Feeling depressed after stopping the birth control pills?

Hi all! Like many of you I am so glad to have found this site. I have been on the pill (Ortho Tricyclen Lo) for about 6 months and off of it for about 2 weeks. I got off of it because of all the horrible emotional side effects I was experiencing-depression, mood swings, anxiety, lack of concentration etc. However, to my dismay, I realized I was and still am experiencing those same side effects. I thought getting off the pill would fix me and now I am growing more discouraged as I read these posts. It seems like no one is getting better. It feels good to know there are others out there like me but I just want us all to get better! I cry all the time and feel like I need to break out of my skin. Im restless and anxious and feel completely alone and hopeless. I feel awful and need to know salvation will come soon. I don't know how much more of this i can take, im hurting everyone I care about. This site has offered some natural remedies which I might try. I just wish there was a more definite time table of when all this will end. I feel for each and every one of you women. Thank you for posting your stories and I hope in time we will all feel like ourselves again. And for all those women out there not yet on the pill and researching it, please dont do it! It is not worth your physical and mental health. I will never go on the pill again, any form of it. Its unnatural and poisonus to women. As soon as I start to feel better I will post it on this site. Once again, thank you all.

I feel soooo much better after reading everybody's post. I was seriously freakin out thinking something was majorly wrong with me. I have been off of tri-sprintec for not even a month after taking it over a year. I stopped because soon after taking it i began having chest pains that nobody could figure out. I had TONS of blood work, an ekg, an echocardiogram, an xray and been in and out of doctors offices so many times that i finally gave up. My mom decided it wouldn't hurt to try and go off my birth control just to see if that was it. I haven't had chest pains as bad and as often. At the end of taking my bc pills and now i have been really feeling down and like i don't care about the stuff i used to. It was really scaring me before I read all these post. I'm thinking of going to get my hormone levels checked and talk to my obgyn about what to do. I am just ready for this feeling to go away, i don't like it at all. I'm just glad i have such an amazing family and boyfriend to be by my side =] I hope all ya'll get to feeling better and happier also, best of luck to everybody!

So I've been on ortho tri-cyclen for about a month, everything was fine untill i started my second cycle. slowly but surely, i began to sink into a very morbid state mind of, i began thinking about death alot,and sank into anxiety for those i loved,and i became very irritable. I was snaping at my hunny often,and became very depressed in sudden bursts. I would get very angry at little things i would usually dismiss,and my libido has gone down the drain..
What REALLY freaked me out was that i started questioning my wonderful relationship, feeling trapped,and boubting our compatability even though before i was so sure i would marry this man one day. When i think about it with a logical mind, it doesnt add up why i would feel this way, so im waiting out the BC and see how i feel later. i am confident my feelings of deep affection will return,but untill then, my hunny holds me at night while i cry my eyes out.
I am still curently in this limbo state,i miss my high sex drive,and my deep passion for my love. Im going back to the nuva ring soon, hopefully before valentine's ;D
btw, nuva ring was great for me, it has minimal hormones,and theyre directed at the target spot,lol
its only annoying to have to pull it in and out, also, it slides down ocasioally. hmm....maybe i'll try the shot next then

good luck girl! i'm going to my gyno to talk to them about everything and i'm thinking of trying the shot to but i'm kinda nervous about trying anything else and it making my depression, dizzyness, and all this other stuff worse. =/ guess i'll just have to see! =]

Hello everyone.
Wow, like everyone else, I'm glad I found this site. I'm 49 and my dr recommended I go off the pill (geez, I've been on since I was in my 20s). I thought, ok, good idea. So I went off a month ago and then I got depressed. I don't think I had any other effects other than my nipples are sore, but I've never been depressed before. I've been going through some marriage problems anyway and they just seemed to escalate and I just wanted to leave my husband. While walking the dogs in the cemetery and seeing a new grave dug, I thought it would be easier to just die (not that I was any where near suicidal, but still, I've never had any thoughts like that). And then yesterday my period started and just like that, the depression went away so I thought it might have something to do with going off the pill and maybe I should just go back on it (didn't have any problems being on it so long and was never depressed; one kind made me gain weight but was ok with another kind all these years). So my question is...should i just go back on it? Any harm in that?

