I'm glad to have found this! I was on Yaz for 3 months and felt awful, got off it for a month and felt better, but then I took Loestrin for a month and felt TERRIBLE. I was anxious for NO reason, and depressed. I have always been a happy person. I've been off Loestrin for a month now and I still feel extremely weird. I had a panic attack, and now I am anxious for no reason sometimes, and I feel so depressed, I just don't want to do anything. I KNOW it is hormones because I have no reason to feel this way, I have so much going for me. I feel so detached from things and I'm just scared for no reason whatsoever. I went to the psychiatrist yesterday because I can't take this feeling anymore, and he said a large part can be hormones. My hormones are probably out of wack right now, trying to regulate. I will NEVER take birth control again, I can deal with condoms. Feeling this way is NOT worth it. I sympathize with ALL of you, it's a living hell but just keep in mind every day that it WILL get better, have faith. I am trying to run every day and that seems to help a little. I'm also starting an antidepressant to kind of take that "edge" away, but GOD this is awful. I NEVER thought this would happen to me. This drug companies need to address these side effects more, they just want your money and could give a sh*t I suppose. But everyone NEEDS to be careful with this stuff. It really can mess with your hormones. I will never take this stuff again. EVER.
Reading this thread, along with most of the thread this started from, has been a real eye opener! I'm happy I came across it.
I have been on one version or another of BCP for 15 years, the most recent was Seasonique. I stopped taking it 2 weeks ago, with the thoughts of maybe starting a family soon-ish. I have noticed a slight weight gain, although my eating habits haven't changed much - if anything, getting a bit better. I have also started to excercise a bit (not as much as I should, but i'm taking baby steps!). So, seeing the weight gain while doing the right things got me wondering. After reading these threads, along with other sites, I can *hopefully* chalk it up to stopping the pills.
I have noticed some mood swings (and so has the hubby! poor guy) and also fatigue when waking up. Since I stopped taking the pills on Daylight Saving Time, I thought it was THAT that was making me so tired and hard to get up. Sometimes, i'm not able to sleep the whole night. Either could be the reason.
I haven't seen me in a depression, yet. I really hope that doesn't hit. Afterall, if I want to start a family, and i'm depressed, I won't be in the mood, so no family making! Vicious cycle! I'm hoping my sex drive will increase. *fingers corssed*
I have had some big things going on in my life lately, all at the same time (started a new job with less stress *hopefully*, stopped taking BCP, stopped taking another med, Spring has arrived) so it's hard to figure out what's causing what. i'm just going to take it all in stride. I'll let you know if I start going crazy! lol
Thanks to all you wonderful ladies out there! hang in there!!
I have been on one version or another of BCP for 15 years, the most recent was Seasonique. I stopped taking it 2 weeks ago, with the thoughts of maybe starting a family soon-ish. I have noticed a slight weight gain, although my eating habits haven't changed much - if anything, getting a bit better. I have also started to excercise a bit (not as much as I should, but i'm taking baby steps!). So, seeing the weight gain while doing the right things got me wondering. After reading these threads, along with other sites, I can *hopefully* chalk it up to stopping the pills.
I have noticed some mood swings (and so has the hubby! poor guy) and also fatigue when waking up. Since I stopped taking the pills on Daylight Saving Time, I thought it was THAT that was making me so tired and hard to get up. Sometimes, i'm not able to sleep the whole night. Either could be the reason.
I haven't seen me in a depression, yet. I really hope that doesn't hit. Afterall, if I want to start a family, and i'm depressed, I won't be in the mood, so no family making! Vicious cycle! I'm hoping my sex drive will increase. *fingers corssed*
I have had some big things going on in my life lately, all at the same time (started a new job with less stress *hopefully*, stopped taking BCP, stopped taking another med, Spring has arrived) so it's hard to figure out what's causing what. i'm just going to take it all in stride. I'll let you know if I start going crazy! lol
Thanks to all you wonderful ladies out there! hang in there!!
Ok, I thought I'd give an update on how things are going as one of the things I really want to know is how long this will last, but few people have posted updates..
Summary - 13 years on the pill constantly, stopped 18th Dec 08
January - I was a mess, lots of the physical symptoms such as tachycardia, high bp etc. Very foggy brain, very low concentration levels, found it difficult to complete a full day at work. Constant mood swings. Low appetite.
