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Bayer announced today that it is going to spend $20 million for an advertising campaign to reverse the effects of its ad campaign promoting the oral birth control pill, Yaz, as effective for the ups and downs of daily life as well as zits and other skin blemishes. This ad campaign was launched after Yaz was approved for birth control with added side benefits of helping premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PDD) and acne, however the ads showed women kicking around balloons that said stuff like “mood swings” and “fatigue” while they played the songs “Good bye to You” or “We’re Not Going to Take It.”
Goodbye to you too, Yaz
Following this they got admonished by the FDA which led to the unusual settlement of being an ad campaign out to UNDO the effects of the advertising. You see, it wasn’t approved to treat PMDD and acne, and in any case not all women have PMDD or untreated acne, even though the makers of Yaz certainly wish that that was the case. They were promoting it as a lifestyle drug, like look good, get laid, and feel good about yourself. What more could women want? Anyhoo in the new ads an actress looks into the camera and says:
You may have seen some Yaz commercials recently that were not clear. The F.D.A. wants us to correct a few points in those ads.
Indeed. Well first of all I really hate it when they take a perfectly good song and associate with some cheesy product. They should make musicians sign a contract that they will never sell out their tunes which run around in our heads. Second, that $20 million is “chump change” as one commenter pointed out, after they have already made their billions promoting a product for something that it wasn’t approved for, something that can be thought of as the cost of doing business, kind of like the billion that Eli Lilly paying as punishment for off label promotion of Zyprexa not being a big deal when they made 20 billion out of the deal. Finally, noone pointed out the fact that Yaz (and is sister pill Yasmin) (as I have written about before in “Is Your Birth Control Pill Driving You Bananas“) is the mosted posted about medication on medications.com, with most of the women complaining about how it makes them MORE depressed and anxious. Yaz also has drospirenone, a type of progesterone that can lead to elevations of potassium and potential heart failure.
How can it be that your birth control pill makes you depressed? Birth control pills (or oral contraceptive pills, or OCPs) are combinations of sex hormones related to estrogen and progesterone. Normally these sex hormones cycle throughout the month. In addition to controlling reproduction they also have effects on the brain, which is why they can cause anxiety and depression.
Taking the pill effectively blunts the normal variation in hormones; it also eliminates ovulation, which also affects sexuality. In fact, one study showed that strippers who were ovulating made $15 more per hour than strippers who were not ovulating,
and that strippers on the pill made significantly less than other strippers.
You can read more about the relative risks of heart disease and cancer in women of different ages and smoking status in my last post on this topic. However, I recommend using an IUD as the safest form of birth control, or a progesterone only pill.
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Doug!! I love you! I am uber focused on my blog about psych meds…but you cover all this other crap I think about all the time too!!
Birth control pills are nasty horrible stuff that made me crazy before the psych meds ever made me crazy….and they push them (all of them, not just Yaz) on women for PMDD all the time and even the ones that ARE approved for PMDD make some people more messed in the head…EXCEPT…not just premenstrually…but ALL MONTH LONG.
that was me and dozens of other women I’ve talked to about it…
anyway…thanks again…this stuff is so important…and my blog is just to focused right now to get into this stuff that means so much to me as well…
you want good health?? minimize pharmaceuticals and maximize good food, exercise, meditation etc…all those things are enough to treat the underlying cause of the majority of chronic health conditions.
hey…what about the diaphragm? that’s what I use…IUD make me bleed all month long….
and some women are sensitive to progesterone too…messing with female hormones at all can be risky.
Right, I think the diaphragm should not be underestimated as a safe and effective way to do birth control. It really is not that much of a hassle with a little practice and dedication and for sure the safest long term product for birth control AND health out there. The health benefits to me far outweigh any problems. I am one of the only sixty-somethings I know who is not on some chronic medication (I’m getting a lot of grief about not taking a biphosphonate I admit). My daughter can’t even get a doc to fit her for one which makes my blood boil. I don’t think they teach doctors how to do fit them anymore. And pharmacies don’t keep them in stock it appears. Crazy making.
I forgot about these; another good ‘natural’ alternative.
Sara, it seems many of the younger docs get the heebie-jeebies around anything resembling “palpation.” If they can’t get an MRI of it, it ain’t happening.
As for you, Dr. B., I love how you casually provide the vis a vis re: strippers. Broad and comprehensive coverage!
g
I’ve also read that women are able to tell when a man is sexually aroused because of the scent in the man’s sweat. (the stripper story brought that to mind)
i am on the yaz pills and noties it made me crazy and i did get depressed the same year and i hope that one i get off it i will feel like my old self again, and hopefully it was the pill and not my mind haha
I was skeptical to try it first since I read online the negative side effect everyone was having. I talked to my GYN doctor and told me to take them in the evenings after a meal around the same time everyday (I take them at 8pm). I NEVER had any side effects that everyone else was having.. No nausea, headaches, dizziness, breast tenderness, mood swings/irritability. In fact, I have less cramping, shorter/lighter periods and by the third month, most of my acne cleared away. I have tried other pills and this one is by far the best for me. I know that Yaz may not be for everyone since everyone’s body is different, and I know some people who had some side effects, but I am glad it work perfectly for me!
I took yaz for 6 months a couple of years ago and it made me CRAZY. I was angry all the time and had some very violent thoughts about hurting people! I had never had thoughts like that before Yaz and I have stopped taking birth control since getting off of Yaz. I use spermicide and condoms with my husband and took back control of my body and mind. After my experience, I’ll never take synthetic hormones again.
[...] Goodbye to You Too Yaz: That Birth Control Pill is Driving Me Bananas: Bayer spent $20 million for an advertising campaign to reverse the effects of its ad campaign promoting the oral birth control pill, Yaz, as effective for the ups and downs of daily life as well as zits and other skin blemishes. The ads showed women kicking around balloons that said stuff like “mood swings” and “fatigue” while they played the songs “Good bye to You” or “We’re Not Going to Take It.”… too bad the drug can MAKE you depressed… [...]
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