Birth control making you feel like a different person? DONT PANIC.

Relative to 2 months ago, I feel a lot better. Not getting too excited though because I realize it is a gradual process and I still feel odd. But, for me I have bad days and good days. Yesterday was great because no crying and I could brush off annoying thoughts. A few weeks ago was bad. Went out with friends to a bar and cried the whole time for my relationship. So it may have been alcohol, it may have been anxiety triggered by more people, I'm not sure. We have wanted to move in for a while before this, so it is easier to think about carrying on now, since nothing has changed in my relationship, except my anxiety from the pill.
I am 24. I know, I wish we could put down emails and this forum would not delete it immediately. I have no idea if we can private message to exchange info though.

You are feeling better? I came across this post after feeling like I was going crazy and something was wrong with me and I'm so glad I did. I started the progesterone only pill it would be a month today but I stopped it on Tuesday. I randomly started crying at my boyfriends house the other night out of no where and then that night I got extremely anxious like I wanted to rip myself out of my skin and started with these awful thoughts. I lost a person to depression that I went to school with for years almost a year ago and my head keeps thinking that maybe I'm like her or turning into her and that thought scares me so much. This came out of no where and it's so scary. It's been 4 days without taking the pill and I'm not feeling any better, I seem to have good moments but then my head starts all over again and just won't stop thinking. I can't seem to eat even though I know I'm hungry because I have myself such a nervous wreck. I have battled anxiety in the past many years ago and since learned how to manage it but this is awful. I would never recommend birth control to anyone ever again.

I am so sorry that you lost someone to depression. After this experience I realize how debilitating depression is. I remember my mom telling me to snap out of it and to think about all the great things in my life. It does not work that way though.

I'm feeling better because I am functional now. The depression and anxiety is slowly going away and I am starting to feel somewhat better towards my bf. it hurts that I don't feel 100% for him, but like I am getting better I think.

How are things going now?

Yea I am feeling better, but not much. I am just worried since I was only on the pill three months AND I've taken the same one before on/off for years and haven't felt like this really. (I may have felt more sad/unhappy on it, but I wasn't really keeping track of when I was on/off of it. I know I was pretty happy the months I wasn't on it Feb-May). I have been off for a little over a week, and did see that I was feeling a bit better. Also, my bc was a pretty low dose too. I'm just wondering how long it will take to feel normal again, if I was only on it for 3 months.

In terms of my feelings with my boyfriend, gosh I cry probably everyday about it. Some days are better than others. I want to state first, that I have pretty much no interest in anything I used to be interested in right now, so if you feel like this, I think that is a good sign that it's not just about your bf (although it is the most daunting, since I love him so much). I look at him and feel so disconnected and get so sad because of that feeling. I feel like a massive brick wall is between us when we are together. I am also starting to get really annoyed for small things he does, that would never annoy me before. I cry at old pictures and when I hear a song that reminds me of him, because I feel so far from him right now. When he holds me, I'm not feeling much at all. Another thing that is probably horrible is that I am CONSTANTLY and obsessively assessing how I am feeling when I'm with him, so I'm not even able to just relax and have fun. Before any of this happened, I never had a doubt about my feelings for him, we always talk about our future family together, and we always spoke and laughed at the fact that we literally never get bored of each other. It's really hard to believe that my feelings changed like weather, for the man I adore. It is also hard for me to believe that my feelings will just go back to normal for him, especially since I've now felt this way and that I'll always be reminded of it in some way?

I think that is my main problem is I'm obsessing over stuff. Luckily, I'm not questioning my feelings for my boyfriend. I'm just not really into seeing him right now because I don't want to fake being happy when I'm not happy and it's an awful feeling. My head just seems to never stop thinking

Thank you. Im glad to hear you are doing better that makes me feel a little better. It just seems like I'm obsessing over things. Like my classmate reminded me a lot of me she was always happy, smiling, etc. granted I last saw her 4-5 years ago so a lot can change and I don't know the whole story about what happened with her but I just keep thinking what if I'm her and what happens if she was happy and then just turned. I keep telling myself I'm not her but it's like the mind just constantly goes. I fought myself with going on birth control cause I tend to be a hypochondriac and was afraid it would make me nauseous, I never thought it would make me feel like this. Did you have to go on anxiety medication or anything?

I totally understand what you're going through. I have Generalized Anxiety Disorder, (but I can manage it very well now, I may have like one little anxious episode very rarely.) But you can only imagine how birth control made me feel...ABSOLUTELY horribly anxious 24/7, leading to severe depression.

