It was two months since I had stopped taking The Pill. Might I add, I hate how culturally grammatical we have to be when we write, “The Pill”. THE Pill is how I read it. It’s 2019, and it all still seems so covertly retro. Anyway, it is hard to go back in time because the thoughts of what transpired the year I came off The Pill still overwhelm me. I had never really agreed with the notion of loading ourselves with synthetic hormone, and in fact, for 70% of my sexually active life, I used other very successful methods. Regardless, I was in my early 20’s, and like most, decided to hop on the Pill for a couple more years until I knew I had found the guy of my dreams. Well, the time came, I was in a great relationship, I felt safe and comfortable emotionally, as well as financially, and I made the choice to come off. I popped the last little pink pill on January 19th, 2017. Fast forward to March 10th, 2017 and here is where it all started.
Peripheral Nerve Symptoms
I woke up with severe, I can’t stress the word “severe” enough, pins and needles in my hands and feet. That feeling you get when you lay too long on a limb, numb it out, and then feel the tingling- that feeling. So, I thought I had slept weird, and continued on with my day, but by night, the severity hadn’t changed. I woke up the next morning, still feeling this tingling but it was now accompanied by extreme feelings of weakness in my arms and legs. The strange part was that I wasn’t actually weak. I was able to lift heavy items like normal, it was just the feeling of weakness. Did I have a stroke? This is where the anxiety started to kick in. I have struggled with anxiety my whole life but over the next 3 months, I had never experienced such an extreme form of anxiety and depression like this. I was in the prime of my life, 25 years old, and I had never felt worse. I had this intense tingling in my hands and feet, weakness throughout my arms and legs, and an unremitting dismal and gloomy cloud following me. I started to research, and although mistakenly started to self-diagnose with brain tumors, Multiple Sclerosis, Lupus, Autoimmune, I ultimately thought I was deficient in electrolytes or vitamins, and bought a Gatorade. Well, that didn’t help either.
Brain Fog and Depersonalization
I decided to take a few days off from work, get a massage and do a few yoga classes. It was a week since these feelings started, and the brain fog was coming in strong. If anyone has ever had this brain fog symptom, I would almost say it’s more debilitating than depression itself. The cloud of depression that hangs over your head is now in your head. Brain fog is like depersonalization, you’re really not sure if you’re even here on this earth, you feel so distant and detached from life, it’s scary. The massage helped me feel a bit better, not so tense, I was able to take a few deep breaths and have a few seconds of peace. When I went into the yoga classes, I would sit in the back. My goal was just to breathe and relax my body and my mind. Well, the second the teacher started, I had waterfalls of tears flowing out of my eyes. Until this day, I couldn’t tell you why that was happening in each class but if that’s not a major sign of depression, I don’t know what is.
Buzzing Bees in My Spine and Brain
The tingling and weakness wasn’t going away. It was now the end of April and my period was two weeks late. I then started to wake up in the middle of the night with a feeling of buzzing bees up my spine and in my brain. The feeling was so off-putting and disturbing, I couldn’t fall back asleep. I would get hot flashes- peri-menopause? At 25? No way. My eyes would randomly hurt. My teeth would randomly hurt. I would have crazy sinus issues. There were times where I was so tired I would take the day off because I couldn’t move. I felt debilitated. I was not myself. I even thought about going on disability.
Could it be the Pill? Absolutely Not, Says Every Doctor.
All my life healthy, I was a kickboxing instructor, an everyday gym goer, something was just not right. It was time to go to the doctor. Getting an urgent appointment with the Gyno is nearly a battle in itself, especially when you call and say, “Something weird is going on in my body, I’m not sure what it is”. Next appointment, 3 weeks away. So I went to the walk in clinic near my house, blood pressure: 150/110. I had never seen such high numbers. Diagnoses – anxiety, solution-anti depressants. No thank you. Something more was going on inside. I have been getting my period almost to the day since I was 12 years old, that’s 13 years of consistency. I’m not pregnant and 2 weeks late? No, something is wrong hormonally. I went to my primary care physician. They did blood work, checked me up and down – nothing. Again, my blood pressure read: 145/108, diagnoses-anxiety, solution-relax. I went to the Gyno, and was told “there’s no way these symptoms are from coming off The Pill.” Shocked, I asked why it couldn’t be, she replied, “The Pill is something that needs to be taken every day because it gets metabolized within 24 hours, so if you haven’t taken a pill since January, it’s no longer in your system. You should get other testing done.” I know that, I did that, but trying to convince someone with a much higher education in this field, an expert in fact, was going nowhere. I knew it was up to me to do my own research and trust what my body was telling me.
Women Know Better
I hopped back online and googled, “hormonal imbalance symptoms”, “after the pill reactions”, “what birth control really does to you”- the list goes on. It had been four months since these symptoms started. I finally came across an amazing blog post where there were 10 pages of women expressing the same symptoms as me after coming off the Pill. It was the most comforting moment of my life. I knew I wasn’t making these symptoms up. This wasn’t all anxiety. This was real; for me, for them, for everyone who had come off the Pill and felt a huge difference in their body. In my adult years, I shied away from publicly posting my feelings and connecting with people virtually, but, I felt like if I didn’t participate, if I didn’t help, that would just be immoral and unethical.
What was interesting to me was that we all initially thought MS or brain tumor. All of our symptoms happened about two months after we took the last pill and all of the symptoms lasted on average 8-9 months. Almost all of us had blood work, CT scans, MRI’s, and all of us came back negative on every test. We exchanged advice about best foods, herbs, and practices that were helping us, and consoled each other in this grueling sea of unknown. Every one of us were told that it wasn’t due to coming off The Pill, and every one of us didn’t believe it. It was from The Pill, it is from The Pill.
Ultimately, this takes time, a healthy lifestyle and patience. Some doctors will say, go back on the Pill to help it, but that seems counter-intuitive to me. When this reaction becomes so real and tormenting, the Pill is the most frightening thing and the furthest from the cure or the answer. I’ve researched endlessly for the past two years, and only recently see the term coined, “Post Birth Control Syndrome”. It’s catchy, for sure, but the description isn’t quite as accurate. There are weirder, stranger symptoms that happen than just the irregular periods, acne, and weight change; that to me seems like it skims the surface, that’s easy stuff comparably.
I’m happy to report that I feel back to normal, but this experience will never leave my mind. Through it all, I feel the injustices for women are brought about because of a terrible patient care system with limited time and awareness in an ever turning patient revolving door. I produced a documentary entitled, “Hormoneously Alone,” now out on YouTube, to shed light on these issues among others involving The Pill.
We’re all in this together, but with the lack of education, awareness and openness, we all may as well be alone.
If you or someone you know has had similar experiences coming off of the Pill, or if you would like to share your story, message me here, I would love to hear from you.
In Health,
Raquel Latona
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I am so glad that I’ve found this article, because I’ve been on quite the emotional roller coaster lately. I am 28 years old and was taking hormonal birth control pills for a little over a year, but decided to stop them 2 months ago due to annoying side effects. For the first week or so, I started experiencing what felt like tightness and pressure in my head. I also started having a random tingling/burning sensation in the back of my head that worsened when I would lay down in a certain way, along with soreness in my neck. All of these new and uncomfortable sensations led me to experiencing probably the worst anxiety of my life. I have a history of anxiety, but I’ve never had an episode quite like this before. One day during the first week, I was so scared that I went to the nearest Urgent Care with my boyfriend to get checked out. When they took my blood pressure, it was higher than it’s ever been (most likely because I was in the middle of a panic attack). They checked it again before I left and it thankfully went back down after I calmed down a bit. They took my blood, and the results came back normal. They also gave me a referral for a CT Scan to get my head checked out, which I decided to not follow through with. I started messaging my GYN asking her if all of these could be possible withdrawal symptoms after stopping the BC, and she just told me to follow up with my PCP. I then made an appointment to see my PCP a couple days later and told her everything that was going on. She was attentive and heard me out with all of my concerns. Ultimately, she told me that it’s possible this could be from stopping the BC, but she didn’t think it was the cause. We talked about different medication options to help with my anxiety, and she gave me a prescription for LEXAPRO. At first, I wanted to give it a try, but then I decided not to as I just didn’t want to get on another medication and deal with more new side effects. I also just wanted to try my best to combat my anxiety head on rather than just masking it with an SSRI. I’ve just been trying to go about my routine like normal since then. I’m still working, going to the gym regularly as usual, and trying to eat properly. I’ve noticed some improvements after the first month of being off the pill, such as my period coming back, my neck pain and head pressure has gone away, and my anxiety seems to be more under control than before. I’ve also been sleeping better and the tingling/burning sensation in the back of my head has improved (I think it was most likely an anxiety response). I’ve been experiencing some new things recently though, such as increased light sensitivity, as well as brain fog and feelings of dissociation. I’m still not 100%, especially since it’s only been my second month of coming off the pill, but I feel better off now than I was in the beginning and am trying to stay optimistic that I will continue to feel back to normal with some time and patience. Reading everyone’s stories who have been going through similar situations has been very comforting for me and I’m wishing us all the best on our journeys 🙂
This is blowing my mind. I stopped the pill about a month ago and actually had a full period about 2.5 weeks after stopping it, so I thought I would have minimal struggles. Well just last week I woke up from sleep with numbness on the side of my face and in my ear on that side, and going further down that side of my body. I let it go for a couple of days and then it traveled down to the lower left side of my back, the upper leg and even into my vaginal area. I went to an urgent care that immediately sent me to an ER b/c they were worried about spinal cord compression since I did have some back pain develop.
They did 4 imaging scans on me within 24 hours and I had a neurologist, a spinal surgeon, and physical therapists all come see me and tell me they could see nothing that could cause my nerve pain in the scans or in my bloodwork.
They shot me up with all types of drugs while I was there so the pain subsided, but has returned since being home for nearly 2 days. Me being the curious creature I am started to do some digging, since my husband was the one to ask if stopping the birth control could cause these issues and every doctor in the ER said no. I followed up with my regular doc and she basically said the same thing, but I have appointments scheduled with a neurologist and a new gyno, so I will ask them also.
I am so happy to have stumbled upon this in my searching. It’s just crazy to me that we have so many of the EXACT symptoms – the numbness, head pressure and burning feelings there. And I am much older than you, which is the main reason I stopped the pills, so this clearly spans across ages.
My doctor also wants to start me on an SSRI, and it’s something I’m very worried to do.
I hope you continue to get better and can put this behind you completely soon!
So glad this article helped you, I hope you feel better soon!! Thank you for reading.
Thank you for reading, I’m sorry you’re going through it. The doctors unfortunately have no idea about these post pill issues, it’s really frustrating. I hope the article helped. The documentary linked is a really good resource to understand more too.
I am so glad i found this article. I have been off the pill now since July 2023 i had been on the pill 24years !! and my symptoms started a month after. started with pins and needles in my hands and severe panic attacks that i had never suffered with before, anxiety was next level like nothing i had ever felt before. then pins and needles in my legs and feet (this is the main symptom i suffer with ) jaw pain, headaches . had so many blood tests, MRI, CT Scan all came back clear apart from some bulging discs were only mild. this artiicle has made me feel like i am not going mad every health professional i have mentioned this too has shrugged me off , has anyone any tips on how they got back to normal as i am very much still suffering
thanks
Thank you for reading! I’m sorry you’re going through the struggle, it does pass. For me it took some time (about 9 months to see significant improvement). I tried to be as natural as possible with everything I did, I took out a lot of foods that had added hormones like meats and dairy, and went very much organic and increased a lot of my fruits and vegetables and teas. Exercise is very important and I would say sleep is probably the most important out of all of these things, but of course, very hard to get with everyone’s busy lives. It is a very daunting time, but there is light at the end of the tunnel, so keep your head up. Thank you for reading, and if you have time to watch my documentary linked in the article, it’ll probably give you even more answers that you’re looking for. Wish you the best! Raquel
I’m glad I found this…I’ve been off the pill for 1.5-2 months, and my period only just returned today. I’ve been experiencing random tingly sensations in my extremities, random itching/pressure in my head, some dizziness, and went through 1-2 weeks of hell-ish anxiety and insomnia. In addition, my liver enzymes have been high for nearly a year now, and I only figured out that estrogen-based birth control can cause that. Sounds like I’m not alone and that I’ll have to go through several months of this…chaos. At least I’m not dying?
