Ladies: Anyone on Yasmin (birth control pill) or thinking of taking it?

It is one of the newer birth control pills out on the market,
and their ads have been seen in magazines such as
Cosmopolitan.........

Anyone on it or thinking about going on it?


tigerjen

Emerald_eyed said:

isnt that a babe watch babe?

Click to expand...

haha heehee Emerald..........good one there....I got the
pun of that one


tigerjen

Emerald_eyed said:

lol, sorry.

I have never heard of that type of pill.

Click to expand...

No need to be sorry......I thought that was a very good
pun on "Yasmin" and "Yasmine"

The Yasmin pill itself has been out for at least 1-2
years to my knowledge......

Yes, the Baywatch babe was Yasmine Bleeth.

Yasmin, the birth control pill, is Drospirenone, a synthetic hormone similar to progesterone, which is produced by the female body. Supposedly it is less likely to cause weight gain, and it improves the condition of your skin and hair somehow.

I have been on it since October of last year. Started taking it to regulate my periods and make them less painful. For that, it works. Well, also, I haven't gotten pregnant, either. The doc said it was a low dose pill so the side effects were not as dramatic as other pills. So far, I haven't had any side affects whatsoever. In fact, I'm actually losing weight.

Did you have a particular question, Tiger Jen?

Interesting...I wonder how many women are on birth control because they have irregular periods. An old roommate of mine got me turned onto Depo-Provera because it stopped her periods completely. I don't care about the birth conrol aspect, it's the no monthly bleeding that I love!

I want to go on Yasmin. I was on the Ortho Evra Patch and it was fine until I just had a spaz attack and was convinced I was going to get fat from it and stopped wearing them. I hate birth control.

from what my doctors have told me, weight gain from birth control is water weight and usually reverses itself after the first couple months (not that you care what type of weight you're putting on if your clothes feel tighter!). I'm not sure if this is really true or not. I've never experienced weight gain from the pill...i've been on 2 different types but not Yasmin. My current pill is a generic (of what, i'm not sure) and is great....my last pill, ortho-cycline made my periods last for a REALLY long time and completely obliterated my libido. yick!

SexyChele said:

I have been on it since October of last year. Started taking it to regulate my periods and make them less painful. For that, it works. Well, also, I haven't gotten pregnant, either. The doc said it was a low dose pill so the side effects were not as dramatic as other pills. So far, I haven't had any side affects whatsoever. In fact, I'm actually losing weight.

Did you have a particular question, Tiger Jen?

Click to expand...

No particular question.........I started this thread because
1. its a "hot" pill out there right now, and 2. I've been on
it since July of last year..........and 3. good for discussion.

I had been experiencing irregular periods over the past year
and a half, due to high levels of stress in regards to my
job------i.e. I would get spotting one month, then nothing
the next month, and maybe a very light period the following
month, and so on. It was that bad that when I went to my
annual appt in July '02 my doc put me on Yasmin. One of the
concerns I had going on the pill was that side effect of weight
gain, which is one of my concerns. Yasmin is a supposed mild
diuretic, and supposedly one wouldn't become as bloated right
before their period.

Let me say that the first 3-5 months I've experienced some
nausea off and on-----time to break out the ginger ale! But
overall, so far so good. However, my blood pressure was
elevated slightly a month after I started taking it, and I
was experiencing a pain my right calf-----was scared it might be
a blood clot, but after going to my regular doc and getting it
all checked out, even going to a MRI for my leg, things checked
out fine.


tigerjen

Thank you for starting this thread, Jen.

I've been on the generic of Alesse since September when I had a D and C due to a miscarriage (my third). Just don't want to deal with that again anytime soon. Since then, the naseau has been off and on, but mostly on. I have a prescription to start Yasmin in a little over a week. I've also heard that since the horomones are lower, the naseau shouldn't be quite as common, and the weight gain should reverse its self. I was just diagnosed with high blood pressure, but I am sure that is related to the stress I'm under.

The one thing I love about being on the pill is that it is regulating my periods, even though obviously it is an artificial regulation. Mine were heavy, I'd be real crampy, and no one, including the cat, could get within 10 miles of me without me plotting their demise. I'm now down from 7 days a month to about 4, real light, still have cramps, and the bitchiness only extends about 20 feet.

After the birth of my youngest daughter, I was on Depo, mainly because I could do the shot and still breastfeed. It was not a good mix for me. I have a family history of depression which the Depo helped to make a personal one. Also, about half my hair fell out. NOT a pretty sight. 6 months after the only shot I was pretty much back to normal.

