Ive been feeling the same way...
Ive been on bcp's for about 8 months now (ortho tri-cyclin) and have noticed that im just not the same girl I used to be. I get nervous more often. The tiniest little thing will make me cry. I get really really sad for no reason I can think of. My moods are all over the place, but they tend to crash, and crash hard. Im thinking of going off the pill. I have tried allesse and diane as well (over the last few years) and have had similar side effects. But im not sure if the pill is the cause, or something else. Does anyone else have these feelings?

Hi..

Ya I have had the same problem. I started taking alesse 28 in october, and towards the end of the pack I got really depressed so I went to see my doctor. She told me that my depression was most likely caused by the pills and said I would probably start feeling better while taking the placebo pills. She also prescribed me tri-cyclen 28 and said that for some people a higher dosage of hormones will not cause depression. I did feel better during that week, but at the end of the next month on the next pack I started feeling the same way. I went back to the doctor and told her I was depressed again, and she suggested I go on another brand.. This time it was triquilar 28. I am now on my 2nd week of this pack and feel so awful. I have been having weird mood swings through this pack, but this is just an all-time low. I am planning to go off the pill asap, but I have to check with my doctor who I won't see until next week.
So to you two I expect that your depression was caused by the pill and I advise you to inform your doctor!! And i'm shocked you have gone so long without asking your doctor what was wrong! The whole time I have been depressed has been so agonizing and I have been crying all the time and not wanting to do anything at all. Even just seeing my doctor cheered me up a bit as she was sure the reason was my bcp, so I didn't think I was like going crazy.
Hope this helps!

I was on the pill in my late teens and was overly emotional. As soon as I went off I felt calm and mellow again. 8 years later I am trying alesse, a low dosage pill that many of my friends and doctor swear by. Unfortunately, I am feeling anxious, helpless, insecure, and mental. All of these things I have not been since my teens. I have decided that it's not worth losing my sanity and am getting off the pill immediately. It's very black and white for me and an obvious choice. Good luck!

Yay! Today I went to my doctor and I am now off the pill!! I can't wait to be un-depressed!! I'm not sure if I should try anything else though.. Like the shot or patch?! Hmm.. I'm definitely taking a while off until I try hormones again!

The bcp can make you depressed, but it generally happens rather fast. Otherwise, you might be depressed regardless of the bcp.

I have the same problem-massive depression on birth control. My doctor put me on anti-depressents so I could stay on my bcp. (i have to be on hormones due to a condition)... Well, it really sucked being dependent on pills to make me function like a normal person so I stopped taking both the bcp & anti-depressents. I told my doc and was told I have to be on some sort of hormone therapy and we've tried the patch and low dose bcp and I still get depressed. Do not try the shot!!! If you get depression from the pill, the shot has the same hormones but they are with you for 3 months. You can't get it out of your system. So if you start feeling depressed while on the shot you have to suck it up until it wears off. I'm trying to do some research on what else is out there and have been told that if i'm on the pill I need anti-depressents or see an endocrinologist and they may be able to figure something out. There is also non-hormonal birth control-lik ehte ring and iud's. You should check those out. They don't do anything for controling your cycle but they prevent pregnancy.

I have been taking ortho lo for 2 years. I was single up until 5 months ago, and it was not a problem to be an emotional wreck. Now I am driving my boyfriend crazy, and my emotions are causing problems. I noticed many people seem to have emotional side effects, has anyone had better luck with other pills?

I have tried at least 8 kinds of birth control pills over the past ten years and they have all made me feel like I had pms all the time. I get really bad pms for the week before my period and I literally act like a different person, but on the pill it's like that all the time.

I tend to get really nervous and suspicious and imagine that my boyfriend is cheating on me. I feel like a crazy person on the pill. But now I am about to try it again for the first time in three years. I'm trying the patch and i'm thinking maybe if i'm aware that I might get depressed, maybe i'll be able to control it?

The reason i'm trying it again is that condoms irritate me and I think might have led to urinary tract infections (there has been a connection between urinary tract infections and spermicide). So i'm going to try the patch and fingers crossed, it will be ok.

Does anyone have any methods for coping with mood swings on the pill? I'm thinking that maybe if I take a multivitamin with b6 and b12 that might help the moods. I'm also going to start working out because I heard that helps too.

I was so relieved to read these comments. I started allesse 28 three weeks ago, and have been feeling so irritated I wanted to yell at/punch people for no reason, but too physically exhausted to actually do it.
I was hesitant to blame it on the pill and thought maybe I was just having a bad couple weeks.
It came to a head this week, (near the end of my pill pack). I've woken up crying hysterically for no reason, and have had to pretend like I have allergies at work because the tears will not stop flowing. It dawned on me that perhaps this was related to the pill. Unfortunately, i'm afraid I may have already alienated my new boyfriend by acting so psychotic. I'm definitely quitting at the end of the pack.

I also have had horrible experiences with hormonal birth control and depression. The depo provera shot made me completely insane. I was suicidal and even violent in that I would break things all the time. The pill makes me suicidal and weepy and paranoid (basically pms x 5) all the time. Nuva ring is slightly milder, but I still cry all the time.

I'm now seeing a new guy and as it's getting more serious, i'm wanting to be on birth control in case we sleep together in the future. But it seems that hormones push me over the edge. I may never have a functional relationship on birth control!

Has anyone found anything that didn't make them completely insane?