Hey, ii’ve been off bc for 2 months too now, haven’t gotten my period, i also have pcos. But my worst symptom has been the brain fog and dp, it started with panic attacks in the first month. Its extremely scary, but listening to everyone’s stories makes me feel like i m not alone. Some days are easier to handle than others, tpday’so a particularly hard day. But i keep trying. If anyone has any tips please let me know.
It sometimes almost feels like i cant do this anymore and i should just end it. But i have to keep going
I had a horrific post birth control story. I got off Tri-Sprintec on June 1st of this year (I was only on it for two months). A day after I got off, I had the worst intrusive thoughts and anxiety I’ve ever experienced. The first month off was horrible. My second month, my anxiety disappeared and started having more physical symptoms: ear ringing, dizziness, etc. At the end of my third month, I had a huge crash one night and the anxiety, intrusive thoughts, brain fog, depression, derealization, insomnia hit hard for the next few months. My worst months were 4-6. These were the months I was struggling every day. My mental state was so poor, and I was crying all the time. There was a time where I considered checking myself into a mental hospital because I felt like I was losing my grip on reality. I felt like I could potentially hurt myself because it was a struggle just to be in my own head and feel trapped and hopeless. But when I hit my lowest moment, I started to get better. The anxiety slowly went away. My head got clearer. I was able to sleep through the night without issues.
I am currently almost 8 months off birth control and doing do much better. I feel back to my normal self most days and have been for over a month now. I’ll have some days were I feel a little down, but it’s not depression, anxiety, or intrusive thoughts. I feel happy and hopeful again. 90% of the time I don’t even think about what I went through, which is huge progress considering where I was.
Please keep in mind that everything you are feeling right now is a symptom; it’s not real per se. I knew I was getting better when I started to have more mood swings. I would have moments of happiness and then go back to anxiety. Almost like my brain was trying to show me how artificial my negative feelings were.
If you feel like you are getting to a breaking point, please go speak to a doctor. There is no shame in trying out medication or putting yourself in a safer environment. I know a feel people who improved within a few weeks on meds, so I don’t discourage them if someone is in a really bad place. If I had to do this over again, I probably would have tried meds sooner.
I can’t thank one the ladies on here recommending hollistic doctor – for 6 months I have felt unheard from my local GP, trying to diagnose me with health anxiety with all the symptoms many of you are experiencing!
But seeing the holistic doctor over the weekend made me feel HEARD! She agreed all my symptoms are due to the withdrawal of the pill and high coristol and a change to diet/lifestyle/herbs holds the key to battling this! I am starting my change to life style gradually and doing a full acupuncture massage!
I will keep you posted with my journey but a few points I’ve been advised:
– self care – daily full body oil massages / scalp massage (2 a week) / foot massages (evening) / abdominal massages
– remove processed foods / eat cooked food (raw only fruit)
– have biggest meal at lunch (light evening meal)
I am so thankful that I found this! I thought I was going insane. Long story short I had been taken Progesterone only for about four/five months. Stopped taking it when I got covid this January. My body and mind went haywire. A lot of the symptoms that everyone is describing. The pins/needles, severe anxiety, stomach issues, chest tightness etc… I went to the ER twice and everything checked out. I did not think it was due to Progesterone. Things started settling down for me around May/June. So when I went back to my gynecologist in July he found ovarian cysts and prescribed Progesterone again. Two weeks in, lo and behold the panic symptoms started again and I ended up in the ER again. Everything checked out, was told I had an anxiety attack. I mentioned the hormones and was told “no” that can’t be the cause. I stopped taking Progesterone after that. And am still dealing with the chest pressure, anxiety, panic, gross feeling all over my body, etc… it’s been three weeks since I have been off it and am hoping and praying that because I was only on it for two weeks the symptoms will go away sooner. I feel for ALL OF YOU. This is not ok and we should not be treated like we just have anxiety/depression or that we are crazy.
Hi. Your story sounds really like mine. I tried the mini pill twice and a hormonal IUD once over six months. Then stopped just before I got covid. All symptoms came on in March.
GP suggested HRT thinking I might be peri. Over time I’d feel they would calm on the oestrogen bit and flare up with the progesterone. So pretty sure it’s the synthetic progesterone that doesn’t agree with me. The problem is, coming off the HRT three weeks ago and I’m
Now starting from scratch to balance my body!!
Good luck xx
How do you feel now? I hope everything Is starting to settle for you xx
Hi. I have periods where I feel like it settles. Then it creeps back. It’s definitely better than it used to be. But also think I’m perimenopausal and symptoms come and go with cycles. It’s the irregular periods from peri that made me try an IUD and the mini pill. But I’ve heard coming off them can make peri symptoms ramp up. Why was I not told this!?
How are you doing now? Lxx
Girl,
I thought I was getting there but this cycle has thrown me way back. Back to the anxiety, pins and needles and bloating. I am seeing a functional medicine doctor. They did suggest some probiotics and herbs for hormone imbalance. I’ll let you know how it turns out I suppose lol. I wish you luck on this ridiculous journey! ❤️
Hello
First of all, thank you all so much for sharing this, I had no idea what was wrong with me.
Started taking the pill from the age of 16 and I’m now 28. I made the decision recently to stop taking it (since I switched to the mini-pill I found myself gaining weight) altogether as I had no idea what ‘normal’ was for my body any more. Anyway, after a month of being relatively ok (no bleeding but pains and some minor headaches) it’s like my body came crashing down.
Brain fog, tremors, dizziness, headache. The brain fog was so bad that I couldn’t do work – staring at my screen was torture. Anxiety was through the roof, I was (and to some degree still am) convinced there’s something sinister wrong.
As I’m impatient, I started taking the pill again. It has improved but I still feel unwell – weak and tired. Has anyone tried taking the pill again and, if so, how long does it take to balance out?
(BTW this has been a wake up call of what the pill is doing to my body, and I do fully intend to stop taking it at some point – although I won’t be doing it cold turkey next time!!)
Hi. Are you reading the Dr Jolene Brighten book? It has advice for balancing hormones etc, whether you are on the pill or not. I think one thing that’s undeniable is that hormonal contraceptives mess with the delicate balance of our bodies, during and after. I’ve not gone back on as I had horrible symptoms on the hormonal IUD too, so not prepared to go back there. The whole thing has been a terrible experience I don’t wish to repeat.
I’d definitely try the book and see if you can balance yourself. You can also follow her tips on insta!!
Good luck!
Lxx
Hello, I’ve been googling things like crazy trying to figure out why I’ve felt extremely terrible. I’ve been off the pill for close to two months now. I have had extreme anxiety and panic every day to the point where I can barely eat and I’m already very small. I feel sick to my stomach and nauseous most of the day. I’ve also been experiencing brain fog and confusion. I’ve also been on lexapro (an antidepressant) for four years and my doctor just increased it, but I’m seeing no signs of change or relief. Can someone give me some tips?
Why don’t you join our Facebook community? It’s called ‘support for going off hormonal birth control’. Lots of us on there. My main issue is neuro symptoms, but I know others suffer more anxiety too so can advise. Wishing you wellxx
Hi Guys!
I posted on here a month ago. Had literally all the same issues (tingling extremities, vascular issues, headaches, sinus issues, nausea, yeast infections, UTI like symptoms, brain fog etc etc. Thought I had MS, brain tumor, etc. All labs, EMG, MRI of Brian all negative. So yes- it 100% is the birth control. I know it’s hard to believe because I was in the same boat- but I had the worst health anxiety of my life dealing with this so I want to share some tips.
Seriously find a natural holistic doctor near you. They are WELL VERSED in helping girls Re balance hormones and all this crazy stuff that happens after birth control. Estrogen from the pill clogs your liver leading to a ton of symptoms. They helped me with natural supplements for liver detox. Hormone imbalance is HUGE- once again, natural supplements balance. Turns out I have a gluten intolerance that amplified when coming off the pill. Gluten can cause neurotoxicity- numbness/tingling, migraines, skin issues, brain fog, fatigue. And turns out gluten causes a lot of PMS stuff which is the reason we are put on the pill at a young age a lot of times (I was on 11 years for irregular cycle). I cut gluten/ dairy and all processed foods out for one week (went strict paleo diet organic basically eating only clean meat, fruit, veggies). Within one week my tingling cleared, more energy, less brain fog, GI issues improved immensely.
I still have a lot of rebalancing to do, and everyone is affected from the pill differently. I would have never figured out any problems or had any symptom relief until I saw a holistic doctor. I seriously recommend seeing one for help with symptoms.
Hope this helps!
Hi,
This really does help, thank you. Can I ask – did you have the feeling of weakness mentioned in the article above too? I have this shakiness and feeling like an arm or leg is moving when it isn’t. Internal tremors? Anyway, awful.
Where did you find the naturopath? Are you in the UK?
Thank you for sharing!
Lxx
Can I ask if anyone else suffers from bad PMS before periods since coming off the pill?
I’m am worried about persistent headaches, and ears feeling muffy, tingles through my body/head and bad globus (I’ve had camera down throat and all clear) – doctors don’t seem to be concerned of this – should I push for MRI scan – are other people experiencing long headaches that in particular worsen a week before periods!
Sometimes I can be walking and I feel like I have an out of body experience where it feels like my head is vibrating from the inside! (If that makes sense at all)
I have been off the pill since January and symptoms have been awful from march to present! I’m hoping these calm down soon!
Can anyone recommend any natural remedies to improve hormone Imbalances throughout cycles?
Hey!
Check out Dr. Jolene Brighton. She is a holistic physician and talks about all this birth control stuff/ wrote a book and helps women Re balance hormones. Google her name and the website will pop up. On her website she sells natural supplements to re balance hormones. Check out her supplement pack called period problems for PMS stuff.
Hi Guys,
I stopped the pill 2 months ago (after being on for 11 years) and my symptoms started pretty quickly after. I have the numbness/ tingling randomly in hands and feet, weakness randomly in hands/ feet and it feels like they are cold/ lack of blood flow. However- there is no actual loss of strength. Horrible headaches/ migraines, visual issues, sinus issues, fatigue, depersonalization, my hair and skin are disgusting, buzzing feeling in my face, and horrible mood swings. My hands and feet fall asleep so easily and I feel like I have some vascular issue or something too. I’ve gone to the ER twice and a neurology PA. The ER neurologists did the most through neuro exam and said that they found nothing wrong and aren’t recommending imaging because they don’t think it would show anything. The neuro PA said similar, however all labs and EMG results came back negative and I am so stressed out about this all that she is letting me get an MRI to look for MS or brain tumour even though none of them truly think it’s that. They basically just are doing it because I still have symptoms. I also had horrible nausea everyday I couldn’t eat and diarrhea all day. I saw a homeopathic doctor who gave me two herbal supplements called Livco and Cruciform complex and within a week the nausea was gone. She said something about how birth control ruins your livers ability to detox your body and these symptoms were showing that and gave supplements. I want to believe it’s the birth control, but I’m still panicked about MS. I hope my MRI comes back negative so I can mentally convince myself it’s just birth control and move forwards. Any supplements or diet recommendations?
