Posts by silverangler15

Hey there, fellow allergy sufferers 🙂
So, look, I’m starting to suspect I might have a cat hair allergy too. I haven't actually gone in for official testing yet, though I fully intend to very soon 🙂
I noticed that whenever I step into my friend's apartment—she has two cats—I start sneezing so violently and my eyes itch so intensely that it feels like her entire place is filled with ragweed (which I am definitely allergic to, for sure).
The real issue here is that I'm studying veterinary medicine, so I'm planning on being around cats constantly throughout my career... Up until now, it hasn't been much of an issue when there's just one cat in the clinic; I can pet them and administer treatment without feeling a thing, but while I was assisting on a surgery for a feline patient recently, by the end of the procedure I could already feel the symptoms kicking in, making me restless at night and causing that familiar eye itch...
I don't have a cat at home right now, but I've actually been considering getting one specifically to see if I can desensitize myself. Do you all think that's a rational move? Is there a genuine chance I could resolve the allergy this way and prevent it from getting worse over time?
I suppose I’ve already conducted a bit of an accidental experiment; a stray wandered in and stayed with us for a little while, and during those first few days, I was sneezing like crazy, but then somehow things seemed to settle down... Based on that, I'm hoping it's actually possible to build up immunity like that, but I'm still skeptical because after about a month, the owners showed up and we returned the cat, and since I wasn't in contact with him for a while, the sneezing returned immediately whenever I came into contact with any other cat.
I'm really interested to hear your thoughts or perhaps some personal experiences 😁

Joshua Flores17 said:I’ve been on Yaz for about three years now, and honestly, I’m starting to look at my bank account and wonder if I can switch to something a bit more budget-friendly. But my gynecologist—who, let’s be real, can be pretty stubborn once they set their mind on a specific brand—keeps insisting that these are the absolute best option out there. Has anyone here actually made the jump from Yaz to something else? Just so you know, I’m taking them specifically to manage endometriosis.

Look, I stopped taking them after about a year and a half and switched over to Triquilar. And let me be perfectly clear—this wasn't some financial decision on my part; it was because they absolutely did not work for my body. Every single cycle while I was on Yaz, I dealt with this constant spotting, and when my actual period finally arrived, it would drag on for sixteen days straight. It was relentless. Between the bleeding and the spotting, I was basically living in sanitary pads. When I brought this up to my doctor, she gave me that classic, patronizing line about how I just needed to wait a few more cycles for my body to "adjust." Well, I eventually lost my patience and told her quite bluntly that I wasn't waiting any longer; I had already waited eighteen months, and if my body hadn't adjusted by then, it clearly wasn't going to happen, so she needed to prescribe something else immediately.
As for you, there is a very real possibility that those cheaper alternatives won't sit right with your system either, which would just lead to a whole new set of headaches, so honestly, your best bet is to go back to your specialist, lay out the facts regarding the cost, and demand they find an alternative with a hormonal profile that closely mimics what you're currently taking.

Ladies, I have a question for you: has anyone here taken a break or just stopped hormone therapy for a while, only to start back up on the exact same pills later? And if you did, were those same pills—the ones that worked fine before—somehow different once you restarted after the hiatus?

To make a long story short, I was on hormones for three years; first Yaz (which I took for about a year and a half and it just didn't sit right with me), then Cileste (which I only had for a month before they pulled it from the market), and finally Triquilar. I never really dealt with any symptoms on Triquilar, aside from some hair thinning for a little while, but that cleared up pretty fast. Eventually, I decided to stop taking them because I foolishly thought my ovaries would just start functioning perfectly on their own without all these synthetic hormones, plus the idea of being on hormones constantly for three years felt like too much. That’s when I took a four-month break, and that’s when everything went sideways. I ended up with a cyst that ruptured so violently it practically burst my entire ovary; I suffered internal bleeding and ended up in emergency surgery because I had nearly bled out. Since then, I've been back on the pill, and I’m strictly forbidden from stopping until I’m actually ready to try for a pregnancy...
Anyway, even though I'm back on the very same pills (Triquilar), I have this nagging sensation that they're affecting me differently now. My appetite has skyrocketed and I find it incredibly difficult to control my cravings, especially during PMS, which absolutely never happened before. Thankfully, I work out, so I haven't packed on massive amounts of weight, but I still don't feel like myself at all. 😢 On top of that, I’m dealing with skin breakouts that just won't budge. My hair is a constant mess, and I'm dealing with this weird finger curling issue that honestly makes me want to cry... I'm just exhausted and have zero motivation for anything...
Has anyone else experienced this—where the "perfect" pills suddenly feel different after a break? Do you think this might settle down eventually? Or is it possible the pills aren't the culprit and this is all just in my head, tied directly to stress? Because since that surgery, it feels like one disaster after another has piled up; my immune system tanked, a family member fell seriously ill and we almost lost them, then there was a car accident, and then the sheer stress of college exams failing me lately... All of this happened within a single four-month window. Now, I truly can't tell if these symptoms are coming from the pills or the overwhelming stress. Please, I need your opinions or advice—has anyone else dealt with this specifically regarding their medication? 😕