Cerazette turning me mad!

[sushipaws]

I've been on Cerazette for just under 3 months now and have developed a really bad temper. I'm normally a really laid back person and I don't tend to ever get that angry.

About 6 weeks ago I started to have really nasty mood swings where I have to go into a room on my own and hit or break something. I have never shown my anger to my 20 week old DD but keeping control can be hard.

My DD used to sleep through for at least 6 hours in one go, but at about the same time she started waking for a feed after 5 hours and sometimes it takes her an hour to go back to sleep.

My HV thinks it's the broken sleep thats got me wound up but I think it might be the Cerazette.

I'm BF so can't go on the combined pill, also condoms are a waste of time with my DH, think we've tried ever kind in the shop.

Anyone else had this problem with Cerazette?

[Aimsmum]

Message withdrawn

[sushipaws]

Thank You, nice to know I'm not going mad

No don't think the lack of sleep helps but am still getting at least 7 hours even though it's broken.

I don't even know how a diaphram works.

[Louba]

I'm on cerazette too and I definitely think it's turned me loopy... not only mood swings but feeling pretty depressed at the same time. I actually slapped DP round the face the other day because he made me SO angry. Horrible behaviour. I am at work full time while DP (who has taken redundancy) stays at home with Ds 14months. Finding it very hard to cope being away from ds. We have 3 step children as well who are really wonderful, and I've noticed that I'm even sanpping at them on occasion. Would love to give the diaphragm a go - do you find it a bit fiddly aimsmum? Sorry if too personal!

[RedFraggle]

Had to respond to this post and say a big THANK YOU!
I had my DS three months ago and after initial baby blues was starting to feel better. Wnet for my 8 week postnatal check and was prescribed Cerazette as I am Breastfeeding. After about a week I started to feel really miserable and paranoid, gradually got worse until I could no longer face taking my kids out for the day as I just didn't feel I could cope.
Carried on getting worse to the point I was suicidal and kept thinking about harming myself or my baby. Spent a lot of time sitting with him and my DD throwing tearful wobblers and me sitting on the floor crying too!
Asked my HV for help and she got me a Doctors appointment - my HADS score was extremely high and I was put on anti-depressants, they started to kick in (although the side-effects were horrid) and I felt a bit more normal and so popped on to here for a look about. I saw this post and alarm bells rang. Googled it and anxiety/depression and found lots of stuff. I spoke to my doctor and came off all medication and lo and behold - I am totally fine again! Cerazette made me so mentally unstable, it was terrifying. I have had it yellow carded and suggest anyone else with similar issues speaks to their GP and does the same.
The fact that this pill is being heavily marketed to doctors at the moment means more people are likely to be prescribed it, and at a time when they have just had a baby and therefore their side-effect symptoms could easily be confused with PND.

[marksminx]

hi all,
well im just thankful i came across this site and your messages,
i started cerazette 5 days ago when my period started, i have started a new relationship and condoms are a bit inconvienient,so thought id give the pill a try, im 38 this year so i am maybe a high risk for the combined pill, so the doc prescribed cerazette, the first 2 days were fine no symptoms, period actually slowed down which was great as i normally have quite heavy ones, as the days have gone by i have had more symptoms,
now on day 5, i have the following symptoms
headaches, aching legs, nausea, blurred vision, anxiety, spotting, bloated and uncomfortable pelvis,
i thought the headache was down to a whiplash injury from a few yrs ago which tends to flare up now and again, and the anxiety and panic attacks from depression which i suffered after my second son was born, (he is now 11 by the way), and i can have on occasion slight anxiety, but this morning i was preparing some food and my boys were in the kitchen and i just turned on one of them so angry and shouting and swearing of which i now feel totally ashamed, i then decided to search side effects on cerazette and found this site, im so thankful i did as who knows what kind of mess i would have ended up in, i will be stopping cerazette as from today i would rather use condoms or some other form of contraception then feel the way i have the last few days,
i hope everyone on here feels better soon, and gets back to normallity,
this pill should NOT be given to anyone who has suffered any kind of anxiety or depression, i will be going back to the doc to let them know what i experienced,

[candyfluff]

hi there i had been on cerazette for nearly 3 yrs when i read up on what it can cause you to be like and so much rang true.
i stopped 3 months ago and my moods and depression are so much better ,ive stopped being so angry with the kids and dh
im never going on the pill again

[ilovetochat]

i lasted 4 weeks on cerazette, i had blinding headaches, nausea, constant bleeding and worst of all i felt so down and sad i could have cried all day. swapped to femulen and 2 months on im back to normal.

