[nicole_3512]

Hi everyone,

I have gone through about 5 different birth controls and for some reason they all seem to decrease my sex drive. Whenever I am off them (waiting to switch to my next one) I have a sex drive though. I have tried low hormone ones and they do not work either. The problem is also that some of the pills make me vomit in the middle of the night so it is very frustrating for me to have to switch and then vomit. Although the Nuvaring did help my sex drive after about a year of being on it, I lost it.

[nicole_3512]

I was wondering if anyone new any methods that I could try or any birth controls that worked for them. I have tried the food approach and no luck

Thank you!

[Rosey78]

Oops

Too excited to share, just realised I wasn't allowed to include any links, tried to edit but can't now.

[Rosey78]

Demulen

Sorry girls- Demulen has an androgenic effect of 0.6, not 1.6, yeesh, I know, I'm losing all credibility here.
Anyways, I'm pointing you in the right direction, all the info is in that link for caclulating it. If link doesn't work google "birth control androgenic activity". And if you google other stuff you'll find that low androgenic progestins binds up the free testosterone and that is what is responsible for your sex drive.

[Falana]

BCPs basically killed my sex drive, they also screwed up my cycles BIG time. I haven't been on them for a little over four years now, after only a stint into the BCP world.
Ever since I have begun fertility charting and sort of keep my fertility in check that way, which works fine for me. I'm using an app on my phone actually, makes it all less messy
And even though I only took BCP for about a year, my sex drive has still not returned to what is used to be. After coming off the pill I did not have a period for four months, for some reason the hormones had thrown my cycles so badly off track that it simply didn't want to ovulate.

So, long story shot: yes, BCPs can definitely lower and/or kill your sex drive completely, though it most likely doesn't apply to everyone!

[gypsywoman]

To the guy seeking help 4 his gf

Ok, i'll start by saying that i NEVER register myself for any forums/sites whatsoever, but reading your post broke my heart and EVERYTHING that's happened to your girlfriend was and still is happening to me, and it's 100% because of this god awful poison pill.

I'm browsing this forum for confirmation that these horrendous symptoms will eventually go away! As of right now, I fear I may have destroyed my hormonal balance to whatever degree for god knows how long.

I suspect your gf's system is similar to mine, because many years ago, I was on her old BC, ortho, and the only trouble I had was occasional yeast infections. I went off the pill completely about 5 years ago, and only recently made the devastating mistake of going back on the pill in order to be more intimate with my current boyfriend. Well, it resulted in the opposite. I discussed the yeast infection issue with my gyno, so he offered to have me try Loestrin 24. I agreed, and I wish to god that I never set foot in that office.

I WAS ON THIS PILL FOR 9 DAYS.......ONLY 9 DAYS: and it has utterly destroyed my system along with a heap of destructive and scary side effects.
Almost immediately, I began getting headaches (which I never get), nausea, lack of appetite yet weight gain, cramps, even more hormonal cystic acne on my chin, a racing heart rate, hot flashes, extreme breast soreness, general muscle aches, unnerving full-body intense itching (which is basically an allergic reaction), and worst of all, extreme vaginal dryness and an absolutely absent sex drive (I naturally have what might be considered the sex drive of a young guy, and have never had issues with dryness) and the most terrifying of all- I became emotionally dead, for lack of a better way to describe it. At first I didn't even realize what was happening. I have a boyfriend whom I love so much, so intensely that I can barely stand it. I cannot wait to marry him. The feelings are mutual. He is the perfect mate for me, and just being in the same room with him makes me want to have sex with him. Well- less than 9 days into taking this pill, that all changed. I felt ZERO love or emotion towards him, and it sent me into mental rabbit holes of wondering what I had gotten myself into by dating him. By around the 5th day, I was sick to my stomach because looking at his face in my house made me feel this very bizarre feeling, like as if there was a complete stranger in my house. The thought of being intimate gave me anxiety (I normally do not have anxiety issues unless under severe circumstantial stress, like a tragedy or something.)
He felt like a total stranger. This is what woke me up to realize the pill had drastically altered my sense of reality. Well.....it was that, and one other thing: extreme rage-like anger. I am a very happy, look on the bright side kind of person. I don't "rage". Yet, my god, I would hear the sound of my phone alerting me to a new text message and I would feel this deep, insane rage bubble up inside me- I mean like violence inducing rage, where all I wanted to do was go on some murderous spree of ripping people's throats out- for absolutely NO reason.

So, my absolute lack of emotion in all situations, other than senseless rage caused me to snap out of it and realize that I was being dismantled by loestrin. Once I broke through that illusion, so to speak, I was able to realize just how bad things had gotten in less than two weeks. I recall having a conversation with my mother about it in her kitchen....and it was the first time in my life where I had what I assume was a dissociative experience. AKA, I felt like I was observing me talking to her, rather than BEING me. It was beyond terrifying.

