Loestrin 24 Fe and anxiety

I am 26 years old and finishing on my 2nd week of my 3rd pack of Loestrin. Reading these post is the only thing that makes me feel better. I switched to Loestrin from Yasmin because it made my blood pressure sky rocket. Before Yasmin I have never had high blood pressure. I am extremely active. I am a runner and have been for several years. I haven't had too bad side effects with Loestrin prior to this month. I have noticed a bit of moodiness but I knew that would occur when switching BC's. I am also a little less energetic. My daily runs are getting a little harder than they used to be. This week (3rd month 2nd week) I woke up with EXTREMELY tender breast and radiating back pain. My breasts have started to go back to normal sensitivity wise but are a little larger than they where. My lower back still hurts. Looking back I remember that the past 2 months I have had lower back pain prior to my period but never the tender breast. My skin did break out a little the 1st month but that is normal with every BC I have tried. Another negative that I have experienced is the anxiety and chest pain. I have constant anxiety that I am pregnant but thankfully its always wrong. I take adderall everyday and have been for the past 8 years so I thought that may be what was causing the anxiety but now after reading these posts I feel that its the BC. I also get frequent chest pain. It feels like someone is sitting on my chest. On a positive side my periods are much lighter than before. I suffer from horrific menstruation to the point where I can't move from bed. Im going to give this BC a little longer but if my symptoms keep getting worse I am going to have to switch. Thanks everyone for being honest about this BC. I thought I was going crazy.

i have been on loestrin24 for about 2 months , its the worst thing in the world!! i was on yaz for 3 years and i started feeling sick about two years in i had anxiety, depression , my hair was falling out and i read blogs about the pill and decided to get off i called my doctor and she gave me loestrin24 , my sex drive is so so bad,my boyfriend noticed it right away! i have nausea,headaches, dizzy spells, blackouts, and worst of all im 27 years old and have never had acne until now!!!! im on my last active pill and i will not continue the pills ...... i would rather have a 5 day heavy period then take this i feel like im dragging all day long and all i wanna do is sleep this is so not worth it !

Reading your comments has really put my mind at easy. I'm 23 and on day 4 of my third pack. My first month I got a regular period, but I didn't get a period during my second month on the pill (which means that I am a little over a week late right now). In the past I have been on Ortho Tri Cyclen and Ortho Tri Cyclen Lo, and my period has always been on time. And in the 10 years that I've been having a period, it occasionally been early, but never late, and I have never once missed a period.

I've spend the last couple days terrified that I was pregnant (even though I have consistently been taking my pill at the same time every day), but this forum makes me feel a lot better. I think that I will still go out and take a home pregnancy test to be on the safe side, but hopefully my missed period is just my body's reaction to Loestrin.

I will give my body a couple more months to adjust to the pill, but if irregular, late or missed periods continue I am definitely going to switch birth control pills. It is not worth the anxiety of thinking I might be pregnant.

On the bright side, I haven't experienced any of the other side effects that you guys are mentioning. This pill has helped with my cramps, and I haven't experienced any change at all in my moodiness, energy level, acne, or weight.

I have been on Loestrin for almost 2 weeks now. i am 23 and have two young children. This is the first bcp I've tried and so far it's been terrible!! I had a 10 day full blown period that just stopped yesterday with intense cramps. Today I'm feeling like I have the flu woth severe body aches/weakness and I am so light-headed that every time I stand up I almost black out. I have also had severe nausea, headaches, depression, thoughts of suicide, mood swings, insomnia and anxiety. I don't know if I'm going to be able to stick this out to see if it gets better.. I can hardly take care of my children! I'm starting to wonder if maybe I'm having some sort of allergic reaction. I'd think at this point I'd rather have my extremely painful 2 week periods back!!!

I just started loestrin 24 fe this week and I have never had so much anxiety in my life. I'm 18 and this is my first experience with birth control. I was put on it to get rid of the depression I get with my PMS. I'm pretty sure I just had my very first panic attack. My breathing got heavy, I thought I was going to throw up but never did. I felt impending doom and I didn't know what to do to stop feeling that way. My mind has been racing constantly for the past 5 days about things that normally don't bother me. I'm worried about everything. This has been the worst week of my life. 4 day periods are not worth this.

I just started my second pack of pill yesterday and I don't know if I like these pills. I am taking zoloft also for anxiety and my side effects are horrilble. I have had a hard time falling asleep (I literally have to lay in bed with my eyes closed for hours before falling asleep), I have terrible nigh sweats and wake up drenched in sweat, I sleep all day long, I have horrific nightmares which I never had before, and massive headaches.
I am not sure if I want to stay on the pill, I know it is only my second month and it takes a couple months to regulate but the side effects are ruining my social life. I feel like a zombie.
About the third week in my first pack i started spotting (or what I thought was spotting). It lasted 8 days, and my normal period was only 6 days. I bled just as much as on my normal period and has severe cramps as well. The only reason I got my 'period' was because I was about an hour off on taking my pill the previous day. It is pathetic.
Has anyone else had these symptoms? Or have any suggestions on better birth control pills.?
Oh and I am 18 years old.

