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mini-pill (cerazette specifically) and depression/anxiety side-effects - a warning! Please read..

340 replies

RedFraggle · 29/09/2007 16:44

After my horrendous experience with a mini-pill I felt I had to post this here as well as on the feeling depressed board.

I had my DS three months ago and after initial baby blues was starting to feel better. Went for my 8 week postnatal check and was prescribed Cerazette (the mini-pill) 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 hadn't felt up to even doing that for weeks! I saw a post about cerazette and mood swings and alarm bells rang. Googled Cerazette 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 (according to my HV) 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.
If you have recently had a baby and were feeling ok but suddenly start to feel bad or not yourself shortly after starting a mini-pill it might be worth considering changing or stopping medication to just rule out a link. Check with your doctor first of course!!!

OP posts:
busymum3 · 15/08/2009 21:30

Hi Everyone, Have just had a miserable moody day with my kids and having read the messages here I am now convinced its down to cerazette. I have been taking it for 2 months just started a new pack and wondering whether to just stop. I bled on and off for 3 out of the 4 first weeks. Spotted only for one week in the 2nd pack and nothing since , so that is getting better. But what I hate is that some mornings I just wake up in a foul mood and feel really grumpy and depressed and today I shouted at my ds of 2.5 yrs for no real reason. I don't feel happy generally and I should be as I have 2 lovely children dd of 9m, ds 2.5 yrs. Just feel down and wonder whether I should stop taking the pill. Has anyone else stopped taking cerazette due to bad moods and how long after stopping did their moods improve?

busymum3 · 15/08/2009 21:54

Hi, I have been taking cerazette for 2 months now. Had lots of bleeding to start with but that has settled down a bit. My main problem is my bad mood swings. I wake up some morning like today, and I feel really depressed and moody and bad tempered. I shouted at my ds (2.5yrs ) for no real reason and I have just felt low all day. This happens every few days and it is beginning to get me down. Having read the posts here I am beginning to realise that cerazette could be the source of my unhappiness. If I stop taking it does anyone know how quickly my moods might improve? Or has anyone had bad mood swings in the early days of taking cerazette and then has it settled down after a while? Any thoughts on this gratefully received. Thanks Busymum3

lexilex · 23/08/2009 22:57

hiya. i posted v. early on in this thread, so have been off this pill for over a year and didnt go on any other contraception. but i have found my periods are a nightmare. i get the normal pains, headaches and PMT and i can cope with these as the are relativly normal in my mind. but its having them so irregular thats doing my head in. my peroids used to be the normal every 28 days but now they are almost every 3-4 weeks! and i hate it!!

i cant take any other hormonal contraception because i am been depression free when not on them.

but i was just wondering if anyone else have had a change in cycle patterns since coming off cerazette?

lexilex · 23/08/2009 23:04

busymum3 - i would recommened you should speak to your doctor about coming off this pill. have you been on any form of pill before? have you got a history of depression?

i went to my doc and looked at dates of when i was on contraception and dates of when i was on AD's and the were generally at the same time, the only times i was depression free was when i was trying to concieve and when pregnant. so we concluded that the hormones were making me depressed. i came of both pills last year and have been feeling fab since. (apart from the irregular periods. but they are so unimportant compared to how i was before)

let me know how you get on. xxxxxx

busymum3 · 24/08/2009 14:08

Hi, lexilex, thanks for your message, I tried to get an appointment but I couldn't see my doctor for 4 days so I decided to just stop.So it has been one week now and I have had some good days and some bad. I think I need to give it a bit more time. Yes I have had one time when I went on AD's and I used to be on the pill (not sure what make) before I got married. I think you are right that it is hormones in the pill that make me down as I also was ok when ttc and pregnant. Considering that we have had ivf twice to have our babies I am going to stay pill free for now and see how I feel, as the risk of getting pregnant is very small for us.Thanks for your help. xxx

LolaP · 28/08/2009 12:28

OMG I'm so happy to have found this site. Only been on Cerazette for a week but already started to feel depressed, had mood swings and feeling very teary. Had to change from combined pill due to age and smoking. Im surprised to feel this low already. Doctor said to give it three months to settle but not sure I can cope that long. I have self harmed in the past and started to feel like doing it again as feeling so low but luckily don't feel alone anymore after finding this site. It has been so good to read how everybody else has been on this pill and Im not going mad. Hoping to see doctor next week to see if I can change to an implant instead!!