Mid/End of Feb - The physical symptoms suddenly disappeared. Felt a huge amount better as I could concentrate and could complete my days at work. Work colleagues commenting on the change in me. Still lots of mood symptoms.
March - Some gradual improvements in moods and mood swings. The mood swings were less severe, but still there. Also hightened emotional state, crying a lot at anything vaguely emotional. Worrying about things, sense of impending doom, euphoria.
Mid April - Gained control over emotions, able to think more clearly about things, able to not let things get to me, my mind is also quiet (it has been chuntering incessently for months). No feelings of impending doom, no euphoria, no constant worry.
Things still wrong - still lacking enthusiasm, my usual lust for life/enjoyment and don't have my old level of self-confidence.
There have been many days when I've thought I was going out of my mind. There have been many days when I've thought I was never going to get any better. There have been many days when I've considered just not trying to solve the problem and just going on anti-depressants in the hope it will make me feel better.
Re-reading this thread in its entirety helps because it reminds me that other people have gone through the same thing. Keeping a mood diary helps because I've felt like I'm not getting better but reading through the previous months diary, I could see improvements.
Hopefully the things I'm still missing will come back in the next month or so.
I hope this will provide some help to people going through the same thing.
Summary - 13 years on the pill constantly, stopped 18th Dec 08
January - I was a mess, lots of the physical symptoms such as tachycardia, high bp etc. Very foggy brain, very low concentration levels, found it difficult to complete a full day at work. Constant mood swings. Low appetite.
Mid/End of Feb - The physical symptoms suddenly disappeared. Felt a huge amount better as I could concentrate and could complete my days at work. Work colleagues commenting on the change in me. Still lots of mood symptoms.
March - Some gradual improvements in moods and mood swings. The mood swings were less severe, but still there. Also hightened emotional state, crying a lot at anything vaguely emotional. Worrying about things, sense of impending doom, euphoria.
Mid April - Gained control over emotions, able to think more clearly about things, able to not let things get to me, my mind is also quiet (it has been chuntering incessently for months). No feelings of impending doom, no euphoria, no constant worry.
Things still wrong - still lacking enthusiasm, my usual lust for life/enjoyment and don't have my old level of self-confidence.
There have been many days when I've thought I was going out of my mind. There have been many days when I've thought I was never going to get any better. There have been many days when I've considered just not trying to solve the problem and just going on anti-depressants in the hope it will make me feel better.
Re-reading this thread in its entirety helps because it reminds me that other people have gone through the same thing. Keeping a mood diary helps because I've felt like I'm not getting better but reading through the previous months diary, I could see improvements.
Hopefully the things I'm still missing will come back in the next month or so.
I hope this will provide some help to people going through the same thing.
THANK YOU LADIES!!! I was on the pill for 11 years! I started when I was 14 due to severe cramps. I quit about 5 months ago and have noticed a lot of symptoms. I put on about 10 lbs, not sleeping, and depression. The depression is the hardest thing for me to come to terms with. I am normally a very happy and outgoing person. Lately I am short with people and just over all sad. Reading all of these posts has made me hope for the light at the end of the tunnel. I appreciate all of you for sharing your stories and making a place where we can all talk about this!!
I stopped taking Yaz at the end of Jan (09), by the end of Feb I had been to the ER twice thinking I was having a heart attack..panick attack!!! Since then I had severe anxiety, deep depression, feeling like I was in a dream like state..just really felt like I was losing my noodle! I had to stop going to nursing school because I was so scared and anxious and paranoid to drive..this has really put a hold on my life...and oh yea it has affected my vision im very sensitive to the light outside and I see spots!! This has been VERY hard. Everyday I just hope to wake up and be back to my old fun loving normal self and get back to school!! I CAN say that I feel alot better than I did a month ago. Havent had a panick attack since Feb so hopefully my hormones are coming to terms!!....Im guessing its the birth control because I cant figure what else it could be. I had EKG's blood test, echocardio..normal!....oh yea I also had head pressure that seems to be going away slowly and my ears were always clogged.....
NONE of this before I stopped the b.c!!! I jsut want it to be over. I have a 3 and 5 year old and this has really crippled my life for the past 2 and a half months!! I wish and hope that all of us will see our way thru!! I'll be praying for us all!! god bless!!!