Hi all, I was the Guest post on 8/30 and just came back to give an update. Things are much better these days! So, I posted in August and was still carrying around the extra weight through October when we went to my husband's sister's wedding (which I was in). I was feeling so gross and not only the oldest bridesmaid, but the biggest at 5'5" and 147 lbs. The bride, bride's mom (my MIL), groom, groom's family had all gone on the HCG diet a couple months before the wedding and were all looking good. (Bride lost 11 lbs from 121 to 110, groom lost 20 lbs, etc). Oh yeah, and my dress was uncomfortable because of the whale bone structure so I was holding the spot where it was digging in and one of the family friends asked if we had "news"! Ugh!
So when we got back home, my husband and I decided to do the HCG diet - where you take the drops, severely limit food and your body thinks you're pregnant so instead of using muscle it uses your fat for energy. I guess it's been around for a long time. I was skeptical but we tried it anyway. We started in early-mid November and at first it was slow for me (fast for my husband, of course). The drops lasted through the end of December and I went from 147 to 134. (We mostly cut out sugar and other simple carbs). Before quitting BC I'd been around 139-140, then went to 147 when I went off so 134 feels great! Anyway, the point isn't totally about the diet, but I feel like it worked to reset my body to go back to the weight I was before I ever got on BC. I feel like myself again. I should also mention I've stayed at 134 without much exercise, but maintaining good eating habits. I don't feel like I might spike back up to 140 or 145 at any moment.
Also, I got over the lingering feelings of depression I was having back in August and have felt great since then. I think this was helped by getting a new job which I enjoy a lot more than what I was doing before. Again, my body kind of reset itself and things just seem better.
Finally, I had mentioned about feeling cramps and expecting my period any day. Well, I didn't get it for a couple more weeks and figured out that going off BC I could actually feel it when I was ovulating. It was several hours of back pain and some mild cramping and then two weeks later I'd get my period. The acute awareness has worn off as the months go by, although I think I can still feel a bit of a pinch when I'm ovulating. Period cramps haven't been terrible (like when I was a teenager) but they have been more noticeable than when I was on the pill. Acne is worse than it was, but not horrible. The melasma has gotten way better. I no longer have a mustache stain. :)Overall, I will take a little acne and cramps to feel like I am myself again. It feels good to not be tied to any pills and to know that it is all out of my system so when we start trying to conceive we'll have a clean slate.
So, to anyone who has just gone off BC and feels like it is worse being off than on, it does get better if you wait it out and take care of yourself. I went off in July of 2010 and have felt pretty good since December. There were a few rough months in there, but we made it through and out the other end. Hope this helps. Take care!

I cant believe how little i knew about the pill. I wish i'd never gone on it if i'd known it would be this bad coming off it. I cant stop crying!! i'm so angry! I'm so close to telling my customers to get lost! i'm normally so happy and this last 3 months after coming off ten years of yasmin has turned me in to a monster!!
>;)
What really annoys me is how theres no talk of this ANYWHERE, not in the news, not in magazines, not even between my friends and family, so to my husband I seem like the only one in the world who's like this! But evidently from this site I'm not!
I just hope i get back to normal soon cos my concentration is so bad that I can barely even type this message without going wrong on every word! Hope this makes sense :'(
xxxxxxxxxx

yeah girl it does make since. your not alone =] and it does get better. i have been off my birth control pill, ortho tri cyclen, for about 3 months now and even though i had to start taking lexapro i have been doing alot better. i still get my moments where i wanna cry or just tell everybody to leave me the hell alone buy hey, thats life. everybody is going to get aggravated. and i know how you feel, i thought i was the only weird one having all this stuff happen to me after i quit my birth control, which i stopped because it was causing my horrible chest pains that no body could figure out. my obgyn never informed me of the side effects of coming off the pill, and she is still bound and determind that the birth control pill is not whats wrong with me now, she says i'm just depressed, but it didnt start happening till i stopped taking the pill. but it will get better girl, just hold your head up and be strong =] and tell your hubby that your not crazy, there are tons of women out there going through the same thing! =]