Berrie · 28/08/2009 12:31

It cured my depression!

Berrie · 28/08/2009 12:34

Also when I complained about the spots the gp gave me some wonder cream that has given me the best skin I've ever had! Loads better than the creams they brought out 20 years ago (last time I used them)

busymum3 · 30/08/2009 20:36

Hi LolaP i think that is a good idea to go to your doctors. I gave up the pill just before 3 months was up I had had enough. I couldn't go another day with it , well thats what it felt like to me. It's now been 2 weeks off it's and I feel much better. Good luck love Busymum3

Rourou · 04/09/2009 15:37

Well i have just read everybodys comments about cerazette and i must say cheers to all u lovely ladies for sharing ur experiences. I have just started on this cerazette on mon 1st sept 09 havent really had any side effects yet but i will let ya's know. I was on Femodette for the last three years and had no problems with it but when i went to doc to get BP checked the doc recomended i try cerazette due to being a smoker. She has given me a three month supply to try it out and if it doesnt work for me i think im gonna try and give up the smokes and go back on femodette.

moshy · 05/09/2009 09:19

just want to AGGREE 100% with all adverse side effects of cerazette. I took cilest for 14 years which produced minor symtoms of the cerazette and then 2 years ago I was prescribed this pill. I have experienced a feeling of going insane, an almost out of body experience, were I also have severe mood swings, am aggressive, cold, nasty, uncontrolably upset and angry to the point of nearly trying to kill my other half. I became pyschopathically obsessed and paranoid and lost all confidence and self esteem - these are just some of the pyschological effecrs I suffered. There are also many physical, the same as most everyone else, I suffered from spots, mainly on my cheeks that were huge, sore, enflamed and there permanantly, serious loss of sex drive, food cravings, chocolate mainly, ecthema, infected dermatitis, constantly oily skin, skin discolouration, grey, brow patches, poor hair condition, loss of feeling in my fingers daily, and numerous more that I now know are cerazette related.

I stopped taking it and changed to a non-hormonal coil 3 weeks ago and fron day 1 I began to feel better in myself. I have noticed now a change in my personality, I seem to have found 'the little girl' qualities again, laughing, having a bit of fun, optimism, being excited about stuff, etc etc and from bout 48 hours of stopping the pills my sex drive began to return. 3 eeks on, the oily skin is starting to go, hair is healthier, spots are virtually gone, skin colour is looking brighter, and most of all, depression, anxiety, paranoia and obsessiveness are subsiding.

It is unbeleiveable that thousands of women are being precribed a contraceptive which does this to them. Sadly, I believe, that as it is mainly prescribed to women over a certain age, I am 40 and smoke, (only about 10 a day, not exsessivley)it is almost as though it s being tested on these women, me included, as generally, by this age we have had our kids, and may not nedd another form of contraception u to the menopause.

rebecca010 · 07/09/2009 19:47

Hello Everyone,

Just been reading through the posts on other people's 'Cerazette experiences' so with those in mind I will share my story/experience.

I started taking Cerazette around about 6 months ago and prior to that I had been having the Depo Provera injection for a number of years. I was pleased to begin with and didn't notice any real differences apart from the fact that I lost around 7 pounds in weight. Not having a period wasn't a problem for me because I was used to that after being on the injection for so long.

Over the past couple of months I have began to feel low for no apparent reason and I don't really seem to be getting much enjoyment from life. Things that I used to enjoy doing seem like a chore and even the good things don't fill me with much excitment.

It has affected my relationship with my parter also and he has commented on the fact that I'm not the easy going, happy go lucky person that I used to be and I completely agree with him. I have been questioning how I feel about him and have been feeling rather emotional-less in other areas of my life which is rather concerning. I have been feeling sad and anxious, panicking and worrying about the slightest little thing and being very emotional, which isn't like me at all. I find it really difficult to understand how I can be one person one minute and then feel like someone completely different the next. I have been feeling that I am losing my mind and I can't understand why!! My mum became really anxious and suggsted that I visit the GP and discuss my feelings with her.