NONE of this before I stopped the b.c!!! I jsut want it to be over. I have a 3 and 5 year old and this has really crippled my life for the past 2 and a half months!! I wish and hope that all of us will see our way thru!! I'll be praying for us all!! god bless!!!
I'm 31 and have been on the pill for the past 14 years. I've never had any problems with it I was aware of. In September, my fiance was gone for a few months on tour and I decided I would save a little money and skip the pill a month since I didn't need it. I got back on in October and every month since then, I have dealt with yeast infections and vaginal bacterial infections right before or after my period every month. I had STI tests (as has my fiance) and glucose tests, knowing it couldn't be either of those. My diet is healthy, I exercise and have never had any problems like this in my life.
I talked to my doctor every month for the last 6 months and she finally advised me to go off the pill for a few months to see if that was causing it (which is what I suspect because it happens like clockwork every month and didn't start until I fiddled with the pill). I am convinced it is hormonally-induced and from the research I've done, the pill can definitely contribute to that.
So I stopped taking the pill at the end of March and for the first week or so, I felt great. I lost several pounds (granted I was trying but it all of the sudden just dropped off) and my skin started clearing up dramatically. Then I started noticing how absolutely exhausted I was feeling in the mornings and when I went running (which I've done regularly for 3 years), even walking. I started having trouble sleeping too. I haven't really had headaches like some others have reported, but I am definitely more irritable and moody. It doesn't feel like me at all and I'm trying to remind myself that this is just hormones and I can overcome that.
I got my regular period 5 days ago (a week late), but no cramps. I did get the usual yeast & bacterial infection combo right before I started but they seemed to clear up faster. I am still feeling so tired but I don't sleep well at all. My energy level is still so low that I struggle to do half the workouts I did 2 months ago! I've gained 3 pounds in the last 4 days and I know it's water weight. I feel like my libido is trying to rebound, but it is still nowhere near where I think it should be.
I'm just glad to find women who can relate. Has anyone else had problems with recurring yeast or bacterial infections? It's been SO frustrating and I have become pretty anxious about it. It's encouraging to have read several posts from women who say things do start getting back to normal and I'm hoping in a few more months things have improved. Regardless of the symptoms, I'm still so glad to be off the pill. Thanks everyone and hang in there, I feel certain it gets better!
I talked to my doctor every month for the last 6 months and she finally advised me to go off the pill for a few months to see if that was causing it (which is what I suspect because it happens like clockwork every month and didn't start until I fiddled with the pill). I am convinced it is hormonally-induced and from the research I've done, the pill can definitely contribute to that.
So I stopped taking the pill at the end of March and for the first week or so, I felt great. I lost several pounds (granted I was trying but it all of the sudden just dropped off) and my skin started clearing up dramatically. Then I started noticing how absolutely exhausted I was feeling in the mornings and when I went running (which I've done regularly for 3 years), even walking. I started having trouble sleeping too. I haven't really had headaches like some others have reported, but I am definitely more irritable and moody. It doesn't feel like me at all and I'm trying to remind myself that this is just hormones and I can overcome that.
I got my regular period 5 days ago (a week late), but no cramps. I did get the usual yeast & bacterial infection combo right before I started but they seemed to clear up faster. I am still feeling so tired but I don't sleep well at all. My energy level is still so low that I struggle to do half the workouts I did 2 months ago! I've gained 3 pounds in the last 4 days and I know it's water weight. I feel like my libido is trying to rebound, but it is still nowhere near where I think it should be.
I'm just glad to find women who can relate. Has anyone else had problems with recurring yeast or bacterial infections? It's been SO frustrating and I have become pretty anxious about it. It's encouraging to have read several posts from women who say things do start getting back to normal and I'm hoping in a few more months things have improved. Regardless of the symptoms, I'm still so glad to be off the pill. Thanks everyone and hang in there, I feel certain it gets better!
Thank you for all your posts - until an hour ago I thought I was going mad, maybe I am, but your comments have made me hopeful that it is the fact I have recently stopped taking mecilon after 9 years that is causing the symptoms so many of you have described.
I stopped taking the pill around one month ago and since then I have had a terrible time. Although I have several other stressful issues to cope with at the moment, I feel I was dealing with these better before.
