Feeling depressed after stopping the birth control pills?

I honestly believe you will get past this and your feelings will prevail.. Love comes form you being happy with yourself, I think if your super happy one day, then you will want to be happy with your boyfriend. But if your looking for the "newlywed" feelings in a relationship, yeah sometimes those are gone but if you guys are meant to be , like you said you will stay together. BUT I TRULY BELIVE YOU WILL STOP FEELING LIKE THIS. I know its been long for you.. but I saw girls on here say 9 months and there feelings came back.. Because your feeling "numb" and depressed, it obviously hinders your good feelings. Anyways, have a good thanksgiving.. Cheers from Canada!

Thank you for the positivity! I really hope so. I miss feeling in love so much :( but don’t get me wrong I do have really good days with him and times where I do feel love but like I said, not the same love. I do have hope in myself because I believe I want to be with this man forever and that’s why I’ve been fighting these feelings for 6 months. Yes, I saw some girls have been going through this for even a year! Time will only heal and if it ends in a breakup then I guess it was meant to be that way. Happy holidays from New York!

Hello lovely ladies, Happy Thanksgiving! A little bummed today because I’m usually very mushy when saying how much I’m thankful for my boyfriend, my family and my friends but today seems to be different. Actually, my boyfriend was telling me how thankful he is for me and I felt kind of weird and felt like it was unnecessary. SO SO WEIRD UGH. Trykng to have the best day possible because I love this time of the year. Enjoy your days!

Have you been talking to a therapist or taking multivitamins? Or talked to ANYBODY ?

no I haven’t spoke to a therapist. I’ve tried vitamins but they don’t really help. And yes I talk to my friends, my boyfriend and my mom lol and all the girls on here

omg I would love to read it, it says I don’t have permission to read it after I made an account and all. Would you be able to copy and paste it and put it in this forum??? And obviously quote the writer. Please let me know if that’s possible

"Wow, I can't remember the last time I posted here. I used to spend all day every day on here back in 2012 when I was sick. And I really was sick as I look back. The pill completely messed me up. ROCD was my biggest problem but I also had depression/numbness, developed food allergies, digestive issues, spotting and bleeding problems and a number of things I can't even remember now. I look back on that time (it lasted about 1.5 years) and it feels like a nightmare. To this day, I still have a little spotting and my food allergies remain (at least I think they do - I've eliminated dairy and gluten so I don't know what would happen if I ate them again). But the main issues, and especially the ROCD, are gone. I'm me again. I'm so glad I fought through this and stayed with my boyfriend at the time because we are getting married in August and I couldn't be happier! I love him so much. And that's why I ended up on this board in the first place and why all you ladies did as well. Something deep inside of us has always known that we love our significant others and that's why we googled and found this board in the first place. The opposite of love is indifference. The fact that you're on this board searching for answers shows that you are NOT indifferent (no matter how numb you might currently feel towards your love). Ladies, I promise you that it's all hormonal. The problem is that your hormones post-pill are so out of whack that every day is like this and you can't recognize that you're not yourself because you truly start to feel like this is the new you. It's not! Once my hormones started improving, I had periods of feeling a little better and that's when I started noticing the changes based on my hormones. Now that I'm me again, I can easily notice when I'm PMSing because it's the outlier. And I think to myself, wow I used to feel worse than this every day. And I also think to myself, how did I not realize back then that it was hormones? It's easy to reflect now but back then, every day was a struggle. I think I cried more during that 1.5 year mess post-bcp than I've cried in my life total. And now I can't remember the last time I cried. I can't remember the last time I had racing thoughts. Back then, I couldn't even get a text from my boyfriend without the thoughts tormenting me - "are you happy to hear from him? did you miss him? would you rather he didn't text? do you love him? is he right for you?" It was this nonstop harassment from my mind. I used to find peace in sleep because it was the only time my mind would shut off. It was a nightmare. And it all sounds so silly now! I even get little butterflies again sometimes when I think of my fiancé today. I can't wait to marry him and start our life together. He's my everything. Please hang on, ladies. It really does get better. It's silly but it used to help me to think "this too shall pass." And it truly does. And every day is a day closer to that. Closer to being you again. Keep fighting for that :)

Oh and take some probiotics and eat healthy. It sounds silly but it truly helps. I tried so many things back then - acupuncture, Vitex, various other supplements, and so on. The only thing that truly helped was time. But probiotics made a difference so try some. I like Ortho Biotic and they're on Amazon." There it is, Does it show?

omg that was amazing! Gives me so much hope!