I took her advice and went to see the GP who suggested that I try a course of Anti-Depressants, which I have refused. I have just been given another months supply of Cerazette but after this my GP won't give me anymore until she has seen me.

After reading through the majority of the posts on this website and being able to identify with a lot of the signs/symptoms that other people are experiencing then perhaps I'm not going mad after all. I think that I need to discuss the options with my GP and see what happens from there.

Thanks everyone, all your experiences have been really helpful

Ralphyroooooooo · 08/09/2009 14:45

Hi, I thought I would leave a message after reading everyone elses. I have been on Cerazette now for over a year and havent had many problems with it, although for the last for months I have had really bad constipation and flatuence and a friend told me that this could be because of the pill. Has anyone else had this problem?

Ralphyroooooooo · 08/09/2009 14:48

Hi, I thought I would leave a message after reading everyone elses. I have been on Cerazette now for over a year and havent had many problems with it, although for the last for months I have had really bad constipation and flatuence and a friend told me that this could be because of the pill. Has anyone else had this problem?

RedFraggle · 16/09/2009 11:56

I'm so glad that people are still using this old thread for support. It's been a few years since I first posted about my horror with Cerazette, but it's still fresh in my mind - to the extent that I still refuse to touch another hormonal contraceptive with a barge pole!

reading through some of the more recent posts I just wanted to re-iterate that if you are having any nasty side-effects (with cerazette or a different pill) the first stop should be your GP to discuss it and then plan a course of action with them. If you are sure that it is the drug that is responsible for the mood swings, spots, weight gain etc then please, please have the drug yellow carded as this is the only way the drug companies will respond and also the only way that GPs will know that there is a problem with the drug. So many people say that their GP has told them that it isn't the pill. Yellow card it and then the link will be there and other women might not have to go through the awfulness too!

Thanks

OP posts:
kittikatti · 19/09/2009 16:51

I am so glad to come across this site.

My GP prescribed me cerazette to try and regulate my mood swings!!..... I have been on it 5 months and feel totally useless at times because i cant function.

I have just turned 40 and have 3 kids (youngest just started school). I have decided to stop these pills as of today. I dont even need the contraception because my husband had the snip....(3 times!!)

The side effects are putting a srain on daily life. I have my fingers crossed that i start feeling better soon.

kittikatti · 19/09/2009 16:52

I am so glad to come across this site.

My GP prescribed me cerazette to try and regulate my mood swings!!..... I have been on it 5 months and feel totally useless at times because i cant function.

I have just turned 40 and have 3 kids (youngest just started school). I have decided to stop these pills as of today. I dont even need the contraception because my husband had the snip....(3 times!!)

The side effects are putting a srain on daily life. I have my fingers crossed that i start feeling better soon.

kittikatti · 19/09/2009 16:56

I am so glad to come across this site.

My GP prescribed me cerazette to try and regulate my mood swings!!..... I have been on it 5 months and feel totally useless at times because i cant function.

I have just turned 40 and have 3 kids (youngest just started school). I have decided to stop these pills as of today. I dont even need the contraception because my husband had the snip....(3 times!!)

The side effects are putting a srain on daily life. I have my fingers crossed that i start feeling better soon.

It has been so good to read all of your posts ladies, Thank you redfraggle, you have given me hope..

kittikatti · 19/09/2009 17:03

Not sure how i managd to post 3 times..

All that matters now is that my head aches leave me and my Sex drive returns!!

Once again, fingers crossed....

Staceyclaire · 05/10/2009 09:12

I thought i was going mad!!!

I am so glad i found this website as a lot of what has been said by everyone i have been experiencing myself.

I was only put on Cerzette about 2 weeks ago but after a week i had enough! Right away i started a period from hell and my breasts were really sore (i never usually suffer from that) My mood also went so low that i didn't even know what i was doing - i was walking around like a zombie, like i had this fog over my mind. I didn't want to talk to anyone at work and almost burst out crying a few times. Stupidly i put it down to being unhappy in my relationship and we split up . I have been so unhappy that i do actually think it is making my 2 year old son unhappy - he's been whining a lot this week which is not like him .