Normally I am a very capable, organised, happy sort of person - and I am very recently married and totally in love. However, in the last couple of weeks I have cancelled an important work trip due to feelings of crippling panic and impending doom, I have become obsessed with the passing of time and the impermanence of life, I can hardly look at my new husband without imagining the last time I will see him. I can't concentrate at work, I have little interest in exercise (despite being a very active person normally) and I am suffering dizzyness when I do drag myself out running. I have not yet had a full blown panic attack, but I feel constantly on the verge and I do not like it one bit.
I have taken note of many of your suggestions and will take a trip to the pharmacy tomorrow for a stack of vitamins. I was planning to see my GP, but like most people on this forum I am very unwilling to take anti-depressants if I can avoid doing so.
Please report back with an update - I would really love to hear some news on feeling better... I will post again with an update if I notice any changes. Just knowing so many of you are going through the same thing seems to have helped already - for the first time in over a week my heart-rate feels normal.
Thank you ladies for all your honesty, I hope you all feel 'back to normal'(!) ASAP.
I stopped taking the pill around one month ago and since then I have had a terrible time. Although I have several other stressful issues to cope with at the moment, I feel I was dealing with these better before.
Normally I am a very capable, organised, happy sort of person - and I am very recently married and totally in love. However, in the last couple of weeks I have cancelled an important work trip due to feelings of crippling panic and impending doom, I have become obsessed with the passing of time and the impermanence of life, I can hardly look at my new husband without imagining the last time I will see him. I can't concentrate at work, I have little interest in exercise (despite being a very active person normally) and I am suffering dizzyness when I do drag myself out running. I have not yet had a full blown panic attack, but I feel constantly on the verge and I do not like it one bit.
I have taken note of many of your suggestions and will take a trip to the pharmacy tomorrow for a stack of vitamins. I was planning to see my GP, but like most people on this forum I am very unwilling to take anti-depressants if I can avoid doing so.
Please report back with an update - I would really love to hear some news on feeling better... I will post again with an update if I notice any changes. Just knowing so many of you are going through the same thing seems to have helped already - for the first time in over a week my heart-rate feels normal.
Thank you ladies for all your honesty, I hope you all feel 'back to normal'(!) ASAP.
Well its now the start of June. I would like to say I feel back to my old self, but unfortunately I feel far from it still.
I would say I have gained some enthusiasm for life back which is wonderful. There are things I can enjoy doing now, which I had no enthusiasm for before. With this came some of the self confidence I used to have and there are many days when I feel like me.
The down side - I still have some very bad days, but these seem to be less frequent. In some ways I think I find these harder to deal with now, because I'll have a week or so where I feel great, I feel like me and I'm certain I'm better and over all this rubbish. Then I'll be in a terrible depressive mood (usually lasts only an hour or so if that) and I feel incredibly frustrated and annoyed that I'm back in that place.
Overall, I feel that I'm quite often in a hightened emotional state. This means that little things can cause me to cry - its stupid stuff that doesn't make me sad, but the reaction is to cry :) It can be embarassing.
Lately I've wondered if the pill depressed/flattened my emotions for 13 years and part of this process is learning how to deal with real emotions?
The upside is I'm confident that I will get past this. It just won't remedy itself in my timescales that I want and patience has never been my strong point.
I hope this helps?
I would say I have gained some enthusiasm for life back which is wonderful. There are things I can enjoy doing now, which I had no enthusiasm for before. With this came some of the self confidence I used to have and there are many days when I feel like me.
The down side - I still have some very bad days, but these seem to be less frequent. In some ways I think I find these harder to deal with now, because I'll have a week or so where I feel great, I feel like me and I'm certain I'm better and over all this rubbish. Then I'll be in a terrible depressive mood (usually lasts only an hour or so if that) and I feel incredibly frustrated and annoyed that I'm back in that place.
Overall, I feel that I'm quite often in a hightened emotional state. This means that little things can cause me to cry - its stupid stuff that doesn't make me sad, but the reaction is to cry :) It can be embarassing.
Lately I've wondered if the pill depressed/flattened my emotions for 13 years and part of this process is learning how to deal with real emotions?
The upside is I'm confident that I will get past this. It just won't remedy itself in my timescales that I want and patience has never been my strong point.
I hope this helps?
Well, it's been about three months for me (off tricyclen after 14 years), and things are a bit better. Initially the anxiety was pretty bad, and I was having PMS-type mood swings daily. The anxiety and mood swings seem to have evened off now, but I'm still really grouchy and depressed, crying far more easily than normal. Not fun!
