[Alice1986]

I was diagnosed with bipolar II and borderline personality. I take medication for it: 300 mg of lamotrigine and 150 mg of wellbutrin. My doctor jumped the milligrams up from 200 to 300 because starting birth control (a pill called Apri) gave me intense depression and caused a freak out at work that demoted me. The reason is, birth control decreases the effectiveness of lamotrigine. Even with the milligram increase, I was still depressed and immensely suicidal. Once I ran out of birth control, things started to look up and with the drug combination I am on now, I feel better than I ever have.

I want to go back on birth control, but I don't want to change how things are going. I asked my psychiatrist what he thought might be a good option for birth control and he said he didn't know much about birth control but suggested an IUD. I have a gynecological appointment on March 21 and I will consult him/her, but I'm afraid he/she will say he/she doesn't know much about psychological drugs.

Does anyone have similar problems and can suggest a method of birth control that won't end in me killing myself?

[ItsASecret]

No pill is going to make you kill yourself. It is all in the individual unpredictable interactions occurred in each individual person. Another woman who is on the same psych medications as you including birth control may not feel any suicidal thoughts whatsoever. That is why it is impossible to really know which medication would work well for you. However that said the gyne will know the different brands of birth control, and there are many many different kinds. Because of this they will likely also know of known side effects, maybe one birth control has been seen to cause more depression than another but there is still no way to fully predict which side effect you may or may not experience. Maybe an IUD would work best for you, your gyne can let you know. All you can really do is talk to your gyne during that appointment so they can come up with a possible brand of birth control that would work for you.

[Alice1986]

Thanks for the advice, but I was looking more towards anyone taking the same or similar medications who have had that experience and what they can recommend. Just gathering any information I can before the visit.

No pill is going to make you kill yourself.

On the contrary, anything that can alter your mental state has the possibility of making you do something you wouldn't do otherwise...for example something like PCP or acid...any one of the hard stuff that messes with your mentality in such a way that makes you think killing yourself would be a good idea. For me, it was actually detoxing from an anti-depressant. At the time, I thought it was a good idea to swallow all my medication and end up in the pysch ward of the hospital. I've had suicidal thoughts before, and they're plaguing, but until that pill effected me in such a way that even just weaning myself off of it made me follow through on those tendencies. That's why they say if a certain drugs give you "suicidal thoughts" then get help.

[ItsASecret]

On the contrary, anything that can alter your mental state has the possibility of making you do something you wouldn't do otherwise...for example something like PCP or acid...

Choosing to do an action is a personal choice regardless of mental state, it is still a choice taken. Whichever pill taken is not going to physically control your movements to lead to someone killing themselves like jumping off a building or walking into oncoming traffic. That is all the thoughts of the person at that specific time, though maybe impaired due to a drug high, but not all people who take a pill are going to react the same way. As soon as other people do not experience the same effects there is the subject of subjectivity and there is no way to say that something will kill someone unless there is concrete medical/scientific evidence to point towards it actually being lethal. Lethality is of course much different than side effects listed on a pill box.

All medications work in the line of subjectivity as well as variety of side effects, there is no prediction factor of how they are going to interact with one individual over another. There is also a big difference between drug lethality which can actually kill you like eating cyanide or a major toxin compared to taking a prescription pharmaceutical for acid reflux or depression or birth control. People getting high is another separate issue, something like birth control is not equivalent to taking a hard street drug. Taking hits of acid can make you think you can fly...well you can't so if you do than you can become road meat. Not a good thing to be doing but people know the risks of something like a hard drug, they just choose to ignore them. These are not the same results with something so closely monitored as that of birth control. The research into birth control is extensive because so many millions of women are taking them. Depression medication has had the side effect of suicidal thoughts in rare cases, that is why it is listed, but if one brand is not working it can be switched out. Drug interactions are also a big thing, but again if there is thought to be an interaction happening medications can be swapped out. I will say though if you are really curious about interactions see a Pharmacist when you pick up the medications. They are specialized in knowing the in's and out's of medications, interactions, side effects etc. Doctors know some but not to the extent of a pharmacist.

That's why they say if a certain drugs give you "suicidal thoughts" then get help.

Absolutely find help. There is more than one type of drug for any type of drug for the simple reason of varying side effects. If one brand is not working so well it is very simple for a doctor to write a prescription for a new brand. Birth control is immense in variety. You may not even need the pill form and instead get an IUD. All that you can do is talk to your doc to get some professional opinions.

[Ashlee T.]

Alice - I hope that you will find some people here who have experienced this and can give you advice from personal experience. I have never been suicidal, but I did experience severe mood swings while taking hormonal bc. I think the key is listening to your body. What your body is telling you is that it does NOT like the hormonal birth control.

Most IUD's (other than paragard) are still hormonal, and you will most likely experience very similar side effects. Paragard is a Copper IUD and though it is non-hormonal, many women who use it have experienced very similar side effects as when on hormonal BC due to the effects of the Copper in the body.

My best advice to you is listen to what your body is telling you and stay away from hormonal birth control PERIOD. Protecting yourself from unwanted pregnancy (and STD's!) is very important, but there are ways to do it that won't require sacrificing your happiness and well-being. These ways (FAM+Condoms, diaphgram, cervical cap...) may be a little more work, less convenient.......but worth it if they don't alter your moods to the point of being suicidal right? Talk to your doc......require him/her to think out of the box. My doc never mentioned a diaphragm to me until he realized I was serious about REFUSING any type of hormonal bc.

[kailur]

Hi Alice! I have had the exact same problem! I was on the Depo shot for five years, and my mood was down a good deal of the time. I was concerned that it had contributed to weight gain, so I switched to the pill Loestrin FE 24. I didn't realize it then, but it made my mood so much worse. Once I was fed up with feeling like I wanted to kill myself all the time, I thought "Huh...maybe the hormonal birth control has something to do with this..." so I just stopped taking it. It feels like a fog has been lifted. The suicidal thoughts are so much less, they're almost gone. I too, have been diagnosed as bipolar and borderline (along with a few other things!). I'm currently on Prozac, Trileptal, and Invega. I have sworn off hormonal birth control - I want nothing to do with it. I was also getting weirded out not having a period ever, because the Depo made it go away and then with the Loestrin, it was just a "fake" period from the pill and eventually it stopped on that one too. I figured 5 1/2 years was long enough for me to go without having any clue how my own body worked. My fiance and I are trying condoms right now, but those have their own set of problems. I figure I can deal with condoms for now - I like feeling relatively human again!

[WildChild]

Why not use somthing non hormonal such as an IUD or a diaphram? I have never been on any kind of meds but I have used both of these forms of conception control very successfully.