Yaz

Does anyone have anything good to say about Yaz?  I am supposed to start it soon and am worried.  My wedding is in August and I don't want to gain weight, be extremely tired during it, or have a face full of blemishes.  I have read that all these things CAN happen, but don't know how frequently it DOES.  So, I am trying to see if these are all very common side effects, or if it was just a few people who had these experiences. 

 

Thanks for any input!

Well, not to scare you too much, but all BC is pretty much the same stuff they give beef cattle to make them get fat. 

I wouldn't worry about it too much.  If you gain weight, it would only be a pound or two.  Talk to your doctor about your concerns and other alternatives.  I'm sure your doc will be able to set your mind at ease or give you other options. 

Blemishes: It is marketed as a beneficial treatment for moderate acne (and marketing would be regulated by the FDA), so that's one you can probably cross off your list ... though the stress of your upcoming wedding could conspire against you.

Weight gain: All birth control pills can cause some fluid retention and breast tenderness (swelling/fluid retention). Any weight you gain that isn't the result of eating more may be mostly in your chest. Yaz is prescribed for people with severe PMS symptoms, so it seems unlikely it would be worse than what you might experience with run-of-the-mill PMS. If your wedding gown can accomodate that, you're probably OK.

Extremely tired: I have never head of that as a side effect from BC pills. I have a sample pack of Yaz that my doc gave me to try to help with endometriosis, and it indicates that headache, even severe headache, might be a side effect. So, if your head hurts, you might feel like going to bed. I didn't see anything about lethargy, but planning a wedding might make you tired.

My doc says the women in his practice who use it really like it, and he often prescribes it for those who have had problems tolerating other pills. But if it's just another thing to make these pre-wedding days more stressful, maybe you could plan alternate birth-control until after the wedding, then start the pills.

morrighu, very helpful/supportive comment.

stateofgrace, I think maybe the idea was to be on them a month BEFORE the wedding night. Maybe I'm mistaken, though.

betsyanne26, get on them as soon as possible. I'm assuming from your post that you're a first-time user. If you have side effects, you can stop. This will induce a period and cramps for about a week, then you'd be back to normal. You still have time to do this before your wedding. It is most likely that you will not have any significant side effects. Just remember that you must be on the pill for a full cycle before you can trust it to do its job.

ive been on Yaz a while now (2 years?) and certainly didnt gain weight from it. It did help keep my skin clear. I never felt lathargic either. Get on it asap-it will help regulate TTOM so that you can avoid it on your wedding/honeymoon!

my ob-gyn told me that I could take the active pills  and when youre supposed to go off just start another pack right away. this skips your period that month, and if its during your honeymoon that might be a plus. its only recommended to do for one month though-and as always ask your gyn before doing that.

everyone i know on yaz loves it :) yes, there can be side effects but i dont know anyone who has them. oh, one girl i know grew a cup size after starting :p thats the only side effect i heard of!

 

have an amazing wedding, congrats and a wonderful honeymoon :)

Thanks for all the advice everyone...

Has anyone else on Yaz had good / bad experiences?

I just started the yaz in January and so far is has been good.  I have had some spotting in the second week but that is slowly going away each month.  My skin is great, it cleared up my acne!!  Otherwise I don't believe I gained any weight from it.  I haven't had headaches from yaz. 

Do remember your practitioner is going to recommend 3 months before things settle out.  You may have some side effects, but it will take some time before you body regulates. 

Good luck, weddings can be stressful, but worth it!!

I took Yaz for several months and had a few side effects. I did gain weight but I also started other medication at the same time so I can't say how much of that was really from the BC itself. Like someone before me said, I went up a cup size. And I noticed that it actually helped clear up my breakouts before my period and definitely helped with PMS. I didn't have any spotting or anything. The only reason I ended up switching my BC out for somethig else was because it was about $30 cheaper (I'm cheap, haha) and figured if something else could help me the same way, I didn't need to spend the money on it.

Honestly I was very moody for the first 1 1/2 months and took it out on my poor DH. I am about to start my 3rd pack and things have evened out. I have not gained any weight, and have been able to lose several pounds from my attempts at CC and exercise. My breasts are swollen and sore. :( My skin has improved....  but everyone is different and you wont know until you take it. I do recommend sticking with it though if you have some negative side effects at first, give your body some time to adjust.

I took Yaz for 2 months, and it made me absolutely crazy.  I had terrible side effects from it.  I started taking it directly after my last pack of Yasmin, which I had taken for a little over a year, relatively well, with my usual BCP side effects, which I have resigned myself to understand will happen to me with every BCP, which is why I have stopped them altogether, forever.  I have been on BCP for 16 years, pretty much continuously, with the exception of 1 pregnancy, and with various short breaks throughout the years.