Hi Nikki,
I can entirely empathise with everything you are going through. I have the exact same symptoms.
Neuro said same thing for me – not MS or anything serious, but they are going to scan me anyway because I was worried.
I find symptoms come and go. Neuro thinks it’s functional and will likely gradually fade over time.
I think it’s a combo of hormonal, long covid and feeling super stressed.
Im on duloxetine for neuropathic pain, but distracting myself with every day living. Symptoms suck, but my anxiety is a bit better knowing it’s nothing serious. Just trying to exercise and eat healthily.
I hope all this helps. Hang in there!! We can get through this xxx
I’m having these same symptoms and was on Cymbalta before coming and going off the pill. My face is randomly numb on the left too. I’m at the beginning of figuring this out.
Hey nikki, how are u feeling now? Is the dp gone?
Hi All,
So sorry you’re all going through this! I wish you all a speedy recovery! Stay strong and it will all get better!
I actually wanted to ask about a symptom that hasn’t been mentioned before and I wanted to see if anyone has experienced this. I’ve come across a few women on Reddit who experienced this and would love to know if anyone else on here knows. (Also this is one of many symptoms I’ve had because of birth control)
A week into the birth control, I developed bladder issues my it presents like UTI symptoms but no infection. There would be painful sleepless nights where there is just bladder pressure and hurts to pee!
This only kicks in after intercourse, and not every time which is weird! Since then I’ve had these bladder issues on and off and no infection comes up.. I’m worried this is IC (intestinal cystitis), but that would be al the time surely not only specific to intercourse.
Has anyone else experienced this? Does this also go away, or is tot something that I’ve developed because of this birth control?
And to note I have had uti in the past but never like this! Also done ultrasounds nothing comes up.
Hi. I’ve always had issues with UTIs. I had this thing a year and a half ago where it felt like I was on the brink of one, but I wasn’t on birth control at the time.
I’m 42, so I think it’s perimenopause and I know that’s a symptom, but it’s calmed down. I think it’s quite common to get a UTI after sex (sorry if TMI). But I guess it’s still possible it could be from the pill, if it’s stripped your body of minerals etc that would normally protect it.
I’m not sure if this helps, but I’d push for answers if I were you. I drink a lot during the day, which really helps flush things out. Hope you get it sorted!
Drink organic unsweetened cranberry juice and get the d mannose cranberry supplement from whole foods
Much like all of you, I am BEYOND grateful to have found this post & I sympathize with all of you! I quit birth control (cold turkey) after 5 years in Jan 2023. For reference I am 22 years old. For a couple of months I was just fine. Then my anxiety set in. I’ve had anxiety my entire life, but this was a debilitating anxiety. One where it controlled me, instead of me controlling the anxiety. On top of that, I’ve developed OCD!!!!!! The must gut-wrenching, terrifying thoughts and the most irritating & scary compulsions. I’ve had depersonalization & brain fog for months now, and have lost all emotion. Most of my anxiety & compulsions have focused on my relationship, since that’s where I express the most emotion, but luckily I have an incredible boyfriend who fully understands this & even does his own research in order to help me. (I’m very happy to chat about this with anybody experiencing it, relationship anxiety & relationship ocd are VERY real things, it does NOT mean your partner isn’t right for you! Of course, this does not apply to abusive/toxic relationships.) I’ve been taking Magnesium Glycinate at night for anxiety & tons of other benefits, along with Ashwaghanda for sleep. In the mornings I take B-Complex, Vitamin D, and Buspirone (old bottle of pills from past anxiety that I quit but have been using for panic as needed). My gyno did a blood panel so we could see exactly what vitamins I’m deficient in & I get those results back tomorrow. I’ve also been seeing a therapist to help with OCD symptoms & I am open to medicine as treatment if needed. Other symptoms include
– brain zaps
– extreme exhaustion
– tingling in my left arm/chest pain (similar to heart attack symptoms)
– bladder issues (constantly peeing, it’s ridiculous!)
– emotional numbness
– low libido
– worsened eyesight
– depression (major loss of interest)
– teeth pain (this one is crazy to me!)
– headaches from anything
– I lost 30 lbs (nice, but wasn’t expecting. Barely any of my clothes fit me now as I’ve been the same weight for 5 years.)
– weird hair issues. It’s been very dry and doesn’t grow as quick as it used to, which makes sense I guess, but hasn’t helped my confidence.
– speaking of, very low self-esteem.
and MANY more. I relate to you all so much. My future children will never touch birth control & I will spend the rest of my life advocating against it. I can’t believe I never knew about any of this when I started. My mom was never on it & she thinks I’m being silly & that I’ll have a baby, but she has no idea how life changing these symptoms are. Doctors will assign medicine like it’s candy because it gets them MONEY. We are all lab rats.
I wish you all the very best and will come back with any updates!
Hi. I just want to reach out and say I’m going through something very similar. The numbness and tingling in my hands and feet are awful. And buzzing or random pains. And my anxiety levels have gone through the roof. I’m seeing a neurologist about the numbness and tingling in two weeks. I’m hoping this will help the anxiety. But I’m sure my anxiety and sleep deprivation are making it all worse so I wonder if I’m imagining things.
We can do this! But I’m never going on birth control again!!! Lxx
Hello! Can I ask how your appointment with the neurologist went? I’ve been getting these symptoms and have an appointment with a neurologist next month. Like most other women on here, I’ve convinced myself it’s MS! Thanks ☺️
Hey. I saw neuro today. After some examination and chat about symptoms, he said he didn’t think it was MS as that follows a pattern and this has come out of nowhere for me. Never had it before. All reflexes fine. He said sometimes people have brief episodes of numbness and tingling, but that he thought it was fade. He didn’t say what he thought caused it. But it’s functional rather than anything else. Could be post covid and hormonal combined. Plus I’ve been under a lot of stress. He’s going to do an MRI and another tests, but only as a precaution as initial tests were normal. He seemed pretty sure it wasn’t anything worrying. So reassuring!
What are your symptoms?
Hey Cameron!
I’d love to speak to you about this all! I’ve had the same issues!
What were your blood panel results?
Hello,
if you are going to see this I would be really happy if you could write me on email nika.pregarc@gmail.com . I also quit birth control in january and I am dealing with same symptoms. I hope you are doing any better!
I am so glad I have stumbled across this website, I thought I was going insane, all my doctors, friends and family are trying to tell me I have health anxiety and nothings wrong
I came off the pill back in January 2023, all fine up until end of march, then since then my body has not been the same! I have not had a day I don’t experience some form of side effect.
Some of the symptoms I have experienced coming off the pill :
– pressure all over head – too sensitive to touch
– vertigo
– fatigue
– temple headaches
– head vibrations
– ear muffled / feeling of water in ears / around head
– tingles around all my body
– body ache and twitching
I went to doctors described my symptoms which doctors tried to prescribe me beta blockers which I refused and talk to someone because it appeared more like healthy anxiety… I can’t believe how little knowledge doctors of this! I am so glad to read your stories to know I am no alone in this! I just pray it gets better for us all! I pushed for bloods which since coming off the pill i have been diagnosed with iron deficiency anaemia
Does anyone recommend practices to do to ease symptoms?
Hi there. I don’t have any particular symptoms, but I just wanted to reach out and say I understand – I’m going through this too. I’m two months on. My worst symptoms is the peripheral neuropathy -which had now eased on the left but not the right. Bloods came back normal, except slight iron deficiency. I did iron tablets for a month and nothing. I’m just waiting to see a neurologist now, to rule stuff out.
I did six months of mini pill, merina then mini pill. Think it’s stuffed my system. I have muscle twitches, restless leg/limb, random tongues across my body, ringing ears, body buzzing and struggling with sleep/anxiety now too.
Doctors tell me they are not worried or they’d be making my referral urgent. I think they just think it’s mostly anxiety and lack of sleep. But it’s not! The symptoms came first. I have sleep tablets now, but they have limited success.
Let me know if you want to chat. Hope this reassures you that you’re not alone! We can do this!!
Sorry, I meant to say I don’t have much in terms of recommended practices. I’m just trying to be health – drink lots, eat healthily, exercise and no alcohol to just try to get my system right again. I’ve got a multi vitamin too.
I also meant to say I have random tingles across my body! Should have proofread my post!
Hi. Can I just check – with these symptoms, do you just ride it out till everything rebalances or is there anything we can practically do to help/speed recover.
Thank you
Laurel
Hi all,
I am so glad for this post and all you lovely lot! I tried the mini pill for three weeks in August. It gave me severe itching so I came off it. Went on the Mirena coil in October and persevered for three months. Was hell, so came off it end of December. Was persuaded to try the mini pill again start of Feb. Three weeks and severe itching so I came off it. Had slight tingling and Lowe leg pain a week before my period, but then it went during. Got covid end of March, then boom the tingling and numbness came back big time and I’ve now had it since end of March. It’s absolute hell!!! Have slight muscle twitches and feel like I’m buzzing. It’s worse on my right now snd got better on my left – it was both sides. My period was than Uber late. I thought this would sort it – it didn’t.
Bloods shown nothing so far except slightly low iron. Prob not surprising after the constant bleed on the IUD.
Dr thinks it’s hormonal, but I’m on iron tablets to see if that helps. I’m 42 so prob perimenopausal. Dr suggesting HRT next, but I’m not sure if more hormones are the way to go if fake hormones caused this.
I honestly don’t know whether it was the mini pill or IUD that caused this – or all of them and Perimenopause thrown in.
Has anyone had this? I just want it to stop. And it’s so hard not to imagine the worst – like it’s MS or similar.
I’d love to hear from you!
Look into the symptoms of thiamine deficiency on this website. Look into other nutrient deficiencies as well. Synthetic hormones often precipitate multiple nutrient deficiencies which then can cause many, if not all, of the symptoms you are experiencing. Personally, I would not do HRT with the experience you had on the pill and with mirena.
Thank you. The dr looked at vitamin deficiencies. I can’t remember if thiamine was on
There. All I know is it’s awful. Like others, I keep freaking out that I have something more serious like MS, even though it only started after going on hormonal contraceptives. I’ll take a look! I feel like I’m stuck riding this out for now! Lxx
No test done for B1/Thiamine, so I’ll definitely ask. Thank you!
Hi. Can I just check – isn’t Thiamine deficiency pretty rare? A Google search says it’s usually B12, Magnesium or other deficiencies that contraception can cause.
It is perceived as rare, but it is not. We have addressed this many time on this website. Part of the problem is the definitions look at late stage deficiency mostly in chronic alcoholics and miss it in earlier stages and in the rest of the population. Docs miss medication or diet induced, which comprises most of the western population. And for reference, while B12 is often also a problem, one cannot use B12 effectively until B1 is on board. So tackling B12 first does not generally work as well.
Thank you so much – this kind of info is so useful. It’s really helpful to have sone good challenges when I go back to the dr. She thought it was a vitamin or mineral deficiency, so we are part way there. I’ll take this back to her!
Hi,
So sorry that you’re all going through this! I wanted to ask on average when did the symptoms go?
Do they ever return?
And also I’m not sure if anyone else has experienced this, but joint pain ? Or it may even be tendon pain, I can’t tell!
Does this also go away?
It’s been 7 months for me so far!
Hi. Do you feel any better? I have joint pain too. Now just waiting to see neuro to hopefully rule that out. It all takes so long in the UK health system!
