You are 100% not alone. I have been off bc 8 months and I was doing okay last month and this month ive been to the ER twice for panic attacks. I am constantly worrying about my health like all day everyday. I have become a mad scientist.So, my 3rd month off my anxiety was so bad the floresent light felt like it was burning through my skin and I was crawling out of my skin. It has been the scariest experiance of my life. The last month I have been super depressed and anxious and loss of passion :( They want me to go on prozac but it makes me feel sick..You are not alone friend. This is a long journey. I am so grateful though for finding this post.
Hi!
I felt the same and still do on occasion but I now realize that it is intrusive thoughts and that they are not real. I can’t believe the grief that birth control has caused us. I started reading a book called the woman code and it let’s you get your hormones rebalanced by food, the things to avoid in your products, ingredients and such. Also I read a book on overcoming unwanted intrusive thoughts. It really helped me but things in perspective. The thing that always gets me is heart palpitations which make my body feel jittery.
I felt the same and still do on occasion but I now realize that it is intrusive thoughts and that they are not real. I can’t believe the grief that birth control has caused us. I started reading a book called the woman code and it let’s you get your hormones rebalanced by food, the things to avoid in your products, ingredients and such. Also I read a book on overcoming unwanted intrusive thoughts. It really helped me but things in perspective. The thing that always gets me is heart palpitations which make my body feel jittery.
Thank you so much for saying that. Just knowing that I'm not the only one experiencing the intensity of these anxiety symptoms is a huge relief. I'm so sorry you've had to go to the ER twice in one month, that's awful. During my first week off the pill, on Easter, I ended up in the ER as well. I just felt so weird and odd, I can't even put it into words...it sent me into panic mode and I freaked out and my mom had to take me to the hospital. I also worry about my health throughout most of the day. Any weird sensation or thought sends me into a spiral of anxiety and worry. The worst thing is my anxiety symptoms change throughout the day... its either nausea, heavy/tight chest, trouble catching my breath, depersonalization, foggy feeling, weird and intrusive thoughts, random parts of songs replaying in my head, etc... I have also experienced the sensitivity to light, especially florescent lights in doctors offices and stores like Walmart. I felt some depression during my first month off, right before I got my period and then it seemed to go away but now it is also back full force...I'm either super anxious or depressed or both at the same time. I cry at almost everything and my own mind scares me sometimes. Again, its this strange "off" feeling that I just can't put into words. My doctor gave me Xanax to help with panic attacks as well as Lexapro (SSRI) which I am nervous to take because I have read in reviews that it gets a lot worse for a few weeks when you first start taking it before you feel any anxiety/depression relief. I just don't know what to do. I'm not even 3 months off yet, I feel like I have such a long way to go and I feel like its already been forever with these symptoms.
Hi,
Thank you so much...as I'm sure you know, it is an incredible feeling in itself just to know I'm not alone in this. How did you help yourself realize that they are intrusive thoughts? I also can't believe how bad the side effects of coming off of birth control are, it is a lot more intense than I ever expected...I expected maybe breakouts and bloating, not this. This is pure torture. What is the name of the book you read about overcoming the unwanted thoughts? Also, how many months off of the birth control have you been?
Thank you so much...as I'm sure you know, it is an incredible feeling in itself just to know I'm not alone in this. How did you help yourself realize that they are intrusive thoughts? I also can't believe how bad the side effects of coming off of birth control are, it is a lot more intense than I ever expected...I expected maybe breakouts and bloating, not this. This is pure torture. What is the name of the book you read about overcoming the unwanted thoughts? Also, how many months off of the birth control have you been?
8 months off the pill and things are getting a lot better. The intrusive thoughts for me ended after month 3/4. Now i realize i can not tolerate things i use to tolerate easily. For example any type of alcohol no matter how little will cause certain anxiety attacks. Same for caffeine and i have to watch how much sugar i have as well. So ladies watch what you’re eating/drinking during this process. I’m not sure what’s going on it our bodies but certain things make it a lot worse. I cannot wait until there’s scientific evidence / explanations about what’s happening to us.
