I had never heard of Yasmin until I dropped by my doctors to tell him I needed a new pill yet again! The background on this was that I used to take Dianette the contraceptive pill that also helps prevent acne but as this is one of the most strongest pills on the market you are advised not to take for a long period of time so after 5 year I swapped to the dreaded Microgen which was really just your average pill I didn't have any babies but I got a lot of spots which was the 2nd worse thing to babies in my mind. So I went back on to Dianette and this is when the problems began I had a lot of badmood swings (which isn't strange for me but they increased quite a lot which was strange.) and I also lost my sex drive, which was defiantly not good. After checking with the doctor he explained that our bodies consisted of male and female hormones and Dianette as it was so strong reduced the male hormones thus reducing the sex drive. This totally baffled me being a bit dizzy when it comes to talking in technical terms so I just took his word for it and asked what to do then.
After scratching his head for a while trying to remember the name of this new wonder Pill that was not only good for your skin was not as high dosage so should be no problems with sex drive he finally found it
in his computer. Yasmin! He told me this a new contraceptive pill on the market and it should be perfect for what I need & it was just a normal pill which was good as i didnt fancy going on the mini pill because of the strictness. So after he took my blood pressure and asked the usual are you in a serious relationship? Do you have regular sexual intercourse? Questions he wrote me a prescription for this new wonder pill. Prescriptions are normally £6.50, which I think is a complete, rip off, but if you just have the contraceptive pill you get your prescription for free, which is good.
WHAT DOES THE PILL DO? For those men who are reading this and maybe for some women who are not familiar with the pill it is used by women for many reasons the main one being contraception against babies. Some take it to reduce period pain, pmt, heavy periods and some take it so they can control their cycle. Personally I don't use it for period pains or to reduce heavy periods as it just doesn't work for me I endure the same cramps etc whether I am on the pill or not but many women do not the thing to understand is that we are all different and different things work for different people. That is why there are hundreds of different pills on the market. The one thing they all do for every woman is as I said before prevent them from getting pregnant. A lot of people wonder what the pill does to do this but it is quite simple once you take it no eggs are released (or aren't meant to be) so they cant be fertilised by those dreaded little swimmers you call sperm! It also thickens your womb so sperm finds it harder to do the backstroke right in there and it also thickens the lining so an egg cannot grow inside. Sorry to get all technical but an explanation had to be given to all you dumb struck looking men.
WHAT DOES YASMIN LOOK LIKE? The box Yasmin comes in is about the size of a 10 pack of cigarettes maybe a little bit longer it is yellow and orange with a big Y on and a lady jumping. The box can easily be slipped into your handbag or bedside cabinet. There are usually three packs in the box enough for a 3-month supply. Inside you also get a long white plastic holder for your singular packet of pills. The holder has a large red Y on the end and looks very modern and trendy it is quite clear that it is something new to the market a the pill holders are usually very boring. You also get a very informative booklet inside detailing what to do if you have problems, how to take the pill and the ingredients. The actual pill comes in a card of 21 each labelled with a three letter code for each day of the week so you know where you are when taking them. They are yellow and about the size of sequin and are very easy to swallow.
HOW DO YOU TAKE YOUR YASMIN ? I had been very naughty and stopped taking my pill about 3 months before because I hadn't had time to nip to the doctors so I started mine on the first day of my period and took one everyday for 21 days you should try and take them at roughly the same time everyday. I take mine everyday before I go to be it makes me remember. If you forget to take your Yasmin pill it isn't the end of the world it isn't a mini pill, which you have to take on the dot everyday. If you miss your pill you can take it up to 12 hours later and still be fully protected. If you forget completely you can still continue to take your pill as normal so you don't mix up your cycle but you will need to take more precautions when it comes to contraceptive as you wont be protected. Oh and also something that a lot of people don't realise if you are on antibiotics or are poorly with either a cold or are sick the pill will not be effective and you will also need to use more protection then too. You take the pill for 21 days and then you have a 7 day period its not always instant well mine never is but you usually get one within the next two weeks. What ever pill I am on I always have a week off no pill and no bleeding but tend to start like clockwork on the 2nd week does this happen to anyone else? Taking any pill is good because it helps you control your body so you know when you are going to have your periods and you can stop them if you need to. If you are just swapping pills you should just finish your last pack and then start these straight away without a break in between then you will be covered contraception wise throughout. You will miss a period but this is not harmful to you. It is just the same as when you go on holiday and you don't want to have a period and you don't have a break you just continue to take your pills and have a period after the second pack.
PROS OF YASMIN
99% effective as a contraceptive so only 1 in every 100 women will get pregnant each year, but if you take the pill correctly you should be fine
Is easy to take
Free on prescription
Clears from your system within a month, unlike the injection and implants you can have a baby whenever you like.
Good for your skin
CONS OF YASMIN
Does not protect against STD's this is not good, as all young people seem to care about is not getting pregnant but in the long running getting an STD is worse
The side affects like spotting and I know people who have complained of headaches and putting on weight.
Can sometimes be hard to remember when to take your pill
MY OWN EXPERIENCE I have now been on Yasmin for 3 months now and have defiantly seen an improvement in my skin it is helping quite a lot, and the sex drive has sort of come back but not fully but I think that will take time as I haven't been on Yasmin for very long. It hasn't been all good though I must admit. I did have teething troubles with this though I must say in the first two months I had a full 7day period and then for about 2 weeks after that I had spotting (for you guys out there bleeding between periods.) I was a little but worried as I had never experienced this before but had heard this could be one of the side affects of taking any pill but as I had been on the pill since I was 14 this seemed a bit of a shock so I read up on it in the little booklet included and found out that this was caused by not taking your pill at similar times everyday and I must admit with a lot of nights out and early nights the times have differed a lot so I would say the problems are probably down to me and just changing to a new pill. I cant say I have experienced any other problems I know people complain of putting on weight and getting fat but I must admit I have never experienced this on any pill in the past 6 years so I think I must be one of the lucky ones. Yasmin is very new and praised by a lot of doctors so I imagine that this has been put together to reduce as many medical problems as medically possible.
i am currently on dianette, and will definitley be asking for yasmin if i need to change, sounds like the perfect pill to move onto next . thanks x
M.Newcastle 05.09.2009 10:54
Been on Yasmin for three years now, but looks like I'm going to have to change again! I really liked this pill until the last month (cramps have come through again, apparenty means your body's becoming accustomed to the pill)
AngelinaS 03.03.2006 02:08
this is great review, i've been on teh pill for 17 years and have had acne problems when on it. I will speak to my doctor and see what she thinks, Thanks, Angelina
Advantages: Lighter/regular periods, no pregnancy, no side effects. Disadvantages: Can be difficult to remember to take it, other than that no problems.
lindtoholic 13.01.2009 (13.01.2009)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Yasmin Contraceptive Pill
Dec 16th, 2005
(Dec 17th, 2005)
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