I have been having tendon pain since I stopped the pill. I was on the pill for about ten years. I’ve been off it for one and it feels like my body is falling apart. I’m thirty two years old. Google searches yield nothing, but I know it must be related. I’ll be exploring this website more. I hope you find answers too. <3
Hi,
I wanted to ask whether anyone recovered from the symptoms and how long did it take?
Also I’ve read Dr Jolenes – Beyond the Pill.
I wanted to ask whether anyone after years since stopping the pill, developed any autoimmunity or other chronic issues in the body.
It is so scary what a little pill can do! I’d love to hear hopefully good news that it doesn’t! ??
I am about 9 months in since the my symptoms started and while the worst has subsided I still have issues. Mainly headaches, mood swings (anger), shortness of breath, and neuropathy (only in left foot). Even these things are so much better than they used to be. I have an autoimmune condition (hashimotos) that developed while on birth control, however coming off birth control actually cleared up some long term issues I had that did not realize were even related to the birth control (anxiety, low stomach acid, skin bumps). I was on the combination pill for almost 17 years when I went off at 34.
Has your hashimotos cleared up?
I have a high positive ANA but all other tests have been normal. Interestingly, my ANA was totally normal in September when I was still on birth control pills. I’m terrified that stopping Yaz after being on it for 15 years has caused me to develop an autoimmune disease. Did anyone else have this experience?
Hi All,
I am going through post birth control and will have been for around a year now. I think I have restarted my journey by going back on birth control (2 different types) before I even got to this blog.
I have created the following email. postbirthcontrolsyndrome@gmail.com
Once I get to the bottom of this I want to help anyone suffering with this debilitating illness.
Please email for a chat, share experiences, share tips. I’m hoping to create a space where we can do this too.
postbirthcontrolsyndrome@gmail.com
Hi Jess,
I’ve emailed you!
Bw
Laurel
I’ve posted recently about how much better I’m doing! Now that I’m about 90% better, I’d love to know what I can do to help spread the word so nobody else has to go through this life altering event.
I read the article above again, and I still experience the head pressure and the buzzing bees in my brain. That symptom specifically is hard to explain to anyone, especially doctors. Have any of you found something that helped resolve that or did it just resolve with time?
If you would like to share your story as an standalone post, we’d be happy to publish. Send me a note via the ‘write’ tab.
Hi Angela!
So glad to hear you are feeling better. At how many months did you start feeling 90% better?
Also interested for anyone willing to share — how has this effected your cycles? I experience twinges in my ovaries often, and pretty bad bloating during second half of cycle. Is anyone TTC? I myself am, and trying to keep calm about the whole thing. I’m just about 7 months into this. I had dizziness for the first 5 pretty much constantly. Now i’ve got lingering occasional blood sugar issues as well as muscle weakness in my legs and muscle twitches. I was on generic form of YAZ for about 2 years.
You get muscle twitches too? I can actually see my leg twitching. It’s horrible and I have to move my leg to stop it. I’m never going on another hormonal contraceptive again!!
I get buzzing bees in my body at times, like I can’t sit still or I need to run round the block. I find breathing helps – five seconds in and five out. It helps to calm it down. Not sure if that helps!? I’m reassured you feel a lot better. I’m so tired of this – especially the numb feet and hands!!
I’m 53 years old and been on the birth control pill for about 22 years. I really never had any problems on it and my periods were light to medium, same time every month, so for me I continued on it until my gyno recommended I get off of it to see if I was menopausal. He said we would never know if I was in menopause if I was continually getting my period every month. So I agreed. He told me he could wean me off of it by giving me a lower dose pill but for some crazy reason I said no I’ll do it cold turkey. Well, I stopped taking the bc pill in November after my period and probably around middle of December I noticed my joints and muscles were very stiff and something just didn’t feel right. It never seemed to go away. The joint pain was getting worse. My feet hurt. Never had feet pain in my life. It felt like I was coming down with the flu because my body just ached all the time. I felt weak. Also, my right hand and sometimes left hand would fall asleep every night. It’s so bad that I wear a hand brace to help. It’s fine during the day but goes completely numb at night and wakes me up. I decided in January I would go get bloodwork done. I told my primary that the only thing that changed was getting off the bc pill. She said if the bloodwork came back ok it was probably my body going through the withdrawals of the bc pill. My bloodwork came back normal. Only thing flagged was I was taking too much vitamin D and she did the test for inflammation to rule out lupus etc. Well, my inflammation was at a 31 normal range is 1-10. Not horrible. So I thought ok I can do this knowing that it’s most likely the withdrawal of the bc pill. Well,I decided to go back to my gyno last week and showed him my bloodwork and asked him his thoughts. He thinks that I’m menopausal because I haven’t had a period since getting off the pill in November. He told me he could put me on hrt therapy or on a lower dose bc pill and hopefully that would help my joint pain. I decided I shouldn’t have to live like this at 53 so I am back on the bc pill(lower dose). I’m not sure if I made the right decision, I just want to feel better. I’ve also added supplements like turmeric and magnesium during this time to see if they help. I will continue with those as well as trying to eat more anti inflammatory foods. Hoping to see some results soon. Will keep you updated in my journey. Thank you.
Has going back on birth control helped resolve any of your symptoms?
I am in your exact situation. 51 stopped the pill cold turkey and I’m having all kind of issues. Did you have any problem going back on the pill?
Going back on the pill has made a big difference. It is a low dose birth control and has made a huge difference. My doctor only wants me on it short term and then we’ll see after that. I’m just thankful I’m not suffering anymore. Hopefully, your feeling better and some of your issues have subsided.
Yes it has. I feel so much better. Unfortunately, it’s not long term so I’m not sure what my next approach will be. I can start hrt therapy or just see how it goes without anything.
I am in your exact situation. 51 stopped the pill cold turkey and I’m having all kind of issues. Did you have any problem going back on the pill?
I am so greatful for all these comments. I’m in tears! Since quitting BC after 20+ years, I have been experiencing severe joint pain, pelvic pain, heart palpitations and HBP. Nice to know I’m not alone!
Hi Jody,
How are your symptoms now?
How long did the symptoms last ?
It’s crazy how this is all happened to us!
Hi Yall! I keep coming back to this post to help with what it seems to be the same thing. I was on Oral BC for 8 years last month ( early December) i decided to get off BC when my GYNO told me she wanted me to go upper in dosage on it! I notice within the first two weeks i was very emotional! I even remembered commenting on a TikTok video how my symptoms were okay when getting off the pill. ( the video talked about the negative effects going off the pill). At the time i was okay just emotional which i thought would happen because when i started the pill i was emotional as well. I did have an occasional headaches, nerve issues and dizziness . Fast forward to the DAY BEFORE my first period i get heart palpitations those scared me so much i went to the hospital to get seen. EKG and blood work came back normal, but i didnt feel normal at all. Since then its been two-three weeks i went to a cardiologist just to get s second opinion i have to test i need to do this week to see how my heart is. He believes its okay this is just precautionary. I cant seem to shake off the feeling that its more than just going off the pill. Also doesn’t help that i google or think i feel something and its the worst case scenario but its hard to think positive when going through this. I always had anxiety and OCD but i have never felt them physically. All my doctors believed the pill kept the physical symptoms of anxiety at bay and i just would feel anxiety/anxious. Right now my symptoms are feeling pin and needles in hands and feet. I don’t really get heart palpitations anymore, when my anxiety is high tho I realize these problems arise. Also when i think I’m anxious free. My anxiety comes out of nowhere. I started to get muscle twitches/spasms that feel like it could be my heartbeat in my whole body. I can have good days and really bad days. Everything I feel i think it’s something so bad and serious. I also think googling doesn’t help at all. I am so convinced that it cant be just hormonal. If anyone would like to talk my email is kc.calvano@aol.com
I gave the heartbeat in my whole body thing – especially my hands! I’ve heard it can be a nervous system thing. I’m
Trying deep breathing exercises. How are you doing?
Bw
Laurel
I have that too! It is like a vibration all over your body? It usually happens at night.
Wow! I’m grateful for this post! I’m in the same positions as all your girls! I was on and off the pill throughout the first part of year! (A total of 3 months) I’be never experienced the bladder issues, the random pain, the eye pain/headaches, tingling, joint pain (knee pain) so odd! I did so many tests! I just knew something must of triggered all these symptoms! I was in denial about the pill- as doctors really say it’s nothing to do with pill. My body has not been the same! It’s been a crazy few months!
I jut want relief already. The anxiety and Health anxiety I’ve developed is so scary! Please let me know if you know any good supporting supplements that could help! And will this go away one day! Also now my fear is are these symptoms going to turn into something scary later on!
My healthy anxiety has been at an all time high. I used to have it in middle school that was over 15 years ago. Being off the pill truly sucks. I have even convinced myself this cant be all hormonal. Doctors dont really help either
Hey! Thank you for your reply! How long were you on the pill for! Is it getting better ?
I’m really to struggle to sleep at night !
Hi Girl i just got off the pill last month. I have good days and bad days! Sleeping is the worst for me too
Do any of you girls experience body tremors?
Yes, I do. Well, muscle twitches. And sometimes I worry I can’t keep my hand straight, but pretty sure that’s paranoia! Do you get this?
I’m so grateful for reading and connecting to this community (my husband found this article, as I kept telling him I feel dizzy). I got off as my husband and I want to start trying and I was told it was totally fine to quit cold turkey. What a lie! I have had more anxiety, which with my job I can deal with, but had my first panic attack in March when I came off. The anxiety/heart palpitations start out of nowhere, and I’m like just sitting on the couch there’s no reason to be stressed. Like 4 months in the dizziness has kicked in, like a feeling of off balance, which is terrifying when I want to exercise. I teach dance and run, so never had this feeling before. First thought was ms, but again only underlying new thing was going off the pill. I have pins and needles too as well as joint pain. The dizziness is most severe around my period. I’m seeing a dr Tuesday but really wished it was someone holistic as I know it’s an imbalance. I was told b1 thiamin helps. Any tips or tricks in healing the body back as I just want to feel like me again. I’m sorry all of you are going through this. This needs to be talked about more!
Did you ever experience chest pain I’m so scared
I have. Just last week. Thought I was having a heart attack. So scary.
This is me too! I think I’ve spent six months on and off two different kinds of hormonal contraceptive. I think it’s messed me up! It’s good to know of someone else who was only on the pill a short time and was affected.
I was only on my pill for two months! But I was also on spiro for 3 months prior.
Hello Stephanie, I truly hope you are much better or fully recovered by now! Thank you for sharing your experience. Similarly, I was on the pill for 3 months and stopped cold turkey after having a panic attack that was accompanied by intrusive thoughts ( something that has never happened before). It’s been almost a month off the pill for me and although I have not had any other panic attack my anxiety is not settled and still have intrusive thoughts. I will pray for you and the rest of the women going through this. All the best! 🙂
How long did eye pain last?
