I should say that, shortly after I wrote this, my SO and I talked about it again. He tried his best to be supportive and I tried my best to make sure that I acknowledged his own concerns. So things are better here.

But I'd still like to hear other people's experiences. Even the Mr.'s supportiveness is not quite as soothing as hearing about what other women have gone through.

Maybe he's trying to keep you from worrying too much since there's nothing you can do until the tests come back?

I went off the pill in October and I've never felt better. I was having anxiety, depression, NO sex drive at all, pains in my legs, I felt tired all the time... bad new bears. I was without insurance for most of the time I was on the pill, or had insurance that did not cover it. I went to Planned Parenthood for cheaper services. Even they, a woman-centered organization, repeatedly told me that it wasn't the pill, it was "in my head." Thanks. They kept offering me other hormonal options, even when I told them the hormones made me uncomfortable. Finally, I just quit taking them and the hubby and I switched to condoms and spermicide film. I feel GREAT. Literally, the first month off of them, I felt like a new human! It actually inspired my thesis project for this semester, and I'm finding a lot of weird anecdotal stuff that matches my experience. There was a link on here a while back about a woman who used the patch and had a bunch of awful side effects. Don't dismiss it. Also, my mom had the shortness of breath you are describing, and kept saying it was allergies. When she finally went to the doctor, she ended up being diagnosed with CHF! I'm not trying to scare you and tell you this is what you have, I'm just saying don't let it go.

It really could be anything. If you're having new shortness-of-breath problems that aren't linked to something like a recent major weight gain, you should definitely see a doctor about it. Shortness of breath is not a normal Pill side-effect (unless it's clotting-related, a risk for smokers), but it could relate to the old smoking habit itself coming back to haunt you. But there's no way to make any kind of accurate determination or even reasonable ballpark guess without seeing a health care professional in person.

I was on the pill for 5 days before I started having chest pains and swelling in my left leg., No shortness of breath though. But you are most certainly not crazy, please don't ignore your body!

I have Endometriosis, and basically it took me ten years to get a diagnosis (as is typical for women with the disease, doctors are notoriously poorly educated about it). In the meantime I was told that I was crazy, malingering, "it's all in my head", or it's really X, Y, or Z (one of a million other diseases/illnesses that I didn't really have but nevertheless was still misdiagnosed with because unfortunately none of the 20+ or so doctors that I saw over this ten year period were educated enough to figure it out)...And all while this was going on I could never be sure of what was causing all the strange problems I was having, from internal bleeding, excruciating pain, and mysterious infections to high-grade fevers and unexplained allergy/asthma symptoms among others. I got treated really badly whenever I had to go to the ER (which was pretty frequent actually)...I was either ignored completely or they rolled their eyes and told me that I was just "whining about my periods" (despite pain from Endo being compared to being "worse than being labor" by those women who have experienced both)

So basically, I just cried a lot a read a lot...the latter would probably be more helpful than the former :)...But it totally sucks when everyone around you either doesn't want to listen or thinks your nuts. One thing that helped me with the whole "feeling so isolated and being laughed at" part was online communities, I think online communities are great...Even though you are not quite sure what you have - there are still communities that talk about both specific symptoms and general health related stuff, and so that might be a good place to find support and maybe meet other people who have had similar experiences/symptoms.

And I know that this piece of advice is rather obvious, but definitely see a doctor! In your particular case, it's going to help a lot if you have a good relationship with them, it's especially important that you can trust them and that you feel they listen and take you seriously. The reason I ended up going through so many doctors is because most of them didn't listen or take me seriously...and so I constantly was switching doctors...I don't know what your insurance situation is, so I also realize that sometimes it's not always possible to "just switch doctors"...actually at many different times I had also applied for state assistance/medicaid (because I needed surgeries and had several other health-care needs as well aka really really high medical bills)...If you are concerned about your current insurance not covering something, or you are under insured or not insured at all, it might be worth checking with your state to see what programs they offer (I actually found my local congressperson's office was really good at getting information on this type of stuff)...Sometimes they have additional assistance available if you have high medical bills or if you need a particular service that you are having trouble accessing (for example your insurance is denying you, or you can't find a doctor)...

