anxiety attacks after stopping birth control

Hey! I’m just going through this and saw a natural path because my blood hormone test came back normal. My natural path said it’s because the ranges are so wide for the blood test that it doesn’t properly measure what’s right for you. The urine one does as it has a specific way to measure your hormones dependent on where you are in your cycle. Hope this helps ! I’m getting the urine one done next week and will update everyone on my results of that since my blood hormone test came back normal.

Can you please tell me more info? Where did you get the cream? How long did you use it before feeling better? I’m desperate.

So I am not the one who posted originally, but I read his book and you can buy it online on his website as well as the cream. I found a cream with the same ingredients and progesterone level at a local health food store because I didn't want to wait until it was delivered. It however was not the solution to my issues, and my anxiety and insomnia persist, but I ve heard a lot of women find relief if your hormones are imbalanced.

My symptoms now ( I am many months into this): anxiety at night, pounding heart, nervousness which prevents me from falling asleep, waking up at 3 am sometimes, acne, tight muscles which lead to painful tendonitis, and due to bad sleep I am foggy brained, tired, and cannot concentrate, and some depression due to this going on for so long.

I have the same symptoms as you. Seems to only bother me at night when initially trying to fall asleep. How many months in are you exactly? My Dr told me to take Benadryl when i feel this way and I’m not the type of person that likes taking meds but on really bad nights i will and it does work.

Hi everyone,

I thought I would post here as I've come to this forum a few times over the last few months and it has really helped me keep sane during the really bad days. I am hoping this helps someone out there. Please note this is all my experience and I cannot speak for anyone else as everyone and every body is different.

I've been going through the same thing. I have been off the pill for 3 months now. My symptoms have been: panic attacks, heart palpations, feeling faint/dizzy, light headed. At night it has been: brain fog (yes this is a thing), trouble sleeping, feeling nauseous after eating, general anxiety at night & sometimes I felt I wanted to crawl out of my own skin and couldn’t escape, this terrified me.
At my lowest I felt depressed and could not shake it. I was not happy anymore and did not feel excited about things that I used to.

The worst it has been was the first month I got off the pill. I had no idea what was going on or what was wrong with me. It was only a few weeks later that I linked the two after suffering a bad panic attack. At one point I considered getting back on the pill to stop these feelings but I pushed through.

I spent the next few weeks in the same state - constantly experiencing the symptoms above. After seeing no end and having to bail on work due to the anxiety, I was desperate and looked for anything and everything to help. I did a ton of research online and that is when I came across this forum plus other websites.

What I have done to date and how I'm feeling:

I went to see a Naturopath, which I believe has been suggested by others here. I already had blood work done previously at my GP (results were all normal), so did not need blood work done again. I did pass her my test results and she says they looked normal. I explained all my symptoms and she prescribed me some supplements (yes I was desperate), they were - magnesium, chaste tree, sereni pro, homeopathy pills. Plus suggested dietary changes.

The two things that have really worked for me:

1) The magnesium has been the one thing that has helped ALOT. I don't feel the brain fog anymore at night and I am not so mentally exhausted when I come home from work.

2) I have stopped consuming sugar on the regular - I used to be a massive sweet tooth and would eat large amounts of sugar/sweets but have reduced this significantly. The effects of having high and low blood sugar was impacting my body's adrenaline and hence the panic attacks.

Now I am feeling much better - the depression and related thoughts have gone. There are still things that make me feel a little anxious but not as bad. I am in a better mood both at work and at home. I feel it has been the right choice getting off the pill - I know it doesn't seem that way right now but hang in there, there is a light at the end.

I would recommend seeing a Naturopath if you can afford it but please find one that is legitimately interested in helping you. Do your research!

Good luck to the ladies out there going through this - stay strong. All the best.

(Sorry this was a super long post).

Hi all,

I am 5 Years post pill and thought I would share how life have been since April, 2013 when it all went pear shapped. (Posted a few times over the years but with no name)

Background: was on Yasmin for 4 years. Stopped to give my body a break. A few weeks later an in easy feeling just took over. Within days it turned into full blown anxiety with OCD intrusive thoughts. Couldn’t eat (lost 15kg in 2 weeks), very foggy like I wasn’t real, depression but this was more related to the anxiety, irregular heart beat (went to cardiologist for that), insomnia and hair loss.

Was told by my GP that it was all in my head even though I said the only change made in my lufestyle was me stopping the pill. Cardiologist said what I was experiencing was that of a woman experiencing post part in depression due to the rapid decline in hormones.

After 3 months of struggling to comprehend what was happening to me (never had depression or anxiety prior), I found this forum.

5 years in and I am great! No anxiety, No depression, no intrusive thoughts, periods normal,
No dluxuations of any sort before my period ect.

However, I would be lying if I didn’t say the whole thing did not change me because it did. It took me a good 3 years for all symptom to completely disappear.

