[sunrise]

My doctor has recommended I give my ovaries a 3 month vacation from ovulating and has prescribed birth control pills for me. I tried birth control pills a few times about 25-30 years ago and found them really hard to tolerate. They made me really, really depressed, and other times very manic and other times very emotional. I am usually a very steady person. I was crazy! It was terrible. I don't want to feel that depressed or out of control again. I told my doctor my worries and she said that modern BCPs are much lower dose than when I took them back then, and so I may not react the same way. So I'm going to try them, but I'm kind of scared.

Has anyone here used modern BCPs and felt changes in mood? Or are the current pills too weak to cause any problems?

[Sabrina]

I took Yasmin prior to my wedding in order to regulate my period (I didn't need it for birth control) and without knowing what was happening to me, I became a monster. My personality changed completely. When my husband almost called our wedding off because of my behaviour, I realised I had to look at why I had changed. After some research, it became apparant that Yasmin did indeed almost ruin many a life. I stopped taking them immediately but not without a lot of damage being done.

That was my experience with modern BCP.

Hoping your experience will be smooth. Good luck.

PS. I am curious as to why your doctor thinks it is necessary to give your ovaries a "vacation"?

[sunrise]

Hi Sabrina, thanks for sharing your experience with birth control pills. I haven't gotten my prescription filled yet, but it for "Loestrin." I guess I'll have to be very vigilant and stop taking the pills at the first sign of trouble.

I feel that doctors don't warn patients adequately about the changes in mood and emotional state that BCPs can bring on. I have a friend whose daughter is on DepoProvera and it caused a lot of depression in her, and they never connected the dots. Instead, they got her on anti-depressants and mood stabilizers. All this just because you don't want to get an IUD or use a diaphragm? Sometimes it seems crazy to me.

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PS. I am curious as to why your doctor thinks it is necessary to give your ovaries a "vacation"?

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I have something funky going on with my right ovary (some kind of cyst or growth, probably very vascularized), and it gets aggravated every time I ovulate on that side. It is so painful. In a matter of seconds I can go from fine to moaning in pain and unable to function. I can handle pain really well, and this is just terrible! She said it is similar to appendicitis pain and some women with this end up spending a day or two in the hospital each month. When it happens, I really can't walk or talk and certainly not drive myself home (it has happened 3 times so far and twice was at work). Vicodin helps, but last time I didn't have this with me when it happened. So now I am carrying the painkillers at all time. My gyno said the pain is from the blood spilling into my abdomenal cavity and sitting there. The worst of the pain is gone within 24 hours, and I feel completely better after a week. I also can't urinate when this happens for about a half day, and so in addition to the severe pain I have this "can't go" discomfort. Anyway, she thinks my ovary keeps reinjuring itself each time I ovulate on that side, and it needs a vacation from ovulating so it can have a chance to heal. If it's still a problem after the vacation, she'll do surgery to either remove the growth or the ovary if the growth can't be excised easily. (I am done having babies--I have two wonderful girls.)

[Sabrina]

Oh my, I really do sympathize! I was tested for endometriosis some years ago (which I didn't have) because of severe and totally incapacitating pain.

Gosh, I do hope the vacation helps and that surgery can be avoided.

Please keep us posted.

[sunrise]

Thank you, sabrina. (((Hugs)))

I was reading today that taking vitamin B6 supplements can sometimes help with the depression caused by birth control pills. Also, that 5% of women on BCPs have depression as a side effect. I will definitely keep the vitamins handy.

[inapickle]

I've had problems in the past with high dose BCP's. I can't take them. They turn me into a MOODY basket case. I am now taking a low dose pill and I don't have any problems. I haven't even gained much weight. Your Dr.'s right the new pills are much better than they used to be.

[Gemstone]

I don't have trouble with the pill, but I was a complete basket case when I was on norplant (which is off the market now). I had it taken out early when I finally put 2 and 2 together and realized the norplant was my problem. I'm lucky I haven't had trouble with the pill at all. I'm off it now though and trying for a baby.

I wish you luck. I think your doctor is right though. I think the pill is better now.

i found that going on the mini pill (much smaller dose of estrogen than the earlier variety) actually helped improve my mood because i didn't have period pain anymore and because it shortened and lightened my flow.

that being said, i think that different people respond differently to estrogen. i think i'm fairly tolerant of it because i responded okay to the morning after pill / emergency contraceptive too, which is really just a hefty dose of estrogen.

is what is going on for you related to ovarian cysts? i'm wondering because i got checked out for those a while back. we do get some funny GP's here sometimes but the GP was saying that ovarian cysts are no longer considered a disorder / disease because they are so common. i couldn't quite believe that (if everyone gets cancer does that mean it will no longer be considered a disease too?! WTF???) but anyhoo...

i know a couple people who do have ovarian cysts. they get lots of pain around the time of their cycle too. they are on the pill which takes care of that, however. their biggest concern is whether they will be able to have children later when they want to...

