Mood swings on the POP?

Posted , 2 users are following.

Hello, apologies if this has been asked before, I couldn't find anything in the searches(maybe I am not using it right? :3)

I was first on the POP about 2 years ago. I used Cerelle and I don't know if it contributed to my mood swings since there was things going on and situations that would seem normal for anyone to be depressed about. I was on it for about a year I think? My periods became weird and irregular, and when I had my periods the blood was brown even. And even after I stopped taking the pill my periods were not coming/irregular, and I was still going through hell mentally. The symptoms continued on for a year before I finally started to feel better. I never attributed the pill as a cause for my terrible mood since it was all pinned to mental health related issues and I have a history of depression.

About 3 weeks ago, I started on another POP called Cerelle to try and see if it would help relieve PMS symptoms. Since then my mood swings have been erratic, almost like constantly PMSing, with the addition of added anxiety and depression. I went to talk to a prescribing nurse yesterday about changing it, and she suggested it was not long enough for me to see if the pill would stabilise in my system. I was hesitant to continue it because it's getting increasingly unbearable, so she said to stop the pill and to have another review in a few weeks. It feels so insane because I don't feel myself, feel so fidgety and nervous and anxious most of the time, I feel like I am finding things to be sad about, have had problems going to sleep and I have been having thoughts about self-harm(I have self-harmed in the past, excessively even when I was first on the pill but have self-harmed even before that, and only found the strength to stop a few months ago).

My question to ladies who have been through a similar experience is, how long did it take for your mood swings to go away after stopping the pill? I asked the nurse but she couldn't give a definite answer, so I thought asking from experienced users might give me a clearer idea. Also, is it normal to feel worst after stopping the pill? I don't know if I am feeling worst but my mood and cravings(including mental/emotional cravings) definitely seems to be more difficult to manage even though I have only stopped for a day. Any tips and advice to manage better? Thanks in advance!

0 likes, 3 replies

3 Replies

  • Posted

    I'm not sure if you've made a typo but you said you've been on cerelle twice? Not sure why you would choose the same pill if you believe it contributed to your negative symptoms. However, I would not relate your depressed to tha e pill after stopping it for a year- at most symptoms probably hang about for 3 months after stopping before subsiding- at least that's what I've been told with the exception of the depo-shot.

    I never got on with the POP personally, as you say it made my periods very irregular. I would try the combination pill (if your able to) if you wish to relieve PMS symptoms as this is generally used for regulating periods.

    Everyone's experience is different but I personally experienced depression on the pill- but a lot of my friends don't and love it. I think I'm just super sensitive to hormones- so I'm now on the jaydess IUS and I love it. Not affected by sickness or diarrhoea, don't have to remember to take a pill everyday, hormones are co centrated to your uterus and very minimal, lasts 3 years.

    I would definitely consider something different if you think that this is what's causing you to feel depressed and have problems with your menstrual cycle. smile

    • Posted

      Definitely a typo! I was on Cerazette the first time, albeit I didn't think it contributed to my negative symptoms since there was a lot of things going on and it was completely normal for anyone to feel depressed and stressed out in that situation. Upon looking back though, while noticing it is completely normal to have felt the way I felt, how I responded to situations was completely out of character. I wish me or my partner realised it earlier at the time because I responded so negatively to him, even though his behaviour did contribute to my mood but how I acted was so exaggerated.

      I was told I can't be on the combination pill because I am out of healthy weight range and I am a smoker. I have known women who smoke that were prescribed with the combination pill though, but I guess they take more than that into consideration. My sister was on the combined pill though and told me she was having mood swings and food cravings all the time as well, so I was starting to wonder if the sensitivity to hormones is genetic as well rolleyes

      The prescribing nurse I talked to did mention other contraceptives like IUD, IUS and the implant but she mentioned they were all progesterone-based, so she didn't think it would make much of a difference. I'm also quite scared to try these things because they might agree with some people, but I've heard of things going wrong including depressive symptoms, which I've heard take longer to get over even after removal. I will look into them at my next review though. Thanks for sharing! smile

    • Posted

      Hey sorry for the very delayed reply! Prepare for a long one though!

