vaginapagina | a bunch of random questions...

I have a few questions that are unrelated to each other...

I started taking Yasmin three Saturdays ago.. At first it was really difficult for me to remember to take it at the same time every day, but in the past week in a half Ive been able to be consistent. I'm not taking the pill as a form of birth control, as I am not sexually active, but I am really just trying to ease my period (I get atrocious cramps, and have ridiculously heavy bleeding throughout my period) I know that it is safe to skip periods, but do you think that it is an okay idea to do it this month since I have just started taking the pill? Should I wait til my cycle becomes regular on the pill before I stop taking the placebos? Im really very new to this, so any information would be fantastic.

Also, I havent experianced any side effects that I can detect, as of yet. No weight gain or excessive hunger (that is what I was mostly afraid of) or mood changes... Except for maybe a little nausea (is this a common side effect or do you think its unrelated?) How long does it usually take for sideeffects to become noticable? Do you think its possible that I might still experiance negative side effects?

Finally, My left breast has been sore on and off for about a year. At first I thought it was just coorelating with my menstrual cycle, but as of recently, it's intensified and become more frequent. Ive tried to do a self breast exam but can not detect any lumps.. I am a 36D so if there was a lump close to my actual chest, I feel like i wouldnt be able to detect it.. Do you think this is anything to worry about? Occasionally my right breast is sore as well, but it is no where near as frequent or intense as the left.

Anyway, sorry for all of the rambling... I am a 19y/o an I have never visited a gynocologist. I know I should, but Im away at school for most of the year so it's hard to find time or resources..

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The nausea is probably due to the yasmin. When I was takng it my nausea was quite bad but not as bad as it was on other pills.

One thing to keep in mind is that Yasmin has a relativly low hormonal dosage, so it is very important to take the pills on time.

To answer your first question, my doctor always tells me to allow my body to have a period at least the first month when I'm on a new pill. I suspect this may be because she wants to see how I react to it (sometimes my body has more painful periods on different kinds of HBC). Would it be possible for you to call your prescribing Dr and ask if it would be okay for you to go ahead and skip this month?

Nausea is a common side effect while your body is adjusting to a new pill. I personally experienced it while on yasmin. I would give your body a few cycles to fully adjust to the new hormones and see if any other side effects pop up.

I do not know about the breast pain. I have very large breasts also (36E), and have trouble doing self breast exams. My gyno checks them at my annuals though, and I would definitely report pain like this to her.

Being a university student myself, I undersand how hard it can be to find time and money to visit doctors. I do take advantage of my university's student health center and women's clinich when I can though. Based on your LJ user info you are a student at the University of Delaware, and your uni does have a women's clinic (website here (http://www.udel.edu/shs/womens/index.html)) that , offers routine gynecologic exams and treatment, contraceptive services, STI testing and treatment, EC, and anything else you could want from a GYN. I would encourage you to at least look into this option for gynecologic care, and possibly having your breast pain looked at.

First thing: "skipping periods" sounds benign, but what it is is changing the dosage on a medication. You really oughtn't do it long term without speaking to a doctor. I did it (on a doctor's recommendation) for three years and ended up bleeding every day for 6 weeks by the end of it.

Second: Side Effects sometimes develop early and sometimes develop late. From the moment I started taking yasmin, I had diarrhea every four days.

Third: Could it be a bra that doesn't fit quite right? Have you been professionall fitted lately?

What do you mean by 'long term'? Your description makes it sound as though you skipped your period once and ended up bleeding for 6 weeks. That seems very unlikely - at the end of three weeks you would have reached your placebo week, and break through bleeding rarely continues into the next pack if you take the time to have a break. Many people skip periods with no adverse side effects at all, and it's not generally something you need to ask your doctor about. Unless you mean stacking packs continually for more than two or three at a time?

OP - I would wait til things are settled, so you know what your base state is like on the pill before you start messing around with things. However, if it's particularly important to you, feel free, it won't do you any harm. Perhaps only delaying your period by a week would work better, if you are trying to avoid a specific event?

No side effects - consider yourself lucky and don't worry about them. Yes, nausea is common in the first month or so of taking the pill - try taking your pills with food, or taking them right before bed if you find you get nauseous within a couple of hours.

I skipped all but between 3-4 periods a year for three years (something like how Seasonale ends up working, but they were regular pills). Sorry for the confusion.

That is something you should talk to your doctor about, yep (I'm doing the same thing, on the advice of my doctor, and not getting any problems with it). But the OP was only talking about skipping her period for one month, which has been shown to not be harmful or dangerous in any way.

I did. This has been almost two years ago now.

It was a treatment for endometriosis.

I misunderstood - it seemed likely that if she was trying to skip a period right off the bat that maybe she was planning simply never to take the placebos - which is how they were proscribed to me about five years ago.

If you continue this particular treatment for too long, the vessels that feed the endometrial lining can become exposed to the inside of the uterus and cause constant low level bleeding. It took three years for this to happen to me, but my gynocologist says it's pretty common and it requires that a woman go back to a normal cycle for a time before she continues this treatment.

I'll bear that in mind. This is only really supposed to be temporary, but it's working for now. I also probably have a few more periods than you... it's a little random, I basically wait til I get spotting and PMS symptoms, and take that as my cue to have a period. I never had more than 5 or 6 periods a year while off the pill, and I'm actually keeping roughly the same schedule. When I was taking the pill the normal way and bleeding every month it was hell!

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woah chill out, thats not what I asked.

Previously, the pain had only been around the time of menstruation so I attributed it to that.

And who said Im not being monitered a doctor? Obviously someone prescribed me the BC, which means I do see a general practioner.

My post says that I AM NOT sexually active. My general practioner never encouraged me to go to a gyno, even for my period issues, because I am a virgin.

Hi,

corintha. We're commenting because your attitude and wording do not foster what we consider safe space (http://www.vaginapagina.com/index.php?title=VaginaPagina_FAQ#What_is_.22Safe_Space.22.3F) here in the community.

Specifically, we are concerned when you say, "Don't tell me to chill out... I obviously was lecturing you for the sake of your health and not for my own." No matter how good the intentions, VP is not the place for lectures. Telling the OP "There's no excuse for not seeing a doctor" is judgmental since it assumes that the OP's reasons for not having already sought for her pain are invalid.

If you'd like more information on safe space (http://www.vaginapagina.com/index.php?title=VaginaPagina_FAQ#What_is_.22Safe_Space.22.3F), please refer to these items in our FAQ (http://www.vaginapagina.com/index.php?title=VaginaPagina_FAQ):

--What are VP's rules? (http://www.vaginapagina.com/index.php?title=VaginaPagina_FAQ#What_are_the_rules.3F)
--What is "safe space"? (http://www.vaginapagina.com/index.php?title=VaginaPagina_FAQ#What_is_.22Safe_Space.22.3F)
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You are more than welcome to make a post over in

contact_vp or to contact us via email (http://www.vaginapagina.com/contact.php) If you'd like to talk more about this matter or clarify any points; we only ask that you refrain from commenting further here out of respect for the OP. For that reason, replies to this thread will be frozen.

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Tori
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