Desogen and birth control pills

I had posted this question a few days ago about Desogen.....or birth control pills in general. I wanted to know if there was some association with birth control pills and cholesterol. I reciently had a cholesterol test done and one done eight months ago and the results are quite different going from normal range to low high. I am forty, very healthy with diet and excersize, although I do have a father with high cholesterol who had a bipass at age 63, also extremely active and healthy with diet. My doctor is quick to put me on medication. Of all places, I opened up this months Glamour magazine and found a tiny little article about a study on the association with birth control and hightened cholestrol, just a theory possibly.

I have tried five different birth control pills including Desogen, Ortho tri-cyclen, Mircette, Alesse, and Yasmin. Desogen was by far the absolute scariest. After being on Desogen for just a week I found myself severly depressed and even contemplated suicide, which I had NEVER in my entire life even though about. I had horrible mood swings and a feeling of impending doom for no reason at all. As for the other pills, Ortho tri-cyclen and Yasmin has similar side effects like moodiness, weight-gain, breast tenderness, breakthrough bleeding, and fatigue. Alesse and Mircette had less of the mood side effects for me but they did both cause breakthrough bleeding and vaginal dryness. I had breakthrough bleeding on Alesse for the entire year and a half I was taking it. That will make you not want to have sex.

I've never been on desogen but I was on several other birth control pills, Yasmin, Ortho Tri Cyclen, depo-provera and ortho Evra. All four created serious emotional and health problems ranging from pimples to severe nausea, to muscle aches and pain to EXTREME mood swings especially crying, anger and feelings of "neediness". Worst of all was the 20 lb weight gain and constant food cravings. In 1998 I got 2 shots of Depo Provera and immediately gained nearly 10 lbs per shot regardless of the fact that I was very active travelling all over at the time. After the second shot wore off and my body's metabolism returned to normal, the weight melted off just fine. I began taking ortho evra in 2001 because I established a monogamous relationship with a boyfriend. The effects were horrible, I began having terrible tantrums for no reason with him and that is NOT my style. I couldn't concentrate on anything without feeling emotional and irrational. Also within the next 3 months I gained 15 lbs and another 5 over the next month, and it would NOT come off no matter what kind of dieting or exercise I did. A year later, I quit the pill and suddenly my diet began to "work" and I lost 15 lbs immediately. I met my current boyfriend a few months later and decided that pregnancy was just not an option and tried ortho tri cyclen. Same results, horrible mood swings and creeping weight gain that happened WAY too quickly for the way I eat which is very sensible and low-calorie. I switched to Yasmin and immediately my sex drive was GONE. My boyfriend couldnt get ANYTHING to work down there, if you get my drift. In 2003, I finally made the decision to just give up on birth control and try pull-out, condoms, and ovulation monitoring methods. I lost 20 lbs within the first 4 months and another 5 later on and my emotions returned to normal.

I am just writing this to let you gals know that theres other methods besides stuffing synthetic hormones into our bodies that create BIG problems for our mental and physical health. Educate yourselves on other methods of birth control. Birth control pills aren't supposed to prevent pregnancy by making you a sexless, fat, emotionally labile and crazy woman that no man wants to have sex with much less spend time with. Hah.

I have been on many different birth control pills for the past four years. My first was Orth tricyclin, that made me very tired, withdrawn and irritable. I was switched to Desogen one year ago and have had MANY problems. I have been very irritable, very low sex drive, and short tempered. I will be looking for a new birth control ASAP now that I know that these side effects aren't chalked up to just stress. Thanks for all of the others who have added their 2 cents to help me make my decision.

I was on desogen for 7 years and then I switched recently to Mircette. While on Mircette, I was not as moody and my breasts were not as tender however my sex drive was non existent so after four months I switched back to desogen. Now that I am back on it, I am realizing how moody I was previous to switching and many other side effects that I didn't know were caused by birth control pills.