I have been taking Loestrin 24 for almost a year and a half now. At first the pill seemed like a godsend because it offered me shorter periods and more time in between period. However, I have recently become sexually active with my boyfriend and the pill seems to have turned on me completely. In May, I experienced an alarmingly light period with barely any bleeding and almost non-existent cramps. I attributed it to stress at first, but took a home pregnancy test just to be certain. Thankfully, the test came back negative so I put it out of my mine for awhile.

The following month I yet again experience a period that was barely the equivalent of spotting. Alarmed, I went to see my gyno. She told me that barely to no bleeding is completely normal with Loestrin 24, which is something that she failed to tell me of before I began it.

Tonight is my second night of iron pills in my pack and I have yet to bleed at all. On top of that, this entire month I have been experiencing night sweats, headaches, abnormal weight gain, and extreme irritability towards my loved ones. I can barely even stand to talk to my boyfriend on the phone regardless of the fact that I know I love him very much.

Should I stop taking them? Is there any suggestions for better pills?

I am 21 and am in the second week of the second pack of pills. I have to attend a low-income based women care and either these docs don't really care or are out of their minds. i have been having problems with cysts on ONE ovary (left) about a year and a half ago the cyst got 2 inches in diameter. It supposedly went away on its own. I ended up in the ER again a few months ago and found out there is another cyst on my left ovary (which i have reason to believe its the same damn cyst, just flaring up and down)
Anyway I have had horrible side effects on just about EVERY BC i've been on. depo and numerous diff pills. I even had a 2 month period while on the depo. but with Loestrin I have had countless side effects that incl:
hot flashes, anxiety, depression and mood swings, cold sweats, restlessness, sore and swollen breasts, constipation, heart burn, almost constant back pain and ovarian pain and worst pain when on my period. I had 2 periods my first month, missed ONE pill in the beginning of my second month and had a second period within 2 weeks with the most horrible pain. The only good side effects are an increased sex drive and a change in appetite.
I really don't know what to do. try a different bc pill or just stop altogether considering all the problems i've had.
i've thought about ortho-novum, girls my age seem to have less complaints about it....
this is so frustrating!!!

I forgot about anxiety. The anxiety went away too. More protein, B12/red meat.

I am 20 years old i was on Loestrin 2 years ago. I was loving the shorter, lighter periods and my cramps were gone. When I got to the 3 month mark I started becoming over-emotional and crying uncontrollably at the slightest mis-hap. My extreme moods caused my boyfriend and I to break up and my depression got to the point where I was borderline suicidal and my parents almost took me to the hospital. I stopped taking the pill and had to start taking zoloft for anxiety/depression. It was an awful experience. Anyone who had a similar experience find a new pill that worked out? I am hesitant to try a new one because I am afraid the same thing will happen again.

I recently started taking Loestrin 24 Fe on Tuesday. I have been on it for four days and I'm not the biggest fan. I already have anxiety to begin with, and taking this pill makes me feel like I'm going crazy. I have a panic attack as soon as I step out of my house. I've also noticed I am really irritable and get bad headaches. I feel like I'm having a different side effect everyday though. Yesterday was pretty weird. As I was lying in bed, it felt like my left arm just gave out. The skin got tingly and tight and it hurt to make a muscle. I started sweating really badly and my heart rate increased. I got a drink of water and was able to calm myself down. I'd like to talk to my doctor about switching to another pill but I'm thinking that maybe this is just the hormones releasing? I don't have health insurance either, so that's also keeping me from trying to switch pills. I haven't gotten my period in over a year and I'm 19 years old. If anyone has any insight on this, I'd really appreciate it.

My doctor started me on Loestrin about six months ago after I moved in with my boyfriend. I knew that my body would go through some changes because of the hormones in the pills, but I had no idea how drastic they would be. I've gained at least ten pounds and my stomach is always bloated. I've always been a size 6 and now I can barely get my jeans past my thighs. I also wasn't prepared for the anxiety, depression and drastic mood swings I continuously experience. I notice I have a lot less patience and a much shorter fuse than I use to, and I hate it. It sucks because I feel fat and dumpy all the time, but I don't know of any other pill where I wouldn't have side effects.

I was prescribed Loestrin24Fe 3months ago because I had an ovarian cyst for a few months. Also (aside from the cyst) I had a history of endometriosis, severe cramps and uterine fibroids. My periods would come like clockwork, however I would spot for about 3weeks out of the month. Basically, I'd have about 4days a month spot-free.

Since taking Loestrin24Fe, my spotting has decreased significantly, and I'm looking forward to even more improvement. 1st month on this pill my cramps were nothing to write home about. 2nd and 3rd months, I could have written a novel as the pain was baaaad, but still not worse than before beginning Loestrin24Fe. I have had 2 yeast infections, that being said, I also have a new sexual partner after over a year of having no partners at all, so- I don't want to blame the pill for the yeast infections.
My bleeding wasn't terribly heavy before this pill, but it has gotten lighter- which is fine by me.

