Hi - I took BC from age 19 to 28. First Ortho tri-cyclen for about 5 yrs - which I did gain some weight, have headaches and felt quite moody. Eventually, I wanted to see if something made me less moody...so I tried Yasmin, which made me ANGRY...never felt so angry so much in my life. That scared me and I went back to the Ortho. Then I gave the patch 2yrs. The patch was similar to the ortho - still moody, still headaches (actually more!), I stressed about the higher blood clot factor (but hey, I didn't have to remember to take a pill), and I actually lost the weight I gained on the pill. But, the moodiness was still too much for me to bear...

So in Jan of this year, i just went off all birth control. I figured i had been on BC for nearly 10 yrs of my life (almost all my adult life) and I wanted to find out how I "normally" was.

Well, I've become slightly depressed, gained MORE weight, and now six months later figured out that I have obvious PMDD...a straight two weeks of HAPPY after my period...and about 10 days of depression and mood swings before - it's like clockwork!!! I don't remember what my "moodyness" factor was before I ever went on BC, because I was a teen and moodiness is almost expected, and I had only had a period for a few years. Maybe I had PMDD before the BC, or maybe it's an effect of losing the regulation of the hormones that BC did for me for 10yrs.

Either way, the Dr. gave me paxil for the PMDD and said I could take it constantly or just when the PMDD symptoms are hitting me. I only take them when I have the symptoms and it REALLY helps - no more anger and spazzing out before my period. But, it doesn't do nothing for my extreme tiredness or weight gain.

Anyway, thought I'd share my experience with BC and finally figuring out I had PMDD.

I really would love some sort of BC again...I've gone back to school and don't want to be surprised with a pregnancy. At the same time, I finally feel like I have some control over my mood swings and don't want to mess that up either.

Anybody have an Anger reaction with Yasmin and find something that worked better? Anybody with PMDD find a BC with little side effects adn helped the PMDD?

any input is respected & appreciated.

thanks!