Depression and the pill

[Pitchounette]

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I had endometriosis and wont touch pill with a barge pole or anything else that will unbalance my hormones. I have gone for natural contraception as I couldn't bear to have a coil fitted after childbirth.

Best thing is to come off the pill for a bit and see if there are any changes.

I've just given up on the pill after 2 years of feeling low, and many other crap symptoms...

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i doubt you have imagined it, you should have more faith in yourself and ability to know your own body. Trust your instincts.

I went through the menopause for 6 months - it was a nasty drug and has horrible side effects. It was the worst 6 months of my life. Also it only puts it on hold and is no cure. I have since discovered chinese medicine which has completely changed my life.

I also suffered with urticaria, allergy and eczema, which in TCM is all connected. I am free of all these symptoms and have more energy now than I ever had before. I also dealt with emotional causes too as health and emotions I believe are closely interlinked.

Take heart from my tale. Trust your instincts, take responsibility for your health, don't take bio-medicine's approach as the definitive answer. Your symptoms are personal to you and your body works as a system not as individual parts. Bio-medicine is limited and tends to supress symptoms in my opinion.

yes, and anger the last time i woke during the night and dh had disturbed i would have done him harm, i told him the following day what had happen and the intense anger i felt and he put the rest in bin and i have never such rage since.

i still have the odd bouts of depression due to hormones but nothing like the when i was on the pill.

I became really depressed on the pill and haven't taken it for about 20 years. I suffer from depression anyway, but all those extra hormones sloshing about made things much much worse! Now I have a coil.

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I had tthis too pitchounette, and I changed it to the oestrogen only pill (the 'mini pill', the one you can take whilke breastfeeding), and haven't had an problems with this one. Odd they didn't suggest this to you, it was my GP's idea.

Hi Pichounette,

Re your comment:-

"I did explain my worries to the gynecologist but to cut it short I have no choice other than hormonal treatment (well except an hysterectomy)".

Think you need to find another gynae; one whose knowledge is more up to date!. Actually a hyst if it was done for endo may not be the end of your problems re it as it can recur particularly if its in the intestines. The pill won't treat endo; it will only mask its symptoms. In my experience as well endo gets worse the longer it is left.

Have a look at www.endo.org.uk which is the Endometriosis UK website. It has lots of info of there and has a good message board.

pitchouette, I took a foundation course in naturapathy and learnt about various alternitive disciplines. The tutor for chinese medicine was excellent, he was an ex civil servant and had studied for over 10 years herbs and acupuncture. I was so impressed with the principals of chinese medicine it was enlightening. He told me there was a teaching college in my area. I was pregnant at the time so I couldn't have any treatment but he said I should go as soon as I finished breast feeding. That it was a condition of the blood a deficiency. In my case it was caused by prolonged trauma although I have a genetic pre-disposition. He said that I was ok but would have difficulty after birth, due to blood loss etc. Boy I was ill, I collapsed a few times and was so exhausted. I found the clinic and haven't looked back since. It's a teaching college so you see some highly experienced doctors, sometimes students are there which is why it is so reasonable.

I recently appeared in a feature in my local paper promoting the college. I can't recommend it enough. Choose a doctor who is qualified in both acupuncture and herbs and they need to be a member of the british acupuncture council. On a personal level I had to deal with the causes and still have to understand the emotional triggers. I tend to bottle things up.

I feel as if I have been given my life back.

I hope it goes well, discovering TCM has been a real journey of enlightenment for me.

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The first thing I would say is to take responsibility for your own health. Find out information from other sources and research yourself. Don't rely solely on your doctor. www.wddty.com

They're not infallible

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They made me worse. To be fair there are good ones my SIL is a consultant gyne, and she is up to date - she's more than aware and despairs at some of them though.

After going through the awful time with the menopause. When I asked the gyne what to expect coming off it he said 'your tits will get bigger' .. nice