I have noticed that my fuse is much shorter and I've made mountains out of mole-hills. I feel for the first time in my life that I've been experiencing a bit of anxiety...nothing clinical, but there nonetheless.

So far I am very pleased with this pill and I'll continue to take it with an open heart and mind. Simply not spotting for nearly an entire month has done wonders for my psyche, and for me dealing with a little anxiety is worth it. I feel now that I know what the cause of the anxiety is, I am better armed to cope with it instead of letting the anxiety grow legs and run wild.

I have been on Loestrin 24 fe for the past 4 years. Everything was fine the first year to my knowledge. Now that I have gotten older and started noticing things more recently I have become worried about being on the pill. I haven't had a period in 3-4 years and when some might say its a blessing I am starting to get worried about it. In the last 4 years I have gained and lost weight dramatically but now it I haven't been able to lose any weight started working out and eating less but going no where. Gained 15 lbs in 3 months. My hair is starting to fall out more than usual. I have been getting really nausea lately feeling like I am going to throw up, my vision is becoming worse but went to the eye doctor and my prescription is the same. My anxiety is getting worse and had to be but on Zantax to calm me. I had to take a pregnancy test the other to make sure i wasn't pregnant because of the most recent symptoms. I going to go off the bill tomorrow to see if a difference is made of not being on it.

Wow...I'm so happy to come across this website. I haven't been on the pill for years -- got tired of the side effects, but am leaving for a beach vacation tomorrow and realized that I'll be getting my period tomorrow too. I asked my doctor if there was something I could take to stop my period, or delay it so my vacation time is less bothersome and she gave me Loestrin24Fe. She said to start taking it the first day of my period, and then my period would phase out after 2-3 days. I'd have to take the whole month just to stay regulated, but I've been really struggling with this decision. This chat room has certainly helped. I'd rather deal with a few days of inconvenience at the beach than deal with increased anxiety, mood swings, pain and lord knows whatever else. Thanks ladies.

I went on Loestrin 24 about 3 weeks ago and have kept telling myself to wait it out. From the first day I started to feel depressed but I stayed with it. Ive started to fight with my boyfriend of 2 yrs now and questioning our relationship more than ever. I have NO sex drive what so ever, Im constantly depressed, I have anxiety and my mind is constantly all over the place with weird thoughts that I have NEVER had before. Ive already started to gain an uncomfortable weight. I am 5'4 and 115 pounds, very active, and I eat very well so the weight gain does not make sense to me. The only plus is that my boobs are getting bigger...but feeling like total crap and hating everyday of my life isn't worth it. Im debating going off of this pill but keep telling myself to ride it out. I was on the shot for about 5 yrs and went off of that about 2 yrs ago. I started back on this pill because I get really bad PMS...the shot made me gain about 20 pounds. So I dont want to go back on that. After reading all of these horror stories - Im beginning to think that my 3-5 days of serious PMS are totally worth it vs. 3 weeks of serious depression

This is my 5th month on Loestrin24 Fe and I am going to stop taking it after this month. I have always been a happy, healthy, normal person and ever since being on this pill I have had breakthrough bleeding 3 out of 4 weeks of the month, HORRIBLE anxiety, mood swings, weight gain, and nausea. I have never ever had any of these problems before with any other birth control. My doctor said to wait through the initial 3 months where the side effects are the worst and that they would pass, but it I don't see that happening. They have not decreased and I don't have the drive to continue through these awful side effects. I do not recommend this pill to anyone.

I just started my first pill of loestrin24fe and am very scared from some of the comments i read on this site like worse acne, no sex drive, hair loss, weight gain, etc. My gyno put me on this pill because of my endometriosis. But I have hormonal acne and I really don't want it to get worse.

I have been on Loestrin 24fe for the past three years. The first two years were great; no period since Dec 06, it's very rare that I have any spotting. Since June 2008, my health has gone down hill. I have had extreme weight gain (20 lbs), retaining fluid, fatigue,terrible migraines, memory has gotten poor, lack of concentration, depression has gotten worse, very very moody and will cry at the least little thing. I have also experience eye floaters and eye twitching. My dr. wants to change my BC to Yaz, but the horror stories are the same. At this point, I really don't know what to do. I have been on BC for 18 yrs total. When I first started taking Loestrin, it was wonderful.....up until last year. I am still taking it, not sure if I should switch to another type or totally go off of BC to give my body a rest.

I have been on Loestrin24 since I had my six week appointment from having a beautiful baby girl... THIS PILL SUCKS! Its bad enough after you have a baby that you have to have a period for almost six weeks... but I haven't stopped.. Ever since being on the pill I will have like two days I don't spot then two weeks where I spot constantly. I have headaches, backaches.. I am ALWAYS tired which could be from the baby but I NEVER feel rested.. I have constant anxiety and there is too much going on to tell if its just stress or the dang pill! I have a doc appt in a couple of days and I am demanding to be taken off of this pill!