[tart2]

I've had wonky periods for about 2 years now. I'm 36 and have had 2 children so it was a bit odd. Eventually had the coil removed in the hope it would help. It didn't.
Went to see the practice nurse who prescribed cerazette. I was a bit cautious as I'd had terrible depression with the implanon progeterone implant. I was reassured thet as it was a low dose hormone pill I should be fine. I'm not. After just one week I'm feeling depressed, weepy and even suicidal. I've got alot going on in my life but this has made everything seem 100 times worse. I'm going back to see the nurse next week. Thanks to all who put their experiences on this site as it helped me realise I was not going mental!!!!

[Flowertop]

Me too. Took cerazette (bloody hate it!) and turned into a raving lunatic. First time in all our 22 years we nearly split as DH couldn't cope with my manic behaviour. came off in Feb and within days felt so much better. I spoke to nurse who maintained it could not be anything to do with the pill. Co

[Flowertop]

Me too. Took cerazette (bloody hate it!) and turned into a raving lunatic. First time in all our 22 years we nearly split as DH couldn't cope with my manic behaviour. came off in Feb and within days felt so much better. I spoke to nurse who maintained it could not be anything to do with the pill. Co

[Poppy84]

I was taking cerazette for a month but stopped because of constant spotting and complete loss of sex drive, I've been off it now for around three weeks but am still having mood swings and anxiety and feeling like a bit of a maniac!.

Has anyone else experienced this after stopping? does it take a while for your body to get back to normal?

[BirdFromDaNorf]

I stopped cerazette in less than a month, the effect on me was awful. We use condoms now. HTH

[Poppy84]

How long was it before you felt normal again?

[Chrysanthamum]

I'm on it but err panicking now as there's no sign of my period. I went on it after my 3rd child was born. Yes it makes me v moody. When I stopped bfing 2 months ago I had one vv long period and now nothing. although I hate it i'm sticking with it for now. I bought a book on how to practise natural contraception which I was going to start when next period arrives if ever! I know this can be a side effect but i'm a tad worried and i'll be really miffed if it hasn't worked!

[LancashireDAFt]

I was on cerazette for 2 years, and I didn't have any periods during that time.

I've always had symptoms of anxiety but they escalated when on cerazette.

Unfortunately it took 2 years until I made the connection. I stopped taking it about 2 months ago and feel a definite improvement.

[whoopsididitagain]

omg i ve been on cerazette since my little one was about 6 months old

since then i have suffered anxiety depression horrendous mood swings i hardly ever bleed im angry alot

my gp has all the time just diagnosed anxiety/depression ive been on ad's since then she's now 3.8

my sex drive is huge whilst on cerazette and ad but stop my pill and ads im a useless nasty sexless person

this has really scared me :-(

[Jetbaby]

For the first few months I was on cerazette I was very angry. By six months, this had calmed down but then I found I had no sex drive whatsoever. It was a very good contraceptive - there was no chance of getting pregnant cos I hardly had sex in the six or so months I was on it!

[LancashireDAFt]

Too true Jetbaby The best contraceptive ever!

I wonder how many women are suffering from anxiety/depression/mood swings and never realising that their pill is making it worse.

[deansmama]

My son was born in feb this year. I was given cerazette as i was breastfeeding and told to start the course at 4 weeks post partum. I have been what can only be described as a complete wreck, suffering with terrible anxiety,panic attacks, mood swings, headaches,stomach cramps, nonstop bleeding. I went to see my GP who diagnosed PND & PNA. He told me to try and relax! I have got worse with the anxiety and low mood controlling my life, i feel like an alien has invaded my body and taken away the old me, i have felt so lost! My DR has perscribed me with antianxiety meds and told me in the same app that perhaps cerazette was causing the bleeding. He told me to stop breastfeeding, finnish my last strip of cerazette pills, change to a different pill and to take the anxiety meds for two weeks and if i didn't improve he'd then give me antidepressants, i was unsure about taking the meds so i didn't collect my perscription. I decided to look up the side effects of cerazette today and i am blown away by what i have read in the reviews. Every bad side effect is what i have experienced so perhaps it's this pill making me feel like i'm going crazy!I took my last one this morning and threw the rest in the bin!!! I forgot to take yesterdays pill and i didnt really feel anxious at all! so i can't wait to see if i start to feel better in the next few weeks. This pill is dangerous it nearly destroyed my life and made me feel so mentally unstable it should be made more clear what actual side effects can take place!

