I switched BC pills this month (Alesse to Yasmin). I knew from many past switches that I'm quite sensitive to hormone changes and expected the side effects, but I've got some *new* ones this time.
First day I was very nauseas (expected), had a headache that was unphased by ibuprofen (expected), and was more tired than usual (also expected). The tiredness has been worsening over the last couple days though, and today I feel even weaker. I was breathing heavily just from the exertion of showering - the weakness feels similar to the first day you start to feel better from the flu or something. I can't even get the energy up to do the dishes or laundry, much less leave the house or go to the gym.
I knew I was in for an adjustment period, and that the time it takes to adjust varies. I was just wondering if anyone else had difficulty when switching between pills, and how difficult/long that time was? Where specific pills harder for you to adjust to?
-- Edited by Elle at 16:19, 2006-04-21
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To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment ~ {Ralph Waldo Emerson}
hmm. that's interesting. just my thoughts (although, i feel like i'm talking to the expert ). in nursing school we had a disease of the week. basically what that means is that when we were learning about digestive disorders, we all felt like we had IBS or some other disorder. (similar to how a lot of people feel after watching perscription drug commercials). so, my thought is that your body could be SUPER intuned to what's going on. (i swear, i paid a little too much attention to my BM's after the digestive disorder lectures ).
another thought, for the life of me, i can NOT wake up late enough, go to be early enough lately. nothing has really changed for me except for daylight savings. yes, it was 3 weeks ago, but i read one time that takes about 30 days for your body to adjust.
i would definitely continue to monitor the side effects, especially about the shortness of breath, and don't hesitate to see your doctor.
i wish i could tell you more, but it's not my area of expertise, although, i think i'm going to brush up a bit more on the new drugs, etc..
ETA: i'm also on yasmin and have never had shortness of breath, but i was super tired when i started it (but it was also only 6 months after i had mono).
-- Edited by shopgirl82 at 16:35, 2006-04-21
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"i tell you one lesson I learned
If you want to be something in life, You ain't gonna get it unless, You give a little bit of sacrifice, Oohh, sometimes before you smile you got to cry.." -The Roots
Hmmm...I'm on yasmin and sometimes when I'm sitting, doing nothing actually, I get short of breath. I wonder if they're related? It hasn't been happening to me more than a couple of years and that's about when I started yasmin.
Elle wrote: Question! - the weakness feels similar to the first day you start to feel better from the flu or something. I can't even get the energy up to do the dishes or laundry, much less leave the house or go to the gym. -- Edited by Elle at 16:19, 2006-04-21
This may be an obvious question, but is it possible you're just getting sick? Hope you feel better.
Nope, I don't think it's that I'm getting sick. I feel fine other wise (still a little nauseas periodically though), and I don't feel 'tired' per se. Listless, maybe, and my heart rate is disproportionately high compared to my activity level. Kinda like caffeine overload without the jitters .
I'm going to call the doctor, just so she knows what's going on. I need to get my test results anyhow.
X-posted with Poptart, so ETA:
Poptart, Alesse is the only pill that hasn't made me nauseas at all. Yasmin has a different kind of hormones in it entirely, and therefore makes trying to compare dosages like apples and oranges, unfortunately. I switched to see if it would impact my more chronic symptoms, but if things continue as is I'm switching back because I am dragging some serious ass here.
-- Edited by Elle at 17:17, 2006-04-21
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To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment ~ {Ralph Waldo Emerson}
It isn't possible that with the switch of bc it isn't as effective and that you could be expecting? I'm just saying...
Ha! Nope, not possible (well, theoretically, it's always possible, BC or no). But I'm going to maintain 'Nope' as my official answer .
Switching from one pill to another makes no difference in effectiveness - I started my new pack at the same time as I would have had I stayed on Alesse. Even so, I'm only on the 11th day of this cycle, so I'd have to have gotten pregnant last month, and my period was quite convincing otherwise ...
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To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment ~ {Ralph Waldo Emerson}
Ha! Nope, not possible (well, theoretically, it's always possible, BC or no). But I'm going to maintain 'Nope' as my official answer . Switching from one pill to another makes no difference in effectiveness - I started my new pack at the same time as I would have had I stayed on Alesse. Even so, I'm only on the 11th day of this cycle, so I'd have to have gotten pregnant last month, and my period was quite convincing otherwise ...
Ok, that's a pretty convincing nope then Anyway, it would have been a pain to have to alter that pretty wedding dress of yours. Of course you could of always done the lovely belly opening like that one scary wedding dress that was posted a long time ago (yes, it was seared into my memory ).
i tried to make yasmin work for me because i have friends that love it, but it made me feel like a crazy person. i spent one month on it hoping it would get better, but i was soooo emotional and basically PMSy the entire time that i gave up on it. i had another friend have this same exact thing happen to her on it, so if you are feeling strangely cranky, just remember it could be the yasmin!
I'm on Yasmin right now and it took me awhile to get used to. At the beginning I would get a day or so of very severe cramps. I still get the day of cramps, but they aren't as bad as they were in the beginning. I do find that I get really bad headaches a few days before my period and that hasn't really gone away. I've been on it for about 6 months.
I went on Yasmin because I told my doctor I wanted a pill that didn't cause me to gain too much weight and because my skin was breaking out badly during the period of time that I took myself off the pill. Well, Yasmin definitely has not caused me to gain any weight but it did not really help my skin (which my doctor said it would).
I really liked being on Alesse once the side effects of that went away after the first few months. I had no cramps, shorter periods, lighter flow, and it helped my skin. But I'm afraid to keep switching around so I'll see what my doctor says next time I see her.
I had the same issue with Yasmin (it made me crazy). I didn't gain any weight but it didn't help with my skin and I would break down crying once a day at least. I thought maybe just everything in my life was that horrible and my best friend finally said to me "do you think it could be the pill?" I've just stayed off of all of them for now (which is easy since I don't have a boyfriend right now anyway).