I'M 39 AND HAVING PERI SYMPTOMS AND MAJOR PMS. MY DR GAVE ME SAMPLES OF YAZ BIRTH CONTROL TO TRY. HAS ANYONE HAD ANY LUCK WITH THIS?

First I need to say all women react differently to bcp,but I tried Yasmin and it made me very depressed.I felt horrible.It was also making my legs cramp horribly.I switched and now am on Sprintec-much less expensive and makes me feel so much better.GOD-bless

My daughter uses Yaz for PMDD (she is 17) and has had great success with it for 3 years now.

PART OF MY PROBLEM IS I'M WORRIED BECAUSE OF MY AGE (39) AM I TOO OLD FOR BCP'S?

I don't use yaz but my really good friend uses it for her peri symptoms. She is 37 and seems to be ok on it.

I'm 40 and have been on bcp for the past 5 years and so far my yearly check-ups have all been clean and good so there's no complications from it. I have this years check-up next week and I'm going to talk to her about possibly switching to Yaz or Yasmine cuz the pms (pmdd) is really starting to cuz some major problems for me in my life and I need to do something before I completely lose my mind.
I'll let you know what she has to say if anything about our age/bcp.

I had been on Yasmin (not Yaz) for over 6 years while the whole perimenopause thing was going on. Controlled the excessive bleeding, which was interfering with work, and my doctor had me on a 78 day cycle. Then she tried Yaz - new generation of Yasmin, or so it said. Mood swings, depression, more depression. Back to Yasmin. OKay.

Then time to step down the hormones and here comes Angelique. The black hole of depression, including suicidal thoughts, constant crying, extreme anxiety and sleeplessness. Hey, but no hot flashes.

The day I found myself trying to calculate a lethal dose of my blood pressure meds was the day I stopped taking the hormones. Within a week the sun was shining again.

So - It is very highly individual as to your reaction to the hormones. And while they may have the same thing in them, it is made diffferently in different drugs so you will react differently to it. IE the progesterone in Yasmin was acceptable to my body but the progesterone in Yaz was not. And there was nothing in Angelique that I could tolerate.

Dear'natesnonni'

Very interesting and informative!When my Gyno.switched me to Angelique I too had some similar symptoms to yours but the worst was the break out bleeding.I discovered the Estradoil was too low so experimented with doubling the dose.It worked.I did tell my Gyn. who was not amused but I think rather blown by the fact that I had figured out that what he had prescribed me was too weak as he was secretly hoping I would get off the HRT.

It makes me crazy that I live in a country where we have no resources to Bio-identicals so have to go with the synthetics.You are right every one does have their own reaction to all Meds. but sometimes I feel we have to be as pro-active about our own health needs as possible to get what is right for us.
Anyway,I am glad the sun is shining again!

Warm Wishes
Elizabeth

Dear'shelby'
Have never taken the Yaz but my daughter does and she is 34 and doing well.I went straight into the HRT,albeit synthetic,at age 39 and it has worked for me.
The Doctor has given you the samples so why not give them a fair try.Remember do not expect overnight improvements.They may need a while to kick in but eventually you will know if they are right for you

Lots of Luck.
Elizabeth

No I haven't but I thought about going back on bcp for that same reason. Then again why put off the envitable?

i had a horrible experience on yaz a few years ago, when over 5 days i got hit with the worst physical/mental/mood symptoms imaginable - so many & so intense. immediately calmed down when i stopped taking it.

i share this not to scare you, but to reiterate that there is tremendous variation in how we respond to bcps. what works fine for one person may be horrible for another. i do know that yaz is being prescribed alot for pmdd (& maybe pcos). you may want to google around to get more general info about that &/or the differences between different bcps (& talk to your doctor about it). if it doesn't work, you can always discontinue.

it seems that current medical thought is that it is ok to stay on the bcps into one's 40s as long as you don't have risk factors/lifestyle factors that preclude it.

good luck & let us know how you do.
ellen

We are all so different in how we respond to hormones. That being said there are a few key differences between Yasmine, Yaz and hrt/Angelique.

Yasmine was the original bcp which contain a synthetic ethinyl estradiol 3mg/0.03mg of drospirenone (progestin). Yasmine is now made in the generic form by different manufacturers due to being off patent. Many women have problems with the generic that that did NOT have while on the originally forumla. However, some were forced onto the generic due to insurance only covering what is cheaper. ie - once a drug goes generic it becomes cheaper than the original. I have heard that if your doctor writes on the script that the original Yasmine is "medically necessary and no substitutions are allowed" then the insurance MUST cover that formula.

Yaz came onto the market because Yasmine patent was expiring. Pharma revamped it and re Patented it by lowering the dose of drospirenone. Now it contains the same synthetic ethinyl estradiol 3mg but with 0.02mg of drospirenone. Drug reps have handed out the "new" bcp to drs offices and that's part of why it's become more widely distributed. Some women have been given these samples to try and it worked well. While others did fine on the original (yasmine)but not on the new (Yaz). You don't know how you will respond until you try it.

Angelique is the hrt formula for post Meno patients. However, it does appear to contain bio identical estradiol (will have to double check that fact) but with the synthetic progestin/Drospirienone. 1mg and .5 respectively. If this much lower dose and ratio didn't work when previously the Yasmine or Yaz did, then your doctor can add more estradiol (via a low dose bio ident patch or a bio ident oral pill (both available fda approved and covered by most insurances.) Adding more supplemental estradiol (if you need it) is NOT a problem because you will have a continuous dose of Progestin onboard. Doctor only has to monitor you to verify this. Biggest problem with this Angelique is the much higher ratio of progestin to estradiol. Works for some, but not for some P sensitive women.

Best regards to all, J

Hope this info is helpful. I am not pushing any these or any type of bcp's. Just wish I had had a doctor explain to me (5 years ago) when I had a bad reaction to trying a bcp that there are many many many different types of bcps to try. You just need to find the right ratio of e to p, or the typ of p that your body can tolerate. I still may switch to a bcp (from hrt currently taking). Waiting another month or 2 to see where my levels are at and how problematic my periods are.

One more fallacy that the drug companies have pushed.... Is the idea that these new "low dose" bcps are supposedly superior to the older higher dose bcp's. These lower dose (ie 20 - 30 mg of estradiol) hit the market back in the 90's and were primarily targeted at the over 35 age group. We all know the warnings about not smoking and risks for the over 35 age group in regard to taking the pill. Soooo, big pharma heavily marketed these to get more of us to stay on the pill instead of discontinuing them in the mid 30's. Bottom line is that your risks are low providing you don't smoke and have regular checkups. Problem with these ultra low dose pill is that some of us need a slightly high dose bcp to totally suppress the peri symptoms.

Ooops, forgot something else. Some, not all docs, do NOT like the Generic forms of hormones. They have heard it numerous times from their patients to understand that there is definitely a difference in a formula. But, again it may not be a problem for you until you try the drug and note the differences, if any.