It really does help! I've been on Yasmin for years and love it. A monophasic pill definitely has fewer ups and downs.

The pill has helped me a lot, but I have friends who haven't been so lucky. I do think, however, that the most important thing is to find the right pill. I know from experience that that process can take time. The easiest way to do that is to first find the right doctor (i.e. - one who listens to and respects you, and knows that you know your body better than anyone else.

If it's really something in which you are interested, don't let one pill dissuade you. For example, Ortho Tri Cyclen has varies the amount of hormones you receive weekly. For some women, that's great; for others, not so much.

So, talk to your doctor. And if you can't/don't feel comfortable, then find a new doctor.

Ya you really need to find the right one. I tried Alesse, and it was horrible, my mood swings were actually much worse (never thought that was possible), my breasts hurt a lot, like my nipples were in pain, I guess it's like when your lactating, except I wasn't pregnant. I had a lot of headaches, anwaaaay... then I tried Cyclen (no tri) and it's much better!! I still get cramps sometimes, but mostly I'm fine. The best thing about it is that my periods are shorter than they used to be, I used have like a full 7-8 days, now I'm at 5 days tops. You really have to just try different ones, ask your doctor, and make sure to tell them all the side effects you've been having.

I agree, it is good to keep trying. It took me three tries to find one that was right for me. Just let your doctor know which ones don't work for you, and what side effects you experience - that can help her (or him) figure out which one will work for you. The tri-cyclens were terrible for me as well, causing more periods instead of more manageable ones. I have anxiety and depression issues, but I found that once I went on the pill, the depression is WAY easier to manage. For this reason, this year I am trying the generic version of Seasonale. So far, so good. Shorter periods, and only every 3 months. The first year, most women get some in-between bleeding (I do sometimes), but it doesn't feel like a normal period at all. It doesn't help with anxiety, but it definitely helps my mood. If you think it will help you, it is worth it for you to keep trying.

I was on Ortho-Cyclen (also not tri) for years and when I first went on it, i pretty much had an awful period for a solid month - but then after that, it was great. Eventually the dryness got to me and i talked to my ob-gyn, who switched me to Yasmin - which was great, plus I didn't have a month of getting used to it. There really is a big difference between pills; I was surprised by that.

Just how insane is the emotional roller-coaster? Is it just your periods are the cause or are there other factors involved? If it is scaring you then it is definitely worth discussing with your doctor (the more they know, the more likely they are to get you on the right bc quickly). Good luck and keep us posted!

I am on Loestrin 24, which has a low hormone concentration, and is less likely to fuck with your body (I have had friends that respond poorly to high concentrations and it causes yeast infections and UTI's... not fun at all). Loestrin works really well for me, but the best thing you can do is try a recommended one for a couple months, and if it keeps you regular, stick with it, if not, try another. It usually takes a couple tries.

talk to your doctor about your options. they should be able to get you on something else.

This can pose a problem to some people- it sounds like you're a student and may not have easy/affordable access to a doctor, or if you're in high school you may not want your parents to know. Planned Parenthood is a great option if you have difficulties. If there is one in your town, i suggest calling and asking what services they can offer you. They can provide birth control counseling for you. It's really a great organization.

Like everyone is saying, you have to find what's right for your body. Birth control helped my friend with super-bad mood swings, but it gave me something called "lack of affect" (no mood at all- people told me I was like cardboard). Good luck finding what works for you! It might be worth getting in touch with someone with a psychiatric degree as well as an M.D., so they can help you track the mood swings and ensure that you're actually getting results. It can be hard to do comparison shopping when all you want to do is lie in bed and cry.

Hey theBazil what do you mean by: Eventually the dryness got to me and i talked to my ob-gyn?....

I am on a good BC (Lo-ogestrel) because I had a great doctor who found the right one for me. I have friends who have been on BCP for 15+ years and swear by it - it cleared up their skin, made the cramps go away, made them less crazy. And I know some women whose systems just can't tolerate any form of hormonal birth control - it makes them more crazy, gives them strange aches and pains, makes them bleed irregularly.