I mentioned this to a friend and she had a similar experience when she went off the pill a few years ago - she said it took about 6 months to get back to normal. Any time now would be fine! I was relieved to find this forum - I just googled it on a whim. I thought I was losing my mind! Good luck to everyone. Eat healthy, exercise, and give yourself a break - it's not you, it's the hormones.
I mentioned this to a friend and she had a similar experience when she went off the pill a few years ago - she said it took about 6 months to get back to normal. Any time now would be fine! I was relieved to find this forum - I just googled it on a whim. I thought I was losing my mind! Good luck to everyone. Eat healthy, exercise, and give yourself a break - it's not you, it's the hormones.
I was off of the pill for about a month or so and it messed me up a great deal. I was only on it for about a year. I had very irregular periods, and everything that goes along with the worst period ever; every time. I thought I was miserable with that going on but at least I was getting eventually! I got off the pill for a little while due to complications with my doctor screwing up my prescription, and my period has yet to come and I'm stressed way more than usual; which is already a ton. I always have been depressed but I feel as though I have no reasons for that to be happening now, yet it is. It's the only thing I know to put the blame on.
Update:
Since my last post about a month and a half ago, I feel so much better. Not 100% but man what a different time makes. It does get better ladies! I stopped taking Yaz mid feb and have been thru complete HELL!! Anxiety, panick attacks, blurred vision and sensitive to light, paranoia, UTI's, head pressure, brain fog..i mean symptom overload. But the worst was the depression. I started to lose faith in myself and god.
But here I am today. And trust me when I say that you WILL feel better with time. I know it makes you feel like it will never end, but there IS light at the end of the tunnel. Just fasten ur seat belts cuz the roade will be bumpy but u gotta be strong!! Im starting to feel myself coming ouot of this mental prison I was in. It took me 3 months to get to this point. I started taking Womens One A Day multivitamins and prayed alot!!!
Keep the faith ladies because I PROMISE YOU....you will feel better!!
Since my last post about a month and a half ago, I feel so much better. Not 100% but man what a different time makes. It does get better ladies! I stopped taking Yaz mid feb and have been thru complete HELL!! Anxiety, panick attacks, blurred vision and sensitive to light, paranoia, UTI's, head pressure, brain fog..i mean symptom overload. But the worst was the depression. I started to lose faith in myself and god.
But here I am today. And trust me when I say that you WILL feel better with time. I know it makes you feel like it will never end, but there IS light at the end of the tunnel. Just fasten ur seat belts cuz the roade will be bumpy but u gotta be strong!! Im starting to feel myself coming ouot of this mental prison I was in. It took me 3 months to get to this point. I started taking Womens One A Day multivitamins and prayed alot!!!
Keep the faith ladies because I PROMISE YOU....you will feel better!!
i am a little upset. I went off Yaz and the first month i had bloating and intermittent anxiety and depression. after my 2nd period, the anxiety and depression hit me like a brick and it is hard for me to function. i cant work,eat,go out and it is hard to take care of my family. I saw 3 dr's and not one said it was from coming off bc. they said if i didnt feel like this on the pill and it is not getting better then i should go back on the pill. So as of 10 days ago i went back. I just cant take the depression and i am afraid of anti depressants. i just want to feel how i did before. now i wonder should i have stuck it out a little longer. but 2.5 months of pain is enough.No one mentioned this could be from getting off the pills. help!!!
This has been really interesting for me. I went off microgestin (which is Loestrin's generic version) after being on it for over two years. My husband and I were planning to start a family, and figured I would go off of it for about a month and then start trying. This was in late May. From that point, through December, my periods were so long. I would go 48 days, 46 days, 45 days, etc. And they were either heavier or lighter, and the cycles seemed different than I remember. On December 30th, during the day I was very happy just off a vacation. Suddenly I started feeling anxious, extremely anxious about anything that popped into my head. A week later, I got my period, at 31 days (normal for me). However, from December 30th onward, I was in a severe anxious state. Having gone through a period like this in my early teens (probably puberty) I knew that it would last for MONTHS. Something like 7 or 8 months of a severe depression - not eating, not sleeping, not being able to function, completely panicked about ridiculous things and horrified. I was in this bubble, unrecognizable to myself and completely baffled at how I'd gone more than 10 yrs without feeling this way, only to see that in adulthood I was losing it again.
