Birth Control Pill + Depression

[veryfewwords.livejournal.com]

Hello

I have a question about birth control pill ... a bit of background is necessary (length of time on BCP, moodswings, depression)


I am 21 years old and have been taking Alesse since I was about 16.  The reason for me going on the pill was because of the severe cramps I would get every month when my period would start - I would throw up almost every time and feel sick for about half the day, causing me to miss school.  The rest of my period would be crampy, but not that painful.  Mood changes or anything like that were never noticed in my going on the pill.  All up until about a year or so ago.

I started dating my first and current boyfriend a little over 2 years ago.  I had never been in a relationship before and never had sex before this relationship.  Everything was great in the beginning - heck, everything about him is still fantastic.  We do get along really well, and he is extremely patient and understanding with me.

However, about a year ago, I started realizing all the somewhat difficult aspects of being in a relationship for me, eg. jealousy that he has had past girlfriends when I haven't had anyone else but him, feeling somewhat inadequate sometimes when comparing myself to other girls, the fact that I do find it difficult to communicate my insecurities to him even though whenever I finally get the courage to, he is very reassuring and doesn't make me feel stupid.  I guess basically these are all things people go through in relationships, but I feel I dwell on them a lot, even though I have no reason to.  I am getting over the insecurities though, gradually.

Last summer, my grandmother became very ill and my grandfather as well.  I spent every waking hour either at work, with my grandfather at home or my grandmother in the hospital.  The amount of physical and emotional stress concerning this whole situation, combined with my dwelling on thinking there was something wrong with me for feeling so insecure in what actually is such a great relationship ... well, I feel like I became unstable.


I would overanalyze every little thing my boyfriend was doing or saying ... I would bottle everything up inside ... and while I realize now that it was an extremely stressful time, I wonder if my BCP had anything to do with it.

Mainly because, even now, almost a year after (my grandmother is better now btw) - I am not "back to myself" at all.  I get depressed very easily - then try to snap myself out of it which sometimes works but ultimately I feel down more than not.  I dwell on every negative thing.  My Mom and boyfriend keep asking me "whats wrong?" and ask me why I'm not "myself".  And the truth is, I don't feel like myself and it somewhat scares me.  I would occasionally get cranky before, but it was far and few between.  I would get upset over some things, but not as many things as I do now and I wouldn't hold on to them for such a long length of time.  Such little things would not set me off into feeling so down.

Although not diagnosed, I believe I have OCD which could contribute to why I dwell on such negative thoughts a lot of the time.

However, I'm wondering if, after being on the pill for 3 years it could just start to have this effect on me, or at least be contributing to it.  My mother seems to think I should come off of it, or try another pill and see how I feel.  I'm kind of getting to the point where I want to try this, but I also feel like I don't want the month to month vomiting and pain I experienced when I was younger and I also don't want to subject myself to becoming adjusted to different hormone levels if the BCP I'm on is not a likely factor in my moodswings.

Do you think it is worth coming off the pill to see how I feel or are the depression and mood swings most likely not from the BCP since I've been on it for a few years with no depression or mood swings?  I keep blaming myself, thinking I should readjust my outlook and the way I think about things to overcome this - but I've tried and tried without what I feel is significant progress.  I'll be happy for a few days and then sink back into feeling somewhat depressed and the cycle continues.  I was generally a happy person before.  So I'm thinking perhaps it is my BCP.

 I'm sorry if this is quite long.  I would really very much appreciate anyone that can help me with this.  I'm sort of at my wits end.

Thanks,

Janet

Comments

[sinnamongirl.livejournal.com]

It sounds like partially you had/have some situational depression- with so much stress with your grandparents getting sick, your stress level will skyrocket, etc. This can heighten the other problems you've had before. This is really, really common- I had one terrible week where I saw a stranger get shot, an aunt died, and my dad got arrested- et voila, situational depression.

I couldn't say if your BC has anything to do with it or not, but if you have access to health care you could bring up the severe stress to your doctor or whomever. Sometimes they'll give a short-term run of an anti-anxiety pill (which could help if you have OCD tendencies), or sometimes suggest about a year's course of an antidepressant. They might also suggest you see a therapist to see if you do have other problems they can help with.

I want to emphasize, I have *no clue* if your BC can be doing this to you- but situational depression could definitely be considered.

[svexsal.livejournal.com]

While I do agree with the idea that this can very well be a situational depression thing, the idea that HBC can cause depression at any stage is quite possible. Your body changes over time as does your body's chemical interactions with the pill. So one's personal interaction with a medication can change quite dramatically.

I've had horrible interactions with HBC as it has either contributed to or caused my depression/anxiety. As such, I've looked up and found these links. Take a look. You're not alone. Some women choose to go on an antidepressant at the same time as their HBC to counteract the depressive side effects they're feeling.

I found these three articles:

http://www.enotalone.com/article/4116.html

http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/3191/1/Birth-Control-Pill-and-Depression.html

http://www.scarleteen.com/article/advice/birth_control_for_depression_healthcare_privacy

Please enjoy and I hope you feel some sort of relief soon!

[theatreant.livejournal.com]

I posted a while back about feeling 'off' and angry while on BC, even though it was the lowest dose available, the nuvaring.

I've been off for a month and a half and it's nice to laugh again. I wasn't SURE it was my BC, but I decided to take a break to check, and I was right. Maybe you could hop off it for a bit and see if things change? That way, if they don't, you can get help elsewhere and fix what's going on.

[castawayscutout.livejournal.com]

i had a similar experience, though i didn't take alesse for as long as you have. i was on a generic version of alesse for about nine months, and about six months into it i noticed that i was a lot more moody/depressed than i used to be. to be honest, i'm a pretty irritable person under normal circumstances, so i had trouble deciding if i had the pill to blame. however, my boyfriend agreed that i wasn't acting like myself. i got to a point where i felt SO depressed/overwhelmed/constantly upset that i decided i couldn't take even one more pill of alesse, just in case that was the cause of the problem.

i ended up switching over to yaz, and i have felt so much better since then. i definitely feel more like myself, and my boyfriend agrees that there is a huge different in my mood.