When I was on the depo shot I gained weight, got super depressed and then got pregnant anyway. I want my tubes tied or something, birth control sucks.

Ah, okay, TJ! I hadn't realized I was on the "hot" pill of the moment!

If I recall correctly, I did have a slight weight gain right when I started, but it went away after the following month. Plus, I've joined a gym and have been working out and trying to eat better in general, so that also contributes to the loss of weight. (Didn't want people thinking that Yasmin caused women to lose weight!)

My primary concern was my periods. I am pre-menopausal, and while my periods came like clockwork (you could set a calendar to them!), they were extremely heavy (at times I thought I was actually hemoraging), and painful beyond belief. I'm talking not being able to work, laying on the bed, and praying for death pain! I didn't get PMS, but the pain would make me bitchier than hell!

My doc suggested the pill more than a year ago (when the symptoms first started), but I was leery of going on the pill again as I was over 40. Then, after a return plane trip from WI to CA all the while sitting through menstrual cramps that I thought were going to kill me, I reconsidered. The doc said that being over 40 was not a problem, as long as I did not smoke. Also, because Yasmin is a lower dose pill, it would probably suit me better.

I was on the pill in my 20s/early 30s and experienced headaches and very, very light periods. With Yasmin, I don't get headaches and my periods are normal. And NO pain! WOOHOO!

Originally posted by Zilla
When I was on the depo shot I gained weight, got super depressed and then got pregnant anyway. I want my tubes tied or something, birth control sucks.

Click to expand...

That sucks, I'm sorry you went through that! I've heard of it happening. They did warn me about gaining weight (I added maybe five pounds), and they told me about the depression factor but I already have depression so I told them it couldn't get much worse! I'm surprised you got pregnant, though, it's pretty unlikely from what I've heard. I do know of a couple of women (sisters, actually) who both thought they had miscarriages after starting Depo...it turned out that instead of a period they shed the uterine lining all at once, and it hurt like hell. They both discontinued it. (One of them is currently on Yasmin.)

i was on the pill for 3 years....and went off of it in september because my hubby and i are trying to get pregnant...well i haven't had a natural cycle since. that's frustrating when you're TRYING to get pregnant. when i talked to my doc about it she said that it's normal not to cycle for up to a YEAR after going off of the pill....1.5years off of depo! i was shocked.

so yet another side effect that no one told us about

That was actually one I was warned about with Depo...I had gone to Planned Parenthood initially, so I guess they were just smart when telling me stuff.

Great responses so far!

Funny how the subject of Depo came up........when I
was thinking about going on b.c. I was thinking about
Depo because I can't swallow pills in general. However,
I am glad that Yasmin is this cute tiny pill that swallows
easily w/ a big gulp of water

In a way I am glad that I did not go on Depo.......

ok. in doing some research with a friend on the buhzillion forms and types of pills and birth control we came across this one. I decided not to revive the pill/patch/shot thread bc its gigantious already and most of the Qs deal with yasmin anyway.


natural not testosterone based progestin, good.
low low estrogen, good.
Low form of hormone BC anyway, good.


what is this nonsense about cervical mucus being thicker? I know with the cycle it changes from thin during ovulation weeks, and is slightly thicker to nearly creamy in some people's cases when not close to ovulation.
I know everyone is different so going by this format of a woman's body mucus (i hate that word lol.. mucus.. ew)

ovulation - thin
pre menstural - slightly thicker, maybe spotting
menstrual - bleeding
post menstural - dryish to thicker or nearly creamy
ovulation - thin

how would yasmin change this particular woman? i know i'm going to get an "everyone is different" answer -- but I want to hear from the chorus of you all who are on birth control, mainly yasmin (or nuvaring) to tell me of wetness changes that you've noticed.


onto nuvaring and orthro tri cyclin lo
same question concerning wetness
also concerning weight gain (legit or just water)
and mood swings



I'm questioning these bec they are the lower forms of hormone BC and are "hot" still to talk about. I've seen a few others, but mainly yasmin has caught my eye - supposedly it has the added benefit of helping a woman lose weight. We visited their main pages, but its all the same mumbo jumbo "we're better then the other ones because..."

