Birth Control & Depression

Kami1095 · Post by **Kami1095** » Sun Jan 31, 2010 10:33 am

I'm depressed throughout the year. I just started seeing a professional. I hate going to the appointments so far...but thats because ive had this my whole life and have little hope about it. Ironically that attitude is not helpful but working on that. Anyways, i found something out in my last appoint. She asked me what medications i was taking.
I told her, "there are been two MAJOR serious depressive episodes in my life. one was in 2005 when i graduated from high school and went to college states away. I was on orthotri-low and zoloft. and the second episode was last December-present and i am on Yaz only." Obviously life changing events bring havoc into our lives...but then i asked her if it was possible for the pill to be an issue. and she said "absolutely YES" and i know i started Yaz last September when i was only somewhat irritible and depressive...and then i sunk from there. Anyone have an input on birth controls effect on their depression???

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Feb 01, 2010 1:45 am

Birth control pills don't so much cause symptoms for me but will make existing ones worse. I find if I'm already in an anxious cycle, being on the pill is excruciating because of all the extra body sensations (to worry about and get depressed about). If I'm not anxious or depressed, it has no effect or like when I took Yazmin, actually seemed to make me feel better. Yaz and Yasmin should theoretically be the best choice for people like us because it decreases water retention, which alone can throw us off. Everybody is different though.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Feb 01, 2010 1:55 pm

I just took myself off of Nuvaring. I was having round the clock anxiety. I've been on it for several months but it stopped helping the PMS symptoms and my breasts started hurting pretty much all month. So, I got online and stumbled onto some forums which were full of women who were experiencing heavy duty panic and anxiety after starting. I thought, what the heck, it's worth a try. I've been off for about 9 days now and the anxiety has reduced but I am so freaking depressed now! What the heck, folks? I am grateful that I don't feel like I'm dying all the dang time but now nothing has any flavor or excitement and I just feel absolutely worthless. Has anyone else had this experience? Its getting to the point that if I don't start pulling out of it I considering antidepressants. (and I am DEATHLY afraid of them)

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Feb 01, 2010 2:14 pm

thanks for your replies. i agree tweaky, i think the problems are not caused by birth control. but i have gone off of yaz for a month now and am better than i was...could be that placebo effect.

hot rod- i experience that kind of depression all the time. you are not alone. i dont have much advice though an antidepressants as i dont have enough experience on them. good luck

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Feb 02, 2010 10:51 am

I'm coming out of a bad bout of anxiety w/related depression right now, so I definately know the feeling you described Hot Rod. Being depressed sucks, there's no doubt about it. I got my issue of Newsweek today and they explore the idea that SSRI's don't work much better than placebo's for depression, and have alot of side effects. In 07, I took Lexapro which had some side effects, and I couldn't drink (even an occasional glass of wine), which was depressing alone. My depression lifted and my anxiety got better, but whether that was placebo or the real-deal, I don't know. I tapered off after 4 months. I was doing the program religiously at the time and God knows, I wanted it to work! I tried Zoloft this time around, and felt debilitating nausea and my pupils dilated, which freaked me out so I stopped after 3 days...

Bottom line...I'm a classic GAD (generalized anxiety disorder) type w/obsessive compulsive tendencies. I didn't want, ask for, or even deserve this fate, but it appears to be mine. I'm also creative, intuitive, and compassionate, so maybe I just have to learn to accept the good with the bad...the highs with the lows better? Maybe our only problem is we are fighting our innate selves, and forgetting what I think is the best line of the Serenity Prayer:

(I revised it for my agnostic tendencies)

"Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time, accepting hardship as a pathway to peace, taking this imperfect world as it is, not as I would have it, trusting that all things will unfold as intended, so that I can be happy"