I’m almost 4 months off the pill and still struggling every single day. I have suicidal thoughts multiple times a day every single day for 4 months now. My boyfriend, friends, and family know and have been my support through this but I’m honest with them and still struggle with it every single day. I’m seeing a therapist once a week now but it only seems to help in the moment because I’m still dealing with these health issues. I still have really bad brain fog- it feels like I’m not really “here”, no energy, body and mind weakness, moving slower and thinking slower, can barely talk to people without so much effort. I feel like an emotionless and slow zombie. I haven’t felt happiness, laughed, or smiled in months. It feels like someone zapped part of my brain out. I have been suffering from insomnia for months now too. I am barely sleeping through the night, it feels like my brain doesn’t shut off. I have anxiety when I’m sleeping and when I “wake up” even though it just feels like my eyes are shut but I’m not really sleeping deeply. I’ve taken melatonin, cbd, and sadly even zzzquil and they barely work. I can’t even smoke weed anymore because I have anxiety from the health issues. I just want to sleep peacefully and feel well rested but I haven’t in months. I’ve now developed bad eye bags and dark circles I think from the lack of sleep but also from the liver problems, since I found out I have jaundice now too. I’m also still shedding and losing so much hair. I’ve lost probably half my hair thickness and I’m only almost 4 months off the pill. My anxiety has gotten maybe a little better but maybe I’m just becoming “used” to my new life. I miss my old happy life sooo much. I miss sleeping peacefully and waking up happy and well rested. I never knew this was possible. I don’t even know if or when I’ll ever feel somewhat normal again. This feels like a mental prison sentence. I still have leg weakness but the mental side effects have distracted me so much from that, and it’s crazy because the first day after stopping the pill I experienced the leg weakness and was so scared and that was just the start of this journey, all these other crazy side effects came along after. I luckily got rid of the ovarian cyst but so scared that more could eventually come. This pill has seriously ruined my body and mind. I don’t feel like myself at all, haven’t in almost 4 months and have gotten progressively worse I feel. I just hope that with time I can feel somewhat better.
I can’t tell you all enough how happy I am to have found this. I have been to a handful of doctors, But there’s just this feeling and symptoms that doesn’t make sense until now. It’s not a cure but at least It all makes sense now. A big thorn out of my chest.
I got off my pills around first week of august 2022. The symptoms kicked in after more than a month. Muscle weakness, hot flashes, muscle twitches, extreme exhaustion, bounding, anxiety, depression, tightness in chest, acid reflux, tinnitus, muscle pains, irregular heart beats, dizziness, brain fog, mood swings, crawling sensation in my skin ..all at the same time. Everyday was a battle. Everyday I was thinking it will be my last. I was crying, so afraid and didn’t know what to do. I’ve been to different doctors, they said its stress and just need to relax. They gave me something for anxiety and depression along with many other medicines for other symptoms. I don’t know but I think the anti-depressants makes it all worst. I’ve had suicidal thoughts since taking them. I was taking different kinds of medicine and none of them are working. That’s when it came to me that it may be because of hormonal imbalance . I researched and it made sense. (No idea about post BC syndrome until now.) I decided to stop all the medicine I’m taking (aside for the meds for irregular heart beat) and replaced them with multi-vitamins and healthier foods. Watched comedy shows, hugged my love ones often(to produce happy hormones). Anything to make me feel better. I can’t do exercise even if I want to. I’m afraid because of my irregular heart beat.
It’s been 5 months since i stopped the pills. 4 months into this battle. I decided to leave my job for a while to rest and focus on my health. This has cost me so much not only financially but most importantly my relationship with my love ones. Hubby has been great and understanding…but i miss doing our usual family things with him and my daughter. I’m just still so easily tired all the time.
I am better now. Other symptoms are still there constantly reminding me that theres something wrong. I also can’t help but still feel frustrated sometimes, but at least it doesn’t feel like I’m dying everyday anymore. Chest pains and depression (suicidal thoughts) all gone.
I hope we all feel better soon. I would love to do normal healthy things again.
Until then, be strong and Pray? ?
Do you still have brain fog? ?
Yes I still do. That is why I have to take a leave on my job. I’m a teacher and brain fog makes it so difficult …
Hi Ems,
Please can I ask whether you suffered with heartburn/acid reflux continuously at all?
I’ve been suffering with this now for a week, and have so much gas in my stomach. I’m already stressing!
Has anyone experienced this?
Yes I have this same thing – I have never had acid reflux/heartburn/any GI issues EVER until a month after being off birth control. It got so bad it’s been affecting my asthma and I’ve seen a couple specialists including a gastroenterologist who told me I have severe reflux! Which is crazy because i eat fairly healthy and have normal BMI/cholesterol and have never had GI issues until now.
Hi, I have the exact same sleep issues as you. Did it improve?
Literally all the symptoms i have going on! I dont have all them, but i do have a couple of them. You can see in my post if it ever uploads. I feel so trapped in my body!
Hey! Do you girls get really bad headaches! It convinces me each time I have something serious going on! The headaches are horrible !!!
I have behind the eye headaches, tension headaches – these can last for days!
Hello my headaches are not bad anymore. Actually in general they weren’t bad for me
I’ve been off it for a little over a month and I’m experience SEVERE muscle weakness in all four limbs. Similar to this article I can still lift heavy things, but the sensation is overwhelming. I went to the ER and they’re sending me for an MRI but I’ve also been freaking out about MS… my other main symptoms are terrible anxiety and tightness in my chest and the worst brain fog I’ve ever had.
If anyone can shed light on any strategies that helped? I hate the idea of just suffering through this… it sounds like it takes 6+ months to get through it…
Hi! Can I ask how you’re doing now, and the results of the MRI? I’ve got an appointment with a neurologist next month and I’m hoping they’ll send me for an MRI just to rule out MS
It gets better! I promise! I’m in my 10th month and most of my symptoms have resolved. I still get the pressure headaches and muscle spasms but I can tell it’s easing up every day! Keep going! You’ll get there and you’ll be so proud that you did!
If there is anything I can do to help bring awareness to this, please let me know! I never want another woman to go through this! I haven’t had the easiest life but this was by far the hardest physical challenge I’ve ever had to endure.
Hi!
How long were you in the pill for? And does it really get better! The headaches are the worse 🙁 I’ve developed the worst health anxiety from all this! I miss myself!
Hi Steph,
I was on the pill for 7 years and I’m 37 years old. When I was going through it, I wanted to die. I didn’t think I’d ever get back to normal. I promise it gets better. Hang in there!
Hi Angela! Thank you for your reply! Is there anyway we could get in contact!
This is exactly how I feel. I keep worrying there’s something really wrong with me. I just want to feel normal again. Never going on another contraceptive in my life!
Yes. You can email me at angelapledger34@gmail.com
Do your spasms feel like your heart beat? That what i am dealing with now. Idk whats true or not
Omg I feel the same thing heart beat is horrible sometimes my left arm goes numb and I do get chest paint and dizzy all the time I’m 4 months the i got out the implant
I hate it so much!!!! My gyno today told me it cant be the hormonal issues tho. It sucks i told her i knew she would say this due to alot of other doctors on the post saying the same
They don’t think it’s hormones my doctor look at me like I’m crazy cuz I told him I feel this way since I stop using birth control the heart rate gets better for me got way better in the beginning was super horrible I get it still but not like in the beginning hope u get better
Angela, thank you SO much for sharing your success. I tried to quit cold turkey 2 years ago and had to get back on the pill bc I couldn’t handle the 1-2 hour long panic attacks & insomnia (apparently cold turkey is a big no if taking continuously.) I have been weening for 5 months and after feeling so nervous about stopping again I almost decided to keep taking them, but you inspired me and helped me to stay on this path. Thank you. ❤️
Hello! I took the pill continuously as well and have been off for a month and having a hard time with anxiety. How are you weaning if you don’t mind me asking?
How are you now ? Been 4 months for me also
Have symptoms been consistent for for both? Have they been changing? Has anything helped? I’m 6 weeks in and already had to take time from work because of muscle weakness all over my body and severe anxiety and brain fog
I have good days and bad… mostly bad everyday I feel like I am dying also have muscle weakness
Hello, how are you feeling as of now. I’m having very similar symptoms and Iits to the point where I’m getting scared. I seriously don’t feel like myself. I’d say I’m about 2 months off of birth control.
Hello, I’m having all these same symptoms? Have you improved at all since typing this comment?? I’m starting to really worry it’s been about 2 months for me.
Did you end up feeling better? I would love to chat because I have extremely similar symptoms & im terrified. Please reach out if you can!
Hi, I have the exact same sleep issues as you. Did it improve?
Hey everyone. I’ve made several posts on this over the past 1.5 years. I wanted to come back and update for those that may have my symptoms. EVEN 1.5 YEARS LATER, I am still having issues. So don’t be surprised if this is happening to you. I’ve noticed a pattern around when I ovulate/about a week before I start, the symptoms come back. Sometimes a just a few of them. Today ALL of them came back at once. Buzzing bees in my spine, lightheadedness, nausea, extreme anxiety, adrenaline surges, insomnia. It was so overwhelming and scary all over again. I immediately read this article again to calm myself. I feel beat up and exhausted. That’s what it does to you. So remember YOURE NOT ALONE. AND YOURE NOT DYING, it’s hormones and they will continue to come back possibly. Much love. My email is laurensalinas2020@yahoo.com for anyone who needs love and help.
I hope this helps someone. I actually found this blog before I went off of birth control and it scared the crap out of me. I had been on birth control since I was 17 (now 34) and after getting married, felt like it was time to get off. I struggle with anxiety to begin with, so naturally I did a lot of research in anticipation, which is when I found this website. After reading so many of the comments I decided I was going to do everything I could to prep my body in advance. As so many of you mentioned, the pill depletes an insane amount of the necessary nutrients your body needs to function properly. I made a list of everything I thought I would need and set out to find the right supplement to help me get started. I eventually landed on a prenatal vitamin + fish oils (not actively trying to get pregnant, but prenatals seemed to have 99% of those nutrients on my list). I set a goal for myself and started taking these religiously. I did this for 3 months prior to stopping the pill, as I wanted to fully prep my body. Once I hit the 3 month mark, I stopped my birth control and continued taking the prenatals and fish oil everyday. My period came back immediately my next cycle. I have had a lot of the same side effects: headaches, brain fog, fatigue, numbness in my arms at night, wake up to my heart racing. However, it all has been pretty minor and manageable in comparison to some of the horror stories I read. I am now 3.5 months without birth control and I still take the vitamins every day. I can’t say that it would have been any different if I wouldn’t have prepped myself, but it’s worth a shot and it definitely cannot hurt. For reference, the vitamins I took were from FullWell.
So glad I found this article, It’s been 1 year and 10 months since I quit the pill that I was on for 34 years without a break. I’m wondering if that combined with being peri-menopausal age is why it’s taking so long to improve? I’ve had terrible anxiety, a lot of body aches and pains, I get exhausted easy and the worst is those strange floaty/dizzy spells that get worse when I walk. No answers from the doctors. I eat a very wholesome strictly organic diet, I’m fit although a tad underweight, I do yoga regularly, but my life is spending time in the woods in nature foraging, hiking and I’m too dizzy and anxious to do these things that I love – I hope it improves soon. Thanks for letting us know we’re not alone. I believe it’s the pill withdrawal causing it – but it’s been so long with little improvement.
Hi Ann,
I too have been dealing with dizziness/off steady feeling with walking. It’s been happening on and off since I got off the pill basically but the last three months it’s been constant. I went hiking in Montana this summer and had this crazy elevator drop feeling. We drove 6 hours and I had horrible vertigo after. When I was on birth control I did a road trip across the US and had zero issues. Do you have sinus issues? Birth control made my sinuses SO messed up…. And my anxiety too. I’m so desperate to figure out what’s wrong with me the dizziness is debilitating. Seeing an ENT next month and I’m so scared she’s gonna scan me and find something bad.