I've been considering BC for a long time now, but, there is so much bullshit connected to it I've stuck with condoms and keeping an eye on my cycle. Pro choice, but I couldn't go through with terminating a pregnancy ... and my issue with BC is that i've never had a problem with my cycle (unless under heavy stress) I can set my clock to it really ... cramps aren't anything bad either, normal stuff. I dont want to mess with something that isn't broken basically ... nor do I want the mood swings, spotting, abnormalities in my wetness cycle, weight gain ... "finding the pill/etc that is right for you" can go fly a kite... mess with the system, then find out afer a month or two (just to make sure its the BC and not the body adjusting) then switch to go through it again

::shrug::

been a while since I surfed through any of this - so I guess I'm just looking for feedback and the choir of voices for personal experience knowledge so my info bank in my mind is updated on which one works for most and which one to tell anyone to stay away from (the patch i know makes mood swings terrible, and the shot for most should be kept FAR FAR away from anyone)


... this "new" seasonale ... anyone on it yet? any news?
Its 'terrible' to mess with the ecosytem to get it to do what you want once a month.
Its worse to get rid of it altogether (shot/depo)

... did they actually find a happy medium with a quarterly period? Or is this another thing birthed from convienence for this day and age of the modern woman?

edit to add: sexual side effects w/ using yasmin or nuvaring ... increased want, decrease want? lets get down to the real nitty gritty of all this stuff



*disclaimer*
although i am not a die hard feminist and do not believe in all/every theory, i firmly believe women should be able to take control of their bodies ... and Birth Control is wonderful (sort of kidding but, its also good population control) ... i just wish it didn't mess with hormones to be effective bc that in turn causes a whole new boat load of problems ... as ANY medication we take does. I'm wairy for my own body's sake and for myself with the way I feel towards contraception, responsibility, consequences, relationships, and birth ... I don't appreciate so so many products out there that cause more harm then good, some of them seem rushed to market ::shrug:: its scary.

Etoile said:

Interesting...I wonder how many women are on birth control because they have irregular periods. An old roommate of mine got me turned onto Depo-Provera because it stopped her periods completely. I don't care about the birth conrol aspect, it's the no monthly bleeding that I love!

Click to expand...

I'm currently on Diane35 to regulate my periods and control heavy prolonged bleeding. I started on one called Norimin but was put on the lower dose Diane35 because I'm in the older age bracket (47). My blood pressure is fine so I'm hoping I can continue to take some form of hormone treatment for as long as it's needed. I've not had any problems while being on the pill, I guess I'm one of the lucky ones.

I've already had a tubal ligation so I don't need the contraceptive effects either

I Love Yasmin!

When it comes to the pill, I have tried all the kinds of Ortho and one called Nordette. They all sucked. I had too much trouble with spotting. When Seasonale came out it was a big deal so I tried it and had WAY more trouble with spotting. So then I tried Yasmin, which I love!!!! Because of going to boot camp last year I switched to Depo. It worked for the first shot (no period) but the next two shots and I bled the WHOLE time. I also gained some weight and my face broke out. Now, thank God, I'm back on Yasmin. My weight is coming off, although I don't know if it's because of the pill or that I'm not on depo, and my face has cleared up considerably. Also, on Yasmin I don't have any cramps at all, when before I would have them for one day really badly. I would suggest for anyone to at least try Yasmin, especially if you've had trouble with spotting. The only downside to it would be that it's not in it's own plastic case, it's a sheet of pills (think a box of tylenol), they do give you a cloth case but it sucks. But I guess that's just me being picky.

I love yasmine too. I switched to it from a generic ortho about two years ago. The spotting and irregularity I experienced with the other pill went away and I think I also lost a little weight. Now I don't get cramps and my period doesn't flow like a waterfall for a week . It's the only form of BC I use, and no pregnancies. My gyno said that any pill can be used in the same way as Seasonale, just continue taking active pills through three straight packs before taking a week off. She prescribed some extra packs for me, but I ended up wanting a monthly period for reassurance.

I think the cloth case it comes with is great. The outside is purple and suaded, and it's super thin.

BlueSugar said:

although i am not a die hard feminist and do not believe in all/every theory, i firmly believe women should be able to take control of their bodies ... and Birth Control is wonderful (sort of kidding but, its also good population control) ... i just wish it didn't mess with hormones to be effective bc that in turn causes a whole new boat load of problems ... as ANY medication we take does. I'm wairy for my own body's sake and for myself with the way I feel towards contraception, responsibility, consequences, relationships, and birth ... I don't appreciate so so many products out there that cause more harm then good, some of them seem rushed to market ::shrug:: its scary.

Click to expand...

I so understand where you're coming from on this, BlueSugar.