So on Jan 10 I went to the dr. - I had to. I couldnt work, I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep, and I couldn't do anything but ruminate and obsess. I looked as bad as I felt and I was scaring myself. Note this was six months since I went off the pill. I went to a psychiatrist who said I was having a depressive episode which was manifesting itself with anxiety and that it comes on suddenly. I didn't even think about the fact that my period returned to normal during the exact time this started, but a few sessions later, I did ask the Dr. about it. He said the pill could contribute to this, though he was hesitant to put the blame completely on it.
But having gone through 10 yrs+ totally fine, I definitely wanted to figure out if there was something that caused this to happen again, as opposed to the idea of just being a ticking time bomb.
I did in fact go on an anti-depressant. I think when it is severe enough that you cannot function, you need to. Knowing that for myself this could go on in the exact same severity for 6,7 months I wasn't prepared to deal with that. The anti-depressant definitely made me think clearer, had me sleeping regularly, not feeling like a nutcase, and feeling more like myself. Now that it is June, it will be almost 6 months since the episode started and supposedly the natural cycle for an episode is 6 - 9 months. It's still been a gradual change even with the anti-depressants, but 1000x better than I was, or when I was a kid. Reading up on this now, I'd like to think that it had to do with going on and going off birth control. Has to be hormonal, right?
So on Jan 10 I went to the dr. - I had to. I couldnt work, I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep, and I couldn't do anything but ruminate and obsess. I looked as bad as I felt and I was scaring myself. Note this was six months since I went off the pill. I went to a psychiatrist who said I was having a depressive episode which was manifesting itself with anxiety and that it comes on suddenly. I didn't even think about the fact that my period returned to normal during the exact time this started, but a few sessions later, I did ask the Dr. about it. He said the pill could contribute to this, though he was hesitant to put the blame completely on it.
But having gone through 10 yrs+ totally fine, I definitely wanted to figure out if there was something that caused this to happen again, as opposed to the idea of just being a ticking time bomb.
I did in fact go on an anti-depressant. I think when it is severe enough that you cannot function, you need to. Knowing that for myself this could go on in the exact same severity for 6,7 months I wasn't prepared to deal with that. The anti-depressant definitely made me think clearer, had me sleeping regularly, not feeling like a nutcase, and feeling more like myself. Now that it is June, it will be almost 6 months since the episode started and supposedly the natural cycle for an episode is 6 - 9 months. It's still been a gradual change even with the anti-depressants, but 1000x better than I was, or when I was a kid. Reading up on this now, I'd like to think that it had to do with going on and going off birth control. Has to be hormonal, right?
First off, Im so glad that I have found this forum! I'm only 20 years old but i have been on birth control for 3 going on 4 years, but decided to stop because I had ENOUGH of all the crazy side affects! I have tried 5 different birth controls & they all seemed to be just like the one before. I was always a tiny person and from being on birth control I had gained 60lbs and despite the fact that I wasnt eating alot and exercising atleast 3 times a day I could not keep the weight off or stop gaining. It was ridiculous. Not to mention the intense headaches and my anxiety attacks seemed to be more frequent also. I also had heart palpitations and had to go to a cardiologist to see why I was having servere chest pains and it was because my heart would race for no reason at all. Ive also had the extreme fluid build up and had to take diuretics. Its ridiculous and then my second birth control I was on was the worst, Estrostep, my doctor waited over a year to tell me that they dont even prescribe it cuz it has such high dosages of hormones which was when I gained 40lbs all in my stomach and had swollen ankles and nausea like I would have been pregnant.
But anyways my last pill I was on was Seasonique, I loved it until recently when I started having weird side effects and saw all the harmful things it could do including eye sight loss, which i started to experience blurriness. I have stopped taking it as of two months ago, and at first I felt wonderful but had an occasional break down for no reason. It seems like now its getting worse, I'm extremely depressed and cant sleep and the thought of food makes me sick! I snap at people real easy & I want to cry all the time for no reason or just sleep! I work out atleast 5 times a week now and I should have energy but I don't. I feel drained all the time. When does this end!!!!! I've had enough, I dont know whether or not to get on anti depressants.
