Yasmin : Oral Contraceptive

Before taking this pill I used sudocrem which cleared up my skin almost completely, when I started taking yasmin my skin became spotless! However, I immediately noticed an increase in my appetite and I generally felt down all the time despite usually being quite a cheery person. I carried on taking the pill for over a year until I gave up. I am a student at university and I'd lost all motivation and was convinced the pill was involved. Since coming off of it I have suffered terrible mood swings, irregular periods and quite bad skin breakouts. I wouldn't recommend this pill at all! It may give you clear skin but it's not worth all the other stuff, coming off of it isn't easier either!

I'm only on my second month but seriously considering giving up. In my first few weeks on being on Yasmin I couldnt eat breakfast (i take the pill just before i got to bed) and was hospitalised on one occasion when i fell unconscious and had a mini-seizure (im only 17) Nausea has gone now, but read so many bad medical problems arising from this I dont want to continue, but also dont want to experience the breakouts people are having from quitting (im still in the bad breakouts from being on it!) My face is sore, puffy, red and due to a skin/joint condition i have its increasing my scarring (and giving me more sports to scar!) It has now spread all over to my back and I've never had it this bad, most of them are really painful. Going to dermatologist for other alternatives.

I was prescribed this after I decided my previous birth control wasn't working out for me. I was excited because my doctor said that this helped women with their acne and even reduces hair growth. Being of Greek heritage and having suffered from acne for 10+ years, I thought why not! Big mistake! Within a month my acne worsened and I don't mean a few breakouts here and there. My acne was actually worse than when I was a teenager! After a month, I called my doctor in hysterics and switched back to my old birth control (ortho-cyclen) which helped my skin once upon a time. Unfortunately, Yasmin messed up my skin so much, it took almost a year of various topical and antibiotic treatments to get it back to my pre-Yasmin state.

Not worth the cons! I took this for about 2 years. The acne didn't disappear until about 2 months after taking it. I would break out during my period, so my doc said I could skip the white pills and keep taking the actual meds, and so I never got a period or ever broke out! After I lost my insurance, I started paying $60/mo and finally gave up. This medicine wrecked my system and after 6+ months of being clean from it, the acid reflux is gone, but I still have bloating and my hair has thinned out noticeably. I'm only 23! Now that my acne doesn't stem from hormones as much as it did when I was younger, I would not begin birth control again. (By the way, I am using Nioxin for my hair and it's worked wonders!!)

Physical side effects were manageable but still unpleasant. I had diarrhea often, strong headaches that made my eyes hurt and I couldn't bear to listen to any sound, my forehead would throb in pain. Often I would feel numbness in my left arm and left leg. Both legs would hurt and shake while trying to sleep, kinda like restless legs. Couple of times I felt a chest tightness, like losing my breath. I'm a skinny woman and all of sudden I had bloated belly and was retaining water even though my diet stayed the same (I suffer from celiac sprue so I follow a gluten-free diet). I felt nausea everyday. My skin seemed to get a better texture though but I had a breakout of cystic acne that seemed to get worse. Anyway I feel defeated that I was forced to quit this pill, unfortunately I became severely depressed and tried to commit suicide after 3weeks on Yasmin. I was crying and feeling miserable without any explanation, I just wanted to die. I know a lot of people will say that I should have kept taking it for 3months to see results but I'm sure that in my case I would end up dead if I kept on. As soon as I quit taking it I became my normal self, sure I still have acne but at least I'm not an emotional physical rollercoaster. It didn't work for me but maybe it will work for you.

Took this Birthcontrol for probably close to 2 years. I would say it reduced my acne to some degree, but nothing that I was ever super impressed with. I stopped taking this birth control though. It actually made me quite sick. Severe mood sings, horrible chest pains, continuous head aches etc.... All of which went away after stopping this medication. I also gained weight on this.

Funny thing, I used to take this OC for almost ten years then had our baby and now my body can just not handle this one at all anymore. For improving skin, I can not recommend it anymore. My skin used to be ok before. Now my chin and jawline are full of cystic, painful pimples. I am tired and moody. I didn't gain weight though...which is good. The other side effects are even worse than the breakouts...not the BCP for me.

DO NOT USE BIRTH CONTROL FOR ACNE AND IF YOU DO, DO NOT STOP IT UNTIL YOU WANT TO CONCIEVE. MY SKIN WAS PERFECT AND I WENT ON ORTHO-LO SO I WOULDNT GET PREGNANT AND I WENT OFF IT BECAUSE OF HOW MOODY I WAS. LET ME TELL YOU THAT WENT OFF IT, I DISCOVERED MY FIRST PIMPLE AND WITHIN A MONTH I HAD FULL BLOWN ACNE EVERYWHERE! I WENT ON REGULAR ORTHO, CLEARED MY SKIN UP IN 4 MONTHS BUT MADE ME GAIN ABOUT 10 POUNDS. WENT OFF IT, ACNE TEN TIMES WORSE THEN EVER. MY FRIEND ALSO GAINED 30 POUNDS WITH YASMIN. THE SIDE EFFECTS OF BIRTHCONTROLS ARE NOT WORTH IT AND EVERY SINGLE TYPE OF BIRTH CONTROL HAS NEGATIVE SIDE EFFECTS.. GO TO A DERMATOLIGIST FOR YOUR ACNE!!!!!!!!!!!!

I took Ocella (generic Yasmin) from the ages of 19-23. Before that I took Ortho Tri Cyclen Lo from the ages of 16-19. I only was put on the Yasmin because when I tried to quit Ortho I broke out terribly (only ever had mild acne). What they don't tell you is that when you go OFF birth control pills, your acne often gets MUCH worse than it ever was, because it does such unnatural things to your hormones. Google around and look at the acne after the pill thread on here, you will find a million horror stories of women who took the pill, went off, then developed severe cystic acne. After about 4 years on Yasmin I noticed that I couldn't think straight, always had debilitating headaches, and my muscles were weak even though I worked out a lot. My doctor said that the Yasmin was causing my migraines, and that developing migraines while on the Pill meant I was at an increased risk of having a stroke. Stopping it was hell. I had no idea what I was getting into. I lost at least 1/3 of my hair and had a receding hairline. My hair started growing in gray in places. I had uncontrollable acne that did not respond to BP or extreme elimination diets and supplements. It took about 6 months before my body started feeling normal-ish again and a year before I tamed the acne with Atralin (a brand of tretonin). Don't mess with this stuff, or any pill. Try the copper IUD or some other non hormonal method if you need BC. It is just not worth the risk to your body and skin.

Ive never taken such a terrible pill in my life. I've always had a very high sex drive with my partner until taking these pills. On the 7th day of the monthly break from taking the pill did my sex drive start to come back so I know it's definitely this pill. I'm a very strong minded person and this pill makes me cry about everything which is definitely not me lol. I'm moody, angry and my anxiety is sky high. Never ever again.