About Yaz and Yazmin

What’s in Yaz?

Yaz contains 3 milligrams of drospirenone and 20 micrograms of ethinylestradiol per tablet.

Drospirenone is a synthetic progestin (a type of hormone) that is very similar to the body’s naturally produced progesterone. Drospirenone at very small levels, even 3 mg (the amount found in Yaz and Yasmin), can potentially cause a symptom called hyperkalemia in high-risk patients.

Hyperkalemia is an elevated level of potassium in the blood. Extreme hyperkalemia is a medical emergency due to the risk of abnormal heart rhythms, and the risks of hyperkalemia are greater for women with liver or kidney problems.

The abnormal heart rhythms can cause the slowing of blood to the heart, allowing for the formation of blood clots, which are potentially fatal. These clots can lead to heart attacks or can break off and travel to the lungs causing pulmonary embolism, or to the brain, causing a stroke.

Ethinylestradiol is a synthetic estrogen that is found in many oral contraceptives. It has been shown to work in the same was as other synthetic estrogens, with similar minor side effects.  Ethinylestradiol was approved by the FDA way back in 1943.

What’s in Yasmin?

Like Yaz, Yasmin contains 3 mg drospirenone, but contains 30 micrograms of ethinylestradiol per tablet.

What are Yaz and Yasmin Used for?

Birth Control

Yaz and Yasmin are first and foremost used as a method of birth control. Like other oral contraceptives, they work in three ways to prevent pregnancy:

• Like other birth control pills, Yaz and Yasmin contain synthetic hormones that make a woman’s body think it is pregnant. When a woman is pregnant, she stops ovulating (releasing eggs from the ovaries into the uterus for fertilization). By fooling the body into thinking it is pregnant, ovulation will stop. Without an egg present for fertilization, the woman cannot get pregnant.
• In addition to tricking the body into thinking it is pregnant, the hormones act to increase the thickness of cervical mucous. This serves to create a physical barrier to prevent sperm from accessing the uterus, where an egg would be if it were to be released.
• Finally, Yaz and Yasmin alter the lining of the uterus to make it harder for a fertilized egg to implant and begin growing. So if an egg were to be released, and if sperm was somehow able to get through the thickened cervical mucous, the alteration of the lining of the uterus should prevent the egg from implanting.

(More information on how oral contraceptives work from the official Yaz website & wikipedia)

Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder

Yaz can be used for treatment of Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD). PMDD has been called “PMS squared”—women who suffer from PMDD will suffer from the usual PMS symptoms, but in the extreme. In order for those symptoms to be classified as PMDD, they must interfere with the woman’s ability to function in her day-to-day life.

Women with PMDD often experience

• feelings of deep sadness or despair, possible thoughts of suicide
• feelings of tension or anxiety
• panic attacks
• mood swings, crying
• apathy or disinterest in daily activities and relationships
• yeast infections
• difficulty concentrating
• food cravings or binge eating
• insomnia or hypersomnia
• increase or decrease in sex drive
• increased need for emotional closeness

Moderate Acne

Yaz may be used as a treatment for moderate acne. It is indicated that it should only be prescribed as treatment for acne in girls and women who are already menstruating and want an oral contraceptive. It is not supposed to be prescribed solely for the treatment of acne.