Patient's Query
Hello doctor,
I am a 25-year-old woman who gave birth to my first child a year back. After giving birth in 2 months, I started taking Yasmin birth control pills. Then they gave me nausea all time, and I did not feel hungry or could eat, so I switched to Yaz control pills after four months, and they make me so depressed on placebo pill days only, and I have no sex drive, and I can eat, but I could not get hungry. I sleep a lot and feel I have no energy all the time, so I asked the doctor to do a ferritin serum blood test, and the result is 12 ng/mL out of range 22-112 ng/mL. I did not do a vitamin D test because I know it is somehow low. I have constipation, and I do not want to take iron pills as I do not have anemia on my CBC (complete blood count). So I was thinking of taking a multivitamin, but it is expensive. I need my energy to do my daily tasks and chores. I feel so drained, and I need to take care of the family, so please help me.
Hello,
Welcome to icliniq.com.
There are few things I like to point out from your history.
1) Yaz or Yasmin is not the right choice of birth control pills right after childbirth ( Yaz and Yasmin are combined oral contraception containing estrogen and progesterone, and this is not safe immediately after childbirth if you are breastfeeding the child )
2 ) If Yaz is causing a lot of side effects, it takes time to switch to other forms of contraception. You can try progesterone-only pills or Depomedroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) injections or implants. These tend to have lower side effects.
3 ) Tiredness and low energy are a symptom of reduced blood counts. They are seen even before the change in your blood counts.
4) Low ferritin means your iron stores in the body are very low, and all the iron absorbed from your food is going to replenish the stores. Low ferritin is another sign of impending anemia.
If you are not satisfied with iron tablets or not tolerant of them, you can opt for iron injection under a doctor's supervision. Before trying all that, try to include iron-rich substances in your food. These include peanut or groundnuts, jaggery, green leafy vegetables like spinach, red meat, eggs, liver, milk, beans like black beans, kidney beans, dry fruits, walnuts, dates, iron fortifies, salt, and flour. If the tiredness and lethargy persist, getting a thyroid test done as low thyroid causes energy loss.
Same symptoms don't mean you have the same problem. Consult a doctor now!
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