Hi Annika & Ann,
I stopped the nuvaring 8 months ago (June ’22) and my cycle has not been normal since. Every month I was basically spotting for like 12-15 days and finally in December I had a “normal” 7 day period, but I got vertigo before this period which last 2 weeks. January’s cycle was ~8 days of spotting/very light bleeding and 2 days of horrible cramps & heavy bleeding. (1st cramps since stopping the ring). This month I had ~7 days of spotting/light and a week of medium/heavy with cramps again. Vertigo kicked back once my period got heavier. I feel like I’m in a boat when I walk or sometimes just sitting, it’s better when I’m actually in a car driving. I don’t have many symptoms while I sleep and it seems to taper off once my period ends. My anxiety has been off the charts since December too! I’ve found that taking sinus medicine or tylenol seems to help the dizziness, but hoping the body evens out in the next year and it’s just hormonal related.
I can’t tell you how grateful I am to have found this page today and see so many others in the EXACT same boat as me. I came off the implant form of contraception in June 2022, bleeding came back pretty quickly but my skin, specifically my face, also purged VERY quick. I’ve never really had bad skin and it’s usually very clear, but my skin was the worst I’d ever seen it in the first month to 6 weeks after coming off it. I was fine for a couple months then I was overwhelmed with a tightness feeling in my chest, feeling like I couldn’t breathe which in turn triggered panic attacks. Then came the intrusive thoughts, I would wake up crying and with a severe headache with thoughts of just ending it and I couldn’t get rid of the thoughts. Then I’d start bleeding a day or two later and I’d kind of feel ‘fine’ and the severe thoughts will subside until my next bleed. I have random occasions of heart palpitations (normal BPM, but feels like my heart is pounding out my chest). I have recently been diagnosed with SEVERE anxiety and depression to which I have been sent to therapy treatment. Please note, I had never had issues of depression previously and very minor anxiety episodes. Contraception has destroyed me, if I knew how bad it was when I was 15 years old getting it, I would have never done it. I’ve put my body through 11/12 years of it, to which now the end game is utter torture. I know it’ll get better, but it’s absolutely horrific. I feel like I’ve poisoned my own body and mind with this stupid implant. I’m not happy to see so many others in the same position, but it’s so comforting to see I’m not alone. We’ve got this.
I’m so sorry you’re dealing with this I stopped in May of 2022 so one month before you all together I’m 7 months off and it’s been a roller coaster. I too had panic attacks bouts of depression and intrusive thoughts. They’ve calm down for the most part but still happen around my period. There is a FB group called “support for going off hormonal birth control” its full of woman and posts about others experiences & it’s been very helpful for me, the girls are very supportive and give great advice. I pray for fast healing for you beautiful ? once again im so sorry. It’s such a tough journey but you WILL heal one day.
I am in that Facebook group as well and find it’s super helpful. ? Just being on this blog and that group helps to stay connected and not feel so alone with all of this.
Has anyone actually recovered completely? ? At least how long did the anxiety take to go away? I am seriously struggling so hard and feel myself getting worse and more hopeless each day. This is such agony and torture. I want to feel normal again. ?
Yes, I think almost all people completely recover with time and hard work. I highly recommend reading this article: https://www.balancedbeyars.com/blog/post-birth-control-syndrome
You need to be tracking your cycle (I recommend FAM – the book “Taking Charge of Your Fertility” is a good starting point). This will help you pinpoint ovulation, track cycle length, observe fertility patterns, track mood and other symptoms. I would also recommend getting hormone testing done with a functional doctor. Unfortunately, conventional medicine does not have a lot of remedies for post birth control syndrome other than getting back on the pill or getting on anti-depressants.
Functional doctors can help you pinpoint the exact hormonal issue and provide you with the proper supplements and lifestyle tips.
Also, joining support groups helps tremendously. You want to keep reminding yourself that this is essentially a medical episode, and there are ways to remedy it.
Has anyone gotten the brain fog or anxiety to disappear? How long does that take and did anything help? I’m trying to stay strong. ?
Hey! I am roughly 6 months post quitting the pill and just about a few weeks ago my brain fog subsided! I have been supplementing with Maca Root with Ashwaganda, Magnesium, Zinc, Selenium, and a multi vitamin and they seem to be helping me really well! My anxiety subsided around month 4 and sometimes flares up around my period (my period came back pretty normal). I have also recently gone back to the gym which is helping a lot. Truly the only issue I am still having is low energy/ fatigue. Kinda stinks being only 19 and tired all the time. It’s definitely getting better but it’s really a time game. KEEP PUSHING!
I’m so happy you are improving. ? This is very encouraging to hear that. I am struggling all day everyday with the anxiety and depression. I am trying my best to not give into my intrusive suicidal thoughts that I’ve been having daily for months now. ? I wish someone told me this would happen, it’s like I’m living a nightmare that I can’t escape. I desperately miss how my life was before all of this. I have absolutely no happiness anymore, it’s so sad these hormones affected us this much. I have always wanted to live and to do so much more, I’m so sad that I might not make it. ? I’m trying my best to hang on. My family and boyfriend have had an intervention for me for my suicidal thoughts and it’s so sad. I hate that I still feel this way, I was so happy and healthy before all of this. I hope we all stay strong and all get better. ?
Adrianna,
How bad is your fatigue? I feel like no matter how much sleep I get, whether it’s 6 or 9 hours, I am absolutely exhausted. My eyes feel like shutting all day, I have no energy, and feel dead. I’m so scared with my health anxiety that something is seriously wrong. I am four months post pill.
I feel the same way! Totally exhausted no matter what and it is ridiculous being i am 19, in college, and working. The fatigue makes me feel foggy sometimes and it can be so hard. I hope it passes soon i’m just over 5 months off.
I have not:( 4 months in.
Ivana keep me updated on how you’re doing. ?
I went to the ER last night and they now discovered I have jaundice. I have had high bilirubin levels in my bloodwork and I guess it doubled in the last month. I think my liver is having trouble filtering out the toxins from the birth control. It’s been 3 months since I stopped taking it now. I hope I can recover from this. I miss my old life. ?
Oh no Andrea I am sooo sorry to hear this! What can they do to help? Has it been trending up on your blood work? I am thinking of you and praying for the best.
They want me to get more testing done. I’m so scared for my liver, I think it’s having a hard time processing the hormones still. I am so scared. I’m only 3 months since stopping the pill and feel this has really ruined my health and my life. I still feel suicidal everyday. I am trying my best to hang on. ? my boyfriend and family know and have been helpful and I’ve seen a therapist but nothing is helping how I’m feeling with these health issues.
I found a similar article to this one if anyone needs to take a read!
https://www.hormonesmatter.com/i-wish-i-knew-then-what-i-know-now-about-the-pill/
How do you guys handle the intense anxiety? I’m starting to really get so weak and drained from all of these side effects but the anxiety is the worst. I don’t feel good or like myself at all anymore. I just want to feel some peace and happiness. I have anxiety in my sleep and immediately when I wake up it’s so intense. And it follows me throughout the day and gets bad again at night. I wish I didn’t feel like this. I miss my life before all of this, it feels like forever ago now. Whatever we are going through is so rare and so sad. We have been hurt in our bodies on the cellular level and it’s so crazy. It’s so hard explaining this to other people. I really hope I stay strong, my suicidal thoughts keep coming back. I have them almost every day now for months. I’m trying to be strong but I’m really suffering.
You will be ok. It is truly just a time thing. I also find distracting myself and going out to make me feel much much better. Even if I feel horrible before doing it or while getting ready, I end up, even for an hour or two, being able to enjoy myself. I’ve really changed up my diet and what vitamins I take which I think also helps a lot. Forcing yourself to do things when you don’t feel like it helps. And finding a support system or maybe even a Fb group can help! I promise you, you’ll get the through this. We all will.
You are not alone. I still struggle with the depersonalization and horrible anxiety and intrusive thoughts. I promise there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. It will likely take a lot of time and patience. For me, distracting myself works best. Going out even when I don’t feel like it, eating when I’m not hungry but know I need to eat, sleeping well. I try to pretend I’m ok and nothing is wrong. Firm believer in fake it til you make it. I’ve been relying on God as much as I can. We will be ok!
I’m happy you’ve been staying so strong. ? I’m trying my best. I truly don’t feel like myself at all and I feel so stuck and helpless. I am grateful you responded, it’s nice to connect with each other on here.
I honestly almost threw my phone! I’m struggling between finally seeing validation but also disbelief that withdrawal from a pill could have led me through some of my most darkest days. I cannot believe through almost 12 weeks of googling literally everything, seeing over 6 doctors (including going to the ER thinking I was having a stroke), thinking I had MS, wondering if I rapidly developed severe anxiety or was going insane… all bloodwork and scans returned normal, and the only thing that showed up was a herniated disc in my thoracic spine, which doctors seemed to settle on that being the reason for the nerve stimulations. But that never felt truly fulfilling, particularly when faced with vertigo, fluttering in my ovaries, confusion, etc.
Honestly the only reason I finally googled the right combination of words today, was because my period is late (doctors confirmed I’m not pregnant) and I remembered, “oh that’s right, you stopped the pill and it’s been pretty irregular since then.” I also began to look at my calendar to confirm my period was indeed late, and observed my notes by date when I experienced the symptoms (my doctors asked me to keep a diary of symptoms). So randomly today, I just happened to notice the proximity of symptoms to either my period or my ovulation dates, which then prompted me to search the symptoms + “off the pill”.
Words cannot explain how I feel having read such similar terrible experiences. I’m so grateful for communities of women, willing to share. This is the first public blog I’ve ever contributed to, but we need to keep this post going to spread more awareness. Of course this does not mean with 100% certainty that we all have the same diagnosis, but this is too close to think otherwise.
I see that a lot of people have noted it took around 4-6 months post withdrawal to return to normal. I’m only on month 2, so please wish me luck. 🙁
Adding to my comment, I should note that I was on the pill for 6 years, due to pretty troubling uterine fibroids. After finally having the courage to remove them last year, I decided a few months later to finally get off of the pill and take back my life. It’s painful to see the struggles and issues we collectively go through, and the common theme of requiring to obtain a research degree— or stumble upon beautiful blogs such as this 🙂
Hi! I have been posting on here and following everyone’s stories all year since coming off hormonal birth control in January. If you scroll pretty far down you will see I have been updating my journey.
I wanted to post to see if anyone has had any trouble with POTS since coming off birth control? I really have not felt good all year since I came off and while I would have some good days, it really took a turn for the worst in the last month or so. Originally doctors thought I had idiopathic intercranial hypertension but I just spent 3 days admitted in the hospital after having numerous episodes where my heart started racing at 150-160 bpm. I also have been on the verge of passing out when this happens and have to keep laying flat in my bed to even function. I now found out I have POTS. This is a form of dysautonomia. I have read stories online of other girls having issues with autonomic nervous system regulation when they came off birth control but I had no idea it was happening to me until it got so severe I couldn’t even walk from my bed to the bathroom and my boyfriend took me to the ER. I had an echocardiogram while I was there and I was on a heart monitor. My pulse drops to 40 while at rest and sleeping but anytime I get up it goes to 100 or higher the longer I am moving around or standing. Is anyone else suffering with this?? The only advice I was given was to increase my salt intake, take in more fluids, and take the beta blocker they prescribed me to take the edge off.
I 100% believe this is all related to the birth control. All year I have had issues with not feeling well, head pressure, brain fog, having to lay down and barely functioning. Now it has exploded to this severity and I am barely able to work. I’m only 28 years old and I have been living in bed for almost 2 weeks now. I don’t understand how I am supposed to function by laying flat majority of the time. I feel like all of my muscles have really weakened and I barely even have the energy to sit up and eat at times. What really freaks me out, along with this, I am having bad head pains and almost like a pressure/tingling to the very top of my head. I’ve had an MRI and CT, both came back clear. On top of all this I am also still losing a ton of hair. While I was in the hospital, anytime I touched it head multiple strands were coming out at a time. I mentioned to every doctor that came in that I have had these issues since coming off birth control. I even asked for an endocrinologist consult and hormone testing but they would not perform those things in the hospital. I’m really struggling a lot with this, I don’t understand how I will ever go back to having a semi normal life and be able to function to work, let alone walk around in a grocery store. I haven’t even driven since all this began!! Please if anyone has any advice please please reach out. This has been an awful year all because of this. I cannot believe birth control can mess you up this badly. I am literally in shock and I’m praying for all of us.