OMG! Where do I begin?..... I started this pill back in Aug 08 to ease the heaviness of flow every month...like most blogs I have been reading...In the beginning my pd lasted 18 days..never happened b/4..Strike 1 against pill... 2nd spotting in between pds.... never had that b/4 Strike 2 bloating, gas, feeling full quicker...much more noticeable and more severe Strike 3 I seem to keep a dull headache all the time...not good anxiety attacks more frequent than ever....Strike 4 how many more strikes can this pill take?? I am going to finish this pack and go see gyn....there has got to b something better and....

so happy to have found this site! I have been taking loestrin 24 since mid July, making it almost five months on this medicine. IT IS HORRIBLE. to say the least. for almost a year and a half I was on NuvaRing, which surprisingly I liked, aside from the almost 20 lb weight gain and virtually no sex drive. Who needs birth control if you don't have a sex drive? So anyway, I switched to loestrin 24 in July. BIG MISTAKE. for the first few weeks of this pill I lost all appetite and hardly ate a thing. In the past few months I have been experiencing incredible anxiety, uncontrollable thoughts, and depression. This pill is messing with my head! It almost cost me and my boyfriend of two years our relationship because of the way it makes me crazy. I experience increased heart rate, especially when I wake up and strange leg cramps. I have always been funny, outgoing, and upbeat about life until this pill. This past weekend I was a social recluse and just felt like being alone. I cry over the littlest things and am so irritable when someone says the slightest things. I have been overly mean to my mom, sister and boyfriend over the simplest things. Something is not right with this pill. I thought I was just losing my mind until I read all these other posts. Thank goodness I'm not alone. I had an appt. with my OBGYN today, told her all my symptoms, and she gave me a trial pack of Femcon FE. I am very wary to start them because I have read it has very similar side effects to Loestrin. Has anyone found a good birth control that actually makes them a happy, normal person?! Jeeze, I am ready to swear off hormonal birth control for good! Please let me know if anyone has any experience with switching from Loestrin to Femcon? I just want to be my old, happy self again!

First few months on this pill went fine. On the 4th month I started with the spotting. By the time the 5th or 6th month rolled around I would have my period it would stop for a few days and then start again at mid cycle. I was getting two periods per month. This month I started spotting on day 15 and now 9 days later I'm still bleeding. I need to be on some form of birth control pill to control extremely heavy periods. Ok so I don't have the extreme bleeding anymore but I have my period all the time. I could live with spotting but this is full on break through bleeding. My doctor wants to try something new but I feel like a guinea pig. I just wish there was some pill that came with a guarantee. :(

I started the pill about 2 months ago..and wow do i regret it..when i first started it i had migraines that lasted for hours..i mean before i used to get them but it was when i was stressed out or something but they would go away..i barely ever got acne on my face and now i have huge red pimples that last for days on random places on my face..i have gotten my period like 3 times already and it sticks around for so long..lately i been feeling like everything in my life is wrong like no matter what i do it just gets worse..i don't even go out on the weekends anymore because im so tired..i sleep about 12 hours a night and im still tired..i go to the doctor and they tell me im fine that my immune system is fine and theirs nothing wrong with me..so i came to my conclusion that its the pill..its caused for me to be so moody that my relationship with my boyfriend has hit the worst..and now to top it off i started getting some weird rash type of marks on my body that tend to look like hickeys fading away..i got the last 4 pills to go and im done with them...i took them for 2 months and thats it im going to to try a different method..depression and anxiety and fatigue are not worth it..
so for most girls reading this blog think twice about it before taking this pill and if right off the bat you start struggling with these type of symptoms i recommend you stop taking them.

I have only ever taken microgynon and loestrin 20.
I had problems with acne on microgynon so I asked the doctor for dianette but he said no and gave me loestrin instead.
Three years on my acne is worse than ever and I have done my research and apparently loestrin is bad for acne. Ive just joined a good model agency so this is not great!
Ive been depressed on off, had anxiety, and have often stayed off school or uni because of this (thankfully I passed my exams) Constantly paranoid.
Last year I fell out with all of my friends because they were sick of my constant low mood, and this made me worse.
I have no libido and have been suffering from vaginismus for two and a half years (starting when I was 16, not good!)
I either have no period or two per month. Every now and then I will suffer from headaches for weeks.
I also have contact lens intolerance, which has caused episcleritis on off for 5 months. (ive only worn them twice in this time)

Well, I definitely would not ever recommend this pill....even to my worst enemy!! Yesterday was my last pill!! I have had extreme mood swings (crying for no reason), cramps, nausea, spotting & anxiety! I have been spotting for the past 2 days with today having it turn into an actual full blown period. I have read so many negative side effects from taking this bcp and most of the ones I've been reading are so similar to my story! I hope this helps with your decision to either discontinue the use of this brand of bcp or to switch to a different brand. For me, I was on Estrostep when I was 15yrs old to regulate my periods and would definitely recommend it. I would have tried this one again, but I couldn't remember it until yesterday when I was researching my side effects. Anyways, good luck to all of you! As for me, I am totally staying away from the pill in general! I figure, my body can just do it's thing and hopefully my cycles will straighten out on it's own.

