Beyaz Freaked Me Out

Fredericksburg, PACrystal's gynecologist gave her a three-month sample of Beyaz birth control pill to try, but within two months she stopped taking it. "I would climb up a few stairs and get out of breath," says Crystal. "I figured it was the Beyaz and this really freaked me out."

"At first my mother asked me why I was out of breath. I am only 28 years old and very healthy. I work out, don't smoke or drink and have a four-year-old boy—he really keeps me active. One morning I was sitting at the kitchen table, just after my son had gone to pre-school, and my heart was racing. It felt like I had run a marathon but even worse than that—it felt like my heart was going to jump right out of my chest."

Crystal went back to her gynecologist and described her symptoms. "I told her that after I had gone to bed one night, my heart felt like it was flipping over," Crystal adds. "She told me that wasn't normal and even if you have a heart flutter, or it is skipping a beat, that shouldn't be happening when you are lying down."

Her doctor ordered lab work and an EKG but nothing untoward showed up. She told Crystal that her heart "flutter" could be due to a lot of things, including anxiety. Or Beyaz. Crystal decided to stop taking Beyaz, just to be on the safe side.

"During the month that I didn't take Beyaz my heart was fine, no flutters or anything strange," Crystal explains. "So I went back on it—I had a month's supply left and figured it would be OK, perhaps there was something else going on, like anxiety. I was planning on asking my doctor to prescribe another birth control pill, but one month wouldn't matter.

"I was wrong. No sooner had I started on the Beyaz again, I got out of breath. I go to the gym a lot and work out on the treadmill for about 45 minutes. Now I didn't even last 10 minutes, I couldn't catch my breath.

Then I saw an ad on TV about Beyaz, Yaz and Yasmin. Wow, that really freaked me out. I knew about the dangers of Yasmin and Yaz, how those birth control pills have caused so many women to have heart problems, pulmonary embolisms and DVTs, but I didn't know that Beyaz was similar. I found out that all these pills are made by Bayer and they all contain drospirenone. The only difference is that Beyaz also contains folate, a B vitamin. So I was freaked out even more, thinking this has affected my heart.

"I went back to my doctor—I had to get a pap test anyway. She said, 'I hope you aren't taking Beyaz anymore.' Well she shouldn't have given it to me in the first place.

"It seems like some doctors are trying to push these new birth control pills, maybe because they are given so many free samples by the drug makers. My gynecologist really sold Beyaz on me: she told me that it would help my skin clear up, I wouldn't gain weight and she thought it would be an overall good pill for me. But I stopped taking it last October and haven't switched to another birth control pill since.

"I will never take Beyaz again. I was always confident that my doctor knows what is best for you but they don't know. It is like there is a disconnect with the drug company, Bayer, and the doctors. They aren't communicating.

"Now my heart doesn't flutter so much but every so often I feel it skipping. It shouldn't be doing that and it scares me because I never had heart problems before.

"I asked my doctor why these birth control pills are prescribed so much and she said some people don't have the same reactions as me. So you don't find out that you have a reaction until something serious happens? What if a mother with four kids takes it and she drops dead? I really like my doctor but then this happens. Is she the best doctor for me? I don't know anymore. I don't know who to trust. But I am concerned enough that I called an attorney."