I will also add I have had issues with the numbness and tingling most recently in the last 1-2 months. I read someone else’s comment that you wake up out of a sleep and have to shake out your hand or leg to get it to wake up and it takes a long time. This is happening to me too! I’ve also been having constant ringing in my ear, pressure in my ears like they need to pop but can’t, bad pressure and pain behind my eyes along with visual snow and bad light sensitivity, and leg weakness. During all this craziness with my heart, I’ve also experienced adrenaline surges. I thought I had a panic attack at the hair salon a few weeks ago but after it happened a few more times I realized what I was experiencing were adrenaline surges. I would get really cold, shaky, my teeth chatter, my hands and feet would sweat, and my heart races. This happened while I was in the hospital and they realized it was my fight or flight response activating but yet no one did any hormone testing or looked into it any further. The brain fog that goes along with this makes it so hard to function, I feel like I can’t even think or talk straight. At work, it’s so hard to seem “fine” and participate in meetings and things. I feel like I have to write everything down and sometimes even if someone is speaking directly to me, I feel like I can’t even understand what the other person is saying because the fog is so bad. I’m also extremely extremely exhausted all the time. I feel like I have literally no energy at all and this is not normal for someone in their 20s!!! I am praying hard that some of this will get better with time but it has almost been a year! I’ve seen more doctors and had more tests done than I ever have in my entire life. I feel like you get labeled as crazy when you keep going to the doctor and nothing is coming up on the tests but you continue to have all these symptoms. The only positive out of my hospital stay was they were able to physically see the changes in my heart rate but there was really nothing they could do for me besides refer me to yet another specialist that takes forever to get into.
I am so sorry that you are suffering so much, especially a year later. I’m here if you need support. ? I am only 3 months into this and having such a hard time, and it seems like more and more crazy side effects keep coming. It’s so hard staying positive with all of this, not feeling like yourself at all. I miss my life before this, and hoping someday I can feel somewhat normal again and at least sleep through the night.
Hello Molly,
It’s been two months since I’ve stopped taking the pill and I’m currently suffering of pressure and fullness in my ears as well. It’s been a daily thing. It’s extremely dreadful. Have you found anything that works for you?
Hi Amber! Sadly no I haven’t. I’m still having that issue and I’m a year out. I would love to know what causes it but I have read about vestibular migraines and I’m wondering if there is a connection with that.
Hi Molly I don’t have POTS but I have ME/CFS which presents similar issues. I’ve found that since coming off the pill I’ve been experiencing more crashes which have meant that I haven’t been able to move, getting bad muscle weakness and body pain. I’m also experiencing anxiety. I’m currently awaiting results for hormone tests and like others on here started to think I may have MS due to the recent deterioration in my physical health which meant I’ve been bed bound.
Yes same here! I’ve basically been living in my bed unless i absolutely have to get up and do something. I tried doing the recumbent bike and nearly passed out with my heart rate over 170. This is really discouraging and I’m wondering if life will ever be normal again. I hope you start feeling better soon!
Waking up every single day with intense anxiety and panic and trouble breathing and dread is so unpleasant. I barely sleep through the night, I just wake up multiple times during the night and morning. I try to sleep in to catch up on the missed sleep but then I feel like I just want to sleep all day long to not have to wake up and deal with these terrible feelings. I honestly sleep in until 1:30/2 pm anymore to try to waste some of the day away. My thoughts are so consumed by how terrible I feel, its impossible to feel normal anymore. I miss who I used to be and worry I’ll never feel happy or like myself again. Does this really get better? How does everyone cope with the anxiety?
Hi Andrea, I’m right there with you. This is absolutely miserable and it’s killing me mentally. I don’t understand how this gets better and what we can do. Sometimes it truly does feel like you are dying in the moment and I try not to be anxious since I’ve had so many tests and they can’t find anything wrong but it is really scary. I’m basically living out of my bed. I’m scared I will lose my job and I’m scared I will never have a normal life again. I really feel alone because no one understands and people don’t believe birth control can really cause all of this. It’s so frustrating especially trying to get a doctor to listen. I am praying for all of us that somehow this all works out.
I’m here if you want to email me, my email is andrealizivey@gmail.com. Every day feels like a nightmare anymore, it’s not like we are just having a bad day and can sleep it off and the next day be better, sadly every single day is so hard. I think this really contributes to my continued anxiety and depression from all of this, is that I know that the next day I’m still gonna be feeling the same way, so it’s just so discouraging. I am trying to stay hopeful it’s just this whole thing is driving me crazy.
Hi Everyone,
I am so happy I found this article and all of you.
My story: on junel for 12 yrs starting at 16 or 17 years old. I was getting migraines and my doc suggested vienva. It kicked off these horrible symptoms like some of the ones you described. The worst was these crazy doom panic attacks like nothing I had ever felt…I almost went to the hospital too. I became lightheaded, horrible brain fog, restless muscles all over, became severely depressed after never experiencing depression. I didn’t have pins and needles but limbs did fall asleep more easily and I had some moments where I thought my legs might collapse while I was standing for at least half an hour. Horrible depersonalization as well. And every once in awhile when I’m walking and I take a step, I feel like I just fell down inside my head but I didn’t. I was only on vienva a month and a half until I quit and I’ve been off all hormones for 3.5 months. Some things like the lightheadedness are gone but most remain and honestly they really don’t seem to be getting better.
I refuse to stick this out another 6 to 9 months hoping for a miracle. My doc keeps trying to throw antidepressants at me and my body hates those as well. I would like to get testing for copper, cortisol, progesterone and maybe some vitamins. Am I better off with an endocrinologist or functional med dr? My pcp doesn’t seem to care about what I’m dealing with. I need my life back before I lose my job and my health insurance…
Oops- forgot to mention the dry skin (I am 29 and my hands look like I’m 49), freezing all the time, and random bursts of energy that feel like they originate in my gut and stay there). And the mood swings. Very difficult to get thru each day.
How are you doing now? I would love to chat because im desperate! Please reach out! I’m feeling so many similar things
Hi Jessica! I too struggled and still am struggling with the depersonalization. I am 3 months post pill and my hormones got tested ab a week ago. They ended up being normal, but my naturopath said even with normal hormonal levels, the pill messes w ur brain function which can take time to go back to normal. As for dry skin, it could be a gut problem! I had Candida overgrowth from the pill which caused eczema all over my face. I tried to base my diet around getting rid of the Candida and bought these enzymes: https://amzn.to/3FI7C3Z which was the only thing to clear the overgrowth and eczema. I would advise against the medication as those can cause a lot more problems. I’d recommend a functional doctor, though those can be so expensive. My pcp didn’t care as well:’)
Thanks for the reply! I’ve bookmarked these. I take a daily probiotic and prebiotic with digestive enzymes but Jr only has 5 in it, surprisingly some core enzymes left out. How are you doing now?
Hi Jessica!
I can completely relate to everything you are saying and am having a ton of the same symptoms. I’ve had so much testing done by traditional doctors and nothing has been found wrong except they told me I have POTS because my heart rate is changing so drastically when going from laying to sitting to standing. I 100% believe this is all related to coming off birth control.
I found this website where you can order your own labs and get them drawn at Quest. It is expensive to do a whole panel because you have to pay out of pocket but I’ve been dealing with this for so long and can’t get anyone to run the labs I want to check vitamins, minerals, and hormones. Once I do this and see my results, I’m probably going to go the naturalpathoic route because I’m getting no where with traditional doctors. https://www.ultalabtests.com/test/vitamins-minerals-comprehensive
I really hope you start feeling better soon!!
How do you guys stay strong? Every day is so hard. I feel like I’m going crazy from this. ? I feel so trapped in my mind and my body. I wish I could fix this. I guess this takes a year to get better and that’s just such a daunting thought that we have to live day by day feeling like this for that long. How do you all survive and get through this? I seriously just feel like I’m suffering. I don’t even want to wake up and get out of bed or do anything anymore.
Every day is so hard. I feel like I’m going crazy from this. ? I feel so trapped in my mind and my body. I wish I could fix this. I guess this takes a year to get better and that’s just such a daunting thought that we have to live day by day feeling like this for that long. How do you all survive and get through this? I seriously just feel like I’m suffering. I don’t even want to wake up and get out of bed or do anything anymore.
Merry Christmas everyone. ? It is so hard celebrating holidays when you are going through what we are. I am trying my best to be happy but it just feels so hard. I’m almost 3 months in since stopping the progesterone “mini pill” and I’d say the brain fog has been the worst part. I just don’t feel like I’m all “here” or present in the moment. It feels like my brain is fried and it’s so scary. I just feel super tired all the time and it’s hard to focus and everything is harder to do. It takes me longer to think about things and I move slower. I feel it the most at work for some reason, ( I’m a waitress in a restaurant.) I think it’s too much stimulation, lighting, people, energy, and sounds around me that really makes me aware of the brain fog when I’m there. I guess this part takes 9 months to get better but probably a whole year to go away. Everyday is so hard and just knowing how long this will take makes it harder. I feel I’m just trying to let time pass me by as quick as it can this year but it’s so sad to feel like I’m just wasting the days away that could’ve been such good days if I hadn’t taken the birth control pill. I’m still dealing with the leg weakness which makes me feel so weak and so uncertain but I’d do anything for the brain fog to go away just to feel more like myself and have a bit more focus and energy. I’m also still waking up multiple times during the night and barely sleeping from all of this. My depression/suicidal thoughts have gotten slightly better, I think mostly because of how long I’ve had to deal with this already and knowing I won’t go through with it, they are just scary intrusive thoughts. I hope we all do get better this year. Sorry to post so much on here, I just feel it helps me to keep track of everyone’s progress and to feel a bit more connected and not so alone with this rare condition we are experiencing. Most people don’t truly understand what this is like and I feel they forget/don’t realize how long of a healing process this really is. My friends and family ask if I’m feeling better and I hate that I have to tell them no, because this isn’t something easy to heal from like a week long cold or flu, this is a rare reaction to a pill that will take most likely a year to get better. But even that is so uncertain and so scary. I hope we can all feel like ourselves again, I really do. Please keep posting on here, I want to hear how everyone is doing. Much love ?
Does anyone deal with the brain fog and did yours go away? How long did it take? Raquel and Lorraine said about 9 months to a year. I find this to be one of the most debilitating feelings because it feels like I’m not all “here” or present, I feel very tired all of the time and so drained and not myself. I find myself moving slower and everything takes a lot more thinking and effort, it feels like my brain is fried and it’s so scary. I hope this goes away, a whole year with this sounds so hard. ?
Does anyone else have intense anxiety especially when they are trying to sleep? I wake up multiple times during the night and the morning and it feels like my brain doesn’t really shut off, it’s almost like I’m thinking the whole time I’m sleeping. And when I do somewhat sleep I get jolted awake with heavy breathing and anxiety and adrenaline. It’s been like this for the past 3 months since stopping the pill. Maybe related but I also now have these intense dark circles/bags under my eyes that I can’t seem to get rid of. When does this get better? ?
