A few years ago, I took Yasmin. Because of some financial problems, I switched to Ovcon, because the school's health clinic had some free samples to give me. I started having migraines after several months on those pills and was happy to switch back to Yasmin when I could afford to pay for them again.
Unfortunately, the headaches didn't stop. When I finally went back to the OB-GYN in November of 2005, she wanted to take me off of them (half because she wanted me to hurry up and get pregnant, I think), but I wanted to stay on them to see if my migraines were caused by something else. I procrastinated for another year, and went back to her in November of 2006. This time, she had me switch to a no-estrogen birth control pill. It's generic, and the kind I got was called Camilla. I had a bunch of migraines when I first started taking it, but eventually they went away. Only problem was that Camilla is a lot less effective as a birth control, and it made me feel like a teenager again, with heavy periods and breakouts and cramping. Icky. Also, I couldn't remember to take it at the same time every day, even though I set an alarm.
So, I came here and read about other people who had migraines on Yasmin, but had good results on Yaz. I called my doctor, and she thought it was definitely worth a try. My first month on Yaz was okay, but by the second I was having bad headaches by the end of the first week, and two headaches two days in a row by the second. I called my OB-GYN and even though she wasn't in, the nurse told me to stop taking the pills. When the doctor got my message, she wasn't able to call me back, but had her nurse call me to say that she wouldn't be comfortable putting me on pills anymore, as having migraines on them increases my chance of having a stroke--I didn't know that!
So, I'm off Yaz now. It's kind of liberating not having to take a pill every morning or night, and I have an appointment with my doctor in 2 weeks to discuss alternative birth control options. I'm pretty clueless. The nurse suggested a diaphragm or IUD. I'm not really comfortable with either, but if I knew the IUD was safe, I'd be more likely to try it than want to mess with a diaphragm.
Anyway, it's a little frustrating to not be able to tolerate bcp's, and I still wonder if there's another out there that would have been better. But I'm not sure that I want to go through the accomodation phase over and over again.
I just wanted to share... anyone go through something similar?
I forgot to mention that I'm going to ask my doctor to put me on metformin. The bcp's weren't doing anything much for my PCOS symptoms anyway (except for helping me with breakouts occasionally). I think metformin would help by regulating my hormone levels, which are just all out of whack... like all of us PCOS/IR women!
I just had my copper IUD removed and am starting my second month on Yaz.
IUDs are VERY expensive... if you don't get one as part of a patient assistance program, they can run you about $400, plus a $75 fee to get it put in... and getting it put in HURT sooooooo bad. They open up your cervix and put it in, it was probably the MOST PAINFUL thing I've ever had done. Getting it out didn't hurt as much, just one quick yank and an OUCH! and it was over...
if you decide to go with an IUD, get the one with hormones in it, to help reduce bleeding. I got the Paragard one, just plain copper and no hormones, and I've never bled so much in my life. 3 straight months of spotting, with 7-10 days of HEAVY, PAINFUL cramping, bleeding and clotting... literally, clots the size of my fist. It was awful, and not even ibuprofen would slow it down.
I also get migraines with yaz, but I've always had migraines, and I'm willing to give yaz a 6 month trial, even with my wierd side effects.
Wow. Your experience with the IUD sounds absolutely horrible.
I don't think I could handle that--usually, just a pap smear hurts! But opening my cervix? Uh uh. I don't think so.
There's gotta be a better way.
Frankly, I don't think I'd cry if I got pregnant. Sure, we want to wait until we can really afford a kid, but I think we'd manage better than we think. And I want kids SO badly. (My husband wants them, too, eventually.) But the responsible thing is to find some good protection. Hmm...
0 for 4... Taken off Yaz... 
