do i need a pill change?

frenchiebull · 07-09-2003, 03:46 PM

WARNING THIS IS GONNA BE LONG!!! Okay i'll try to explain this quickly without being too confusing.I've been taking yasmin for 2 years now and i feel okay on it and my headaches and acne are better on it that all the other pills i've been on and i cannot take spironolactone anymore due to an allergy to it so i think staying on yasmin would be good since it contains a simular ingredient to spiro.Anyway my doctor has been checking out my hormones through blood work because im tired alot and my bones and muscles hurt alot so my doctor told me that my resent blood work shows that my estrogen and progesterone are too low and my cortisol is too high.I've also developed allergies to several different types of medication in the last month!My doctor is trying to figure out what to do with me and i cant see my endo until september.My doctor wants me to try progesterone cream but it will mess up my birth control pills and increase my risk of becoming pregnant and possibly messing up the hormones worse!I know that i need to see my endo to get her opinion,but i just wonder if the yasmin is messing me up!It's been 2 years and i nervous to try anything else because the last thing i took was ortho tri cyclen before the yasmin and i had bad headaches.I dont want to increase my hairgrowth on my face any worse than it already is.So im just wondering if a pill change would be good or bad.And what pill would be better for me.I'm curious about orth tri lo that is out now.Or maybe just ortho cyclen.Anybody have good results on these?Yasmin is supposed to be so wonderful but my hormones are so screwed up that i wonder what is up.

curlygrrl · 07-10-2003, 01:40 PM

I can't say if it's the Yasmin causing your problems, but I can say that I've felt they way you're describing for the past two years and have only been on birth control for the past four months. I haven't had extensive testing though--I don't know what all tests the midwife did when she diagnosed the PCOS besides the 3hr fasting insulin and the testosterone test. I know she checked my thyroid and it was ok.

Anyhow, I will tell you I tried the Ortho Trycyclen lo and it caused really bad breakthrough bleeding for me, but I have *always* had that problem with triphasic pills.

((hugs)) I hope things get better soon!

Tamara

Chrissy · 07-11-2003, 10:36 AM

Hi Frenchibull,

I wanted to try and help in your dilemma. I am currently taking ortho tri cyclen lo and have really liked it for my particular concerns. I also have used ortho-cyclen in the past as well as Yasmin. The yasmin caused me too many side affects so I didn't stay on it longer than 4 months so I can't really speak about that but the ortho-cyclen is a great pill for PCOS. The androgen level is very low and really helped my skin and hair issues. I also felt pretty good on it. I took it for several years and only now that I'm getting older have had trouble with it. I think they are related to estrogen. It tends to have a pretty high estrogen affect but low androgen and moderqte progestin. I have not had any break through on either product unless I was traveling and under alot of stress. I do suspect my estrogen production is quite low these days. I have liked the ortho tri lo because I like the progestin norgestimate and how it helps my body and side affects. I do feel however that I had better acne and hair help with the ortho cyclen. The estrogen withdrawal headaches and bloating are better with the lo though.

I have also had many of the complaints of achiness and tiredness as you. I feel I have a few of the signs of fibromyalgia and this wouldn't be a surprise since they now believe hormones play a big role in that as well. A side affect of a pill with too much progestin is tiredness so keep that in mind.

Good Luck!!