Wow - what a find this forum has been for me! I too, like many others thought I was going crazy. I initially stopped taking the pill in May 2010 thinking that it was about time I came off it. Without realising it at the time I suffered from mild anxiety. I spent my 30th Birthday with severe stomach problems which I put down to gastroenteritis (which is what the doctor diagnosed). A couple of days later I felt fine until about 3 weeks later when I was due to be going to my own 30th birthday celebrations. I didn't make it to my own party :-( I had severe stomach problems, butterflies in my tummy, felt hot, shakey, legs felt tingly, heart was racing I felt awful. I went back to the doctor the next day to be again told that I had gastroenteritis. My skin then got so bad that I thought that if I went back on the pill it would sort it out. It didn't so in August 2010 I stopped taking it again. My fiance then proposed to me (supposed to be one of the most wonderful times in a girls life - not mine!) which brought on a week of severe anxiety and a couple of very severe panic attacks (my poor fiance!). I went to the doctor 3 times that week and cried the whole way through each appointment. Just making the appointment made me feel better but then the next day I would feel worse again. He prescribed me some beta blockers which I took that afternoon as I was desperate to try anything to make me feel better. Worse thing I could have done as it brought on a severe panic attack. In desperation I then booked myself an appointment with a CBT trained therapist who made me feel a little better. It got so bad that I couldn't comprehend the thought of packing a bag to visit my parents that weekend. I missed a week off work too which added to the anxiety as I'd only just started the job. That whole week I just didn't feel like me. I then started to panic about getting married. I hadn't managed to make it to my 30th party so what if I couldn't make it my own wedding. This thought just went round and round in my head. Whilst I was visiting my parents my Mum told me that she had had similar symptoms to me about 10 years ago and had CBT which I knew nothing about. She explained that listening to a relaxation Cd might help. I hadn't eaten anything really for that whole week apart from bannanas and even those were hard to stomach. I listened to the Cd and after 10 mins of listening to it I started to feel so much better and hungry for the first time in a week! Since then I have been eating well, exercising and seeing a life coach and going to CBT sessions and I am starting to feel loads better. My periods are still not regular at all ( I had a 3 month break between periods at one point) and I find my anxiety levels are at their worst about 3 days before I'm due to come on. I'm getting there but it's really tough as I'm sure many other people will understand. It's tempting just to go back on the pill but as I'm getting married in July, babies will soon follow (fingers crossed) so it's vital that I get my bits working properly! Everything I do at the moment is working towards making sure those physical symptoms dont' come back on my wedding day and the advise that I get from everyone is relaxation. Baths, relaxation Cd's, Reiki, Reflexology and most important of all breathing techniques! Sounds crazy but the way you breath is so important. I wish anyone reading this all the luck in the world. It's one of the most horrible things I have ever been through but reading and understanding what's happening to your body really helps the recovery process. And you do get better I promise, it just takes time.

Hello everyone!

Well I first posted a while ago now, (I came off the pill in the middle of September 2010) and I thought I'd update everyone on the process I've gone through.
Sooo it's been almost 6 months since I came off, and I can definately see a difference now compared to the first month pill free -where I basically sat on the couch for days on end totally out of it and depressed/anxious/having panic attacks all the time- however, there are definately some things I'm still trying to tackle.

I don't have panic attacks anywhere near as much now, though perhaps because I'm used to the feeling of them coming on I'm able to stop myself from letting them escalate. The insomnia I suffered also seems to have subsided. I will say that I also had CBT therapy for a number of weeks, however whilst it helped me a bit in getting my confidence back and be able to talk to people, it got increasingly frustrating as my therapist was constantly trying to diagnose me with depression and things alike, not believing that a pill could have any effect on my mental state, needless to say I eventually terminated treatment! My sex drive is definately back - i'm only 18 so I didn't even realise what it could be like as I'd been on the pill for so many years!!! I have more confidence in general as well which is good, and the hot flashes/sweats I was having have gone away.

However, I also had vision issues, similar to what a few other women have mentioned, and this is still a MASSIVE problem. I know it's because of the pill because it was about 3 weeks after I stopped taking them that one morning i just SUDDENLY woke up with thousands of floaters in front of my eyes (floaters are basically little spots that you see, "floating around," kinda like when you sneeze/hit your head), and these are actually increasing in number. You can test this, if you go out on a bright day and look directly into a clear sky for a while you'll easily notice whether or not you have floaters and i have LOADS. I also have grey/black spots in front of my vision, i'm light sensitive, and the clarity of objects just doesn't seem the same as it used to. Ive actually booked an appointment with an opthalmologist because I've recently done some research and heard some strong evidence about sudden withdrawals of hormones and a link to retinal detatchment. This is actually quite a dangerous issue so I'm anxious to tackle it quickly. In a way though I actually HOPE they find something wrong with my eyes because if they can't detect anything and I have to live with this vision forever...well...i don't know if I could actually. --- Another thing on the side, it kind of feels like my ears are clogged as well?!