Also, one final note about the BC...I was actually on some form or another for about 8 years. In the back of my mind though, I sort of always felt something was wrong. But because none of my doctors really knew what was wrong with me, they all assumed a BC script would solve most of the problems that I was having (i.e. pain, irregularity, cysts, etc.)...Anyways, I actually realized after about a couple years on the pills, that my symptoms were actually getting worse (often the hormones in BC can aggravate more severe forms of Endometriosis despite common belief held by most doctors that BC will help people with Endo). However, because I too was so unsure about what was going on with my body, I felt uncomfortable going off them since every single doctor that I had every been to all said I should take BC. It wasn't until I later received an official diagnosis after an "emergency surgery" and finally went to a specialist that he told me "No, No, No, NO NO! You definitely DO NOT want to be on BC, that will make things worse"...so basically for ten years I was aggravating my condition making it a lot worse than it probably would have been if I hadn't ever taken the BC. So anyway, that's just why I stress finding a good doctor (if possible) that will listen to you and take your concerns seriously.

Best wishes, I hope u feel better soon, and are able to figure out all the stuff with your health.

BC can do any number of things.
I had a small benevolent cyst that went away on its own once i started Depo (I'm off it now for bone density reasons, which I think are really caused by Seattle/low vitamin D but the pill isn't too much trouble).

All BC for me lessens or completely eliminates cramps. The truth is we don't know enough female biology to know why ANY medicine does one thing for me and something else for you. Allegra made my cramps worse, for example, and Allegra is for allergies.

I do suspect that the BC pill I'm on has raised my blood pressure, but it was low-ish before.

Whatever it is, you're likely not imagining it.

Wax Ghost, you are not crazy.

It's good that you're paying attention to your body and taking your health seriously.

For the record, I was born with a heart murmur and it has never been a problem for me. I had a pediatrician tell me straight up, "the biggest problem with mitral valve prolapse is that people who are diagnosed with it start to think of themselves as fragile and avoid sports and exercise. Being sedentary is a big risk to your health; being active is not. Your condition is not that serious."

So yeah, I've been living with it my whole life and I've barely noticed it. I know it's scary because it's your heart, but hearts are tough.

About a year ago I started having heart palpitations, and I freaked out. I talked to my doctor about it (who is an awesome woman) and she told me that it was probably stress and caffeine. I had my heart checked. My heart was fine. I cut back on coffee (it was tragic. A great loss) and the palpitations quit bugging me.

But you know, I saw a doctor. What if it had been serious? It's better to listen to your body and check with a doctor when things seem wrong, to the extent that you can afford it. I have no health insurance right now, so... yeah... but if I were really scared about my heart again I would have it checked out again in a heartbeat.

I've had chronic migraines since before I even knew that word. It took me 7 years (and I'm only 19) to get my doctor to give me something other than extra strength tylenol, when pain-killers aren't even appropriate for treating true migraines. Everyone would tell me, "You're too young to even know what a migraine is!" I pressed for years, saying "I THROW UP when I get headaches" before someone actually believed it was more than spending too many hours on the computer.

In short, it is YOUR body, and you know it better than ANYONE. If you say "I can't breathe" and your doctor says "work out" you say, I have been, can we explore another option? Don't take no for an answer, because THEY provide a service for which YOU PAY!

Track your symptoms, too. Having something on paper that the doctor has to read can help slow the appointment down, as the average doctors spends what? 9 minutes with you? Insufficient.

Good luck!!

I've been thinking about going off the pill for awhile to see how it goes. I went on it before I ever started having sex, so I have no way of knowing if it might have affected my libido or anything. If I stopped taking the pill we could use condoms for awhile, but what's really holding me back from stopping it is the horrible unpredictable periods I used to have before I started the pill.

I was also thinking the pill might be causing some pain during sex, but the doctor gave me another explanation for that and some stuff to try so I'm going to stay on the pill for now.

I just wanted to let you know that I went through something VERY similar about a year ago, although it turned out it WAS just in my head. I went through an EKG and a Holter monitor (both normal) before I noticed that I felt great (no racing heartbeat or shortness of breath) every time I was on my placebo pills. I'm very prone to anxiety issues, and I've noticed that certain brands of OC tend to make things WAY worse. I once had myself convinced that I had a UTI for over two weeks (again, normal lab tests)! Thankfully, I have a really understanding and awesome NP who agrees with me that the anxiety is a real side effect and that it's NOT acceptable. I've finally found a pill that doesn't make me feel any worse (and even slightly better) than I was before I got on birth control. My point is, even IF everything's normal, don't feel like an ass-- hormones DO have psychological effects on some people and it's NOT OK!! Don't ever let a doctor talk you into sticking with something if it makes you feel even slightly off!