Yaz and Yasmin are combined oral contraceptives, more commonly known as birth control pills. These drugs are similar in many ways, but they also have some important differences.

Yasmin is Introduced

Yasmin was approved by the FDA in 2001 to prevent pregnancy in women and also for the treatment of moderate acne and premenstrual dysmorphic disorder (PMDD) in women who also needed to prevent pregnancy. At the time, Yasmin was manufactured and marketed by Berlex.

Yaz is Introduced

In 2006, Bayer purchased Berlex and quickly introduced Yaz, which was approved for the treatment of moderate acne and premenstrual dysmorphic disorder (PMDD) in women also seeking birth control. Bayer continues to manufacture and distribute Yasmin.

Different Amounts of Estrogen

Yaz is referred to as low-dosage Yasmin. Both Yaz and Yasmin contain 3.0 mg of the progestin ingredient drospirenone. Yaz contains a smaller dosage of the estrogen ingredient ethinyl estradiol. Yaz contains 0.02 mg and Yasmin contains 0.03 mg.

Different Regimens

Yaz and Yasmin are also different from each other because of their regimen, or how they are taken. They both come in a 28-day supply. Yaz has 24 active pills, followed by 4 inert pills, while Yasmin has 21 active pills followed by 7 inert pills. This means that women taking Yaz receive three extra days of active hormones each month.

Are you taking one of these birth controls?

Source:

http://www.drugs.com/cons/yaz.html

All oral contraceptives carry the risk of blood clots, but how high that risk is depends both on the type of progestin and the amount of estrogen the pills contain. Certain types of progestin coupled with higher doses of estrogen can raise clot risk by up to seven times.

Both estrogen and progestin can cause blood to clot more easily, putting women who take oral contraceptives at higher risk for blood clots than women who use non-hormonal methods of birth control. The risk varies among different brands and formulations of birth control pills.

A Danish study discovered that the newer progestins, such as the drospirenone in Yaz, increase clot risk more than so-called first-generation progestins like levonorgestrel. Drospirenone was shown to raise risk about 6.3 times.

The levels of estrogen paired with the progestin determine the overall risk of a particular birth control pill. The higher the estrogen level, the higher the risk.

Clotting is a natural process that occurs when there is damage to a vein or artery, but if it happens when it’s not needed, it can be dangerous. Clots can form in any blood vessel in the body. When they form in major arteries and block blood flow to the heart, lungs or brain, they can cause life-threatening conditions such as heart attack, stroke or pulmonary embolism.

Do you know your clot risk?

Sources:
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/understanding_birth_control_medications_contrace/article_em.htm
http://www.webmd.com/sex/birth-control/news/20090813/which-birth-control-pill-is-safest
http://www.medicinenet.com/blood_clots/article.htm
http://www.drdonnica.com/guests/00004794.htm

If you are sexually active and are taking Yaz, Yasmin or Ocella, you probably took that step in order to avoid pregnancy. Many women taking these combined oral contraceptives have reported that they experienced a noticeable decrease in their libido or sexual drive.

Taking birth control pills, including Yaz, appears to inhibit sexual drive in the following ways:

• Decrease in your libido or desire for sex
• Decrease in your enjoyment of sex
• Decrease in lubrication during sexual activity

How Yaz Affects Libido

Yaz can affect the sex drive because its ingredients affect the body in the following ways:

• Estrogen and drospirenone act directly on a woman’s sexual hormones.
• Yaz reduces the ovaries’ production of androgens, including testosterone. Androgens are related to the amount of pleasure a woman experiences during intercourse.
• Yaz increases the amount of sex-hormone binding globulin (SHBG)—a protein in the body that binds to testosterone and prevents the body from effectively using it. High levels of SHBG reduce libido and sexual desire.

Long-Term Effects

A study in the Journal of Sexual Medicine found that women using the pill had much lower levels of sexual desire than women not taking the drug. The effects continued long after the women stopped taking the pill.

