Hey all:
I posted some time ago about concerning symptoms I was having. These included severe imbalance, tremors, profound fatigue, weird pain and other strange things. Well, all MRIs came back clear. And the neurologist even stated that my cervical and thoracic MRIs were "completely, utterly, normal". Yet, my exam was completely abnormal.
I had two neurologists for the price of one, so I felt comfortable in their care. Anyway. I was slated to see them again in 6 months. During that time, I became worse. It was almost as if I was walking through slowly drying cement. I felt like my whole body was shutting down, even though I knew that wasn't the case.
So I began to ponder...what were the newest medications I had been taking? Synthroid - which I couldn't do much about since I have to be on it. The other, Yaz birth control. This was originally prescribed by my gynecologist for painful periods. In desperation, I stopped the Yaz, thinking perhaps it was compounding my problems.
Within a matter of days, my neurological symptoms faded. I no longer had to hold onto the wall when taking a shower. I was no longer bumping into furniture like a pinball. The tremor was gone. I was astonished! What the heck??
So I just had my appointment with the neuro. He said he understood that I must be frustrated, and that even though the tests are not showing anything, what I was experiencing was real. And I responded, "well, let me tell you what has transpired." He was amazed. He was mystified. And he confided that he was dreading the appointment, because he thought I would be in much worse shape. So he and the other neuro performed the standard exam again, and it was much better, if not totally normal. I had the Babinski reflex and now it is normal. I had clonus, now I don't. I had gait imbalance. Now I don't. They had me walk down the hall, and on my way back, they were looking at each other, giddy with amazement. I felt like a very interesting specimen.
I am writing this because it may help others who are experiencing troubling symptoms, and who may be taking Yaz. I have another appointment in 3 months, but in the meantime, the neuros are going to look into the Yaz mystery. They did run a B12 test just to make sure I'm not low (but I think I've had one recently).
Isn't this bizarre? My gp said that sometimes menopause can cause neurological symptoms. But that would be due to a lack of hormones, not a surplus. It is possible that the Yaz could have interacted with other medications. Also, I might understand if it was some foreign chemical causing the problem. But hormones? I am concerned that perhaps some balance in my body is out of whack, and the Yaz exacerbated it. I just don't know.
So hopefully I will have an answer soon. But if you are taking Yaz and having weird issues, and are not diagnosed with MS, you might want to look into it. If anyone has any input on this, comments are certainly welcome...
This is very interesting. I actually am dealing with something quite the opposite and I want you to hear about it. I have been on birth control pills for over 15 years, the time has come to get off of them and I was seriously considering a tubal.
I went to my MS specialist first, who said you can have the surger, but you MUST stay on the birth control pills because the newest studies show that the Estrogen in the pills prevents relapses and Im afraid to take you off of it.
Then, I went to my Gyn, and repeated this. He said if you are staying on the pill anyway, why do the surgery? I spent 3 months talking to people about this and everyone agreed, get off the pill, have the surgery. So, before I went as far as surgery, I decided to get off the pill on my own and see what happned. (My husband was hating this idea, but we did use every other form of Birth control. I do have MS and do take Rebif, pregnancy is NOt an option right now). Long story short, within 3 weeks of stoping the pill, I had the worst relapse ever. It took 3 weeks before I started to feel better, 2 rounds of Solu-Medrol and a hospitalization. The reason they think, is the drop in Estrogen....
With that said, I of course came clean to my doctors, my MS doc gave me "I told you so" and my GYN is waiting for the all clear to schedule the tubal (cant keep using back up birth control) and has put me back on Birth control pills...guess what? IM on Yaz.
And ive now been on it for almost 5 weeks and have not had a single problem.
What you experienced sounds vaguely like a relapse, although you are not yet dx with MS, right?? It could be any number of things...really....but if you research MS and Estrogen, you will see that the doctors have very good evidence for keeping us on Estrogen while we have MS...(I had to find out the hard way); I think its great that you have neurologists looking into this. Get your GYN involved too. Find out whats going on in your body that caused you to have symtoms whcih pointed this way...I hate to be the one to tell you this, but what you described here, sounds like at the time of your first visit you were having a relapse, which no one picked up on..and as of your second visit, where the improvements showed, you were over it. If you have Relapsing/Remitting MS, what you described fits that to a T.
OF course, it could be that you cant tolerate the YAZ, but in general, I dont think YAZ is harmful to anyone, and I do think its widely prescribed because it is a low dose Estrodial Birth Control pill, perfect for those of us with MS.
Please keep us informed. This is really interesting.
My gp said that sometimes menopause can cause neurological symptoms. But that would be due to a lack of hormones, not a surplus.
I find this interesting as well. I experienced bouts of vertigo in my 30s over a period of about a year. I now know it's possible that this was MS related and I distinctly recall that EVERY single time it happened it was right before my period. My optic neuritis (which is what precipitated my current visits to doctors and subsequent MS diagnosis) also happened at a similar or same point in my cycle.
I have really been wondering about hormones/hormone balance and a potential relationship to MS (or MS symptoms) and did find some stuff about it on the internet. Nik, could you explain more about the estrogen link?
fancycat, good luck to you. I hope you find your answer soon. That said, it sounds like you might have discovered it yourself... there is so much about all this stuff no one knows! No matter how good or accurate the empirical basis is, I believe we all still have to really listen to our own bodies. (By the way, I am also hypothyroid and although it doesn't sound like it's the synthroid, some of the symptoms you cited can occur when your dose is not correct.)
hey fancy-
i saw a nutritionist who said that b/c basically sucked the nutrients out of you. i always felt pretty good on b/c, but when i got off it and started taking magnesium, it was incredible. my symptoms still progressed but they were sooo much more manageable and interfered with my life less.
i hope you're doing well in chitown! i just went to the UofC neuro dept. good guys there.
Ah, I just found a really interesting site that talked a little about progesterone; that there are studies indicating that symptoms worsen when the progesterone to estrogen ratio is low. (Nice to know this wasn't my imagination!) Also talked about a possibility (citing a study in animals) that progesterone may promote the formation of new myelin sheaths. I know there's more work to be done on this but it's very interesting!
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