      I really wouldn't take people's advice and experience too much to heart, half of them hear rumours and assume them to be true and then pass that on to others as advice. In reality, only you and you alone will know how you will react to a certain contraception; we all know that no two women are the same so no two women will ever know what's exactly right for them.

      The thing about the IUS and implant being progesterone based does not mean that is the same or no different than the POP- the reason for this is because the synthetic progesterone they use is completely different and believe it or not some of us women are more or less sensitive to certain progesterone than others. The amount is also much, much smaller, and the fact that the hormones are concentrated to the uterus rather than passing through our digestive system, liver, or being introduced to the muscle (excluding the implant) means that less of the hormone enters your blood stream, less than 1% in fact, and you're less likely to experience side effects.

      So yes, your nurse is right that they are progesterone based like the mini pill, but she's wrong to tell you that this would make no difference to your side effects. People are also wrong to tell you that the side effects take longer to leave your system, in fact other than the depo-shot and maybe the implant I believe that the pill takes the longest to exit your system because of the amount of hormones delivered to your body each time you ingest it, like all drugs it has a half life and I'm sure that it's a short one which means withdrawal lasts longer. It took me 3-4 months to get over my symptoms after stopping the pill. The coil however, delivers such a small amount of hormones and is so localised, that once removed side effects subside pretty quickly. I can't say for certain how long as I still have mine but it definitely won't be longer than the pill.

      If you're worried about hormones, the IUD is actually copper and not hormone based at all- so you won't have hormonal side effects, although I hear that it can make your periods a bit heavier and more painful for the first 6 months. I don't have one but know plenty of girls who do and they love theirs and all of them said the bleeding did subside back to normal after the 6 months.

      Between feeling like a hormonal psychotic mess and popping a painkiller here and there for a bad period cramp, I think I know what I'd rather.

      At the end of the day it's totally up to you and only you will know what feels right for your body. I've tried almost everything, so I'll just share what I personally felt with these methods;

      Combined pill; I tried 5 types of these from high levels of hormones to lower level, all made me feel symptoms of depression which the Dr suggested were related to the oestrogen levels. Other than that I had little to no side effects but as I suffer with depression already, I was verging on feeling suicidal.

      POP; I tried two of these, again I felt quite low- but this might have just been my general depression- although this time it was accompanied by weight gain and more angry swings in my mood. I also constantly spotted which was a nuisance and made my already irregular periods more irregular.

      Depo-Shot; I had this for about a year before I had to come off it, probably the worst thing I've been on, I put on 2 stone in weight and my joins started to ache, the reason they took me off of it was because of bone deterioration. I was also very depressed on this but that could have easily been to do with the weight and pain I was in! It also stopped my periods which is a symptom I personally don't like because I don't feel right without a T.O.M. after I stopped it took about 6 months for me to feel right again and lose the weight from it,

      Implant; now, this was great for the first 6 months funnily enough as that's when side effects are meant to be most potent, after those 6 months however I put on a stone in weight. I also began to bleed every day of the month minus 2 days. Quite heavily as well, to the point I was getting scared and seeing GPs for exams and blood tests. As soon as I had that popped out I was right as rain again within 3 months or so, just the relief of knowing it was out made me feel heaps better though.

      Hormonal Coil; I'm on jadyess which is like mirena's little sister in the UK, it's smaller, has less hormones and lasts 3 years instead of 5. This has been the best thing I've been on, it's not affected my depression symptoms anymore than I usually experience them, my weight has remained the same and I get lighter periods but still have a period each month which is nice. For the initial horror that is the insertion (which wasn't actually as bad as I thought it would be) it was worth it. I am thinking of switching to the copper coil though because the only side effect I have experienced is that I've got very oily skin and my skin has broken out. Not horrifically so but enough that it's bothering me considering I used to have clear skin, if anything it used to be a little dry so for it to be oily now I definitely feel like is a hormonal side effect. Other than that, no complaints and I'm quite happy with it.

      As soon as the male contraceptive vasalgel comes out my boyfriend has agreed to getting that because I've had my fair share of hormones being pumped into me for the past 8 years haha

      Sorry that was such a long one but I hope I covered all grounds and gave you some considerations into what you think might work for you smile

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