Need Some Insight from Women...

**nikol373** · 07-06-2011 07:16 PM

Hello all,
I am new to this forum. I need a place where I can try to find out what might be wrong with me. Before I post this, I want to make it clear that I have Dr's appointments scheduled, so I am not relying on these forums to diagnose / treat me. I just need some womanly insight.
I am 21 years old, and since I started college, I have been dealing with some weird symptoms. At the same time I started college, when I was 17, I also started taking The Pill (Loestrin 24Fe) and Zoloft, for anxiety and depression. Around that time, I gained 35lbs, and started to feel moody, fatigue quite often, loss of libido, pain during sex, etc. I chalked it up to hating my first year of school, and being away from my boyfriend and all my friends. It seemed like typical depression.
Finally, I switched schools, and things are a lot better for me. But, these symptoms persist. I am off of the Zoloft permanently (I lost all my emotions and gained 35lbs - that only made me feel more depressed), and I switched BC to Jolessa, the generic Seasonale. Needless to say, I have discontinued that pill because, although it made me less moody and helped with my sexual problems, my anxiety was through the roof! I was out of control! As soon as I stopped it, it went back to normal. I'm just so confused by the way my body reacts to things.
I have severe sensitivity to caffeine and heat, and I blush like crazy. My PMS (and post-MS) are intense, and so are the headaches that go along with it. PMS is starting earlier and earlier in the month, and my overall mood is just on the decline. I'm getting so fed up. My gynocologist told me I was "perfectly fine" other than a tipped uterus. She told me I was too young for my first pap smear. When I asked her about a possibly hormone imbalance, she told me it doesn't happen to young women, and handed me birth control instead. I'm in the process of finding a new gyno.
I tried to make an appointment with an endocrinologist, as I have a good feeling that hormones play a part in what's wrong. I was told I first need to see my PCP for tests, then make an appt. with the endocrin. So many steps.
I'm worrying myself sick - I lost my mother to cancer (melanoma) when I was 14, so I always assume the worst. I've already diagnosed myself with about 4 types of cancers. I know these are all pretty basic symptoms that can be attributed to a lot of things, but maybe some people have gone through something similar, and can ease my mind a bit.
Any and all input appreciated. Thanks!

**Little** · 07-06-2011 07:31 PM

You made the right move, finding a new doctor. And seeing an endocrinologist.
Seems that the BCPs you took are all monophasic (correct me if I'm wrong.) Though I don't have anxiety/depression problems, I felt like I did when I took Yaz at age 18. Switching to a triphasic pill, Ortho TriCyclen, "fixed" this. There's also a low-hormone version that I tried as well. It didn't have enough hormones to smooth out my menstrual cramps. I have a "post-MS" reaction too ... this is really the first I've ever heard of another person who had the same response.
I spent half of college with cruddy BC choices and bad pre and post MS, until I was prescribed OTC. I don't remember what the generic was called, but it's what I specifically took. It served me well until I started trying to conceive! It's worth a shot, if your new doctor and specialists decide you can or should take BCPs.

**lizzardb63** · 07-07-2011 09:42 AM

Finding a new doctor is the way to go. I went on birth control last year and it made me insane. Moody, paranoid, anxious...so I went off of it. I was on Zoloft for many years and it made me gain a bunch of weight, but I lost it once i stopped taking it. After I went off my last birth control, my doctor put me on Celexa, which is a lot like Zoloft and I gained weight again. It also killed my sex drive. I went off the Celexa now and am off all meds. I do still feel moody, which is normal when you have a history of depression, but if you feel your mood is declining a lot lately, you might want to consider talking to your doctor about it.
You're NOT too young to get a pap smear...(15 is the age they recommend it), and hormone imbalance can play a huge role in how you're feeling.

Hormonal birth control is just not for me, and it may not be fore you either.

**JadedQueen** · 07-08-2011 05:04 AM

You really won't know anything until you go to the doctor and have an exam in addition to tests. I know for me personally bc pills are extremely bad for me, and I was on them for years. I didn't realize or associate a lot of the things that I was going through as side effects from the pill until after I stopped taking it. Geesh, if I had only known then the things the bc pills did to me... but back when I was on bc pills they didn't have nearly as many options for bc as they do these days. Here are some of the symptoms the pill caused for me (and from reading your post, it sounds like you have some of the same symptoms I had)
Headaches (migraines a LOT usually 2-3 per week)
Weight gain (when I went off the pill to get pregnant I lost 40lbs. when I was 9 months pregnant I weighed 135lbs... after my son was born I went back on bc pills and when my son was 6 months old I weighed 175 lbs)
Moody/cranky/insecure these pills made me feel like I had multiple personalities I would be cranky, insecure, angry, irritable. I didn't really notice a pattern but my ex hubby had my mood swings down to a science he would know what week a simple joke would cause me to burst into tears and what week that same joke would make me laugh. It kind of amazed me that he picked up on the pattern but I think it was more a survival mode than him being in tune with me.
depression I don't know if it was caused from having migrains all the time or the pills (which were causing the migrains) but I would get really depressed at times.
Severe cramps (my uterus is also tilted back and it's amusing seeing obgyns trying to readjust their chair when examining me apparently it's tilted quite a bit, one doctor joked that they may have to resort to sitting on the floor to give me a pap) I know the cramps a lot of times was in my lower back and I was told that it's probably because my uterus is tilted.