Mood-wise, I have had some great days, more so as time moves on, but I still have bad days sometimes, and this is actually one of them. I just feel low and quite anxious today but I think part of that is down to a mad weekend I've just had and being tired from lots of work. Also, and I'm annoyed I even did this, my boyfriend and I had unprotected sex and I ended up having to get the morning after pill in a hurry - I totally forgot the fact that it's one heck of a dose of hormone - that was about 3 weeks ago and I'm pretty sure that accounts for some of the worse days I've had in the past couple of weeks and anxiety-type problems, PLUS a sudden acne breakout.

One thing I'd recommend to anyone though is magnesium. I took quite a high dose every day, the one manufactured by "solgar?" My panic attacks stopped within a week and I sleep sooooo much better. Literally the anxiety just goes! About a week ago I thought that it might be making me a little bit sleepy as well (plus its very expensive) so I stopped, but now the panic attacks are returning so I might go back on it. But seriously girls, magnesium is so good for anxiety relief!! Another vitamin I'm taking is a Zinc supplement, which is known to be good at regulating hormones and also tackling acne. Only problem with it is i feel a bit sick a minute after taking it but that feeling soon goes.

Phew! SO. I'm very curious to know if any of you guys have had the vision/hearing issues? I'll update again if there are any significant changes or improvements, I wish you all the best and honestly it does get better/more manageable in time, but it's always a slower process than what you want. I myself know I still have a few more months to wait.

Good luck ladies! xxx

Hey everyone, this thread is AMAZING.

I stopped birth control 2+ months ago and I'm wondering what anyone has experienced during this time.

For the first month after I stopped birth control, I felt very off, had tons of anxiety and some depression. Overall I just felt weird and very, very, very bad. Then, the second month was pretty good, I got more active, more social, I did not feel horrible but the anxiety and bad feelings sometimes would show up, but WAY less. Then I finally had my first real period after about 2 months. During my period I felt good, but as soon as it ended, my anxiety went really really high again! I felt so horrible for about 3 days, and I had a panic attack for the first time in a long while. By now it's a few days later and I'm feeling a lot better for sure - but not 100% good. It feels like I had a major setback for about 3 days :-(

I'm wondering how long it took people to feel really really okay again, and what sort of things people have experienced in the first couple of months coming off birth control.

Thank you all so, so much.

Me again! I'm here to update.



I am now 3 solid months off the pill. Since the bad anxiety I had about three weeks ago, for the first time since quitting BC I've had MULTIPLE GOOD DAYS scattered around. My anxiety, sadness, weird feelings are definitely not gone. They still come on a lot of days and I definitely still don't feel great all the time. But for the first 2 months off the pill I never felt like myself - had good/bad days, but still always felt foggy and weird. But now I've had so many more times where I feel like my normal self is coming out again! So, definitely not perfect, but things are changing!



I will continue to update from time to time.



Any of you ladies who have gotten PAST the awful symptoms, please come back and update! It helps so much to read good stories :)

WOW!

 