I took loestrin for 3 weeks and of all the pills i have ever been on this one is the worst. I have had acne, weight gain, headaches, cramps, no sex drive, anxiety, rapid heart rate, my breast were extremely sore, and depression. I didn't even finish the pack because I was severely paranoid that I was going to have a heart attack. Once I stopped I got my period within 2 days and all of those side effects went away. My only issue now is I haven't had my period since that time. It has only been a month and a pregnancy test came out negative adding to the fact that I don't feel like I did when I was pregnant. It is still frightening though.

I hate this pill. Im nauseated, cramping, bloated, angry, have high axiety, cry at the drop of a hat, leg pain, headaches, bubbles in my stomach. and it even gave me an infection canadisis (like a yeast infection of the skin). which I found out was actually a symptom of this pill! I want to switch so bad. But i have been on and off this freaking pill three times this year. Im worried that if i switch to a different birth control I'll just experience new horrible symptoms. Luckily no weight gain though. but horrible break outs as well.

I have been on loestrin for 2 months now. For the past month I have been an emotional wreck, and for the passed week I have had anxiety, heartburn and stomach cramps just below my ribcage. My lower back is killing me and my stomach is spasming. I just took my last birth control pill this morning and start the reminder pills tomorrow. I totally don't feel myself. I haven't got my period since i've been on it. My doctor put me on it because I was bleeding abnormally heavy for me two weeks after my period. I really want to not start a new pack, but i'm nervous that i will bleed heavily again. the anxiety is causing me no to sleep.................I hate this pill

I started taking Loestrin 24FE about three weeks ago to help me regulate my cycle. I have endometrial hyperplasia and PCOD (or so they tell me) and my periods are always unpredictable and very heavy. Well, my doctor put me on this pill to help me plus I didn't want to get pregnant before I finish my degree. Anyway, immediately I started getting horrible migraines I have not had in years, heart palpitations, dizziness, and feeling so tired all the time. My mood swings are terrible and it has made my anxiety worse all of a sudden. Now I can't eat! On Saturday I started vomitting every time I eat and the smell of food makes me sick. I know that I am not pregnant since I have not had sex since starting the pill. Now I also have a very very heavy period and the worst cramps I have ever had. So bad I almost went to the emergency room on Saturday. My husband is really worried about me so this morning I called my OB/GYN and he told me to stop taking the pill immediately that I was having a reaction to the pill that is not normal. He said that with any BCP you may have a couple small symptoms but what I was experiencing is not normal. Also my skin is starting to itch a lot. Several years ago I had to stop taking Loestrin FE28 because it was giving me horrible yeast infections before my period so this pill is new for me. I would advise stopping the pill and call your doctor. If that doctor doesn't listen find one that will. These symptoms are not normal by any means and can be dangerous. I wish you all good luck!! Oh and he said it would take several days to get out of my system.

I've been taking Loestrin 24 Fe for a year now. It took about 3 months to get used to. The good things for me is that my skin cleared up, my hair was not as oily, lighter periods and no weight gain! The bad things were HEADACHES, feelings of anxiety, rapid heartbeats, moodiness, and dryness. I want to come off the pill but I am kinda fearful of what other methods to take...I guess I should talk to my OBGYN.

I have been taking this pill for almost a year now. Recently in the last few months, I have experienced insane mood swings, irritability, heart palpitations, headaches, and anxiety. I even went to a cardiologist the heart palpitations were so bad. My heart is completely healthy. I have not had a period in like 7 or 8 months which is great but now I am thinking that this pill is doing more damage than good. My poor sweet boyfriend has taken the hit the most and its unfair I dump all my irritability on him. I am calling my doctor in the morning to change. After reading all these negative responses, I think this pill sucks.

I discontinued Loestrin 24 due to is causing 3 months of breakthrough bleeding lasting about 7-15 days along with having a period. I had severe acne from it, constipation, gallbladder attacks,pain in right side,anxiety, hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, etc. I have PCOS and this is a combination of hormones that do not work properly. Since I have stopped using this medicine all of these side effects have gone away.

