Bipolar and birth control pills

As we looked through the history of my wife's BPD, we noticed an interesting thing.

She has been on the pill since age 13 to control menopausal problems. The BPD symptoms first appeared when she was off the pill after our first child was born, left when she went back on, and are now here again as that she had her tubes tied after our second child was born and no longer takes the pill.

Anyone have results- good or bad- with the use of the pill to help control BPD?

Your wife is lucky. The pill made me crazier. There was one that was very popular about 10 - 12 years ago because it kept your skin clear...I was lucky I didn't hurt someone. I was very angry, and in a bad situation. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't thank God I got out of it. But yes......the pill makes me worse.

I was on a birth controll pill for about 7 years. (One brand for 6 years, then I tried a lower estrogen pill for 1 year.) I started to have issues with heart palpatations, increased anxiety, mood swings, etc all about 2 weeks before my cycle. I was diagnosed with Pre-menstural Dysphoric Disorder about 2 years ago (I've been off the pill for 10 months now.) About 2 months after I went off the pill, my husband and I noticed I was still getting the PMDD symptoms but they were lasting days and not a week or two at a time, and I could manage them better. I rarely have cardiac symptoms now.
Did your wife's symptoms seem to increase right before her menstural cycle or does her mood significanlty change before her cycle?

cutebagaddict08,

Yes, her moods are worse and she is unstable around her menstrals. She checked with the pdoc and he told her it is OK to double the depakote for that time period, but it really does not help her.

While she has always had minor issues with what we now know were minor depression and mania cycles, the BPD did not seriously manifest itself until after we were done having children and she had her tubal, eliminating the use of the pill. The happiest and most stable she has ever been was when she was pregnant, so we are thinking that the hormones present during pregnancy (the ones in the pill) may benefit her.

Her OB/GYN wants her back on the pill anyways for regulation of her cycles, and the pdoc says let's give it a try to see if it helps the BPD.

We have done some research. Some women with BPD are more in control on the pill while others go on a severe rollercoaster, but we are hoping for some good results based on her past history.

The pill did not agree with me. I started to go into a depression.

Well I'm only recently diagnosed but my experience thus far with hormonal bc methods is that they make me completely crazy. My moods are all over the place, I gain weight, and I feel pregnant on them. I've been using nonhormonal methods for the past year and a half now since I had my son. Now that I've been put on Topamax it looks like we'll be continuing since it makes bc not work.