Like many others, Im relieved to find this site! I have been thinking I am going crazy! I'm 25 and had been on birth control pills since i was 15/16 years old. I have been on Yasmin, Oscella (generic for Yasmin), and most recently Sprintec. I can honestly say while on the birth control pills I had little to no side effects. There have been horror stories about Yasmin, but I was lucky to not experience any. In December 2010, I asked my gyno for a cheaper birth control pill due to financial strains. She suggested Sprintec and when asked advised it was very similar to Yasmin. By similar, she must have meant NOT AT ALL. I started Sprintec in January and by the third week I was not myself at all. I had anxiety which I have never experienced before. My heart would race..I'd get flushed and straight panic. I began to worry about EVERYTHING...things that had happened in the past, things that were happening and things that COULD happen. I'm a natural "analyzer" so this just went overboard. I started to have suicidal thoughts..not like how to, but like "it'd be easier if i'd just give up..it'd be easier for my husband/family/friends if I just wasn't here". I would constantly cry...I'm not talking tears, I'm talking sobbing. I knew SOMETHING was not right and I could attach it to starting new pills. I called my gyno and she suggested going back to Yasmin. In February and March 2011 I was on Yasmin. The symptoms did not subside..there would be "better" days than others but normal was a relative term anymore. I called my gyno again and she suggested Prozac. I am NOT interested in taking anti-depressants whatsoever. I believe there is a deeper reason/logical reason for these things to be happening and want to find out the reason and not just mask them with anti-depressants that will ultimately continue to jack up my hormones/etc. My gyno was doing all of this over the phone...no follow up, anything even when I called the office bawling. I decided to go to a general doc and have bloodwork ran. She ran a blood work panel and thyroid panel. Turns out after working the midnight shift for almost 3 years I was extremely vitamin D deficient and was borderline hyperthyroidism. Both of those can also cause depression, anxiety, etc. During this time, I also had EXTREME insomia. I sleep during the day (and have tried dark curtains, masks, melatonin, etc). I was only sleeping 4-5 hours and waking up numerous times during it. The lack of sleep obviously did not help my moods as I would wake up crying/anxious and lose it! Unfornately, I was also home alone during these moments so the panic would overwhelm me. I began to take vitamin D supplements..SAM-E (a mood supplement)...a multi vitamin..fish oil with primrose oil/flaxseed..magnesium and Lugol's Iodine drops. At this same time, I my husband and I decided to stop the birth control pill all together so my hormones/body can adjust because I obviously had the "perfect storm" going on inside. For the next week or so, I would have more better days than worse. I began to think that the "bad" is gone and I had beaten it. I went to a new gyno and had my bloodwork taken again and this time it included hormones. My vitamin D levels had skyrocketed to where they needed to be, my thyroid is still borderline hyper..and my hormones are ok although I have a huge drop in estrogen. I still began to think I was beating it, Especially when the third week of my cycle came without a HUGE crash as it had been doing before. During my 4th week, I cramped BAD for 3 days (which had never happened)..then my period came with a vengeance. It was very heavy and lasted approx 4 days. During that week (which was just this past week) and since then, I have lost it again. I thought after my period things would level themselves out, but I was wrong so far. This is day 6 after stopping and I feel a "little" bit better but not much. All of the old symptoms are still here, but this time I'm getting more and more frustrated and my patience is gone. I have talked to other women and they have also shared this horrible experience. I've heard it can take 3-6 months for things to adjust...when I hear that time frame I freak out because I've already been on this road dealing with things for 3 months now. Granted the stopping of the birth control pills probably started the time all over again.

 

The things I found that "kinda" helped have been:

*talking about it... if I bottle it up, my mind goes crazy and I literally think I'm losing it.

*Keeping a journal of my days ..how I feel..how much sleep I got..and rating it on a scale of 1 being a bad day and 10 being the best/old me. I have slacked doing this the past couple of weeks since I was feeling better at one point. At one point, I had a 9 day. It was amazing..consistently I was having 6 days which are pretty DARN good compared to most.

*The vitamins... my mother-in-law is a huge propenant. We had to self police this with the help of  ***this post is edited by moderator *** *** web addresses not allowed***

 , etc. Most doctors are not knowledgeable in these supplements.

*Letting it all out. If I want to cry, I want. If I want to get mad I get mad. I have found that after I let it out I usually have a time frame..even if minutes..of feeling better

*Leaning on my husband..friends and family. Most of the time, I feel like I'm the biggest bother and annoying them but they keep on telling me I'm not and stand by me. I'm my biggest enemy right now.

*God. I've never had a relationship with Him. During this time period, I decided to give my life to Him and start the journey with Him. I can honestly say that without Him, I would not be able to go through this. I also believe that during this time, I'm probably experiencing a spirtual battle since I'm so vulnerable health wise...which makes it tough but leaning on God and talking to him helps.

 

Hope this novel has helped someone...I look forward to seeing the old me again

Hey everyone,

Hi Everyone, I know this is an old thread, but it is really helpful.  I stopped Yaz (after 2.5 years of being on it and ~8 years on other pills before that) in October 2010 and have been suffering with headaches, anxiety, panic attacks, loss of focus, and many other issues since stopping.  Anyone reading this page can find some more up-to-date information at the below link.  I wish I had seen some of these things before going on the pill.  This has really messed with my head.   I hope everyone that was posting here is feeling better.  We need to get the word out to women about how dangerous the pill can be...not only to our physical health, but to our mental health as well.

 ***this post is edited by moderator *** *** web addresses not allowed***