I started this damn pill the Sunday after getting my period (as instructed). By that same Friday I had a light discharge, by Saturday spotting, by Sunday dark bloody mucus, and by Monday I was flowing as I would with a unusually heavy period. I too have experienced severe mood swings; including depression, irritability and anxiety. Not to mention the fact that I have become a total and complete BITCH! I almost broke up with my fiance whom i've been with for almost 4 years. I was surprised to find that some of you have also experienced heart palpitations and feelings and severe heartburn. Saturday night I truly thought that I was pregnant due to the same continuous headache, a feeling of nausea towards foods I used to like, mood swings, bleeding, dizziness and a sudden swelling of my breasts. I have had bad experiences with BCPs in the past so I thought it was my body trying to regulate to Loestrin24. However after finding this site I am sure that what I am experiencing is due to the pill.
Posted on the Loestrin24 site is a statement about blood tests. I find it interesting that a blood test is not required before beginning this particular BCP. I think it would be interesting to arrange a live chat in a medical chat room at some point in the near future to discuss if there is any action we can take as a whole to seek help in correcting the physical and mental hardships we have experienced.
This pill SUCKS!!!!!

I am glad to find this site. For some reason today, I began to wonder if my weight gain (20lbs in 6months) may be due to this bc. I don't believe this to be a vanity issue. Many health conditions are associated with being overweight. As I began to read these postings, I began to realize that the anxiety,depression, lack of sex drive I've had may be related to this medication. No sure what I'll do now, but I think it's time for a change before I gain 20 more pounds.

i went on this pill about 10 months ago... i loved it... no periods nothing. then id say about 4 or 5 months after it i started having random anxiety but i didn't really think anything of it since i have been anxious before... then summer started and i came home from school and i have suffered terrible anxiety, depression and really uncontrollable irrational thoughts. the last 3 weeks have been absolutely horrible ... really really bad depression and anxiety... i felt like i was going psychotic i wanted to go into a mental hospital or something... and i am not a depressed person, i am quite the antithesis. my parents were really freaked out and worried about me....well i went to the gynecologist to see if it could be from the pill and he said absolutely... he took me off it and even after only 6 days i feel so much better... im sure a lot of it is because i know im not going psychotic and it could be from the pill. i have also started taking st. john's wort and b complex vitamins among a few other vitamins. NOBODY should have to go through what ive been through the last months... its horrible and im convinced that it was because of the pill.

I am 18 years old and have been taking Loestrin 24 for about 7 months now. I started taking the pill because I was sexually active and was having extremely long and painful periods. The first few months of the pill were fine, I had some minor bloating. However, I was happy with the pill for the most part. The little acne I had cleared up and my periods were almost non-existent (12 hours of a light brown spotting at most).

Now, for the past three months I have been struggling with depression and anxiety. I could not figure out what was happening to me because I had never had emotional problems like this before. Given, I am prone to depression (both my mother and father have been diagnosed). Nevertheless, I am starting to wonder if the hormones in Loestrin 24 have triggered my depression symptoms and made them worse since they were NEVER a problem until I went on this pill. Previously, I was on Ortho Tricyclen Lo and did not have any emotional side effects whatsoever.

Also, I am pretty much fed up with this pill after today. A few days ago, I suddenly began having chest pains and a numbness/tingling on my left side (arms, legs, face). Feeling nervous, I went to the doctor today. They gave me an EKG which was normal (thank goodness). However, they have ordered me an MRI for tomorrow to see if I have suffered from a stroke! My doctor said that he thinks that then numbness pain is more likely caused my depression/anxiety. Depression and anxiety that I think were caused by this pill.

I can't stand these pills and I refuse to finish this pack. Enough is enough already! Has anybody else suffered symptoms similar to these and if so, what was your outcome?

I have been on loestrin 24 fe now for 6 months. it is the only birth control I have ever tried. For the first 2 months, I had a continual period. Once the bleeding stopped I noticed that I had UTI's weekly which have declined but I still have regular uti's. In the 4th month of taking the pill I started to notice the mood swings that have been with me since. Crying for absolutely no reason. The feeling of being unable to control my emotions. DEPRESSION! which I have never experienced in my life. Anxiety and wanting to be alone and yet sad because I am lonely....Inability to concentrate and reason with myself. Inability to be my normal positive self. Needless to say I am getting off this pill. I have already spoken with my doctor and received a new prescription today. All I can say is that if this is what birth control is like........ Forget it! I will try this one other pill, but if I still have symptoms like these, I am switching to condoms.

Wow, I don't feel so crazy after reading everyone's comments. I was on BC for 6 years, and stopped for a year and a half. I myself started this pill 4 days ago, and already I have noticed increase anxiety, paranoia, headaches, and irritability. I called my doctor and told them to write me a prescript for what I used to take -- Ortho Tri Cyclen. For some reason I allowed my doctor to talk me into taking this crap.
Yeah.. the 'lo' dose stuff isn't always the best stuff.

