Yaz/bcp

[nicolewi]

My 15 year old ended the school year in a really good place after a very roller coaster, tough freshman year. She has anxiety and is seeing a therapist and taking sertraline. She started birth control pills in early June for her acne. I was super excited about this, and I really expected them to work well for her. However, I am now pretty convinced, a couple pill packs in, that they are making her depressed, especially at the very start of each pack. She was trying to skip her period by skipping the placebo pills, but she’s basically just had a ton of spotting anyway. We were trying to ride it out for a couple months but I now think she just needs to change or discontinue.

I’m obviously going to talk to the doctor and look into discontinuing or switching, but we can’t get to the doctor until sometime next week at the earliest. This will be day three of the new pill pack. She supposed to go to a Lakehouse with her friends this coming weekend. If she stops taking the pills, will she immediately get her period? We are trying to get through this weekend before making changes, but last night she had a huge depressed, crying scene about going back to school.

Also, she’s on a generic Yaz. Did anyone have issues like this with Yaz? If so, did a different kind of pills work for you, or did you have more of the same problems?

[noodleoo]

I don't have experience with Yaz specifically, but I tried going on BCP continuously last year to avoid depression/PMS issues and it did not work for me. After about 5 weeks on it continuously, I'd have constant spotting. My dr told me to stop the pills for a few days, have a brief withdrawal bleed, and then started taking them again. It was really annoying. My doctor said we could try switching pills until we found one that worked for me, but I didn't have the energy to pursue that. The withdrawal bleed while on BCP was really light though, I think I only needed to use pantyliners, and only lasted a few days, so it wasn't too bad. Being on the pill reduces the building of the uterine lining so it is a lot less than a normal period.

[statgirl]

I was on Yasmin for years and had depression/anxiety each placebo week. My doctor tried to prescribe Prozac for the week before/during my period and I wasn’t comfortable with that. I asked for continuous pills instead and got put on Seasonale. I could go ten weeks without spotting (not the whole pack), so we agreed to do “placebo” week when I started spotting and make sure to have at least 3 active weeks between. The “smoothness” of the pills made the anxiety week easier to handle as it was not as often. I would try a stronger pill myself and see if she could take it continually.

[wanderingback]

Everyone’s body is different but if she stops the pills there is a chance she will have bleeding. That’s what happens during the placebo week- it’s not a period but a "withdrawal bleed" due to change in hormones.

[waverly]

My body didn’t like Yaz.

I went on the generic of Loestrin 24. My body likes the 24 pills better than 21.

[heygrey]

It's been years since I was on Yaz, but it was not the right fit for me. I started it a few months before H and I got married and we had a lot of stress in that time period anyway, but I was very extra. Once the stress died down and my extra emotions did not, we finally connected it to the bcp. I made different contraceptive choices as an adult, but for a teen I would absolutely ask to try another medication.

[gretchenindisguise]

L got more anxious on Yaz.

Now she's on loestrin and takes it continuously with no breaks. It had worked well for her.

[luckystar2]

I’ve definitely heard some issues with yaz. No personal experience. I’m on a generic of loestrin and I love it. It helps with my acne and I’m able to take it continuously. The only time I have issues is if I miss pills or weirdly with the Covid vaccine (definitely a known issue though). When I spot I have to just stop my pills and have a withdrawal bleed and start again. I can’t get the spotting to stop otherwise.

Yeah if she stops the pills she will most likely bleed especially if she is already having some spotting issues I’d assume she will bleed after stopping. Sometimes mine can be like a day delayed but would still be soon after.