All BCPs give me daily headaches.  All BCPs zap my energy in a major way and cause fatigue, exhaustion, and general low mood.  All BCPs kill my libido, to the point of less than zero.  All BCPs make me moody and cause me to want to eat the entire house and contents for a solid 2 weeks before TTOM. 

Yasmin worked the best for me out of at least a dozen different ones I've tried over the years.  I still had headaches.  I still had all the other symptoms listed but to a lesser degree than I had experienced with any other pill.  I had killer, unrelenting headaches for the first solid 3 months of the Yasmin, and then they subsided to daily, all day long, somewhat responsive to analgesics for a short period, but then would always still return, but I got used to it and was willing to "put up" with it.

I still had all these problems with Yaz, but it made me crazy to the point of not being able to function, mental breakdown type of things, right at that TTOM, which is something that I have NEVER experienced on or off any pill.  I had extreme panic, dread, paranoia, depression, stress, anxiety, and was unbelievably grouchy (WAY more than normal ), crazy mood swings, and just tense and unable to function normally in general.  

I had no skin problems (but I've never had any to begin with).  I had no weight gain.  I actually think Yasmin and Yaz may have mild diuretic properties (though I don't know this for sure).  I do know that my BP has actually gone UP after stopping Yasmin/Yaz, and I am attributing it to this, since diuretics have always lowered my BP. 

I stopped the Yaz after 2 months (yes, it does normally take 3 months for BCP side effects to level off), but I literally did not feel I could take another pill. 

I've been off all BCPs for about 3 months now and am happier, have more energy, NO HEADACHES, no more constant and terrible daily back pain, and my libido is higher than ever.  I am getting a nonhormonal IUD in 2 weeks.  Regardless of my success/satisfaction with the IUD, I will NEVER take another BCP.  For me, they are highly toxic.

My symptoms/problems with the pill may not be everyone's.  Likewise, my horrible experiences with Yaz.  They are my personal experiences, for what they are worth.  Good luck!

I took Yaz for more than a year for PMDD.  First off, make sure you take it at night.  I was extremely exhausted for more than 3 weeks and couldn't figure it out.  I was taking my pill in the morning which was a mistake.  Eventually, however, your body adjusts and it doesn't affect your energy level as much.

Regarding weight loss, it had no affect on mine.  I was dieting at the time and never noticed a problem loosing weight.

I did have headaches for the first month.  Other than that, it was great.  I think I read somewhere that it actually helps with water retention.  Not quite sure about this, but I do retain fluid and never had any problems. 

Oh and one more thing, I had periods for about 8 or 9 months, then didn't have them anymore. 

Good luck.

Yeah, I had headaches and really bad water retention on other BC but Yaz is great (for me).

Remember no BC can physically make you put on weight, it's not a steroid, it doesn't affect your metabolism and make your body only need 400kcal!  BUT it does make your body think it's pregnant which in turn leads you to crave certain things and over-eat, but this reaction is so personal, plus if you're calorie counting it won't matter.

There are so many types of BC (over 200 pills!), I would say try it for 3 months then when you go back to your doc talk about what you liked what you didn't like etc.... until they find one that's perfect for you.  Just try to be aware of things, i.e. 'i'm so bloated' is because of BC or because you just ate really salty food, etc...

Hey, I must say that i was on yaz for about a year before i realized that it was making gain weight like crazy, i know this because i weigh more now than i did after i had my 3 rd child. Not only that i lost like 100% of my libido i didn't even want my man touching me ok it was that bad, i am only 28 so i was like what is wrong with me so i did a little research and found out that yaz does affect your libido level. Not to mention with all this going on i stopped taking it. The whole reason i wanted that kind was because it says it balances hormones so i was like ok maybe i will be able to maintain my pre pregnancy weight of 127lbs. But oh no that was not the case so NO i don't think you should. I feel better now i have more inergy i am loosing weight and not to mention my sex life is great now.

warning -- DO NOT TAKE YAZ. i repeat, do NOT take this drug. it is the poison of all birth controls. type in yaz problems in google and you'll see. it's the way for the government to make money, and they will deny that anything is happening. it seriously makes women crazy. i'm trying to let everyone know about this because it's not worth it whatsoever.

OP, I have been on Yaz for a little over a year and I LOVE IT!  I used to get horrible cramps during TTOM.  I have not have any bad side effects as far as I can tell. 

 

i see this is a zombie thread but this seems to be a common question.

ive been taking it about a year now, been on the pill for 2 years now. i have had no problems and it really helped shave the emotional peaks during TTOM. worth the extra $15/month for a non-generic.