Ovcon and libido

I had a horrible experience with this one. I was switched to ovcon from ortho-novum to help with breakthrough bleeding. Over the years, I taken probably about 5 different brands of birth control pills and I NEVER had such a bad experience as this. I didn't connect it with ovcon at first because when I started ovcon, I was also stopping a series of antidepressant medications that I'd been taking for years but finally felt stable enough to do without. Everything that happened as a result I thought was due to stopping the antidepressants but I'm suspecting it was all due to ovcon.

I took ovcon for 5 months. Besides nausea, I had MAJOR bloating and water retention and HUGE weight gain. I felt like I wasn't even in my own body but a strangers. Appetite shot way up. I was never full, no matter how much I ate. I got terrible swelling in my ankles and fingers and feet. Breasts felt huge. All I wanted to do was eat. Depression and ennui set in. I had mood swings like you wouldn't believe. I assumed this was due to stopping treatment with antidepressants, but I'd never had such mood swings even before seeking treatment for my depression. Libido nonexistent.

It worked for helping control the breakthrough bleeding but hardly was it worth it with all these side effects. The swelling finally sent me to the doctor, it was so uncomfortable. Dr. could find nothing wrong--blood pressure, blood tests, urine sample all normal. She decided to try switching birth control.

I'm my third day on LoEstrin now, and I feel tons better. Having major peeing now it seems my body is ridding itself of excess water. Body beginning to feel like my own again. Appetite back to normal--I get full again like I should! Mood much improved and libido hasn't been this strong in ages.

Ovcon was definitely not for me.

I switched to Ovcon about 6 months ago when I told my doctor I had no libido on Mircette. Well, Ovcon definitely changed that; in fact, sometimes my libido was out of control. However, my sex drive wasn't the only thing that made me feel aggressive. On Ovcon I was ANGRY at everything and everyone and I'd fall into a depression sometimes as well. I was also anxious. The mood in general caused so much resistance from doing the things I love to do most. I thought the anger was a product of living in Queens, NY, and just being annoyed at the people here, but it was so magnified; I literally felt like I wanted to strangle someone. Not only that, but I was working out more intensely and more frequently than ever and I was still the heaviest I had ever been. The weight gain made me frustrated, angry, and even more depressed and it became a vicious cycle.

My doctor switched me to Yasmin, so I would still have a sex drive, and to decrease the chances of gaining weight. So far, both my body and my mood feel much lighter.