What is Yasmin?

There are so many popular oral contraceptive pills and Yasmin is one of them. It is claimed that Yasmin provides over 99% protection against pregnancy, if you take it right. Drospirenone and Ethinylestradiol are the active ingredients contained in a pill. Their combination works against ovulation that occurs every month during the menstrual cycle. 

How does Yasmin work?

Ovulation is a process controlled by the female sex hormones – progesterone and oestrogen. Ovulation in a normal menstrual cycle is a release of one egg by ovaries every month. If an egg is fertilized by sperm, a pregnancy occurs. Two synthetic hormones, contained in a pill, imitate those natural hormones and prevent the egg from being released. Yasmin pills also affect the sperm, making it difficult for it to reach the uterus. One of the synthetic hormones, Ethinylestradiol, prevents the buildup of the endometrium, which makes it less likely for a fertilized egg to grow into an embryo.  This also has impact on periods, as they become lighter. One blister of Yasmin contains 21 pill. When you finish one pack, you should take a break for 7 days and then start a new one. Periods come during this 7-day break. 

What are the benefits from using Yasmin?

• Shorter and lighter periods
• Less severe PMS
• Reduced risk of ectopic pregnancies
• Lower risk of anemia, etc.

Who can use Yasmin?

Yasmin can be used by woman who is older than 18 years old, is sexually active and requires an effective method to prevent pregnancy.

Yasmin is not for you, if you are:

• Allergic to any of its ingredients. Consider to use another way of contraception.
• Older than 35
• Heavy smoker (more than 15 cigarettes a day)

Breastfeeding and pregnancy

Yasmin passes into the breast milk and can influence the baby’s health. If you want to use oral contraceptive pills while breastfeeding, contact your doctor or gynecologist for further information. 

Precautions and Interactions

If you have any allergies or health concerns, your doctor need to know about that before prescribing you any medication. Yasmin cannot be prescribed if a woman had:

• Stroke
• Problems with blood circulation
• Heart issues
• Vaginal or abdominal bleeding
• Breast cancer
• Liver or kidney diseases, etc.

It is recommended to limit the amount of alcohol when you take Yasmin for the first time to observe the interaction.  It is observed that an active ingredient drospirenone interacts with ibuprofen and the level of potassium increases. This can lead to health complications, especially with kidney. Although this occurs rarely, it’s need to be taken into consideration.

It is absolutely fine to take Yasmin with other antibiotics. However, there are some medicines that can make Yasmine less effective. For example, rifabutin and rifampicin are antibiotics that can make Yasmin stop working.