Ok today I don’t have a migraine but I had another one last night. My Boyfriend came to my house yesterday and I told him to be good to me and to please let me know if I got out of control, but in a good way, he was telling me that he can tell that my mood was different than in the past 3 month (PMS) and that he didn’t like it, but that he understood that it was cuz of the pill (he wants me to stop them, cant blame him, poor him he is so good to me) Last night it was bad for me I could not sleep at all, I woke up every hour with some kind of anxiety but no sure what it was, it was a restless night, one of my nipples is itching a lot(maybe something bit me) and this morning I’m cramping very bad ( never had this painful cramps before, just the normal before a period), and lower back pain and blurry vision. I have 5 more pills to go and I’m coming off it. I wont stop cuz Im going on Vacation to the beach on Friday and I don’t want to have my period, (but Im thinking about it) Today going up the stair in my work I got very dizzy and I feel some how pregnant but I think is all part of the stupid pill, My friends are all joking with me about been preggo but I don’t think I’m. Shit they forgot to tell us that’s how it work…. you can get pregnant cuz you don’t want to have sex any more, or your significant other wont touch you cuz they are piss off at you for your mood swings.

hi everyone, ive been on loestrin fe 24 for 4 months now. Just began my 5th, my first month i was nauseous every day all day, even though i took my pill with breakfast. on my second pack i switched to taking the pill at 10pm (right b4 bed) the nausea feeling went away. on my 3rd and 4th pack ive been feeling nothing but pure depression for no reason almost everyday. i have a beautiful relationship with an amazing man and all i can think of is that he doesn't love me....deep down i know my feelings of depression and fear of loosing my fiancee are not real/true. but although i try to control my depression it doesn't work. i cry for no reason, i don't want to work or do anything at all. ive been having trouble sleeping and this morning woke up with crazy anxiety. after the depression scare and anxiety i experienced today i will not be taking my little white pill today. ill be calling my doctor and ask him to out me on something else, this depression needs to stop. i cant live my life in fear of loosing someone. if any of you have had similar effects to this high depression of loestrin pls post about it.

Hello everyone,
I just filled a prescription for Loestrin 24 and wanted to know a little more about this pill since I have never taken birth control pills b4. I have not started to take the pill as of yet, after reading these blogs I am a little hesitant to start taking them seeing all the complains against this pill. can anyone recommend a good BCP, with little site effects.

This is very scary. I cannot believe I have denied myself the reality of all of my health problems being due to the pill. Side chest pain I have had for years.. mood swings.. headaches... and as of late major anxiety. I am def going to try getting off the pill after this pack. God to think for the last 7 years all these symptoms and bad feelings I was having was due to this!! Wow! Thank you all for blogging and for this blog in general!!!

i just stopped taking Loestrin 24 after about a year of taking it
i think it has been a little less than a week and i already notice myself feeling less moody and having less anxiety issues
before i started this pill my acne was pretty bad, it took two packs and my face was completely clear
of course i kept taking it because my skin was so beautiful, but my periods were NEVER normal and i had cramping and i think the pill was causing me to be slightly depressed
i also had some weight gain while taking it and always felt hungry i gain about 10 pounds on it
so its been a week now since i stopped taking it and my face has a slight breakout, but nothing too bad
i was wondering how long it is going to take for the weight to come off and if my face is going to get really bad again

obviously i have come to the conclusion that clearing my acne wasn't worth a 10 pound weight gain, irregular periods, and depression

I have been on LoEstrin24 for over a year and a half. For the first year, I had no side effects. After starting a very competitive graduate program this fall, I began having panic attacks, anxiety, hot flashes and am sweating constantly during the first week of a new pill pack. I believe that the stress have exacerbated the potential side effects of the pills and only now am I seeing the downside of this method. I was previously on Depo Provera for 7 years and then tried the patch for 1 year (HATED it). I've found that controlling my stress levels has helped but not completely ameliorated the side effects. Also, as an FYI for those who are worried about the brownish discharge - I still have it after 18 months on this pill.

I am new to Loestrin 24. I am 26 and have been on Ortho Tri-Clyclen since I was 16. I recently switched to a new GYN, who suggested I try Loestrin. She gave me 2 free samples, so I thought it was worth a try. Besides, I'd heard good things (on the commercials - of course). Immediately, I started noticing breakthrough bleeding, which I'd never experienced before. That lasted for a couple weeks. It was so annoying! I couldn't stand never knowing when it would happen. This past week was supposed to be my period. I knew that it would be shorter, since Loestrin has the 3 extra "active pills". But my period never came. I just started my second pack last night. I went on this site, to see what the real side effects of this pill are - the ones they don't publish on their website (before I completely freaked out). I have read that many other women have experienced no period, which made me feel a little better. I guess I won't run out and get a pregnancy test. One person asked why this was a problem, but when you're trying very hard NOT to get pregnant, a missed period hardly seems like a good thing. I need that reassurance every month that lets me know things are ok. I also have noticed weight gain and increased acne - which I didn't think to connect to Loestrin, but I'd never experienced that on Ortho. Some of these other side effects are downright scary and I'm now considering switching back to Ortho before the anxiety, mood swings and other things start!

