of these problems before. Not sure what else to take. I've read side effects for all bp medications and none of them seem like anything I want to experience. Is there anything that people have found to work that has very little or no side effects? This stuff works but I'm so tired of feeling run down. I tried natural remedies, diet change, exercise, etc, before going on the Lisinopril but those did nothing to lower my pressure.

I started using the NuvaRing a couple months after it first came out. I loved the freedom of not taking a pill evey day and my periods were very light, and lasted only a couple of days. I had used the NuvaRing faithfully up until January of this year when I became separated from my husband and decided that I really didn't neeed to be on birth control since I wasn't having sex. Until I came upon this message board I'd never been aware the NuvaRing had so many side effects that were NOT listed in the medication info. I am a nurse so I realize that there are side effects of medications that sometimes aren't listed, but that's usually because they are very mild and may only be experienced by a few people. Since reading other people's experiences with the NuvaRing, I am now starting to wish the NuvaRing never existed and I am very angry at this drug company for it NOT listing side effects that seem to be very common in users. I too had the annoying, embarassing, heavy discharge which was sometimes a brownish color, and it also had a funny smell to it. I almost felt like I could "smell myself" down there sometimes, even if I was clothed. My breasts were always tender, and my neck, shoulders, and all my joints ached and were stiff all the time, I noticed those symptoms more just after my period ended and I reinserted the ring. Otherwise I was fine and enjoyed a wonderful sex life and was happy.
Then about 2 years ago, I started to have a lack of motivation, uncontrolable mood swings, and I felt nervous and depressed all the time. My moods were horrible! I'd make the biggest deal out of nothing, lash out, and cause a lot of tension and fighting in my home. I felt depressed, wthdrawn, and wanted to not be around people a lot. Everyone annoyed me; EVERYTHING annoyed me! I became a very mean person. The weight gain was a horrible issue. I'd gain 20lbs. in three months easy and it WASN'T because I was sitting around stuffing my face. I had to almost starve myself to lose the weight. I'd finally get sick of eating rice cakes and salad all the time and start to eat normal again...and BAM...the whole weight gain cycle started over again. My weight kept going up and down like a yo-yo! I am a very active person, I like to eat healthy and exercise, and weight control had not been a issue since pregnancy. Sex began to be a chore for me and I hated it. The thought of having sex made me sick. I had a bad self image because of my up and down weight all the time and I would do anything to avoid letting my husband see me naked. I didn't want to be touched. My breasts weren't just tender, they were so annoyingly sensitive that I almost wanted to punch my husband if he touch them because the over sensativity sent a sickening feeling to my stomach. My cervix hurt during sex and the pain made it unbearable if my husband was inside of me too deep. I also experienced spotting after sex, sometimes heavy. I've never experienced those problems before. I also began to experience about 1 1/2 wks before I was to take out the NuvaRing, I'd start to have a heaviness in my chest almost like a panic attack was coming on; this would occur almost daily. Everytime I tried to inhale it was like I couldn't get my breathe in, and the coughing was horrible. I'd also not be able to fall asleep at night or I'd wake up in the middle of the night panicing and crying over stupid things. I used to blame it on the stress I was having in my marriage, but I'm starting to wonder if the NuvaRing was really the cause of the stress in my marriage! My husband would get so mad at me beacause of my moodiness and irritability that he started not wanting to be around me and started not coming home after work so he wouldn't have to deal with me. I became even more depressed and started having suicidal thoughts because I was unable to control my mood swings and didn't know why. Needless to say my husband left me. And since I didn't plan on having sex , I stopped using the ring. With in the next month my moods became stable, I was happier, felt good, and I began to sleep a lot better. I thought it was because my life was beginning to calm down.

Then in April, I'd started seeing someone and once again found the need for birth control, so I started using the NuvaRing again. I started to feel like crap again during the first week I used it. I had no idea why I was feeling this way again, until now. I have discontinued using the NuvaRing this month, not because of the way I was feeling again, but because I found out I'm pregnant. I'm not happy at all either. I don't want anymore children. Thanks NuvaRing! Had I known all this time that it was the ring that was making and had made me in the past so miserable, I would've just gotten a tubal and not wasted my time using such life ruining and ineffective birth control, and maybe I'd still have my husband too. If anyone out there reads this and their doctor has said it is such a wonderful method of birthcontrol...don't believe a word of it. Use something else. Take the advice from me and all the others here who've shared their experiences with you.

my side effects are blurred vision,fatigue, emotional,not with it, extreme palpitations, anxiety, shortness of breath, and high blood pressure.

No one has mentioned very vivid dream at night? I also have the fatigue, and wake up groggy even after 10 hours of sleep, but the dreams...weird.
Anyone else have this?

I'm so thankful to have found this site. I have been taking oral contraceptives sinc the age of 17. I'm now 30. I've never had any problems, but approached my new GYN several months ago about switching to a "better" pill since I noticed was getting more cramps and a heavier flow after taking Ortho-tricyclen for 5 years. Prior to that I hadn't had any major issues. I began taking Yasmin in October...starting this January, I've been experiencing multiple stomach issues...gas, bloating, pain...all the time. Already having had GI issues, I went back on my old medication and made an appt with an internist after having diarrhea every day for about 1.5 months. She switched me to new GI meds for GERD. I also complained of my fatigue, weakness, lack of motivation, hair loss, headaches, irritability and some symptoms of depression. She checked me for hypothyroidism and that came back negative.

On my drive home I felt defeated and racked my brain for what could be the cause of all this. Being a mental health clinician, I immediately started thinking of any emotional issues that might be the root. Then I realized that the difference in the last few months was Yasmin. I made an appt with my GYN, and unfortunately, she didn't believe that this may actually be causing these side effects. I even told her of websites such as this, in addition to (DUH) the manufacturer's own publication. She tried saying it might be Seasonal Affective Disorder. She reluctantly agreed to switching me back to Ortho upon my request.

Although I feel like I'm getting nowhere with my (suerly overpaid) physicians, I find validation here and truly believe that, despite the manufacturer's contention that this pill is "the one" that doesn't cause these side effects, it's all relative. We're all unique and our bodies react differently to different things. Thanks again for the posts!