Personally, if it wasn't the lesser of evils, I would never have taken hormonal birth control and I would stop tomorrow.

But, if you have a good doctor who really listens to you and knows her (or his) stuff, you should be able to find a good pill with just 1 or 2 false starts.

The bottom line is that BCP is serious hormones that start interacting with your system and change the way it functions. Everyone's system is a little different, so we can predict with some confidence how it will work, but it's still a crap shoot.

if your emotional rollercoaster is really as intense as you made it sound, you may have a condition called PMDD (pre-menstrual dysphoric disorder) (forgive my spelling). I had it so bad, I once cried at a fastfood drive through because there were too many choice. I've tried several different BCs and the only one that made a difference was Yaz. It's amazing, I recommend it to everyone. It turned me back into a normal woman during my cycle.

I have tried Ortho-Tricyclen (in different hormonal doses), Alesse, and Yasmin. I started Ortho when I was about 15 but when I reached 20 I was so unhappy with it I started experimenting. That's how I discovered that birth control pills are just not for me (which is not to say they may not be for you). But it took me a long time to make the connections between the medication and its effects, so maybe I can save you some time by helping you recognize them. Overall the side effects of birth control pills I have experienced include depression, cramps, headaches, irritability, and total loss of sex drive. Yasmin was the worst for the libido, and after google-ing it I found out that a lot of other women were complaining about that too. So I stopped using birth control pills and switched to the Nuva-Ring, which has a much lower hormonal dose but is just as effective and even more convenient. However, since I have had so many bad reactions to hormonal birth control I am only going to use the Nuva-Ring until I can get an IUD. But everyone is right in saying its about finding what works for your body and meets your expectations. Good luck!

I agree with all previous comments. Just want to add that you may want to also look into things like nutrition or supplements. I have a friend who did this, and she found that it helped her to change her diet and take certain vitamins (sorry, can't remember what any of those changes were). They weren't a complete fix, but tey did help.

I'm glad you posted this. I'm also considering going on BCP again, but I'm kind of torn. I like having a regular cycle (when I'm not on the pill I don't even worry if I miss two months), but it makes my sex drive go way down. I need a pap and pelvic soon anyway, so I'm going to have a talk with my doctor then.

First of all, everyone's experience is always different. But I will share my experiences with the Pill and emotions.

I first took Ortho Tri Cyclen. I felt that it made me more emotional and prone to crying for no reason at first. That seemed to even out after a couple of months. My libido was lower, but it didn't matter because I wasn't in a relationship.

When Ortho Tri Cyclen Lo came out, my doctor put me on that. I had some moodiness, but I also began taking antidepressants for preexisting anxiety issues which I do not associate with the Pill.

To save money I began taking a generic of Ortho Tri Cyclen called Tri-Sprintec. OMG. Head spinning around, sobbing crying angry craziness. I ended up in therapy and couldn't figure out what was wrong with me. I stopped the Pill cold turkey and felt better in 2 weeks. A friend confirmed she had had a similar experience.

I was not sexually active for a year or so, and remained off the pill. When I needed to go back on, my doctor gave me Yaz. So far it has been the best for me. It seems to have the fewest emotional ups and downs, and is the nicest to my body. I should note that Yaz is monophasic, so it may just be that I do better on a monophasic than a triphasic. And I think the 3 day placebo period keeps me from crashing out in between packs. I don't notice any big effect on my sex drive or energy.

So that's what worked for me. It sucks, but if you want to use oral contraception sometimes you just have to use trial and error to find the one that works for you.

The emotional rollercoaster that hits and is known as PMS is caused by a spike in testosterone levels. Being on hormonal birth control means that you don't actually get that spike.

I don't know if the different hormone levels you ahve when you're on bc can also cause mood swings, but I'm pretty sure they won't be as bad - in most cases. Since it keeps hormone levels stable rather than flucuating, logic dictates that your mood would behave likewise.

