birth control pill causing anxiety/ depression??

[torque]

I was just wondering if anyone has been on birth control pills and have suffered from anxiety or depression issues? I have been on the pill for 11yrs now and cant take how I am feeling anymore. I went on the pill for irregular periods, but since then I have been feeling blah, libido has decreased severely, I have sinus problems- I found out I have no allergies- so I think it is related to axiety, I worry constantly about everything; I get so nervous I get light headed sometimes. I thinkk I am going to try and stop the pills. I was just wondering if anyone had similar side effects from birth control pills. Thank you!

[cvb_1yo]

Reading everyone's comments has been so helpful!  Between the way I feel and reading all of these stories, I decided to go off of birth control two days ago.  I've been taking it for about 8 months, first I took lo loestren fe for about 3 months, and then gildess fe 1/20 for the last 5 because my insurance didn't cover lo loestren.  At first, I felt completely normal (minus being slightly moodier around my period but I didn't really think it was the pill at the time) but since starting gildess, everything has slowly been changing.  I've always been a relatively anxious person, almost a hypochondriac, but over the past five months I went from occasionally worrying about my health to it being a constant obsession.  Every time I felt a small pain anywhere in my body I would immediately think the worst and then almost fall into a panic attack about the possibility of me dying or that I was without a doubt going to get really sick all of a sudden.  Which is ridiculous, I'm a healthy 21 year old woman with no medical problems! I've also felt chest tightness and tension on and off for the last month that I've been on the pill.  My anxiousness had started giving me physical discomfort even when I didn't feel very panicky.  

I've been off of it for two days now and I already feel much more like myself.  I still feel the anxiousness in my chest a little, but I'm hoping and praying that that will go away with time.  So lesson learned, my body and hormones are not worth messing with.  The negative effects of the pill surely seem to outweigh the positive.  

[mina513]

Thank you so much your story makes me feel like I am not going through this alone. I am on the same BC as you and 3 months in I cant stop crying. I stopped taking my pill today does anyone know how long it takes for these feeling to go away?

[Cee21]

Thank you so much for posting this! I just started JOLIVETTE because my previous birth control had my blood pressure really high. I am having the same feeling. Do I WANT MY BOYFRIEND ANYMORE? I can't even lay down without feeling like I can't sleep. THE PILL really isn't worth it at all. I have had so many issues that me and my boyfriend chose to abstain completely from sex. It isn't worth it to us. My whole mental and emotional state has been trashed and  I AM working hard to get back on track. I totally agree with everything you said. They don't describe or explain the side effects too much and I think they should emphasize that more.

[Cee21]

YES MOST DEFINITELY! I just started a new birth control pill and I had an extreme anxiety attack yesterday. My boyfriend was scared and I was panicked. I stopped my pill immediately and refuse to take it. I will just abstain from sex. No pill is worth my mental state at all. My boyfriend and I are just super careful. If you are worried about the the condom breaking or so then you can always check to make sure the condom didn't break by filling it with water once you are done. If it has a leak or a tear then you know you need to get plan B ASAP.

[UkEMSCB]

Finding this forum has been so relieving!
My story is that I started Microgynon back in June 2014 but swapped after two months to Yasmin when I noticed my skin broke out in spots.
I was then on Yasmin for about 3/4 months but took 2 packs back to back, had a break week, then did another 2 packs back to back to avoid a period on special occasions. And it was on a special a occasion that my mind just suddenly switched.

I was having a romantic dinner for my birthday with my boyfriend ( had be going out for a year at this point) in November 2014. And all over a sudden like you, Collegegirl92, horrible thoughts started racing through my head 'Do I love him anymore? Do we have a future together? Is there any point?' All alongside an empty feeling in my stomach, much like being nervous or anxious. This came completely out of NOWHERE. I am utterly in love with my boyfriend and we plan to move in together in the next year which is obviously exciting and a first for me. The reason I know these emotions, anxieties, moods are not my own is because my rational conciousness is fighting to get rid of them and I'm able, some of the time, to know the difference from my own emotions and these intrusive horrible thoughts. But these thoughts, none the less, hinder my mood and outlook on a daily basis.

I swapped to Loestrin mid November, known for not causing as strong an emotional response and to begin with, felt ok, but not 100% like myself.

By Christmas 2014, having gone home to spend the holidays with my parents, being away from my boyfriend made me crazy. Our phonecall on Christmas day had me in tears because I missed him so much. For someone who was a month before having intrusive thoughts about the 'status' of their relationship, i was now being needy and clingy wanting him to phone me all the time.

My mind now, Feb 2015, has reverted back to those thoughts of how much do I love him, how much am i attracted to him? Whilst i miss him intensely (we live in different cities at the moment) and I look forward to seeing him every weekend, These conflict of emotions is really taking its toll. I am emotionally stable, I'm not going to do anything drastic, but i do not feel like my normal self, and hate myself for not feeling overwhelmed with passion and love for my boyfriend like i did before - and i miss it!

Im just about to start my 4th back of Loestrin as many pamphlets/other pill users/doctors/nurses/websites say that symptoms tend to subsided after 6 months of continuous use (and i have not stuck out a brand of pill for more than 3-4 months) so i truly am hoping for the best. If it continues on like this, my boyfriend and I have said that we will return to condoms, begrudgingly.

To add insult to injury, the pill has decreased my sex drive which hasn't gone unnoticed by myself or boyfriend and only adds to the whole 'do i love him anymore?' thought if i'm struggling to get into the mood to be intimate. But i can see a connection between starting the pill the and down spiral of sex drive and depressive mood within myself.

All in all, the pill isn't what its cracked up to be. Yes, its there to prevent pregnancy and that's all it claims to do, but all these added side effects are just not worth it.
1. Spotting mid pill pack that last longer than the break week bleed! effectively 2 periods a month
2. Depressive mood and intrusive thoughts. Who knew that the pill could put specific thoughts into your head, and not just an overall feeling of melancholy.
3. Loss in sex drive. Kind of defeats the whole point of being on the pill if you don't want to be intimate! Also, maybe not much information, but the ability to self lubricate when aroused as gone, not helping with the whole intimacy issue.

You would think all these things would amount for me wanting to stop the pill straight away, but like i said, i am going to give it one last go and at least reach 6 months continuous use and see if anything changes. I just can't believe there isn't a wider knowledge, awareness or discussion about what the pill can really do to a womens body. The whole putting on weight, bigger boobs and spots is nothing compared to the actually emotional turmoil all these artificial hormones do to the mind.

[ozzles]

I am SO GLAD I finally read this thread. I started Ortho Tri Cyclen 3 1/2 months ago in hopes of taming my acne. Despite my doctor and dermatologist claiming that Ortho Tri Cyclen was totally safe and practically guaranteed to decrease acne, it only got WORSE as well as making me incredibly anxious and depressed. I've stopped wanting to socialize, go to classes, or even leave my room. I've gained weight. I haven't wanted to go anywhere, I don't want to try new things, and nothing seems to make me laugh or feel happy. On top of that, I've just felt like crying all of the time. I kept thinking the problem was something I was doing wrong, so it is a relief to hear that the only thing I've done wrong is taking the pill.

I have *never* had any sort of depression, but these past few months have been crippling; both to my self esteem (acne related) and my overall moral. Like so many women before me on this post have said: I WANT MY LIFE BACK! I plan to stop taking the pill, and hopefully by doing so I'll finally feel normal again.