Discuss alternative birth control pills or non-medication methods with your doctor if you are suffering one of the Yaz symptoms such as decreased libido.

Source:
http://www.epigee.org/guide/pill_sex.html

You are cautioned not to take Yaz birth control pills if you suffer from high blood pressure (hypertension) because of the risk of developing blood clots and heart problems, but you may be wondering if Yaz causes high blood pressure.

Combined oral contraceptives are made from synthetically produced estrogen and progesterone. The combination of the two hormones can cause an increase in blood pressure in some women.

The effect on blood pressure is believed to be due mostly to the estrogen ingredient, ethinyl estradiol, of combined pills. The National Institutes of Health has conducted studies which also show that progesterone-only birth control pills (“mini-pill”) are likely to cause a small increase in diastolic pressure, which raises a woman’s risk of heart attack, stroke, blood clots and pulmonary embolism.

Your risk of developing high blood pressure on Yaz depends on certain factors such as:

• Age. If you begin taking Yaz over the age of 35, your risk of developing high blood pressure is greater. If you are over 35, your doctor should check your blood pressure before prescribing Yaz and should check it regularly while you are on the medication.
• Past medical history or family history. If you have had high blood pressure in the past, your risk of developing it again on Yaz is high, and you should be monitored carefully.
• Smoking: Women who smoke on Yaz are likely to develop high blood pressure. You should not smoke and take Yaz or any other birth control pills.

Was your blood pressure checked by your doctor before you began taking Yaz, Yasmin or Ocella?

Source:
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=2123

If you have been taking Yaz, Yasmin or Ocella for over two years, there is a risk you may develop benign tumors in your liver, a condition known as hepatic adenoma. This Yasmin side effect usually causes no symptoms unless the tumor is quite large.

Some tumors are detected during diagnostic tests for other Yaz abdominal cavity problems, but you should be aware of the warning sign of this condition. A large hepatic adenoma can rupture and bleed, causing pain in the right upper quadrant of the abdomen. The risk of rupture increases with the size of the tumor and continued hormone use. A ruptured tumor must be surgically removed.

A more rare complication of hepatic adenoma is the risk that the tumor will become cancerous. This type of cancerous tumor is a hepatocellular carcinoma, which must be surgically removed.

If you are on Yaz and having right upper quadrant pain, seek immediate medical treatment.

Sources:
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/170205-overview
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1658955
http://www.rxlist.com/yaz-drug.htm
http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec10/ch139/ch139c.html

In August of 2009, The FDA sent Bayer Healthcare, maker of Yaz, a warning letter outlining nonstandard, possibly deceptive testing procedures at its manufacturing plant in Germany. The violations were observed during an inspection of the facility.

According to the letter, Bayer had “significant deviations” from good manufacturing practices in the production of drospirenone, the progestin used in Yaz. The FDA indicated that Bayer had “averaged” test results, diluting out-of-specification results with those within established guidelines to get an acceptable result. This practice could have affected the quality and safety of the pills made with these batches of drospirenone.

Source:
http://www.fda.gov/ICECI/EnforcementActions/WarningLetters/ucm182206.htm

Yaz, or any birth control pill, should not be taken if you’re pregnant. If you discover you’re pregnant while taking Yaz, you should stop taking it.

Drug Category X

The Food and Drug Administration created a category system to indicate the possible risk to a developing fetus when deciding if a drug is safe to take while pregnant. Yaz is a Category X drug, which is defined as:

“Contraindicated in Pregnancy- Studies in animals or humans, or investigational or post-marketing reports, have demonstrated positive evidence of fetal abnormalities or risk which clearly outweighs any possible benefit to the patient.”

The Drospirenone Factor

In animal studies, the progestin ingredient in Yaz, drospirenone, increased the risk of miscarriages and slow fetal development. Some male offspring developed feminine characteristics. When Yaz was studied in humans, 12 of the women taking Yaz became accidentally pregnant. These women reported no problems with their health or the health of their babies.