Some people are not helped, but that is most likely because the artificial hormones in the pills affect them in ways they're not quite supposed to.

So yeah, they should help according to all the knowledge I've been able to find.

They helped me, that's for sure. And they still do. I took a while without BC a few years back, just to see if my body had figured out how to do things right on its own. Aside from that not being the case, I also found that I had seriously bad PMS, worse than ever before, until I got back on the pill.

I'm definitely staying on it. I can live without the pain, the mood swings and the irregularity.

Everyone has been giving great advice about the pill, but I'm surprised no one noticed or mentioned the fact that this woman had chest pains and swelling in one leg. Those things clearly point to a possible blood clot, which the pill can cause. I really hope she went to the hospital and got that checked out and I would suggest not using another form of hormonal contraception until talking to her doctor.

Hey-
I can relate to being ridiculously emotional from your period, whether before or during- my boyfriend can accurately inform me that I'm getting close to my period based on my behavior when I'm not on the pill. I also get insane cramps without it- in the future, I'm planning to take most of my packs back to back and not get my period at all.

Everyone suits a different pill, allesse is the one that works for me. I was originally on tricyclen. I switched when I was at the doctor on my university campus (we are lucky, we have awesome doctors there). She asked me if I had noticed changes in my sex drive while on trycylen- and I finally felt like I wasn't crazy). On the other hand, my best friend tried allesse and couldn't stop crying. She is on Yasmin, especially because she has a reaction to something that is in alot of different brands.

Your mention of the swelling of your ankle is a warning sign though- blood clots is one of the scarier (though rare) side affects from the pill. Its important to have that checked out. If you smoke, or have a family history of blood clots or heart disease, you have an extra risk for those type of side effects. The pill is also not recommended for people who suffer from migraines.

It would be best if you sought out advice from a doctor or a nurse- if your having trouble finding the advice you need, check out a planned parenthood or something similar in your area, they would probably be able to give you the advice you need, or let you know who you could go to in your area.

There are lots of birth control options, whether the pill or through a different method, so don't give up hope.

Sorry for the rambley, but I hope it is helpful.

dreadheadmags, what I meant was that my body at 18 and my body at 25 were not the same. So when I was 18 I didn't get the low libido and vaginal dryness side effects from OrthoCyclen (just the shorter periods and cleared-up acne side effects, which I was all in favor of!). I did not experience any difference between OrthoCyclen and the Sprintec generic. But it's perfectly normal for one's body to change over time; not only is every woman's body different, but one woman's body changes over her lifetime, so just as one pill won't be perfect for everyone, one pill may not be the permanent solution for one person. So eventually I started to experience more and more vaginal dryness, and I talked to my doctor about it, being very specific about the side effects I was hoping to avoid, and he switched me to Yasmin and then I was my old libido-happy self again. :)

But for some women hormonal BC is not the answer, and clare and KellyCat are right about talking to your doctor about swelling and possible blood clots.

Thanx theBazil. I figured that's what you meant I just wanted to clarify for myself. I was experiencing dryness too, and I couldn't figure out why all of a sudden even if I was extremely horny, I wouldn't get wet. I almost felt like a man who can't get a hard on. My boyfriend and I had to stop having sex a few times because it was just not happening for me down there, I feel much better knowing that it was most likely because of the pill. I am now actually on Yasmin as of yesterday, so we'll see if it's better.

I just wanted to add, that I feel sorry for you girls in the states, it sounds really tough for you. We have our own problems in Canada, but when it comes to birth control and reproductive rights were pretty good about it. I went to see a gyno yesterday, first of all it didn't cost me anything because we have Medicare, second, she did not give me a pro-life speech (I've heard stories that some of you had to deal with that crap.) she simply explained to me what I had to do and then gave me four boxes of Yasmin for free. The four boxes are so I can get started and see if there are any problems, afterwards I will have to pay each month for a box, but it is like 3-4 dollars which is great. I just wanted to share that.