Hey, I actually had my tubes tied when I was 20, thinking A) I could keep being an fool and not worry about pregnancy, and B) I wouldn't pass on any of the family's mental illnesses and cause my kids to suffer.

As luck would have it, five years later my period started going haywire, so I was put on the pill, the lowest dose. Back when I was younger, I HATED the pill, because it made me such an emotional wreck. I also gave Depoprovera a shot, and what a mistake. 15 minutes after I'd leave the GYN's office, I'd be crying hysterically and raising hell in supermarkets. It was awful. Being told that I needed the pill again was a nasty solution, I was thinking.

However, the body regulated itself, my boobs got bigger, hooray hooray, but then my dog died... and a few months later my cat went missing, and after six days the neighbor's dog found him dead in a drainage tunnel across the street, at only 9 years old. I was a WRECK!!!!! Holy crap, I was just a crying mess, so I went to see my psychiatrist and he insisted I needed an anti-depressant, so he put me on Cymbalta. For two weeks I thought I had found a miracle. And now, months later, I have about 4 more days and it'll be completely out of my system and I can try to figure out what is making my life so bad, so nauseous and lethargic and unable to work... Was it Cymbalta? Is my lithium too low? (900 mg, minimum is 0.5 and I'm at 0.6) Could birth control be losing its effectiveness? My libido is gone, I can't work, and the worst part is sometimes I get very close to cheating even though I don't even want to have sex. I have been forcing myself to stay at home because I DON'T TRUST MYSELF.

So, in answer to your problem, I have no idea, can you help me?? lol I'm sorry. I guess the point is, unless you get some crazy blood workup of all your hormone levels, it would be hard to say what any of the options would do to you.

Good luck, and God speed

Birth control pills can make you feel like you are going a little crazy but I think it was the cymbalta that is making you feel so bad. I was just prescribed cymbalta two days ago and after hearing all of the sideaffects and taking it for only one day, my doctor prescibed me to something else. It made me feel awful! I was very sick all day today because of it. Cymbalta is known to make you tired all the time, have no sex drive, gain/lose weight, feel nauseous and it even gives you headaches. Im not saying that this particular drug is awful, it just wasn't the right one for me. I hope you feel better after getting it all out of your system. What was it like getting off of it? Did you have any withdrawals? I was very afraid of it even before I started taking it.
Thank you.

Are there any specific birth control pills that are recommended for women with bipolar disorder? I have tried Ortho-tricyclen�® and Tri-Levelen�®. With both of them, I have had depressions worse than before I ever started on Lithium. I could really use some help.
In general it is felt that the progestogen component of birth control pills has the most effect on aggravating depression. Estrogen has the opposite effect, it usually improves depression. The progestogen in Levlen�® is stronger than the progestogen in Tricyclen�® milligram per milligram. I would expect Levlen�® to be slightly more depressive than Tricyclen�® but there is a confounding factor. Both have varying doses of the hormones throughout the cycle. The could conceivably worsen a cyclic process like manic-depression. I would think it would be better to be on a mono phasic pill that had a low progestogen potency such as Orthocyclen�®, Norinyl 1/35 �®or Desogen 1/35�®. It's possible, however, that any combination could worsen the symptoms. Basically this solution involves trying different pills and giving each one about 2-3 mos before drawing a conclusion. There is almost no scientific investigation in this area, i.e. effect of OCPS on manic-depression that I know of.

I'm 25 and have bipolar diorder. I have tried EVERYTHING!! and nothing seems compatible with my system. I am so sensitive to everything! Usually I end up extremely depressed and just sleep my life away. I have tried all different brands of pills, the ring, the patch, depo shot, Iud, etc. ...all short of getting my tubes tied because my doc says she wont do it..however I think you should look into the following because they seemed to work well for me and hopefully they will do the same for you....

there is the non-hormonal paraguard iud....very good for women with bipolar because you have no hormones competing with your body...the only downfall is if you have had no children, horrible cramps/heavier & longer period. But weighing my options, I would rather deal with cramping once a month than be a complete wreck all the time. plus its good for 10 years.

also the pill, MICROGESTIN 1/30 is a low dose bc pill. I am very sensitive to hormones and this pill worked great for me with no side effects except nausea on occation. I have used both of these options and i would recommend them both. hope this helps you guys out.