Pregnancy on Yaz before you know you’re pregnant will probably not cause any problems. Contact your doctor immediately if you discover you are pregnant and stop taking Yaz or any other birth control pill.

Sources:
http://www.americanpregnancy.org/pregnancyhealth/fdadrugratings.html
http://women.emedtv.com/yaz/yaz-and-pregnancy.html

While the basic makeup of combination birth control pills—one estrogen and one synthetic progesterone, called a progestin—has remained essentially the same, over the years different types of progestins have been introduced. The changes have been targeted at minimizing some of the side effects of hormone-based contraceptives.

Progestins help to prevent ovulation, but they also can be responsible for unpleasant conditions like acne, unwanted hair growth and weight gain, known as androgenic effects. Different progestins can increase or decrease the likelihood of these problems. Because every woman is different, new formulations of oral contraceptives are introduced to offer more women the opportunity to use them without the undesirable side effects.

Most synthetic progestins are derived from testosterone. The first combination birth control pills used testosterone-derived progestins such as norethindrone acetate and are known as first-generation progestins. Later versions, also derivatives of testosterone, include levonorgestrel (second generation) and desogestrel (third generation). Third-generation progestins are reported to be the least likely to have androgenic effects.

Recently, a fourth generation of progestin was introduced, called drospirenone. Drospirenone is not like other progestins because it is not derived from testosterone; it is s a diuretic which suppresses the secretion of hormones that regulate water and electrolytes. This is the progestin that is used in Yasmin, Ocella and Yaz.

Which type of progestin is best for you?

Sources:
http://contraception.about.com/od/thepill/p/Progestins.htm
http://www.usnews.com/health/family-health/womens-health/articles/2009/08/13/some-birth-control-pills-safer-than-others.html
http://contraception.about.com/od/thepill/tp/ProgestinTypes.htm
http://contraception.about.com/od/thepill/l/bl_choosingapill.htm

Many people have heard of the medical problems women have had from taking Yaz, Yasmin or Ocella. You may be wondering if you should stop taking this medication even if you have not suffered any of the injuries you have heard about. Maybe you are here because you have heard of the damage these drugs can cause and you are concerned a friend or loved one is taking this birth control.

Speak With Your Doctor

If you have concerns, speak with your doctor as soon as possible. Tell your doctor you have heard about serious side effects from using the Yaz birth control pills and want to discuss your risk of developing these problems. You should discuss the following with your doctor:

• Your family medical history. Medical conditions of family members can be inherited. Even if you do not have symptoms, a family history means you are more likely to develop a condition.
• Your risk factors. Many activities will increase the risk that you will develop Yaz side effects. Factors such as smoking, being over the age of 35 and being overweight will increase the possibility of complications from taking Yaz. Know the risk factors for Yaz.

Seek a Second Opinion

If you feel your doctor is not listening to your concerns or if he or she downplays the reports of injuries to women taking this drug, seek a second opinion from another doctor.

Your health is one of your most valuable and precious assets. You are right to be questioning the safety of taking Yaz birth control, and for having important questions for your doctor.

Source:
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/drug-drospirenone_and_ethinyl_estradiol/article_em.htm

Gallbladder removal is the preferred treatment for gallstones because it works for all types and sizes of gallstones. However, there are some non-surgical treatments that may be effective in eliminating the stones.

Gallstones can be eliminated by taking a pill containing a chemical that thins bile and allows the stone to dissolve. Another alternative is endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), which uses an endoscope to find and remove or crush the stones. ERCP requires sedation.

Both of these treatments work on stones of certain sizes and types and may not be effective in all cases. Consult your doctor about your options.

Sources:
http://www.umm.edu/patiented/articles/what_general_approach_treating_gallstones_gallbladder_disease_000010_7.htm
http://www.gastro.org/wmspage.cfm?parm1=688
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003893.htm
http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/endoscopic-retrograde-cholangiopancreatogram-ercp