[expatinscotland]

And he gave you shite advice to stop breastfeeding.

I hope you didn't on his crummy advice.

[deansmama]

Update* When I last posted I had taken my last cerazette pill its has now about a week later and i feel better less anxious, the bleeding has stopped, my libido has returned in full force wink I just feel better in my self more like the old me, I do still feel a little depressed but im sure thats the PND and maybe cerazette was exaggerating my symptoms! My doctor in France suggests that cerazette is a bad pill, I can't believe i took it without reading the side effects and reviews, I hope i continue to improve and put this horrible nightmare behind me for good!

[LadyLex]

I have just posted a message on this subject on another board - www.mumsnet.com/Talk/postnatal_clubs/397249-minipill-cerazette-specifically-and-depression-anxiety-sideeffects-a-warning-please/AllOnOnePage.

Thanks to everyone for sharing their experiences, as a result I have been very lucky to identify Cerazette as the cause of my anxiety and anger very early on. I have now stopped taking the pill and would urge anyone experiencing similar symptoms to speak to the GP. If I had known about the possible side effects I would have realised why I was a feeling so bad much earlier on, it's scary to think what might have happened if the anger I had been feeling had gone on unchecked for too long....... What a horrible, horrible drug.

[liamandabigailsmummy]

Am so relieved I came across this page. I have been on cerazette just over 3 months, after the birth of my 2nd child. Normally a laid back, pleasant person I noticed that a few people were irritating me more than normal! I mentionned this to my husband who (as nicely as possible) told me that I was irritable with everybody including him and our eldest child (18m). I thought about this and was horrified when I realised he right. Things that I would normally joke about I'd been snapping. I feel like crying all the time and feel I want to have a great big argument but luckily my husband knows what is happening and doesn't take the bait! I am going to the doctors tomorrow to find another method of contraception but was nervous, as the doctor practically forced the prescription in my hand. I know they will try and say I have PND but I LOVE being a mother, enjoy going out places with the children, eat well, have plenty of support and get plenty of sleep (4m old sleeps 12 hours, 18m old 10 hours a night). This page has given me the confidence to say what I need to say tomorrow. Thank you x

[mcmillan]

At the end of January I had to take a morning after pill which left me feeling a bit low after and increasingly anxious, i've taken it years ago and it made me feel a bit rubbish so i was expecting this. I ended up having my period early and my next period then came a few days after the other one stopped. Therefore meaning I've had two this month. I was due to start taking cerazette on my next period due in march but since it came early I asked my doctor what to do and he said to go ahead and start taking it.
It's been 4 days now and I feel awful. Also up until a week ago was taking co-hydromol for a sore shoulder and I've heard a side effect of coming off that is anxiety.
I'm an emotional wreck at the moment, I feel very down, very anxious and I get hot sweats and get myself wound up over silly thinks. I've lost my level headedness and feel a bit all over the place and on the verge of tears all the time. I've suffered from moments of anxiety in the past and can be a bit of a worrier but this is awful.
I'm wondering whether to carry on and hope it gets better seeing as it may be a combination of cerazette and the other medication that i mentioned that's made my hormones go with or whether to stop it and look for other options that won't muck about with hormones. The more i read the more it seems that cerazette really isn't got those who already either suffer or have suffered from anxiety. I'm normally a very happy person, i'd like to go back to being that way.

[sapphire73]

Hi there, I have been on cerazette for nearly 4 weeks, and its been horrible. I went to the doctor because I have severely heavy periods with clots that make me feel very unwell and I am also very anaemic, so he prescribed me these pills and said that they should stop my periods or make them very light, I did not want to take them as in the past I have not been able to tolerate any form of contraceptive pill ( which is why after my second son my husband has a vasectomy) which I did tell my doctor . Within 3 days I had severe headaches, anxiety , depression, breast pain and feelings of extreme anger one minute and bursting into tears the next, I feel that I cannot cope with anything, I am finding it difficult to cope with the children , housework and my job . This pill is affecting my work, my marriage and my sanity. I have also had heavy bleeding now for 4 days . My doctor wants me to take this for 3 months and then have a coil fitted, but I have decided that for the sake of my family and my own mental health that I will be stopping these pills today. I have also put on 10lbs in 3 weeks and have had problems with sleeping and water retention. I am having a scan next week , so maybe they will come up with a better plan. I am completely fed up , and so had a look on the net to see if anyone else had had similar experiences and luckily came across this site , which is really helpful.