YAZ : Oral Contraceptive

First I have to describe the type of person I am (I've stopped taking it) and was before Yaz. I'm a tomboy, a very competitive distance runner, and a competitive student. At first (first 3 months), I liked Yaz. I was beginning to see a change in my very heavy period, my acne cleared, and hey, a extra bra size to boost the confidence--always a plus (ok well for those of the light-chested variety). I rarely noticed any emotional changes initially. I was home. Life was good. I had a new doting bf who I texted and talked to ALL THE TIME. And I never took notice of how much we talked. What I did start to notice was how I didn't have the urge to go for a 5 mile run in the morning like I used to nor did I care what grade I made in college as intently as I had before. That semester went relatively well. Sure, I got Bs instead of As and I dropped from running 7 + miles to 6, to 5, 4, and so on..but everything was still ok, I kept taking Yaz during the summer...Then I went to Ireland for study abroad...two of my four months from being away from my family and bf was HELL. I was depressed--didn't want to do ANYTHING (much less run or schoolwork), I was an emotional- homesick wreck. I've always (without YAZ) been a VERY independent person and girlfriend--ALWAYS wanted to travel the world and get out of my town and now that I'm off this poison, I still do! Last 2 months have been great. Ireland is AMAZING and I'm still talking to the bf and family, but not 24/7--it's made both our lives easier. I'm running again (back at 3 miles) and doing better in school. I mean I don't blame my WHOLE emotional struggles on Yaz--sure I was bound to feel homesick but I swear being on this drug made me not be able to let things go and that's who I AM...I currently looking for another birth control pill and hoping for better results.

This pill was the only conclusion doctors could come to of the reason behind my blood clots - i've flown overseas and have had major surgery with no complications whatsoever. I go on the pill for 3 months, and bam. I'm not trying to deter people, as apparently what happened to me only occurs in 1 in every 10000 people, but it has forever prohibited me from using any hormonal contraception again and pregnancy could be a very serious issue. Based on all of this, I wouldn't particularly recommend this contraceptive. After what it put me through, I wouldn't wish that pain (or scare) upon anyone.

I was put on Yaz a little over a year ago to help with my acne and did notice a slight improvement over the year (nothing to jump up and down about). However, I recently decided the heath risks and expense of the prescription were not worth the small benefits so I stopped. I broke out BAD! Worse than before I was put on the pill for sure. Its been 2 months since stopping now and its only getting worse. I wish I would have never gone on it to begin with.

I took Yaz for the recommended three months, but I didn't see any improvement in my skin, it appeared to get much worse over time, and it was not worth the crazy emotions it was putting me through. However, I know a lot of women have luck with this pill and it did a good enough job of regulating my periods, so I would still recommend trying it.

this pill is very helpful if you want to clear up skin, i've suffered from acne on my back for years now and after taking this pill it has finally begun to clear it up and its nice to have regular periods for a change! but i've had many bad side-effects to this pill as seen above! the nausea has cleared up after the first month! but the depression is consistent and i have really heavy periods with really bad pains now! and i've started to get thrush which never happened before this! i'm not saying this pill caused all of these but they have only started since i've been on it! i hope this information has been helpful....it does clear up skin for some people but may also cause uncomfortable side effects!

I can't wait to get off this pill.

I'm not really one to write reviews but I figure I might as well, just in case someone else has or will experience a similar side effect. Overall, I liked Yaz as a birth control, but in my case while taking it I suddenly began getting these little pimples along my lipline. It was extremely unattractive and very frustrating as of course no one wants bumps on or near their mouth. You might be thinking, maybe it was cold sores? But it was not, I know what cold sores look/feel like, I get about 2 a year sadly, and these bumps were completely different. They were like literal pimples that I'd get elsewhere on my face yet were occurring directly on my lip line. I had NEVER dealt with this before, and to make matters worse I was breaking out in these little pimples just as often as the acne elsewhere on my face (moderate acne). I couldn't stand it but I didn't know what to do! Eventually I stopped taking Yaz but the bumps still didn't stop. Eventually I came to the conclusion that the only thing to deal w/ the bumps and get them to go away in addition to my other acne was to go on accutane, which I'm now on and the bumps have stopped. I only made the Yaz lip bump connection when I did a google search on it and saw that other people had experienced similar lip bumps, up until then I had no idea what it was and was constantly cutting out foods thinking I had developed an allergy to something I was eating. Anyway, I'm sorry this is SO long but I just felt I should share my experience in case anyone else has dealt with something similar.

I wouldn't recommend this to my worst enemy... unless we're talking about Octomom. I think if you have ever watched a half hour of daytime tv, you would know this stuff is terrible. There is a lawsuit war raging against this BCP for sever side effects. It messed me up so badly I didn't know if I'd ever recover... I got this to help treat my moderate acne, like promised in the commercials. Not so much. I had the hugest most repulsive acne surge I've ever had in my entire life. Possibly there was some mood swings in there too, but it could have been me just being totally depressed about my gross face, chest and back. I got it free from Planned Parenthood, but I ended up paying with acne scars and a vacation photo album full of me hiding my face in humiliation....

Not worth it. Try other BCPs.

I wouldn't recommend it. I know that if your desperate to try anything it sounds like a good medication to take, but try something else, possibly antibiotics or some other alternative. I really don't think the side effects are worth the risk. I wish I would have listened to the bad reviews and never taken it. I hope the new medication I'm going to take (a dioretic that controls hormones) will balance me back out.