Thanks Lauren
But anyways my last pill I was on was Seasonique, I loved it until recently when I started having weird side effects and saw all the harmful things it could do including eye sight loss, which i started to experience blurriness. I have stopped taking it as of two months ago, and at first I felt wonderful but had an occasional break down for no reason. It seems like now its getting worse, I'm extremely depressed and cant sleep and the thought of food makes me sick! I snap at people real easy & I want to cry all the time for no reason or just sleep! I work out atleast 5 times a week now and I should have energy but I don't. I feel drained all the time. When does this end!!!!! I've had enough, I dont know whether or not to get on anti depressants.
Thanks Lauren
Guest wrote:
Ok, so now we are at the end of June and there have been big improvements. I'm almost back to my old self, and just seem to get the odd moments. PMT can see me getting pretty angry about nothing, but generally 95% of the depression type stuff has gone.
I think by the end of July I'll be pretty much over it all. It is a massive relief to be free of it, so 7/8 months seems to be the time scales for me to get over it.
Good luck to all of you :)
ps: to Lauren, I'm relieved that I didn't go down the anti-depressant route, but part of me does wonder if I would have made it easier on myself if I had. So I really don't know the answer to that question.
Guest wrote:
Ok, I thought I'd give an update on how things are going as one of the things I really want to know is how long this will last, but few people have posted updates..
Summary - 13 years on the pill constantly, stopped 18th Dec 08
January - I was a mess, lots of the physical symptoms such as tachycardia, high bp etc. Very foggy brain, very low concentration levels, found it difficult to complete a full day at work. Constant mood swings. Low appetite.
Mid/End of Feb - The physical symptoms suddenly disappeared. Felt a huge amount better as I could concentrate and could complete my days at work. Work colleagues commenting on the change in me. Still lots of mood symptoms.
March - Some gradual improvements in moods and mood swings. The mood swings were less severe, but still there. Also hightened emotional state, crying a lot at anything vaguely emotional. Worrying about things, sense of impending doom, euphoria.
Mid April - Gained control over emotions, able to think more clearly about things, able to not let things get to me, my mind is also quiet (it has been chuntering incessently for months). No feelings of impending doom, no euphoria, no constant worry.
Things still wrong - still lacking enthusiasm, my usual lust for life/enjoyment and don't have my old level of self-confidence.
There have been many days when I've thought I was going out of my mind. There have been many days when I've thought I was never going to get any better. There have been many days when I've considered just not trying to solve the problem and just going on anti-depressants in the hope it will make me feel better.
Re-reading this thread in its entirety helps because it reminds me that other people have gone through the same thing. Keeping a mood diary helps because I've felt like I'm not getting better but reading through the previous months diary, I could see improvements.
Hopefully the things I'm still missing will come back in the next month or so.
I hope this will provide some help to people going through the same thing.
Well its now the start of June. I would like to say I feel back to my old self, but unfortunately I feel far from it still.
I would say I have gained some enthusiasm for life back which is wonderful. There are things I can enjoy doing now, which I had no enthusiasm for before. With this came some of the self confidence I used to have and there are many days when I feel like me.
The down side - I still have some very bad days, but these seem to be less frequent. In some ways I think I find these harder to deal with now, because I'll have a week or so where I feel great, I feel like me and I'm certain I'm better and over all this rubbish. Then I'll be in a terrible depressive mood (usually lasts only an hour or so if that) and I feel incredibly frustrated and annoyed that I'm back in that place.
Overall, I feel that I'm quite often in a hightened emotional state. This means that little things can cause me to cry - its stupid stuff that doesn't make me sad, but the reaction is to cry :) It can be embarassing.
Lately I've wondered if the pill depressed/flattened my emotions for 13 years and part of this process is learning how to deal with real emotions?
The upside is I'm confident that I will get past this. It just won't remedy itself in my timescales that I want and patience has never been my strong point.
I hope this helps?
Ok, so now we are at the end of June and there have been big improvements. I'm almost back to my old self, and just seem to get the odd moments. PMT can see me getting pretty angry about nothing, but generally 95% of the depression type stuff has gone.
I think by the end of July I'll be pretty much over it all. It is a massive relief to be free of it, so 7/8 months seems to be the time scales for me to get over it.
Good luck to all of you :)
ps: to Lauren, I'm relieved that I didn't go down the anti-depressant route, but part of me does wonder if I would have made it easier on myself if I had. So I really don't know the answer to that question.