Some ladies are lucky in that it passes in less than 12 months and the symptoms are not so invasive but when you’re every waking hour is devoted to fighting this side effect it does take its toll (and I was still high functioning, went to work, travelled ect).

My advice: let your body heal! Don’t put more hormones in it. Your body is trying to produce it’s normal levels and find the right balance. Eat right, exercise and rest. For those with intrusive thoughts, knowledge is power! Once you understand how chemically the brain works and how unbalanced hormones can trigger these thoughts, the anxiety slowly diminishes.

For those with the ocd intrusive thoughts I recommend reading the imp of the mind, brain lock and overcoming obsessive thoughts. Really helps overcome the anxiety you are feeling with your thoughts. I also recommend yoga. Really hard at first cause your mind has probably forgotten how to switch off but overtime it will help.

There are doctors doing case studies with women like ya here in Australia so don’t be suppose if in 10-15 years “new teaser has shows” that these are indeed side effects of stopping the pill and will need to be on the warming label.

Be kind to yourself, treat your mind and body like a temple, share your thoughts and feelings with those close and trusting and just ride the storm.

You will get through this xx

I honestly can't take this anymore. I am going to lose everything because of this. My boyfriend, my job, my friends, my life. I have different symptoms every day, anxiety, depression, dizziness, light headedness, no concentration, anger, exhaustion, light sensitivity, and I can't leave the house because I get anxious when I do. Over the past few days all I can do is lay in bed. I just passed the 2 month mark of being off of the pill, and although I had some good days in month 2, all of the symptoms just seem to come back no matter how healthy a lifestyle I maintain. I was only on birth control for a little over a year so I don't understand why these issues haven't resolved yet. I now always have the feeling that i just want to leave...leave my own skin and body behind and just not be here anymore if life is going to be like this. My boyfriend and family are losing patience with me and don't believe that this is because of hormones. I can't do any of the things I love anymore and I can't drink or have coffee or eat certain foods because they make the anxiety worse. I am not the same person I was 3 months ago - its like night and day and it feels like the life I worked so hard for and loved so much is just slipping away. I honestly feel like I'm going crazy sometimes. Maybe I am. I had one period exactly a month after I came off the pill and my second is now 3 days late. I really don't know what to do anymore. I don't have control of anything in my life and I haven't felt happy or relaxed in so long. 

I am 9 months in. I do see better days overall that before, but deal with this nightly. I used to take Benadryl, but am on some homeopathic treatments that work most of the time. How long have you been dealing with all this?

What are you dealing with nightly and what homeopathic treatments are you using that work? Thank you!

Hi everyone. I've been reading the past blogs and have the same symptoms. I stopped the BC in March because it was making me sick. I've been on some form of BC for 10 years. I have anxiety already but I haven't been able to function recently. I'm crying all the time, hair falling out, not sleeping well, weak limbs. I'm losing hope. Someone please tell me that their symptoms eventually went away.

I’m 8 months off, the first 1-4 months were completely miserable.. anxiety, social anxiety, both things I’ve never had before. I missed a lot of work and canceled many trips. I would say these last 2 months have been better each month. My anxiety is 90% gone. My main problems occur at night.. I’ll have 3 weeks of leg cramps , palpations, and this weird stomach dropping/flushed feeling while I’m trying to fall asleep and then I’ll get 1 week free of symptoms. Then it starts back up. It’s so weird and sometimes it feels like when one symptom goes away it’s replaced with something else. HOWEVER i am in no way as bad of shape as i was in the beginning so yes it does get better. Has anyone else experienced any weird symptoms that only happen at night? It’s like I’m fine all day and as soon as the sun goes down all hell breaks loose.

Every night around 7-8 pm I feel the nervousness/ anxiety outta nowhere. Some nights are better than others but sometimes it prevents me from falling asleep, or wakes me up. I am taking magnesium, melatonin, and these drops made from various plants that are supposed to help the body deal with stress or anxiety etc. My naturopath changes the drops every 6 weeks or so. I was never a nervous person before and never had sleep issues my whole life till the bc pill. I truly think I am going mental sometimes cuz nothing really triggers the nightime issues, but how funny that we all have the same symptoms!! Proof on how badly the pill can mess you up

Yup, same symptoms here and I only took the pill for 4 months! I stopped it in October last year. I hit bottom in December, and it's slowly getting better. My hair loss has stopped, and that was worrisome! I still have pain in my legs and feet, although it's a bit better. The insomnia and anxiety still suck, but at least I have better nights than others, and in December it was horrific. I had anxiety ALL day and night.

Ditto here. It's like slogging through hell. My goal each day is to try to maintain a semblance of a normal life. I don't want this to destroy me. I drag myself out of bed, show up to work and do the minimum without getting fired, strategically take days off when I just can't do it anymore. I call my mom and sob when I need to. Drag myself to the gym ( this actually really helps), and do the minimum to maintain my house and family together. Had you told me I would be alcohol and caffeine free a year ago I would have laughed but I have to cuz that makes me feel so bad. Sigh. keep calm and carry on as they say...