I am saddened that so many of us are suffering from this but it is so comforting to know that someone else is going through the same thing. I too am 8 months along here and was feeling much better for awhile but have been hitting many rough spots. Last night I woke up at 1:30 am and suffered through a 5 hour panic attack. How can it last that long? It was awful and made me feel like a failure like I must have done something wrong or I will never get better. How are you pushing through? I seriously feel like I have lost 8 months of my life to this. If you have tips on dealing with this and keeping up hope please share cuz I don't think I can feel much lower than this.
In Colorado here, 8 months since I stopped. I could basically copy paste what everyone has written here: anxiety and insomnia at night, intrusive thoughts, ringing in my ears, super sore feet and legs, being anxious about anxiety etc. I have been thinking about finding a therapist too, I feel like family and loved ones can only hear so much about my suffering, and maybe I need talk with a professional. Things were looking better in month 6-7, but recently it seems to be getting worse. As far as looking for positives, I do appreciate simple things more now, like having a better day now and then, and not trying to be so "productive" like work, get everything done, volunteer for this or that. My priority is feeling better and being kind to others more , there is a lot of suffering out there! I am soooo glad to know that I am not alone in this, sometimes I feel like I am losing my mind seriously!! Bless you all, it has to get better, right?
I had another few bad nights :( waking up 10 times plus with my heart racing.. it seems the first 3 hours of trying to fall asleep is the worst for me. Does anyone else have issues sleeping? Does anyone have any sleeping tips they can give or things that worked for sleeping better? I’ll be fine for a week or two a month then the next two weeks it’s the same thing..
Let me add I’ve NEVER had issues with sleeping before i stopped taking the pill so i know it’s related. I’ve always been a great sleeper :(
I don’t usually have trouble sleeping. I think it’s the only time my body is actually relaxed. Hah.
For those with intrusive thoughts, don’t wait to buy “overcoming unwanted intrusive thoughts”. It can be found on Amazon and is helpful at explaining what’s going on with this form of anxiety and how to fix it.
For those with intrusive thoughts, don’t wait to buy “overcoming unwanted intrusive thoughts”. It can be found on Amazon and is helpful at explaining what’s going on with this form of anxiety and how to fix it.
Does anyone feel like oddly tense? Like your muscles are so tight and you feel on edge all the time? I don’t understand this and am telling myself I’ll feel normal again in the coming months, but it’s pretty harsh to be dealing with it at 4 months off still. For those 8 months in, do you know what I’m talking about? At what point did the weird physical sensations fade away?
I know exactly what you mean. I actually experienced that and I’m at 9 months. I also get these weird vibration feelings in my feet and lips. All of these things still happen to me but not as often as they use to. I want to say maybe a week a month. I have been researching and there have been studies done that shows birth control changes the shape of the female brain. I wonder if these symptoms we all are having have anything to do with our brains going back to being structured how they use to be?
I was only on BC (the devil's drug) for a little over a year. I have had every symptom everyone has listed on here, mostly the anxiety. I will be 3 months off of it at the end of this month. Some days I wake up and something feels terribly wrong and my chest feels so tight I think I'm dying. None of this happened to me prior to going on and stopping birth control and I didn't change anything else in my life or routine so I know it is the cause. I had had to start anxiety medication because of this and still, almost every single day is a struggle. I seriously wonder sometimes if I am actually dying. I have turned into an outgoing, happy woman to a scared, anxious, mess that can barely leave the house without a "safe person" going with me. This past week? I've been in bed almost all day every day. Yeah. This is real. To anyone who reads this, please know you are not alone. I'm sure there are more women then just those who post on here going through this. It is completely not right, but most doctors will deny it has anything to do with the drug because they get paid through pharm companies to push these drugs. Do whatever you have to do to get by, I'm not sure how this will all turn out for me at this point because I would think that after almost 3 months I'd be better but I see women who have been struggling with this for 8 or 9 months now and its awful. I wish there was something we could do.
I googled this and think I found what you are talking about. Basically HBC has been around 50 ish years and not a lot of research has been done on these types of effects. 100 million women take it and it’s a big question mark on what it actually does to the brain but some research indicates it does alter it. It’s infuriating and seems pretty unethical. :(
To Guest who is 3 months off, hang in there. I know it’s so hard. I started being afraid of WEIRD stuff I never thought twice about before. I’d like to think it’s tapering off somewhat 4 months in. I’m trying hard to be optimistic...I still get discouraged easily and i feel emotionally scarred which is a hurdle in and of itself.