Anyway, you doctor visit should shed some light on what is going on with you. You may want to discuss with your doctor some other options available to you for bc. Make sure you specifically as about what the side effects are, talk to others and see what works for them, what doesn't work etc... There are so many different options available to you do a little bit of research and see if something different might work better for you. Good luck at the doctor I hope everything works out for you.

**nikol373** · 07-08-2011 05:06 AM

Thanks for replying! I honestly didn't even know there were different types of birth control. I was never really given options - my gynos just told me they had one that they thought would help.
I'm not currently on any BC, and I'm just feeling tired and moody more often. I start PMSing 2 weeks prior to my period. That's about 12 days too long! I'm considering trying OTC, as I have heard nothing but good things about it. Any weight gain?

**Beautiful Disaster** · 07-08-2011 06:23 AM

You will experience different things on different pills. What I found out for myself is that my body just didn't like hormonal birth control, whether monophasic or triphasic. It was more about me deciding which symptoms I could deal the best with. After 10 years of it, I decided I'd take them no more. You definitely need to be picky when it comes to your gyn. If she/he isn't taking the time to answer your questions etc, then finding a new one is your best bet. But be prepared to ask questions, express concern......you know your body better than anyone.

I understand your fear of illness after losing your mom. Cancer is scary. But what you're going through sounds hormonal. Proud of you for getting off the Zoloft! Not many people it seems are able to get off that stuff once they get on. It makes for a very complacent emotionally uninvolved society.

Keep us posted on your doctors visits. Blood tests for your hormone levels are super simple and the best part is, it'll make you feel better to understand what's going on. Some people just have horrible PMS. I have months in which I am one of those people. For me, this has levels out as I got a little older. I'm 28 now, but when I was your age I was a raging maniac during PMS.

**nikol373** · 07-09-2011 03:03 PM

Thanks for all your posts! In some aspects it seems birth control helps, in others it causes problems, such as with my anxiety. BC makes it sky rocket, where in other parts of my life, like feeling awake and happy, BC helps. I just feel like there are other options out there than having to trade high anxiety levels for happiness, or vice versa.

I've been reading about PMDD, and I was just wondering if anyone has been diagnosed / dealing with this? I know there are medications for it out there, but I will not let another SSRI (selective-serotonin re-uptake inhibitor / "Zoloft") enter my body. ever.

The link above lists a lot of my symptoms. (I'm not sure the link works, if not, google "PMDD".) & (Minus the suicidal thoughts; I just, luckily, could never think like that.) However, I had a professor of mine at my university tell me this was a "made up" disease used to raise pharmaceutical profits. But to me, it seems very real.

All the comments are great so far - really helpful. Thank you again!

**seasick** · 07-09-2011 11:01 PM

You should get your first pap smear as soon as you become sexually active, and no later than the age of 18 regardless of sexual activity. I am 20 years old and I have experienced many of the same problems as you have. I began birth control and 16 when I got my first boyfriend and we started having sex. I was put on Yaz, probably because it was very popular at the time. It was fine at first but after a year of being on it I had become very moody, mostly angry and irritable the week before my period and post ms ANYTHING would make me cry, so at my next yearly visit I mentioned it to my gyno and she suggested I switch to a higher dosage. I don't remember what this prescription was, but the same thing happened. I was fine with it until about 6 months in when I became like a zombie. I wasn't interested in anything, I wasn't interested in sex, I wasn't getting 'wet' so having sex actually became harder for me. I just lacked emotion in general. By the time I needed to go for my yearly again I had moved to another state and had not found a gyno so I went to my family doctor and she suggested a lower dose and put me on Aviane. This bc worked well for me for the entire time I was on it, very little cramping, no mood swings, but more importantly I still had emotions. I stopped taking it about 9 months later because my boyfriend and I broke up at this point, and I not only wanted to give my body a break from the hormones but I'm not sexually activel. As for weight gain, I did gain about 30 pounds, especially when I was on the higer dose of bc. Since stopped I have gained an additional 10 pounds, but I think this is due to not only changes in my body but stress/comfort eating as well (the breakup, my Granny died last year and I started college classes agian). My body has changed a lot and I am currently waiting on dr. appointements too. You need to be sure to find good doctors that care about you and listen to your concerns and WANT to help you. Seeing an endo. is a great idea, along with bloodwork tests. I think I might be anemic (the fatigue is a big problem of mine now, I ALWAYS feel tired and its a struggle to get myself out of bed even on eight hours of sleep.) Talk to your new gyno about taking a break from birth control if you don't need to be on it right now, and if you do need to be it's just about finding the right kind for you. A good gyno will be willing to help with this, and will not dismiss any of the symptoms you tell him/her about. One thing I can tell you that helps with my pms tremendously is excercise, even if I just go for a walk for about 45 minutes. I almost never have cramps and it helps keep my mood in check. I understand where you're coming from, good luck!