My mom was diagnosed with endometrial cancer in 2002. She had symptoms--namely bleeding when she'd gone through menopause five years before--for about six months before she went to her gyn. Fortunately, the cancer hadn't spread beyond her uterus. We have the same doctor, and he explained to me that cancers like this can run in families (and my maternal great-grandmother had a hysterectomy many years ago because of "suspicious" uterine conditions), so I'm naturally wary.

I know that some of the evidence seems to suggest that some types of hormonal BC can prevent cancers such as the one that my mom had. I was on the pill in the mid-90's. However, because my mom's experience suggests that I might have something to worry about in the future, I'm reluctant to risk putting extra hormones in my body. It's one reason that I opted for a tubal shortly after the birth of my youngest child.

just to add my two cents of Yasmin experience....
- I was on it for about a year. The first few months had some strange spotting.
- The cramps went away, the periods were regular (which is why i was on there to begin with), PMS went down.
- The biggest downside was that I gained weight. BUT I couldn't tell if it was because of Yasmin or stress (I was a senior in college at the time) or being in college.

Would I try it again? Most likely yes. My weight/stress levels aren't as crazy as they were in college so I'd be able to tell if/when i was putting on weight.

But I am most curious about Seasonale....

d.

BlueSugar said:

(mucus)how would yasmin change this particular woman? i know i'm going to get an "everyone is different" answer -- but I want to hear from the chorus of you all who are on birth control, mainly yasmin (or nuvaring) to tell me of wetness changes that you've noticed.
onto nuvaring and orthro tri cyclin lo
same question concerning wetness
also concerning weight gain (legit or just water)
and mood swings

Click to expand...

Okay, I haven't tried Yasmin or the Nuvaring (though if I go back to hormonal BC, that's what I'll try), but I can give my experience for all of the Ortho products, and about 10 others. The best pills for me were the absolute lowest doses like Loestrin and Alesse. Looking at where Yasmin places on the estrogen spectrum, I'm fairly certain it would have caused major problems like the other ones I tried at that dose.

Cervical mucus: It didn't appear or change when I was on any of the pills. When I went off, I started to notice the differences throughout my cycle. Now I get the thin, thicker, stringy/sticky...all of it.

Wetness: The pill cut my wetness DRAMATICALLY. Because I started at 16, I thought I was just naturally not very wet...um...that's not the case at all! Apart from fewer migraines and a far higher libido, the wetness is a big benefit to being off. Of course it fluctuates with my cycle and hydration, but it's a huge difference overall.

Weight/moods: As I've said in other threads, the only time it changed was when my boobs grew a cup size in a month on one particularly nasty pill. On all of them I still had PMS and bloating at period time. Same deal with mood swings. The pill never helped or hurt really. Now that I've been off for about 18 months, everything's about the same (it all got FAR worse when I came off...like my body was going through withdrawls or something), and my period's even a little lighter than before I went on.

I'm questioning these bec they are the lower forms of hormone BC and are "hot" still to talk about. I've seen a few others, but mainly yasmin has caught my eye - supposedly it has the added benefit of helping a woman lose weight. We visited their main pages, but its all the same mumbo jumbo "we're better then the other ones because..."

Click to expand...

From what I've read, Yasmin only claims to lessen water weight gain associated with PMS. The Yasmin site doesn't point out specific differences apart from the different hormone (they tell you to talk to your doctor about how it's different ) but http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/2217.html is a good overview of the differences.

I've been considering BC for a long time now, but, there is so much bullshit connected to it I've stuck with condoms and keeping an eye on my cycle. my issue with BC is that i've never had a problem with my cycle (unless under heavy stress) I can set my clock to it really ... cramps aren't anything bad either, normal stuff. I dont want to mess with something that isn't broken basically ... nor do I want the mood swings, spotting, abnormalities in my wetness cycle, weight gain ... "finding the pill/etc that is right for you" can go fly a kite... mess with the system, then find out afer a month or two (just to make sure its the BC and not the body adjusting) then switch to go through it again

Click to expand...

We've been doing the condom thing, and it certainly would be less of a hassle to take a pill, but I just feel better without it and can't see benefits for me beyond birth control. So, I guess I feel the same way...I'm doing well without hormones and why should I risk messing that up? Recently we've been considering ditching the condoms most of the time in favor of Natural Family Planning through cervical mucous and temperature changes. That's a hassle too, but it's effective for both prevention and conception (which we'll be doing in the next year or two anyway). If I wanted to do something besides condoms or NFP, I'd go for the Nuvaring, IUD, or sterilization...after knowing how I am OFF the pill, going back on it's no longer an option really.