[Kendyll]

I take BCPs to MODERATE my moods! I'm already sterilized, but the pills really keep me balanced. I get really bad PMS, and we decided to try me on the pills - Really low dose with back to back packs so I only have a period every three months. And even with that period the PMS isn't so bad, so I'm a lot more stable for a lot longer.

My doc didn't want me on Yasmin...something to do with my body chemistry and electrolytes.

[sunrise]

Thanks for all the helpful comments, everyone.

I'll be starting the pills on Sunday, so we shall see. The pill I have been prescribed has only 20 micrograms of estrogen in it. Is that the same as the "mini-pill"? Interestingly, neither of my sisters has been able to take oral contraceptives either due to the depression they experienced. So we are mutants!

alex, I don't have any pain at all when I have my period. It is mid cycle when I ovulate that is the problem, and only when I ovulate on the side that has the problematic cysts. The doctor doesn't think the large cysts on that ovary are an endometrioma type cyst, since that would be associated with pain during the period. Instead, she thinks I have some sort of increased vascularization in a benign growth on the affected ovary, and every time I ovulate, the follicle bursts open and reinjures the vascularized area, causing substantial bleeding into my abdomenal cavity. They have visualized this by several imaging techniques. The pooled blood inside my belly is very painful and can just knock me off my feet when it happens. It takes the body about a week to resorb all the internal blood. My doctor says my case is quite unusual, and she sees many women with cysts on their ovaries, so it must be different somehow from the standard affliction. She is hoping that if I give my ovaries a rest and prevent this continued cycle of ovulation and reinjuring my ovary, that it will heal and then be ready to resume ovulation when I stop with the pills. If the ovary doesn't heal, and the pain resumes once I stop the pills, I will need surgery. Since the pain is quite incapacitating, this is something she doesn't want to ignore, especially since my ability to urinate becomes so compromised. Now if there was a corner clinic that would do catherization on demand, that might make the situation more tolerable. But my doctor doesn't do catheterizations in the office setting, so I would have to go the hospital emergency room for that, and they would be obliged to do imaging beforehand for liability reasons, and it would end up costing an arm and a leg. The last CT scan I had cost $6000 (insurance covered all but 10%).

Kendyll, that's interesting about using hormones to moderate your moods. I am lucky and don't get PMS. Maybe taking contraceptives gives me PMS. (Is getting really depressed and manic symptoms of PMS?)

Thanks, Gemstone, your words about pills are encouraging.

What is Yasmin, anyway? I saw a commercial for it on TV tonight. I have never seen a commercial for BCPs before. Strange!

[sunrise]

This is my 6th day on the pills, and I am feeling very down. I called my sister today and ended up telling her all about the crap in my life, sobbing, etc. This is so not me. I remembered this from being on hormones a couple of decades ago. Not a good feeling. I am really going to try to make this work for 3 months, though. I think it helps to know when I get like that, that it is the birth control pills talking and not really me.

[tiffywiffy]

Well, I deffently dont want to discourage you from taking BC, but I have just recently started BC for the first time, was on orthotricyclin Lo for about 3 months, and let me tell you it has been the worst 3 months of my life!! At first I thought I was just stressed out because I have a lot going on, then I got very depressed and started having horrible mood swings. My boyfriend has noticed my personality change and Im lucky hes been patient with me. It made me so overly sensitive and emotional I thought I was loosing my mind!! Im so glad I figured out what the problem was before It got more serious. There are a lot of modern problems with the pill. I know plenty of people who experience this when taking the pill so be careful Who knows, u may do fine with it ;but use caution! <font color="purple"> </font>

[silver_moon]

Which one are you taking? The combined pill? That can make you feel low and if you have depression can make it worse.
You sound like your a strong person? If you want to... stick it out for 3 months and give them chance to settle down, otherwise I'd talk to your doc and ask for a different birth control.
Cerazette (progesterone only pill) has helped calm my mood swings more than anything, but it's rare they give it out

Anyway, good luck hope your feeling better soon

-molly-

[sunrise]

I have been on BCPs for 5 months now. They have made me more moody and sensitive/teary during this time, but not the extreme depression and mania I remember from taking them a couple of decades ago (the pills today are lower dose). I recently had surgery to remove a problematic ovary that had created the need to suppress ovulation with BCPs. Now that the ovary is gone, my doctor has given me the OK to stop the BCPs at the end of this cycle. I have only 5 more days to go! It will be a relief to eliminate the hormones. I am going through some hard times right now and while taking these hormones, I was always wondering "am I feeling this way (anxiety, volatility, depression, etc.) because of the hormones or for other reasons? Now I will be off the hormones and know better what is really happening with my moods and emotions and can hopefully cope better.

[hold2truth]

Hi,

I don't actually take the oral birth control, I have NuvaRing. It's a ring that you insert in your vagina, and leave there for a month. You take it out and you bleed. Put another one back in and repeat. My dr put me on it because I was concerned about side effects--some of the oddest stuff puts me to sleep. It's really low dose, which means I'll have a lower chance of side effects. I love it. It's convenient.

I've found that it doesn't really affect my moods that much. Just a tiny bit, but it's not by and far. I've heard some horror stories, though. But I thought I'd share my 2 cents