I began taking birth control a month before we got married. I was all for it and I liked it. I didn't gain weight and my periods were a lot less painful and shorter. I didn't notice any negative effects and it was so nice not having to worry about getting pregnant. I didn't have any issues remembering to take it at night and I was a strong supporter of birth control. But, when life was consistently hard, when my moods were swinging everywhere, when nothing seemed to be working no matter how hard tried we decided we needed to change SOMETHING.
Paxton suggested me getting off of birth control but I really didn't want to do that. In my mind my birth control was not making me act like this. I had anxiety and depression and I was just going through a really strong bout of it. A lot of my friends and people I knew stopped taking it shortly after they started due to mood swings or just feeling crazy. I really didn't think it was a factor in my anxiety and depression at all. I felt like I really was just in a rut and that getting off of birth control really wouldn't change anything. I liked not having to worry about getting pregnant and I liked how much better and less painful my periods were. But something had to be done and I didn't want to switch my anxiety medication because that takes a lot longer to get out of your system and to get used to a new one.
We came to an agreement that I would just switch to another type of The Pill to see if the different hormone levels would help me to feel more normal. It helped! We started to see progress with my mental health and it was encouraging. I cried a lot less and it was easier to be happy. But, I still struggled more than I should. I still wasn't ME. I kind of fell back on the idea that it wasn't the birth control and that it was really just me that needed to change and I needed to just keep trying everyday. After 3 months of that, we still saw improvements, but I needed more than that. I needed to be me and to be effortlessly happy and optimistic.
After lots of discussion about tons of different options, we decided I just needed to stop taking birth control all together. It would be better for me to at least try going off to see if it would make a difference. If there was no difference I would go back on it and then we would look into switching my anxiety medication instead.
It's been a little over a month since I stopped taking birth control and I can't even begin to tell you how much of a difference it has made in my life! I have felt more like myself than I have in a year! I really didn't believe it would make this much of a difference. If I would have known all this I would have gotten off of it a lot sooner. It's so much easier for me to be happy. It's so much easier for me to not cry and be overly sensitive. It's so much easier for me to feel like myself and have motivation to do the things I love. I'm not blaming all this success on stopping taking birth control though. Over the past year I really have been TRYING and DOING things to actively help my anxiety and depression (click here to see a few of the things I did). It has been a combination of a whole bunch of things but I really have seen such a huge difference in my mental health since I stopped taking The Pill.
I'm not in anyway saying I am against birth control. I'm not saying to stop taking it if you are currently on it, I think it's something great. It took me a year before I decided to stop taking it. But I do recommend, if you struggle with mental health issues, if you've tried tons of different things to try and help yourself improve and become healthier, if you notice you became more moody or depressed since you started taking birth control- just look into ALL of your options. It's all about trial and error.
xoxo
Bailey
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