I stopped taking the pill after the ninth day. Almost immediately, the physical symptoms like soreness and itching went away. After perhaps a week or two, my emotions started to come back and the rage started to dissipate. However, my libido only partially returned...and has now disappeared yet again. It has been about a month since I went off that pill. I am almost 2 weeks late for my period and tests say I'm not pregnant. Thank god I am able to love my boyfriend again, and he- like you- has been very supportive through all of this. But it breaks my heart that my libido is a mess.
To help explain why your girl reacts to you touching her- it literally feels awful to be touched in a sexual way. Formerly erogenous zones have become, I dunno....touch makes me cringe and it feels terrible. It was worse before, and now it's not impossible for us to enjoy sex but it's infrequent and takes tons of time super slowly working up to even touching to the extent of foreplay, and then no matter how much foreplay is involved, I remain painfully dry, I have to psyche myself out and pretend I feel desire just so that he and I can try to enjoy sex, and it's very difficult for me to reach climax now.....and this is after taking this pill for 9 days and stopping over a month ago. I feel like I am in hell. I have never had libido issues, EVER. Not even close. I just want to be myself again, and I pray I will be able to. From what I've read, it can take up to 6 months to restore balance and some women have experienced a PERMANENT decrease in libido.

Personally, I ************************************************** ****** refuse to allow myself to resign to that idea, and have been taking various herbal supplements and magnesium to assist my body in restoring my hormonal balance. Evening Primrose Oil has helped in easing the side effects of that pill once I got off of it. Basically, I made a huge mistake, and honestly- there is NO healthy birth control pill. There are other ways. Natural ways which you can research on your own. I knew about them but had my doubts and went on loestrin after swearing off the pill years ago. I cannot believe how much I regret it now.

Please show your GF my post if possible. I'll try to check this for the next month or so, in case she or you write back. It's very hard to realize that your reactions and emotions and actions are being dictated by a pill. I was lucky to wake up out of it. I pray that my post will help her, you, and whatever other women may read this. PLEASE STOP USING BC PILLS. A healthy diet, supplements, exercise, and natural birth control methods are all reliable and SAFE ways to combat ALL of the reasons to be on BC pills- even cysts.

Good Luck. Much Love.

I may be the first guy to ever write on a women's BC Forum. But i'm doing it with the hopes of some HELP! 1st, I'll start by saying I am IN LOVE with my GF of 6 months and think she could be the one.(very exciting for me as a guy to be thinking this.) However, my girlfriend and I are having some real problems relationship wise now since she began taking Loestrin about 3 months ago. Prior to it, she was on Tri-ortho-cyclen. She made the switch just to get off of the higher dose hormones but from what i can remember, side effects that were manageable. Now with Loestrin, I feel like our relationship is almost about to crumble apart because she is completely indifferent to everything I say now, zero affection(even in greeting), zero emotions about anything, acts as if it really wouldn't matter if i wasn't even around anymore. She wont let me touch her at ALL. Literally says", "get away", "stop it", "babe quit", I'm uncomfortable" etc etc. and NO SEX drive at all. What do I do? I'm scared!! I also noticed her talking about her side effects as well like leg tingling and headaches. Ive done extensive research over the past month on birth controls all the way down to the actual androgenic activity and progesterone dosages etc.

I can't even begin to suggest to her some of my findings as she gets SUPER offended and chalks it up to me only caring about myself and not understanding what goes on with female hormonal changes. AND I UNDERSTAND THIS. I am not a woman, and i cannot feel those changes physically inside like she, however I am her friend, boyfriend, and hopefully one day husband and I WANT to be able to show her how much this is effecting our relationship. I really need some help ladies. I read all these forums and see all the ladies talking about how they lost a great boyfriend and or are about to lose theirs because of BC. I'm NOT letting that happen to my love! If anyone can offer some help from a lady's perspective please feel free. I need it. I just dont know what to do anymore!!! We dont have sex, she doesnt want me near her ever, she wont even kiss me in greeting after we dont see eachother for 1,2,3 days, she wakes up in the night angry as ******************************** at me for covers or anything really, she is indifferent to anything I say regardless if it is just me engaging in the conversation with her(scares the ******************************** outta me to even begin to play devils advocate), I'm constantly walking on eggshells now and I KNOW her body is going through changes. I'm not trying to sound insensitive to this AT ALL. I just want my exciting, passionate, emotional, and energentic girlfriend back before we get torn apart! I feel like I cant even be around her anymore because I can't say anything without her finding a way to flip it into me being the ************************************************** ******, we sit on opposite ends of couch even during our mid-week sleepovers after not seeing eachother since the previous sunday. She doesnt look at me, it just really feels like she hates me know and it really hurts. How am i possibly suppose to show her how much i love her if i cant talk to her, touch her, and give/show her my love and affection under these circumstances? I've never been so IN to someone ever in my life! I'm 31 and she is 29. I've always dreamed of being with someone and just looking at them at dinner or walking or whatever and instantly feeling tingly and wanting to immediately rip their clothes off. This is me all the time around her and I cant even help it when i try and tell my self to stop it. I JUST DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO ANYMORE. PLEASE HELP.