I, too, experienced extreme emotional tendencies when I was on ortho-tricyclin. I was on the pill for about the last 7 years and would always get very emotional around my period. I just accepted it & figured I was just a "sensitive" person... But I got recently got married & decided enough was enough.

I just switched from ortho-tricyclin (which releases 3 different levels of hormones into your body throughout the month) to orthocyclin (releases 1 constant level of hormone). I have only taken orthocyclin for 1 month but am already thrilled with my stabilized mood.... No crying at the drop of a hat... No irritation... Nothing. The only possible side effect that i've noticed on orthocyclen that I didn't have on ortho-tricyclin is weight gain. It sure beats depression and/or moodiness though! :-)

Hi, girls.
I am having the same problems as well. I went to see my doc today. She is switching my bc for 2-3 months. I was on tri ortho cyclen and now i'm on tri levlin which has a lower progestarone. She said the lower progestarone can help with the moods. She also said if this doesn't work there is another option. It's called iud (intrauterine copper contraceptive). This kind of contraceptive stays in the uteris up to 10 years but has no pregestarone which causes the moods and emotions. Its only about 93-94% effective compared to other contraceptives which are 98-99%. Just a suggestion that you may want to bring up to your doc. I hope this helps.

I have had terrible depression taking birth control pills too. It is not mild either. The mood swings are uncontrollable, i've had suicidal thoughts, and I just feel like there is a black cloud hovering over me. I feel despair, even though I have so much to be happy about. I have tried other pills and nothing has changed. I have dealt with this for 9 years and I realize that life is too short to live this way. I am going to stop taking my bc pills today. It is so sad that so many of us women are being harmed by these pills. I am going to consider the iud method. It is not a chemical and it last for several years which might me a good option for me. That may not be a good choice for everyone though. But, my point is, that there are other options out there that we can explore. Birth control pills seem to be the easiest method, but they are not that great when they affect you as they have me. I have wasted 9 years of my life searching for the majic pill.

I was just on ortho novum for 3 months, and it absolutely drove me nuts!! I was really depressed, cried all of the time, every night I was crying. Things that I knew would make other people happy I would totally be against, such as camping out, or even just taking a road trip. Usually I am a generally happy person, I always have just went with the flow, but for those long 3 months, I was crazy! After my 3 months, I went off of it, and it seemed like the first night I was off of it, I was back to normal. Some people say that it is all in your head. I would not have believed it if it had not had happened to me. I was crazy, seriously.

I know of a girl that was on birth control for like six months, and she really went crazy, she blamed her boyfriend for everything, and ended up having to go to a psychiatrist and get put on antidepressants. She finally quit taking the pill, after having to be put in the hospital because she was just killing herself with being depressed.

There were nights when i, myself was on the ortho novum that I would tell my boyfriend that I was going to just kill myself, I felt like nobody wanted me to be around, I was no longer myself. I have been on ortho tri cyclen lo for a month. The doctor gave me the pill for a month at a time, and I check in every month, just in case I go crazy again. It has really been a world of difference for me. I now have the pill and I am happy again!!

If you feel like you are depressed because of taking the pill, I would suggest that you switch your pill, or just go off of it and try some other form of birth control. It could cause major damage in the long run, even though you may not realize it yet. Although some posts say that it fades after time, you just have to have the will power to get over it, I guess!!

I hope this helped someone!!

My girlfriend is about to start the patch and im worried because I have a friend who was recently diagnosed with cancer. She swears that the only thing she changed in her life before being diagnosed was switching from the pill to the patch. She feels very strongly that it was because of the patch. Has anyone else heard of the risk of cancer with the patch???

It's nice to know that i'm not the only one. I am 24 and have tried just about every bcp on the market. I am currently on yasmin and I am a complete and total wreck. My husband is very understanding and has asked to me to get off of the pill. I feel like if I do, the crippling cramps will come back, as will the heavy flow and awful acne. I have spent the past 5 hours in bed after work not because I needed a cat nap, but because I am so depressed that I don't want to move. I feel tired all of the time and I don't want to talk to anyone. That's not me. I also have zero sex drive which is really not me. I'm thankful that my husband is there for me, but I wish I could just snap out of this mess and still be able to have no cramps, a short period, no acne, and the sex drive that I once had.

...In an attempt to lessen or end the depression that I was experiencing. Unfortunately, I still feel a complete lack of energy. To some extent, I keep blaming myself as well as the birth control. I think that if I exercised more and regularly took vitamins, that I would be able to combat the depression.
Suprisingly, anyone I have talked to at planned parenthood about this matter has been less than helpful. It was only a friend's recommendation to switch to the ring to see if a lower dosage would be better for me.
When speaking with an employee at a pharmacy, she suggested that I take lots of vitamin b. Even when doing so, I never felt that my energy level increased.
Just wonder if anyone has found a method of balancing out the hormones causing depression and low sex drive with vitamins?

I have to take a birth control pill to control my blood disorder (im not allowed to lose any blood at all) and the doctors think that contributed to my depression...*shrugs* so yes it does encourage depression and upset stomachs and moood swings

Well we all have to keep in mind what birth control is. It's something that adjusts your body/hormones in a way that is not natural for your body to be, therefore, any and every type of birth control (besides getting your tubes tied probably - and many of us don't want that!) is going to mess up your balance in some way. Alot of them cause depression because they do set off the same feelings as pms. I guess eventually we just all have to shop around to find one that gives us symptoms we can better live with, like say, not as moody but having to gain some wieght.