Now she is off the nightmare YAZ, how do we stabilize her symptoms?

judyb · Guest

Hello,

My name is Judy and I am the mother of a daughter who was on YAZ birth control for three weeks and has been off for two weeks. She was on Yasmin before for a month or two here and there, as her ob gyn gave her samples, etc.

There were no prior birth control problems we know of. This last time (five weeks ago) her doctor switched her to YAZ and said there was no difference between the two. She almost immediately began having severe mood swings, ie, from feeling okay to extremely depressed with no reason she could think of. The switches in mood occured very rapidly. Also, she had never had a panic attack before, and she has now been having or fighting them on a regular basis for three weeks. Wait, she had one panic attack last year out of the blue (she may well have been on YAZ then). No more until she started YAZ three weeks ago. She has had some sleep problems ever since she started college, but they are worse now. She now needs relief from the extreme stress and depression, and we have been helping her decrease her school workload, etc., but it does not seem to be helping. That is what made me think of chemical reasons for this.

Obviously, this is extremely frightening to my daughter and to her family, as we love her dearly.

Another potential complication is that she had a yeast infection on her face and was taking an azol-type antifungal, which I just found out on another website is contraindicated with YAZ. She was taking it sporadically until just yesterday. I have told her to cease that immediately and she is.

Here is another twist. I was taking the benzodiazepine clonazepam. I caught her yeast infection and had a horrendous drug interaction with the azole antifungal that threw me into immediate withdrawal w/awful symptoms.

This is significant to my daughter's situation with the YAZ, in that YAZ is sometimes prescibed for that problem (some four-letter acronym, not PMS) for depression and some other things. Threfore, I am concerned with a possible drug interaction complication involving the azol-type antifungal.

That is the story involving the YAZ (and the anti-fungal) as I understand it.

My big questions are these. Are there any suggestions for alleviation of her symptoms from YAZ? Has anyone ever had their symptoms go away on their own? I have always hated the idea of taking hormones for birth control, but that is a mute point. I saw that someone had their symptoms abate with reinstatement of yasmin. Of course, the anti-fungal will still be in her system and for all I know, it is contraindicated for yasmin as well.

Does she do nothing and hope? Does she let the anti-fungal get out of her system and then try Yasmin? Is there a way out of this nightmare for her?

Knowledge is power, and knowing that the YAZ/perhaps anti-fungal caused this at least lets her know she is not becoming bi or uni-polar and that she is not "crazy", but the symptoms are crippling her life.

For the doctors who so blithly prescribed a benzodizapine for me, an azole-antifungal for her and for me, and the doctor who glibly said "YAZ is the same", I say, look at the endless amounts of pain you have caused with your ignoring of contraindications and your lack of honest and informed explanations of drug interactions and side effects.

There is no excuse; computers are everywhere and programs for docs that show all of the problems at the touch of a button.

I am getting much help for my problem, including from a well-run forum specifically dealing with my issue.

I hope to get the same for my daughter here.

Thank you so much. Now, I do not know how to get back onto my particular thread to see if I get a response. Someone there has my email. Can you help me with this technical part?

I am so very sorry for all the women, and their loved ones, who are suffering from this drug that is obviously so potentially harmful to so many woman. I wish you all well in your own quest for answers, and I wish you comfort as well.

Again, thank you.

Judyb

Mistress Van Helsing · Newbie Joined: 01 Jun 2008 Posts: 2

I've been taking yaz for about eight months now. The comercial is wonderful, "Where're not gonna take it", it made it sound like the miracle birth control. It totally sold me. At first, it did seem like the miracle birth control. But soon, after a few months, (and it was hard to spot at first but now looking back, you know hindsight is 20/20, I can see it now) I started to feel WAAAYYYYY more emotional than normal. Granted, I am naturally an emotional person, but it just got rediculous. I started getting depressed, then more depressed. I started feeling very irritable, snapping at those closest to me. I got frustrated at practically everything. Then there were times that I also felt numb, like I had lost who I used to be. I started feeling very alone, and like life was worthless. What was I here for? And that thought absolutely TERRIFIED me! And there is absolutely no reason for me to think that way. For one thing, I'm just not like that. And secondly, I have a wonderful family with wonderful friends, a loving husband, a new baby son, a beautiful home. I could go on and on with all my blessings.
But something was making me feel horrible. I've finally been able to pinpoint it to my being on Yaz. At one point, I found myself beginning to shake uncontrolably, deathly afraid and anxious. My husband actually had to take me to the emergency room. I was having a panic attack.
So now, I've decided to stop taking Yaz. I've made an appointment with my gyn in two weeks to discuss something different. But one thing is for sure, I am never taking Yaz again.
I stopped taking it three nights ago. At first, I thought I was beginning to feel better, but now, I'm beginning to feel all of these symptoms all over again. I'm terrified, because I don't want to feel that horrible again. It scares me. I'm so afraid right now. And I've been crying at the drop of a hat.
And it is so strange trying to explain it to my husband. He's trying to understand, I know. I really do wish that more men would research and understand what these oral contraceptives can do to a woman. It's terrible! And sometimes, very serious.
So, everyone, and you, judyb, I am very interested also in how long it takes for one's body to expel the final remnants of that awful drug. When will I feel normal again and get back to my good 'ole self. Judyb, I am definetely interested in how your daughter is coping, and if you would like to hear how I am progressing, or ask any questions or talk to me about it, my email address is
Mistress.Van.Helsing@gmail.com
I would love to hear an update about her. And I am continuing to research this drug myself and it's effects. And I cannot tell you how many people I know, or people I've met and talked to, and testimonials I have already come across from all corners of the net, that proclaim how AWFUL this yaz stuff is, and how they're getting off of it as fast as they can!
Hope to here more about this, and best to you,
Mistress

Guest · Guest

I've been taking YAZ for about a year now, no problems that I can think of. Well, a couple weeks ago I went away for the weekend and forgot to bring the pack along. I decided to stop taking it all together and right now I'm going crazy. I can't understand or explain the feelings that I'm feeling. I don't want to go anywhere but my couch, I'm extremely sensitive, paranoid and anxious. Is this due to stopping the YAZ? When will this go away? Since feeling like this, I definitely will NOT go back on bc I can't imagine what it was doing to my chemical balance to cause such an imbalance right now.

Now she is off the nightmare YAZ, how do we stabilize her symptoms?

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