The pill

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Fitstick

Cathlete
Hi
I was wondering if any of you have had problems on the birth control pill? I have been on it for several years and never felt like my normal self, have bad mood swings etc. Even with switching pills I still don't feel 100%.

I am contemplating getting off it and was wondering if you have done so and how did you feel once you got off of it.

ANy comments or advice would be helpful

Thanks
 
I'm on Estrostep and personally have never had any problems. However, 2 of my friends had a lot of problems, especially bloating and moodiness. They said their chests would get so sore. They both ended up being put on Yasmine which is $40 a month. It has a lower amount of something (estrogen?) so there aren't as many side effects. They said generic birth control pills were awful. So far, they're still on the pill.

Has your doctor tried switching your pills around? There are so many out there nowadays. A lot of people just don't have luck with the pill, but there may be one that's better for you. I don't think it's worth it if the pill is making you miserable- there are lots of other options.

good luck
 
[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Dec-27-02 AT 11:09AM (Est)[/font][p]I have been trying to take The Pill on and off for 10 years. I've been on a lot of different ones and just can't find one that works. Some of them make me bloat, some of the blast me into outer space so that I can't think straight and others have brought me to the edge of suicide.

Finally, I decided that enough is enough and I stopped trying. The Drs. tell me that I have to give each one 3 months for my body to adjust, but it's difficult to keep my life together when a Pill is making me crazy. I've stuck it out for 3 months on several of them and it never got better.

I'm only 27 so a "permanent" solution probably isn't best at this point and not taking the Pill does complicate things but my life has been much better and more stable since I stopped trying to find the magic Pill.

I'm upset when I think about how many months of my life I wasted on those things. I have never regretted stopping "the search".
 
I have been on Yasmin for about 3 months, and it's great. It helps tremendously with water weight gain, which I had CONSTANTLY when I was taking Tri-Norinyl (for years). Maybe you should give it a try. I can't say I've experienced any negative side effects with the Yasmin, except that the first month I took it, I noticed I was having a lot of headaches. I think my body just had to adjust to the new medication. Good Luck!!!
 
I always say take a B Vitamin supplement, preferably one on time-release. I get mine from Wal-mart- B-100 complex with time release. I had mood swings for the first 3 months until my friend told me I had to take the B vitamin to become tolerable again. It worked!
Cari
 
I am now on my second month of being off the pill. I am normally a happy person, but I also experienced severe mood swings, not to mention almost 3 weeks of break-through bleeding at times, even after having been on the pill for quite a while. (My husband joked that this was why it was birth control--I was constantly having a period.) I have tried some different brands, the most recent of which was supposed to help with the mood swings, but it didn't seem to. B-100 definitely helps, but it wasn't enough, so I decided to go off the pill. So far I am feeling much, much better emotionally.

I think that in some people the pill might just interact badly with their brain chemistry in a way that enhances mood swings. I normally experience some PMS mood swings, and was hoping that the pill would help with this and hormone-related headaches, as my doctor suggested. I hate having my emotions jerked around by hormones, and the times I have felt the best emotionally were when I was pregnant--perhaps this is one reason why we have 5 kids! Unfortunately, the pill just made my mood swings worse. In retrospect, I realized this also happened another time when I was on the pill.

Best of luck to you whatever you decide.
 
Hope, or anyone else who has stopped taking the pill after prolonged use,

Did you experience any physiological changes when you discontinued hormone use? I have heard stories of people having problems with water weight gain and such. It's difficult to tell what should be expected after discontinuing use from the manufacturer's literature because the medical community is so pro-pharmaceutical and studies aren't generally done on the side effects of discontinuing use.

I've been on Ortho tricyclen for almost 10 years and would prefer to stop taking hormones as I learn more about the vast range of effects exogenous hormones can have on the body.

Just curious what physical changes you've noticed, if any.

Thanks!
ginger
 
Hi Ginger,
I was on the pill for two separate lengths of time (each time over a year or 2 or 3) in my twenties. Each time I went off of it, I lost 5 pounds right away. I didn't notice much more than that.

I now have a Paragard ten-year IUD and it is working great for me. The least hassle of anything I know of.
HTH
-Connie
 
Ginger,

I haven't noticed any weight changes either way, but then I don't tend to put on much water weight.

Please forgive my ignorance, but when I first started on the pill 17 years ago, I thought they recommended being on it for 5 years or less at a time. What is the recommendation nowadays?

Leigh Ann
 
Thanks for your replies.

Leigh Ann, no doctor has been disturbed by the fact that I've been on the pill for so long, BUT, that doesn't comfort me much. I'm a veterinary student so I've studied enough physiology to know that it is questionable to remain on (exogenous) estrogen for years. It is, of course, very controversial, but I'd just like to get off the stuff myself.

I think a (non-hormonal) IUD and various barrier methods (diaphragm for example) are my choices right now, so I'm going to start with the second and see how i like it.

I have read, for anyone stopping the pill, that it can cause your hair to (TEMPORARILY) fall out in some women. This is due to the drop in estrogen just like after one gives birth. The sudden drop causes hair loss, but it should grow back in a few months. I'm not looking forward to that as my hair is already falling out because vet school is so unbelievably stressful!

Thanks again for your input.

Ginger
 
Wow this is so timely!

I am in my second week of taking Ortho Tricylen and am feeling so crappy it is untrue. Prior to this I felt so supremely fit and healthy with high energy levels, I am seriously thinking this is not for me.

The docs recommmended it to me because my periods were all over the place, sometimes 39 days apart, sometimes 54 days apart, and I suffer badly from PMDD, they wanted to help me get my periods more regular so I would "know where I was". But now I just feel yucky all the time. Stomach aches, nausea, lethargy, air-head. I hate it. The brand they tried me on prior to this one made me feeel this bad in just one week, so I am thinking, it's back to the diaphragm for me.

Seriously, I have used the diaphragm for 10 years now and never had any trouble with it at all. Why did I ever try anything else?

Clare
 
Clare-

I went on Ortho Tricyclen last year and I had the same experience. I had alot of mood swings/low energy for the first couple of months, but then it went away. I also was extremely nauseous for the first week of taking it as well.

If after a couple of months of feeling "subpar", ask your doctor to switch you to another kind. There are alot of different kinds out there, and you shouldn't have to feel lousy.

Good luck!
Lynn
 
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