Yasmin birth control - Side effects after discontinuing use

After close to a year on Yasmin I decided to quit, because my husband and I wanted to try for a baby. I finished up a pack and just didn't start the next to try and keep the transition smooth.

Basically, my first month off of the pill was normal, as was to be expected. Normal period, etc. However, my last couple of periods have been insane. They have pretty much stayed on schedule (a rarity in itself as prior to bc I'd had a 53 day interval, so to have 28 all of the time has been strange for me), but last 3-4 WEEKS. I'll have what seems like a normal 4-5 day period, but it doesn't stop! Sometimes it's days of spotting, sometimes a really heavy day, sometimes nothing for a couple of days and then a return - either way, I am not fully done for a good three weeks, or even a couple of days beyond that.

I was warned that Yasmin could have such a side effect when I quit taking it, but it is making me nervous, so I wanted to hear other people's opinions. If anyone has had a similar experience, when did you start to level out?

[Andi776]

I have PCOS as well. I wonder if that similarity has something to do with the strange periods?

[thardy]

My doctor just perscribed me that birth control. I'm reading all the the side effects and I'm just wondering, is it worth taking? should i ask for something else?

[magic-s]

well, the same exact thing happened to me... i'm 20, not married..  had an irrigular period one year ago and i went to the doctor.. he said that i have Polycystic ovary syndrome ... i started to take Yasmin birth control pills and i stopped last month.. now my period is toooo late and i don't know what to do.. i don't know if ever i'm gonna be able to get pregnant if i want to!

[Andi776]

I, personally hated it. I was so happy to be rid of it. I constantly felt nauseated - to the point where I rarely drove my car, because I was nervous everything would start spinning and make me sick. I was moody and unhappy. Yasmin is not a good pill.

[KellyPuj]

just wanted to let you know... I was on Cyclesa and I am off of it now, and I have had no feelings like that whatsoever.  And when I was on it, it was the easiest birth control bill I have ever taken.  Plus it nearly zapped my PMS symptoms.  

[KELLS0224]

I took yaz for two years and was fine until I stopped taking it. I haven't taken any form of birth control for over and year and a half and I haven't ovulated once on my own. My husband and I have been trying to get pregnant the whole one and a half years and so I've had to take fertility drugs and they've only worked once. IF YOUR ON YAZ AND YOU EVER PLAN ON HAVING A FAMILY GET OF ASAP.

[YogiGirlLA]

I have been taking Yasmin for about 3 years now for prementrual disphoric disorder (basically too sensitive during that time) BUT i have noticed dramatic changes in my cardio-vascular system. Several times a day I have heart palpitations which feel like I'm having a heart attack ! I have Kaiser so of course I tell them, they put me on the EKG machine, then say I' m fine & send me home. I'm pretty sure it is not normal for someone to have the all of a sudden irregular heart beats, awakened in the night by chest tightening & crazy heart beats. I just turned 40, I am very active & still very young minded & look like I'm in my 20s for sure ! I decided today after reading so many horrific stories & side effects I'd rather be a bit sensitive than have sudden death, heart attack or heart/stroke !

[DavesePikkewyn]

Hi!  I've been on Yasmin for nearly 3 years and discontinued use recently because we're planning on getting pregnant in 2011.  The problem is that for the first 3-5 days my emotions were all mixed up - I'd end up crying for utter nonsense, be extremely happy the next minute and then angry and so the cycle continued.  It got to a point where I'd rather sleep than await the next "mood".  Now I'm struggling with CONSTANT dizziness, nausea, fatigue and a bloated middle to name but a few.  I have the shakes and it feels like my brain spasms ever so often.  I know this can't be normal, but does anyone have any advice in coping better with these effects?  My GP  says to just wait it out, but there has to be some remedy to cope better with these effects.  I can handle the emotions, but the other crippling effects are getting the better of me - I am a 8-4-working-career woman-housewife, which means I don't have the luxury of getting faint every 2 seconds.  Also, how do I get rid of the sudden waist-increase - haven't gained a kilo, but blew up like a balloon!!!

[itzallgo0d]

I had taken Yasmin for 8 months, than my partner and I decided we'd like to start a family together. The first month off Yasmin I had a regular period, but than missed THREE months before getting my next one. I thought maybe we were already pregnant but test was negative for each month I didn't get my period. Than I ended up getting my periods after ANOTHER three months. I went for blood tests and was diagnosed with extreme anemia and had absolutely no answer of why my counts were so low.  I questioned my GP about Yasmin and he claimed it couldn't affect me in those ways. It has been over two years now since quitting Yasmin and my period now only comes every six months.  Blood tests galore and still no answers.  They thought maybe early menopause but I am 35 and most woman in my family haven't hit menopause until they were in their 60's...also blood tests did not say I was menopausal either. My cycle was completely normal before taking Yasmin, and I never had so many health problems either (anemia, constant fatigue, respiratory problems).  I've seen the class action lawsuits for people who had either gallbladder removed, strokes, heartattacks or abdominal pains which have been attributed to this birth control - Yasmin.  I have read some side effects on other web pages about Yasmin, and a lot of women have have irregular cycles after stopping it, but I mean over two years and now only getting it every six months?  Which has made seeking a doctor who will be prescribing me fertility medication.  Taking yasmin was the worst decision I had ever made!

[Lovilylady]

I took yaz for 2 years and once I went off of it my periods actually got better. Before i was in crippling pain for 4 days, now its only 1, my severe acne went away, and my mood stabilized, and I havent had an ovarian cyst since. I think its different for different people though, those were just my experiences with it.

[blasco_wood]

hi i've just came off it about 4 months ago and i've had loads of side effects.  to name a few ive got really bloated and i look about 6 months pregnant as so my friends and family have said.i have irregular periods where i can be off for about 2 months then i can have a really heavy bleed or like really light and it looked like i was spotting. i've done several pregnancy tests  and they have comeback negative even the ones that i've done at the doctors i thought it was being paranoid but reading this page i don't think i was. i've also been really tired and just want to sleep all the time the being of this year i was in and out of the doctors with low iron levels- so i think its got something to do with yasmin. i get regular mood swings ( i'm surprised my partner is still with me!) i haven't seen my doctor about it yet but i'm really scared that i wont be able to have kids in the future as i would love a little family.

[healthychic101]

I know that this post is dated back  in 2009, but are you still having those symptoms? Did it get better over time? I noticed a strange feeling in my chest last night, thinking i'm dying, I go to the ER. They send me home with the Palpitation diagnosis. I am scared as heck. I started Ocella in August 2012 and stopped taking it due to other symptoms in Nov 2011. I have been to a Nuerologist to rule out MS. What a horrible medicine!!!