ok. this might be a little drawn out, i tend to do that, so bear with me haha.

i started taking estrostep fe april of '05. i was fine til probably.. 6-7 months into taking it. after that, it went downhill. i was getting cramps so bad that i was basically in bed every night (they seemed worse at night than during the day), and sometimes didn't even go to work/school because of it. i just felt like crap. i developed ibs (got medicine that helped that), but after a year on it, i went to my dr. and she switched me to yaz.

so i started that on april 30th '06. the first month- month & a half was GREAT. i've been reading the posts here about it and thinking 'god i'm lucky!'. no breakthrough bleeding, no acne, no weight gain, etc.
but for the past.. 8 days i've had constant headaches, similar to mild migraines. they're HORRIBLE and make it really hard to function. i've been getting hot flashes for the past 2 days and feeling really 'weird', i don't know how else to describe it. this all started while i was pmsing, so i was just attributing it to that.. but now i've had my period, and i still have the headaches. other than the headaches, i don't have any other complaints about yaz (other than the cramping throughout my whole period, usually i'd get period related cramps 1-2 days before, & the day of, then they'd stop, with yaz i have them 1-2 days before, and the 3 days of my period, but i can deal with those, these headaches are what have me down).

i called my regular dr. yesterday and he phoned me in some headache medicine, which seems to be working, thank god.
i'm going to my obgyn tomorrow to talk to her about everything, because my parents both think that since i've been on bc i haven't been as healthy as i was before i started it.

my mom was unable to take bc when she was younger, she felt like crap 24/7 and my dad just wouldn't let her put herself through that. i'm very similar to her in every way, so maybe i'm just not cut out to take the pill? last time we talked, my dr. told me that if the yaz didn't work out, we'd talk about mirena (she said it's usually not used in women that haven't had kids though, but that we'd still discuss it).. but after reading the posts about it, i'm a little skeptical about it.. although i know that people that have good results don't usually post on these boards.

what do you guys think? are some people just not meant to take the pill? any suggestions as to what i should/could do? my mom thinks i need to take a break from the pill, and let my body get back to normal.. but i do have a boyfriend, and i'm completely paranoid about getting pregnant (he wears a condom every time right now, and i'm still paranoid about it).
i think if i weren't on anything, i wouldn't get my periods reguarly, which would stress me out even more! i'm very tiny, 92lbs., and have never been regular, & when i did get my period, they were very heavy and came with painful cramping (had to go on naproxen [sp?] for those), one of the reasons i went on bc in the first place.

so, any suggestions would be great. i know you guys aren't doctors, but anything would help right now.

have you ever considered trying the Nuvaring? I cant do the BC pills either but nuvaring works fine for me.

i think my dr. mentioned that the visit when we decided to try yaz.
what's the difference though? less hormone? i'd be worried it'd get 'lost'.. but i'm just a paranoid person haha. i'll ask her about it tomorrow when i see her though. any other suggestions from anyone?

HI
Over the years I have had similar problems to you - I find that I react badly to most drugs in some way or other. I now can't take the combined or mini pills.

I have recently had mirena inserted because they said it was a good way to control my endometriosis. They said the drugs would not affect me as they don't enter the bloodstream and only have a local effect. But they are wrong, I have been dizzy, with migraines and loads stomach cramping. Ive had it in for 2 months and because they can't find the strings its proving difficult to remove.

I would not advise anyone to get it. They told me it could be removed anytime with no hassle - well Ive been trying to get it reomved for the last 4 weeks and its loads hassle.

Sorry to be so negative but I would not advise Mirena for you as you may be stuck with it for far longer than you want!

i went to the dr. today, and the mirena wasn't even mentioned actually.
she decided to try me on the nuva ring.. i'm starting it tonight, so we'll see how it goes! i really hope it helps with everything. i'm going back to see her at the end of august to decide if the nuva ring is 'for me' or if i need to switch again. i'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Good luck! I think you'll like it :-)
It cant get lost inside of you, it cant only go as far as your vagina... you're all good :-)

It sounds like you have a sensitivity to ALL types of hormonal birth control, which would include the nuvaring.

Give it a try and see what you think, but I personally wouldn't advocate using any hormones at all, based on what you posted about your sensitivities to hormones.

If you're looking for a natural method of contraception, there's this great device called the LadyComp (do a google search) which can chart your cycles and tell you when it's safe to have sex because you're not ovulating. There's a smaller one called the Pearly which is less expensive and might be a better option for you depending on your financial situation. I just ordered one for myself. And I'm excited!

well i'm on day 1 of the nuvaring, and so far everything seems to be fine.. i know it's only a day into it, but at least i'm not having any issues with it yet!

kszan- i hope this works, if it doesn't, i'm not sure what i'll do. maybe i'll look into what you said, if the nuvaring doesn't work out. i'm hoping it does :)

Kszan be careful if you are JUST using ladycomp. There have been studies (unfortunately you can't get a copy for free anymore) testing fertility monitors and as it stands, they aren't accurate enough to be used as effective birth control. But a super way to do it is to chart your fertility signs (relying on this most heavily as your fertility indicator), and use the lady comp or whatever as one more check. Taking Charge of Your Fertility is a must read if you haven't.