I started taking Tilia, generic for Estrostep, on Sunday. I've taken "The Pill" for several years to regulate my period, and I've NEVER had a reaction to it. I've never had an adverse reaction to ANY medication.
Monday morning I woke up with the left side of my jaw aching. I didn't think much of it, I wear a partial and sometimes my mouth, or jaw becomes irritated. I also had low back pain, which isn't unusual for me in itself, but it felt like LABOR pain. Tuesday, I noticed a small lump at my jaw's hinge on the left side. This morning, within an hour of taking my new pill my whole lower jaw was aching, and the back of my tounge swelled up and touched the soft palate at the back of my mouth. Luckily, I just happened to take Sudafed this morning, but for about 20 minutes I seriously thought about calling someone to take me to the hospital. Later, I started thinking about WHAT could be going on, and realized the only "new" thing I was doing was taking this new pill. So, I looked it up on WWW.WEBMD.COM and found this:
This medication may rarely cause serious (sometimes fatal) problems from blood clots (e.g., pulmonary embolism, stroke, heart attack). Seek immediate medical attention if you experience: sudden shortness of breath, chest/jaw/left arm pain...
Later I noticed that right under my cheekbones are what look like bruises. THIS is another possible side effect:
Tell your doctor immediately if any of these serious side effects occur: changes in vaginal bleeding (e.g., continuous spotting, sudden heavy bleeding, missed periods), problem wearing contact lenses, dark patches on the skin (melasma), unwanted facial/body hair, swelling of the ankles/feet, weight changes (gain or loss).
If I hadn't thought about what the most recent change had been, I would have NEVER associated these symptoms with my birth control pill. Of the several reviews on WebMD, MOST of them were bad. If your doctor prescribes this pill to you, be VERY aware of any changes in your body.
UPDATE:
I talked to my doctor today, and she wants me off of birth control for awhile. She said that a combonation of sensitivity to the possible side effects and some weird allergy were what caused the problem. AND the fact that I've been on the pill for almost 17 years, nonstop except while I was pregnant. You aren't supposed to really do that...
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Comments: 14
Thanks for the info.
thanks for the info, when i was 21 I had a stroke on the pill. I have not touched them since then. That was scary.
I've never had a reaction to ANY medication. I've used the pill for YEARS to regulate my period.
Have you ever tried deprovera? or would that mess with your period? I was on it some years back, and it was very effective for me; with few side effects ( none too bothersome)
Not into needles, and my period is TOTALLY irratic without the pill, and I have PMDD.
Thanks for posting to Fugitives from Ignorance, Conformity, and Peer Pressure
Thanks for the information that is scary
How about the nuvaring or maybe the mirena IUD.
This isnt a normal reaction so its good that you were aware of your body and what it was trying to tell you.
Depo shots arent bad. I dont like needles either but was on them for years.
That's the really strange thing about my periods, I am VERY aware of what's going on in my body, but NEVER know when my period's coming until I get the PMDD symptoms. Even then, sometimes I mistake it for other pain, or illnesses. I just KNEW that the pain in my back wasn't my "normal" pain, I felt like I was in labor.
I don't know if the others regulate your period the way the pill does.
What kind of pills were you on and why did your doctor change?
Many of the birth control methods will regulate your cycle.
I forget what the name of my other pill was, but I have to change every couple of years because my body becomes used to the hormone. The one that I reacted to, the ONLY time I've EVER reacted to ANY medication, is Tilia AKA Estrostep.
I didn't know about the other methods, I will have to discuss them with her at my next visit. Thank you.
Wow, I am so glad you are ok! That is scary. I no longer take the pill. I have an IUD now. No hormones. I feel much better this way, except when Aunt Flo comes... but that is something I can deal with. The pill also raised my blood pressure really high. So glad I am off it now.
{{HUGS}}
Part of my problem is that I have PMDD and the only thing I know that works for that is the pill.