Yaz- Does It Help with Irritability?

I've been on Yaz now for almost 3 years and it is great. I'm not that prone to PMS symptoms anyway but it does seem to take the edge off. For me though Yaz has essentially eliminated my periods. I'll have one very light period every 6 months or so, otherwise nothing. I do still have the signs prior (craving sweets, continuous hunger, etc)but then nothing happens, and I LOVE it!!

I am about to turn 40 and have been getting extremely irritable at times over the past year or two. My periods are also very inconsistent in timing and intensity, whereas they used to be very predictable and similar every time. I tried Yaz for three months and it didn't seem to make much difference for me. Maybe I should've taken it longer, but my husband didn't like the idea of me taking meds if there wasn't a significant benefit from it. I have been trying to manage my anger and treat my family better, but I still have those days or moments when I really don't like myself(the way I'm acting/feeling) and have a REALLY hard time adjusting my mood. I would love to find a way to get my hormones under control and be the easygoing, calm person I used to be! Any ideas or help would be appreciated.

Everyone is different, but I have two adult daughters who took/take Yaz. One had to switch because it made her extremely emotional and weepy and did not help with acne/complexion like it was supposed to. The other one, still taking it, keeps getting yeast infections from it (she's never had this problem until Yaz) and hasn't helped her PMS any.

Sorry. No good news here, but you at least have to try it if your dr. recommends it, because it could be great for you. My daughters' dr. recommends ortho tricyclene when Yaz isn't working out. Good luck!

I am currently on the Yaz. I have heard both positive and negative thoughts about it. I find that it helps me a lot. I went on it because of extrememly painful and excessively (couldn't leave home for 12 hours)heavy periods. I was someone that had the mood issues around my cycle. I not only now don't seem to have the mood problems anymore, but I also no longer have a period. While I was told this is not the case for everyone, it is not unhealthy or unheard of with the Yaz. Hope that helps.

I was on BCP for 5 years before my son, after I couldnt take them. then we had my daughter almost 3 yeras ago. My obgyn didnt want to work with me about finding a pill that would work for me so we opted for hubby to be fixed since we are done having kids. about a year after my daughter was born my fam Dr put me on 10 mg of prozac because I was getting very emotional and crying all the time. it helped for about 10 months then it started doing the oppistite of what I needed it for. the irritability and crying was way worse. I went off the meds and then I started having issues with my periods- totally skipping them. I ended up changing gyns and the new one put me on YAZ.....I am into month 3 now, and it has helped alot ! I feel better emotionally than before I had my daughter! No bloating, no crying, nothing. the only thing I have seen so far is that instead of the 7 inactive pills you have 4 of them and I never start during them,my body waits till the day after I start a new pill pack........go figure. Dr. said it is ok and that my body is just still trying to adjust to being on them since it is only month 3.....ohter issue is that any desire is in the basement, and that may just be me,,,,,

Yes, everyone will react differently to medications. I used to be in BCPs for about 15 years. My OB switched me from something to Yasmin, which is very similar to Yaz (Yaz is lower dose than Yasmin). I LOVED Yasmin - it didn't make me retain water, and I had no issues w/ my mood.

3 years after I had my DS, my PMDD just got the best of me, so I gave in and asked my new OB about it. It was either an antidepressant or a BCP. I decided on BCP because I've been on antidepressants, and I didn't think it helped much with my mood. She gave me 3 mths samples of Yaz. The second day, I was more irritable, moody, weepy, and sooooo miserable!!!! I know you're supposed to try it for 3 months, but I could't take it anymore and stopped after the 3rd day.

Pregnancy changes your hormones, as well as being in your 30s. So give it a try and see what happens.

There's also a low-dose Prozac, Sarafem, that's supposed to help too. You take it right after ovulation until your period starts. I found that I've been getting irritable no matter what, so I've been trying antidepressants. I loved Lexapro but SSRIs makes me wake up at the crack of dawn. I've been on Wellbutrin for 2 weeks, and so far so good. It takes a while for some of these meds to work, so try it out for a month or so.

My sister in law took Yaz recently, she's 26 and has severe PMDD. She has it so bad, combined with other issues like depression and anxiety, that the Dr. put her on Yaz in hopes that it would help her. It did not benefit her at all. She turned into an angry, negative, mean person that had nothing nice to say. She always felt mad and said she just wanted to punch somebody out (frightening!). Hopefully, for the right person, Yaz would help with PMDD and I bet it probably has made a huge difference in some women's lives. This was just her experience, but I think it might have worked so poorly for her because she has other undiagnosed/untreated issues??? Hopefully Yaz could help you, PMDD is such a real and devastating ailment and I empathize that you deal with it. Best wishes!

NO!!!!!!!!!I have been taking it since Oct. and I swear I think my irritability has gotten worse>? My new doc preferred the old Yaz(dont know the name)which they do not make anymore, of course!! Sorry, hope it works better for you!

I was finding myself becoming more and more irritable a day or two a month. I finally talked with my ob-gyn about it and he said to get more calcium, that there is some correlation. I started taking a multi-vitamin with calcium every day (although I miss a few) and am not nearly as irritable as I was. Maybe this is just a placebo-affect on my part, but I'll take it! Good luck!

Hi there,
A couple weeks ago I went to my OB for my annual exam and spoke to her about the symptoms I have 3-4 days before my period. I've beenon BC since my teens and was hoping to switch to Yaz since I too had seen the commercials and figured Yaz could help me with my anxiety, mood swings, frustration and overall poor disposition . My Dr told me that being someone who is already on a BC pill, there's little chance I would see much change if I were to switch to Yaz. She told me that most people who've never been on a BC pill will see changes if they started on Yaz, but that it's not likely someone who'd been on BC for several years would see noticible changes. She recommended a very small dosage of Prozac to take the week before my period started and also during the week of my period. My Dr says it's been studied that Prozac isn't a drug your body becomes dependant upon, and you can quit taking it at any time; no need to be weaned off with small doses. If I don't notice much change in 3 months, then the dosage can be adjusted; unlike Prozac, you can't change Yaz's dose. I've just started my first week of taking Prozac, so I can't give you results yet. :) However, I did want to let you know about the option. I just know from my experience that I didn't want to give up my regular predictable periods to try something that I wasn't sure if it'd work and would cost me more $$ to buy, and possibly change my regularity and intensity.
There is the chance, however, that since you've not been on the pill that perhaps Yaz will help you.
Good luck!

I tried YAZ, and honesty was worse off with it, I was so moody that my husband begged me to look for something different...

Hi- I had major problems with depression when I was on BCP in the past, even worse when I tried the 3-month injectible DepoProvera. (Worst 3 months of my life.) It was so bad for me that I avoided hormonal birth control. I was not careful and not aware of alternatives at the time and after an unplanned pregnancy, my doctor recommended a low-progestin pill. I tried Alesse (generics are Lessina and Aviane), and have been extremely happy with it for 5 years.

The following website discusses different side effects of different types of pills.
http://contraception.about.com/od/thepill/l/choosingapill...

I hope this is helpful! :)

Hi,
I took Yasmin which is described as Yaz's "sister" pill several years ago. I had horrible mood problems once I went on it that I never had before. I can't say whether it was just me, or what, but that's the experience I had - I'd ask your doctor if they think it will help with that or not.

It did not help my 17 yr. old - actually made PMDD worse for her. She was put on it to get rid of severe cramps caused by possible endometriosis. After switching twice to other birth control, she has one that is working... not sure exact name... Ortho... something. Not all medicine works the same way for everyone. Sometimes it is trial and error to find the one that works for you.