I went to my GP last Thursday and told them i wanted to go back on Cilest straight away - i was expecting her to tell me to continue with it but she was quite understanding and put me back on Cilest straight away.

Today i feel like a completely different person - its like the fog has lifted - i have had the best night sleep i have had in ages and am actually feeling quite positive again. I am also seeing my bf tonight so hopefully i can make him see that it was this pill making me act the way i have done this week and i hope he can forgive me - wish me luck

To anyone else on this pill experiencing these symptoms i would suggest either just coming off it straight away or else see your GP asap !

dinkybird · 07/10/2009 00:02

Hi all! Also so glad i found this!! I have been prescribed cerazette when looking for a safe contraceptive to use whilst breastfeeding. Doc reassured me that there are no adverse effects passed onto dd. I was anxious as i have never used hormone based contraceptives!! After a long discussion with doc and partner i decided to go for it!!

A few days after atarting this pill i was feeling low, teary and tired.not like me atall so put it down to post holiday blues, as we just enjoyed a family hol to italy with 5 mth d.

ONLY 10 DAYS AFTER STARTING THIS PILL I HAVE REALISED IT IS THIS THAT IS MAKING ME FEEL TERRIBLE!!

I have an outbreak of spots on my chin, cheeks and hairline, feel unusually low, unmotivated and tired. All of which are not like me atall!! I also have an extremely bloated stomach, nausea and dizziness.

As a result i am stopping as of today, i am not putting myself or family through this!!

I originally went to docs with irregular bleeding following the birth of my dd! Have since read that cerazette is not to be taken if this is the case! I should never have been prescribed this in the first place!!

I will stick to non-hormonal methods of contraception and remain a happy, motivated and bubbly person instead of a depressed, tired,teary, emotional reck with a spotty face and hugely bloated stomach!!

Thanks girls xxxxxx

dinkybird · 07/10/2009 00:22

Warning - do not take cerazette!!

Sorry to post again, but forgot to mention, very painfull breasts, which are now engorged!
Also, slightly blurred vision!

Cant be good for me or dd

shaunap · 10/10/2009 16:31

hi ladies, ive been on cerazette for the past 4/5 months and quite literally ive been feelin like s**t. feelin down all the time, snappin at ppl for no reason, even my daughter has been winding me up more than usually and i have to leave the room. i went to see my family plannin clinic and wen i tried to tell them how ive been feelin it was brushed off and another course of the same pill given to me. i need to b on the pill as my husband refuses to wear a condom and i dont want to get pregnant again just yet. the other contraceptions are not an option for me due to personal reasons. does anyone have any advice. ive also experienced weight gain even tho i do exercise everyday, ive been gettin alot more spots which i never usually had, just generally feel like im guna freak out sumtimes. any help would be great.

SandyBoon · 28/10/2009 20:42

Yes to all that! And the irregular bleeding as well which is doing my head in. I started Cerazette a month ago and I am coming off now because I cannot stand the mood swings anymore. The spots on the face, the greasy hair etc etc. I came to a point too where I was constantly snapping at people and felt like I was forcing myself to be pleasant at times and like Dinkybird I refuse to put myself or my family through this. The lack of motivation was getting to me as well and as I work from home it wasn't good at all. I am so relieved to read that it is not just me. Every review I have read is negative. Why are they prescribing that awful thing??

Sandy

jessNW · 04/01/2010 23:26

Hi
I am a young mother of 21. Two years after giving birth to my beautiful baby daughter erin, i decided to go on the pill again.

I was advised by the family planning clinic, to go on Cerezette as i do get migraines sometimes.

I was on the pill for about 9 months, and only after stopping taking it, i truely realized how evil it was.

At the time, i honestly thought i was just experiencing very bad depression for no reason. Not only this i experiences weird panic attacks in which i couldnt even swallow, and would have to calm myself down in order to swallow again. I kept gettin really back headaches, and was completely paranoid that i may have a tumour.

I was generally just very mentally unstable and stopped socializing with my friends and staying in.

I asked about three different doctors, drop in clinics advice and all said the head aches and dperession was not to do with the pill. I felt hopeless.

That was a year ago, and i only just thought that they could be linked and typed in cerezette with depression and here it was!

I can't beleive i didnt put two and two together.