Hello everyone. I've been reading through here these last few weeks for support, thank yu all for sharing your stories. August 30th, I went into the hospital with what I now know was a panic attack. I felt like I couldn't breath all the way and my heart was racing. That day my mom suggested I go off of my birth control pill and I did starting that same day. i had thought about getting off of it before because I'd have terrible migraines lasting over a week during my period, bad nausea the first week of a new bc pack, depression which I brushed off as seasonal, and some anxiety. I called to tell my doctor I was getting off the pill and she just said okay let me know if you have any side effects. I had no idea this would happen. I'm now in my third month dealing with these terrible feelings of depression, anxiety, sadness, insecurity, overthinking, feeling overwhelmed/ not good enough, and out of it. I don't feel like myself at all. I don't even know how to get back to that because I've been like this for so long and it's so hard to explain to anyone because they say I'm feeling down and I'll cheer up if I go for a run or watch a movie, but omg!!!! That's not it!! I feel like I cant control it. This is so awful and I'm trying to look on the bright side and say I'm glad I'm getting it out of my system now after being on it for three years instead of later. I just can't hep but feel my life is passing me by as I'm just going through the motions and don't ever tru;y feel good. I just wake up feeling bad. I also had some dizziness in month two where I nearly passed out at work and had to go home. As well as a little blur in my vision every now and again. the first or second week I was off I couldn't eat for a couple of days straight and had no appetite during that time. I've lost over 20 pounds still without trying. My pill switched brands a year or so ago and I was told it was the same thing, but it apparently was not! I thought this was all my fault and something I must've done but I've never been in a rut this deep until I went off the pill. I've been especially sad lately because I am a senior in college, moving into their first house, and about to be proposed to but this is the worst time of my life and I am extremely unhappy. Week 1 I went to see my primary doctor and he said I could have ADHD and prescribed me Xanax. I did not take it! I felt so defeated after that. My OBGYN gave me no help at all either. She sent a social worker in to talk to me. I tried to speak to a therapist at school, had a meeting with one and it turned out to be a consultation where she spoke to me for an hour and then told me they're full. I am so lost. (I did recently find an old box of the birth control and it did say it can cause depression on the directions. I had no idea and was not made aware of any of this by a doctor.)

From what I have read, it just takes time for things to go back to normal. I am taking comfort in the fact that other women have said things do go back to normal. I am 3 months off of my BCP. Like others, the first two weeks was amazing for me, but sadly have experienced a lot of horrid problems such as super high anxiety and panic attacks, depression, muscle pain in my upper back, insomnia, nightmares, etc. The main thing that bugs me the most is the high anxiety and depression. It has been getting better, I'm not having panic attacks as often. But the impending doom and constant restlessness is making me depressed. I have been seeing a therapist for the last three months and I tried very hard not to go on medication. I am doing a 24 urine test ordered by my doctor on the 28th to check my hormones. Hopefully that will give me some answers. I feel like if I know for sure it is my hormones and they just need to regulate after 4 years of BCPs, I would feel much better instead of constantly obsessing about what is wrong with me. Anyone else have any inspirational stories about how they figured out it was BCP withdrawal and how they ended up feeling much better?

Hello, I commented above you so I am not in the clear at all yet. I am towards the end of month 3. However, I no longer have the panic attacks/heart racing/trouble breathing part of it, and the overthinking has slowed down a tiny bit. That panic feeling started for me the day I got off so since you started having it two weeks later that may be on it's way out for you as well. I do go to the gym and do yoga 1-2 times a week, and despite wanting to drop everything - I've stuck to my busy school and work schedule. I drink A LOT of tea, like a lot. Chamomile and Apple Cinnamon are my go-to.

