Paranoia and birth control Posted: 04-27-08 08:11am
I have been taking Ortho-Tri Cyclin Lo for
a few years. As a result I have suffered
nearly every side effect possible:
migrains, weight gain, occasional
nausea/vomitting, and finally gall stones.
Now the gall stones were the last straw,
and honestly I didn't know that birth
control could lead to all those
conditions. Within the last year I have
also had increasing irrational paranoia.
I have almost delusions or periods filled
with intense fear that everyone around me
is working against me, and I become
unrecognizabley angry. In hindsight I
recognize that my paranoia was silly, but
when I become anxious, I believe it is
real. I am hoping that paranoia is a
symptom that has been linked to birth
control. My question is: Can I expect in
a few months that my paranoia will
dissapate once the pill has had a month or
two to leave my body?
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DoctorAnswer
Doctor Answer
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Birth Control Answer A4025 Posted: 05-02-08 13:50pm
It doesn’t seem likely to me that you
have paranoia. Paranoia is a severe
psychotic disorder where the patient
strongly believes in his paranoid
(delusive) thoughts and suspicions. In
your case, you are aware that all those
thoughts are not true which is the
strongest evidence that you don’t have
the psychotic disorder - paranoia. You may
only have a paranoid personality which is
not the same as paranoia. Birth control
pills can cause an anxious-depressive
disorder as a side effect. This
anxious-depressive disorder may potentiate
your paranoid personality. Your mental
problems should vanish after going off the
birth control pills, if they are the
cause. You can try that but you may also
want to consult a mental health
professional about this.
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