My 20 yr. old daughter was on Loestrin 24 Fe for almost a year with seemingly few side effects (except larger breasts). When her Rx ran out, the doc would not prescribe more until she had an exam. She ended up going off the pill for a couple of months, which was okay because there was no boyfriend or sexual contact during that time. She then got a prescription refill and went back on it. Within about 3 weeks she started experiencing random panic attacks including, headaches, nausea, rapid heart beat, sweaty hands and dizziness. At first she wrote it off as stress, but now they are happening ALL the time and are interfering with her life. She is a college student and is becoming paralyzed by the anxiety and the fear of a panic attack. She can't go to class, can't drive and is worried all the time. This is soooo unlike my happy-go-lucky daughter. She feels like she is going crazy. I talked to the GYN and she thought that the pill could definitely be enhancing these symptoms, but didn't feel they were the main cause. I now have a completely different opinion from her since reading all the posts on here describing the exact same symptoms while on this pill. My daughter has now stopped taking them (it's been about a week) and the doctor said it could take a couple of cycles for the drug to be completely out of her system. I'm praying that these symptoms go away after the hormones are flushed out....anyone have any experience with the anxiety going away after going off the pill??????

My birth control problems have been an ongoing problem. . I am a 26 year old nurse. I had been on birth control since about age 16.I was on Ortho tricyclen up until about two and a half years ago. I was noticing that I got nauseated each day around 5 pm when supposedly my hormone level dropped. I would eat and then I would feel better. Now that I think of it, I may have been just a little hypoglycemic. I told my GYN about this and he had me switch to the NuvaRing. I was on that for about 5-6 months when I started to have problems with it. When I had to put it back in after the week out, I would vomit for about 12 hours until my hormone level evened out. After deciding that I was not getting food poisoning each month, and it truly was the ring, I went back to my GYN. He then said that it was too much estrogen for me and prescribed Loestrin 24. I was on that for about 5 months when I started to notice problems. I felt extremely tired all the time. My breasts hurt like hell, and my mood was changing significantly. I was watching TV one night when all of the sudden it felt like someone was just murdered in front of me. I had no idea what was wrong. My husband told me he thought I was having a panic attack. I have never had any problems with anxiety or depression. This happened twice in one week. I had never had any problems with acne, and I looked like I had chicken pox on my back. I was also getting abnormal hair growth. I would cry, and not know why. I then decided that I needed to stop my pills. I called the GYN, and of course they were of no help to me. I then spent about 4-5 months off of BCP's all together. I would still get anxiety the week before my period and then after I started it would get better. I then saw a new GYN who decided it would be good for me to go on Seasonique. I was on that for 5 weeks and all of my symptoms came back. I now have been put on Zoloft to help with my panic attacks. I fight them on a daily basis, and they are more constant than ever before. I truly feel like my hormones are so fucked right now. I have all of these strange thoughts and feel half crazy. I have been to every specialist possible and they all agree that my hormones are out of whack. I am small anyway and have lost about 10 pounds. I only weigh about 98, which is also alarming to me. Okay, well how the hell do you fix all of this without going on another damb pill? I was fitted for a diaphragm and am using that for the time being. I am a smart enough person to know that something is not right. I am seeing a homeopathic specialist this week to try a new approach. I have been to a therapist, and have been tested for everything under the sun. Most frightening was the fact that I was almost put on a beta-blocker. I had a 24 holter monitor for my heart. My median heart rate was in the high 90's. I also had a heart rate that went from 51 to 145 bpm in my sleep. My normal heart rate is in the hig 60's to low 70's. Overall, the Zoloft is starting to help, but I am so angry. I really do feel like we are screwing up our natural chemistry by putting all of these females on hormones. In 20 years or so, we will truly see the effects of what hormone therapy has done to women. It is very scary. I just hope I can get myself evened out. Does anyone have a similar story or any suggestions? Please reply or email me. Any support I can get from other women will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks Nurse Billie

I had been taking Loestrin 24 Fe for about four months and I have never in my life suffered from anxiety, until now. The first month was horrible, and a friend said that that was normal until my body gets used to the pill, but I noticed that it didn't go away. It just became worse to the point were I started feeling depressed. The anxiety attacks got worse and worse and I also lost my sexual appetite. I couldn't take it anymore and now I finished my last pack last week to see if the anxiety is because of the pill. I know it's the pill. Anyone else?

I just started my 4th pack a week ago. I missed my period and I have had severe nausea and I have been having panic attacks for almost 2 weeks. I thought it was stress, but nausea doesn't last this long and I haven't had a problem with anxiety before. I feel like I am going crazy - I took a pregnancy test and it came back negative. I have always had my period every month and I knew my cycle very well - it always started on a Tuesday. My mood swings and eating are out of control and my anxiety is keeping me from going in stores, restaurants and I have been having trouble going to work. I'm glad that I found this website and I can see that there are other people experiencing the same symptoms. I didn't know if I was pregnant or going through menopause. I have called my doctor and I am going to see him tomorrow...a shorter period is not worth all this hassle. I will say that when I was on the generic Loestrin Fe (not the 24 or the actual Loestrin) I did not have these issues.