Yeah I have been a huge tea drinker. I am just worried this is just who I am now. Like it won't get better. Granted I'm not getting as many panic attacks, been doing therapy, but I have been feeling anxious and restless every day for awhile. It's made me question if I need antidepressants. But I have made it three months with no antidepressants. I went off birth control Aug 15th of this year. I got my first period (probably a withdrawal bleed) around Sept 11th. Then got my next period around Oct. 9th but I spotted for 4 days before getting an actual period. Then I got my period Nov. 10th and it was normal but ever since then I have been low key anxious every day. Waking up in the morning is tough because I always seem to wake up anxious. It goes away after I get up for the day. Been taking zinc, folate, B12, B6, magnesium chelate since September. I just want to know that this isn't me. That this isn't permanent. I do start my 24 hour urine test on the 28th to have my hormones tested because I found a doctor who believed me and was willing to work with me to try and get to the bottom of this.

I am where you are now (Which I know is hard to believe but I guess we're all in this hormone estrogen mess). I've actually joked that I'd have to be checked into a hospital (But not so much a joke because that's how off I've felt, I'm normally a positive person so this is awful for me to have a negative outlook I've never had before). I was literally saying earlier that I had a good life and I guess this is how it is now but that's just the depression/anxiety. The fact that we know we feel off goes to show this is not who we are. This is a very very terrible feeling but it's just a feeling. Look back at how you felt in Aug. and Sept. and compare it to now, it is a slow process. When i went off on Aug. 30th I was on my period and then started my next cycle in Sept. but that was it, I haven't had a period since. That's wonderful you've found a doctor that is willing to work with you and admit birth control side effects are a thing. Research estrogen and it's function and you'll find the strong connection as to how it being altered can cause anxiety and depression, and how after going off the pill your body has to realize the pregnancy simulation the pill projects was not real and now it has to learn how to produce estrogen and such on it's own since it's not coming from birth control. I had my thyroid tested and blood the first month and it came back fine. Hormones are apparently a thing that needs to be carefully taken care of.

Yeah I agree. It is getting better and I think why I feel like c**p is the fact that I wanted to get over this already. Yeah I got my thyroid levels checked and I'm normal with those. Now on to the hormone test. I wonder if some women get this and others don't is because it's like a postpartum depression (which I know some mothers have a tough time with and others don't) and the pill tricks our bodies into thinking they're pregnant. It seems like the most scientific explanation. I know I don't want to ever get back on hormonal birth control ever again.

I think this may be the first time I have cried tears of joy in a long time! You just perfectly described the way I have been feeling everyday for the past 3 months now. It is such a relief to see your post and so many others that I can totally relate to because I have been feeling so alone. I have been on birth control since I was 15 to help with my heavy period and bad cramping. As I got into college I developed bad anxiety and depression. I always linked it with genetics and things thay have happened in my past. I met my boyfriend in 2012 and we've been together since! It was seriously like a movie romance! We recently got our own appartment at thr beginning of the year and I was so content and happy! Had so much energy and love spewing out of me!

Then all of a sudden I started having migraines and my depression and anxiety slowly got worse. So bad to the point that I would call off work because I couldn't bare leaving the house somedays. So I did a whole lot of research (but somehow did not come across this amazing thread at that time) and found out that birth control seems to do more harm than good. So my boyfriend and I decided as a team that I would stop taking the pill and see how that helps.

It really felt like it helped that first week or 2. I had my energy back some days and felt positive and light! No rushing thoughts, no sick stomach feeling from anxiety. It was amazing! So here I am 3 month off the pill and the depression and anxiety came back hard. Especially the depression. When I recently started doubting my relationship, I knew this is not me. So I was really scared. Asking myself stuff like "He's everything you ever wanted and he's one of the only people that actually understand you, so why do I all of a sudden feel so negatively toward him? And everyone I encounter..."

So let's just say I am SOOO relieved to have found all these amazing posts!!! It gives me so much hope for what's to come! I just want the old me back and I know my boyfriend does too ♡ I will never look at hormonal birth control the same.