I've been off of my bc more than a week now, and I'm starting to feel slightly better, but it is still pretty out of control and affects my daily life. I am confident it will keep getting better everyday, and that the pill had something to do with it. I reallyyyy messed with my cycle and hormones I bet (my doctor suggested I shouldn't take ANY of the sugar pills, and skip them to start a new pack immediately, so I haven't had a period in like 4 months! And still waiting for one...)

I am able to live with my anxiety without any medication very comfortably, but I really wouldn't mess with bc if you are prone to anxiety. I truly believe this has made me a completely different person for 3 months, and I'm really hoping my natural hormones come to save me, lol. I do not want to speak for everyone, because anxiety meds DO WORK WONDERS for some people, but I just have my own philosophy about medication in general. I'm very much more interested in getting to the root of the problem and I have a very holistic approach to medicine. I personally believe antidepressants/anti-anxiety meds should only be used for a short period of time to help you get back on your feet, but they may only act as "band-aids". Have you seen a therapist or a psychologist? I am currently, and I belive that will help tons with my anxiety disorder. Btw, I totally resonate with you because I have SO MUCH health anxiety (e.g. chest pains=heart attack, headache=brain tumor, and that sort of thing). It really does get better. Especially when you have had these sensations hundreds of times now, and nothing bad has happened. I know, that sounds so not very helpful when you are actually going through it, but it DOES get better and I think talking with a therapist would be really helpful!

Also, are you currently on birth control pills?

I've been googling to much and seem to find that I might have generalized anxiety disorder. I keep telling myself things will get better tho my head seems to try to tell me something different. How depressed did you get? Haha im hoping the same thing that my hormones go back to normal fast and on its own. I'm considering going to talk to a therapist because I want to be myself again. No, I stopped taking it after how I felt. It's been since Tuesday since I stopped taking it so I'm on 5 days without it.

Yea, if you are prone to anxiety already (even w/o bc), I think the pill makes it far less manageable. I have been off a week and a half and still do not feel myself yet, but I'm not worried because I'm sure it will take at least a month or more for my hormones to be back on track again (I mean I haven't had a period in 4 months, yikes...).

I honestly was so depressed that I felt so hopeless and empty about life that I was terrified that I was going to feel like this forever (which is SO NOT TRUE), and I would be really scared it would get to the point where I would want to hurt myself. It was always a FEAR of getting to that point though, I would never EVER hurt myself: that is a permanent solution to a very temporary problem. I think the pill for me personally made me more depressed than it did me anxious, although it did make me abnormally anxious as well (depression and anxiety often go hand in hand). If you google depression and birth control pills, the list goes on and on, with forum and forum.

I'm still depressed and anxious but not NEARLY as bad. I have only been off of them a little over a week too, so I have plenty of time for my body to regulate itself (I just have to be patient). Also, you need to let your body get back to normal! Did you know birth control depletes your body of SO many nutrients including B vitamins, magnesium and many more, but B vitamins and magnesium are very important supplements for mood and stability in terms of anxiety/depression. Even if you are taking supplements, it can still not be a sufficient amount because the pill depletes these nutrients. Anyways, you need to give your body PLENTY of time to regulate itself (I'm so glad you got off the pill) and TRUST ME, it gets better I'm serious. I know when I felt at my lowest, that advice didn't mean much, but it really does get better. You just have to be patient and trust your body to take care of itself. Our bodies are actually so amazing and do things just fine, all on their own;) You just need to give it time to get back to its natural estrogen/progesterone levels. I hope I helped you some! How long were you on your pill before you stopped?

That is exactly how I feel. I would never want to hurt myself because that doesn't solve anything. But just even thinking that thought scares me so much and I think it sends my anxiety into even more of a panic. I honestly never knew how much birth control can affect your body and it's actually a terrible thing. It's great for people who never get any of the side effects but it's awful for people who do and don't realize that it could just be the pill causing it. I was on it for just shy of a month- they had to put me on the progesterone only pill called errin so I'm not sure if that pill could deplete you of more since it has no estrogen.

Oh wow. I heard that the progesterone only pills are an even higher risk for feeling depressed/anxious than the combined pill...so glad you threw them out! Are you in a relationship? If so, is it affected by your symptoms in any way?

Also, it freaking SUCKS feeling like this in the middle of summer. I don't wanna do anything fun and its glorious outside :(

That's what I read somewhere that it can cause you to feel more depressed\anxious. But I am in a relationship, I don't think so. I mean he's talking about moving but I'm not really concerned that he will. I feel the same way! It's so nice out and it's like I know some part of me wants to go out but I just can't get myself to doing that.