How do you guys cope with the intense anxiety and depression? I feel almost out of breath from the anxiety all the time, it feels like my heart is constantly racing and I can’t just feel at peace or normal no matter what. ? my mind doesn’t let me relax anymore. I’m seeing a therapist now but it honestly doesn’t help much, this issue isn’t just easily fixed. Nothing can really fix this except time I guess, but it feels like forever. I hate that I keep thinking about suicide because every single day is just such a battle, it’s really wearing down on me. ?
I know what u mean my anxiety it’s horrible every morning u can’t stop thinking about death I get heart palpitations all the time and chest paint I get pressure in my left arm all the time I always thinking I have heart problems and then my anxiety gets worse and sometimes it’s hard for me to breath
Awww yes I understand this completely. I really hope we both heal with time and that all these weird symptoms eventually go away. ? I cry every single day and now trying to see a therapist but I don’t know if it’s really gonna help much because the problem is the health issues and the only thing that will make it better is if the health issues go away and I feel normal again.
I am currently going through a birth control withdrawal ordeal for about 3 weeks now. I have been on birth control for 16 years to manage heavy, painful cramps and acne. I am now happily married and wanting to have children soon. I have tried stopping the pills twice and experienced the same symptoms except the first time I got back on it out of fear and lack of control on my symptoms. I didn’t last a week off of the pill. Now it is my second time around and it’s been 3 weeks. I have had anxiety/panic, cramping, nausea/vomiting, diarrhea and trouble sleeping. I am even taking Zoloft and trazodone to help but it is still occurring. I feel feel lost and scared. I have never experienced anxiety or anything like this in my life. I have tried everything from meditation, reading, binaural beats, coffee elimination, etc. The anxiety comes in waves with a feeling of relief when it passes. I am so tired too. I’m hoping this passes soon. I wondering if anyone is experiencing the same thing.
I don’t want to be on birth control my entire life. I just wish I knew was I was getting into before starting. I’m scared this will only get worse. Sometimes I feel like I’m going crazy and get thrown into a psych ward because of this anxiety. I pray every night for strength. I know this will take time since my journey only just begun, but I’d rather deal with it now then later.
I feel the same way. I used to be so positive and bubbly and happy. Now I’m so depressed and struggling every day. ? I’ve never needed therapy before but now am seeing a therapist and might be put on anxiety/depression medicine. This whole thing is so sad and crazy that this happened to us. ?
This whole thing has me thinking about suicide multiple times a day, everyday. ? It just sucks because there is nothing I can do to feel better. I try to distract myself but it always comes back to suicidal thoughts. I used to be such a positive and happy person before this all happened. This is truly so unlike me. The hormonal imbalance this has caused is just not easily fixed and I guess takes time. I’m hoping with time I won’t feel this bad. It’s definitely a combination of my leg weakness, anxiety, depression, barely sleeping, waking up with anxiety, the hormones, the uncertainty, and also unrelated but the birth control caused me to have ovarian cysts which I’m so scared about and uncomfortable with. I deeply regret ever taking birth control, it truly has ruined my life and I’m worried that I’m eventually going to take my life but I really don’t want to, just my brain keeps telling me to. ?
The intrusive thoughts can be so insanely difficult, I understand where you’re coming from. I promise you, it will eventually get better and you will be ok. I was on the pill for 2 1/2 years, I’m 4 months off the pill, I can imagine it’s gonna take a long time (at least for me). Please don’t lose hope. I recommend getting your hormones tested and also seeking a therapist so you can talk to someone?.
I have an appointment with an endocrinologist January 30 luckily. It’s a bit away but hopefully they can help me figure out my hormonal imbalance. I believe that’s what is causing these suicidal thoughts. It’s definitely not “me” but something causing my brain to just feel so off. ? my life was so happy and perfect and then all of this happened and I feel at my lowest. I will try to see a therapist soon, I’ve never been through something like this before and I do find posting on here helps a lot. Thank you so much. ?
I had the same thing happen to me when I first got off. And believe me they were graphic and UNWANTED. It got to the point where I was actually believing I wanted to do it. But I’m almost 7 months off and I’m having WAYYY better days my anxiety and depression come in waves & are heightened when on my period but NOTHING like they were. It gets better I promise. Also just remember its just an imbalance and your body and brain are freaking out right now. Once things get in the rhythm it’ll go away. Take vitamins and nourish your body. You’re not alone. You’re thyroid is probably struggling due to the low progesterone and high estrogen. I heard wild yams help your body produce progesterone. Drink some herbal teas to help with inflammation and vitamins.
I have been reading your comments and wanted to reach out to see how you were doing? I just started my journey and I have found this site so helpful.
I’m struggling every single day. This is the hardest thing I’ve ever been through in my life. I just feel so off and not like myself at all. I feel so depressed and anxious and hopeless. I barely sleep, it’s hard to fall asleep and then I wake up multiple times and my dreams involve my health issues. And when I wake up it’s just intense anxiety and breathing. And I just feel so stressed and worried all the time, high blood pressure, losing hair rapidly, depression, suicidal thoughts multiple times a day everyday. I still have the leg weakness now for 2 months. And unrelated but the birth control caused ovarian cysts so I have to deal with this new problem as well which is making dealing with this even worse. ? gonna try to see a therapist soon, an endocrinologist in 2 months, and then my obgyn in a week. I was soooo happy and healthy before all of this and now I’m seeing so many doctors, it’s crazy. I wish I realized how touchy hormones really are and never took the pill. The hormonal imbalance has affected my whole body and mind. ?
I hope u get better u feel numb in u arms since left arm since Sunday it’s scary cuz I feel chest paint and pressure I went to the doctor today and they told it’s fine the maybe I have nerve damage this thing it’s so scary cuz I was like you. Healthy 26 year woman and now I’m going through all this
Andrea shoot me an email if you want to talk, I know how you feel. Ahopkinson41@gmail.com
Raquel,
Did you get my earlier post? Was it too long? Im desperate to tell my story and hear from others.
Thank you
Lisa, if you would like to tell your story in the form of a standalone post, we would love to publish it. Send me a note via the ‘write’ link in the navigation.
I would love to also share, how do I do this?
Send me a note here and I’ll send details. https://www.hormonesmatter.com/write-for-hormones-matter/
Hi Lisa,
I’m sorry, I didn’t see any earlier posts.
Has anyone experienced swollen lymph nodes coming off the pill? I’ve had them for about 4 months now. I’m terrified it’s lymphoma and idk if it’s from the pill or not. I noticed one in August, since then, I have about 4 swollen ones. About bean/pea sized. Sometimes they’re tender, sometimes they’re not. I don’t see any doctor until December 15th. I’m terrified.
Hi Ivana, do you have an update about the lymph nodes? What did your doctor say?
Update?
I can not tell you how much relief it has brought me reading this article and all the comments!!! I thought I was going crazy. I am 44, and recently went off BCP after 20+ years (save for the two years I was pregnant in my late 20s) I stopped in September after having a month long break thru bleed in August. Exactly 14 days after I went off- I ended up in the ER with tachycardia (racing heart) I also had orthostatic intolerance (getting dizzy and high HR when I stand up) I then started having exercise intolerance and shortness of breath just walking around at my job (I noticed that it is much worse the week before my period (which of course are SUPER heavy now being off the pill) I had a full cardiology work up (EKG, halter monitor, stress test etc) and my heart is totally normal thank goodness. I’m at almost 3 months post pill now, and while the tachycardia/heart racing seems to be a bit better this week, I’ve got other symptoms now- my right arm/hand feels a bit like I’ve got carpel tunnel. Some tingling, and “weakness” feeling. I had a tiny bit of the same thing in my left hand as well. The scariest stuff this past week has been the mental side effects. I’m haviI’ve always suffered with anxiety- but went off my meds right around the same time I went off the pill (actually went off them the day after my ER visit because ER doc wasn’t sure if the Wellbutrin was causing the racing heart- Wellbutrin never actually helped me with anxiety much the way SSRIs always have) the anxiety this past week has been borderline crippling. I’ve got massive brain fog. The words just don’t seem to be coming like they should- like it takes “effort” to think/talk, or something. On Thanksgiving I had a “derealization” episode that was terrifying. I felt like I was watching my life from a movie- I couldn’t “connect” with the people I was talking to- it felt like my voice was coming from somewhere else, etc. I’d never had anything like that in all my years of panic attacks. I see my PCP on Tuesday- she had told me a few months ago that the racing heart was potentially from going off the pill, and my body being completely thrown out of whack. I’m wondering tho if she’ll send me to neurology now that I have the tingling in my arm. The health anxiety I’m feeling right now is horrific- like most of you, I’m seriously concerned about MS, or something equally as scary. I can’t focus on much else now- it’s all I think about- how awful I feel- and wondering if I’ll ever feel normal/like me again.
I feel like I was on the pill for so long, it’s just going to take some time to balance out. I have to keep having faith it’ll be ok. So thankful for this blog and all the comments!!!
Almost identical symptoms to you. I was on the pill for a few months and go off early July (I am 19). Immediately 4 days later I had a horrific panic attack accompanied by a racing heart. My gyno told me I was overreacting and to go on a low dose Zoloft because I had to just have anxiety. I saw a neurologist and she told me what I had hoped by Gyno would tell me. She did scans and said I was clear and this was just a bad pill withdrawl that I would have to wait out. Brain fog has been horrendous, but since July the anxiety has subsided. I truly only deal with brain fog and fatigue now. Things get better!
Thank you SO much for the response Adrianna! Did you have an MRI? Did you have any of the weakness feelings? I feel like i’m out of breath all the time too! So awful! It brings me much comfort knowing that people are coming out the other side of this!
I had an MRI with and without contrast and everything came out fine. I do have moments of lightheartedness but it’s been gradually going away. This is the same with shortness of breath. Honestly just super tired and brain foggy still. I am most definitely doing better than I was, but still not my “norm”. praying I get back soon!
Hi there u don’t get like pain in u heart or like racing heart?
I’ve been having similar symptoms! The biggest ones for me are muscle weakness and numbness – started in my right arm, moved to right leg, and now it’s in my left arm and leg too. I also have chest pain, crippling anxiety and the worst brain fog I’ve ever experienced. Let me know if you start to feel better – I only stopped the pill about 6 weeks ago EEK
Dose anyone experience chest pain
Hi Janet!
I’m having almost identical symptoms as you. I actually just spent a few days in the hospital for this very thing. I was having episodes where my resting heart rate would be 40-50 and as soon as I would sit up or get up and walk around it was going as high as 160s. I had a full cardiology work up and am waiting to get my holter monitor but so far everything has been fine. I’ve been pretty much bed bound so I can lay flat since because this is all still happening. They told me it’s called POTS and the only things they could tell me to do to help is increase salt intake and drink plenty of fluids. They gave me a low dose beta blocker to help take the edge off with my heart rate too. I have been having chest tightness and shortness of breath along with this and they both get worse when I am up moving around. I haven’t even been back to work because this has been so bad and I haven’t driven either. Im also having severe brain fog like sometimes I feel like I can’t even think because it’s so bad. I had an MRI and MRA along with a CT of my head and all of those came back clear. So physically there hasn’t been anything anyone can find wrong. This is the worst I have felt in my entire life though and it makes me feel crazy when doctors are coming up with nothing.
I sure hope this gets better for us because I’ve been really depressed thinking about this and if it doesn’t get better. This is severely debilitating and I don’t understand how we are supposed to function like this. It’s honestly really scary to be going through this too and not really have anything to help. I really hope you start feeling better soon.
Molly you are so strong. I would be an absolute mess dealing with this for as long as you have. I already am a mess dealing with this for only 3 months and how badly it’s affected my whole life and health and happiness and whole being, I don’t feel like myself at all anymore. I’m so happy for the women who have gotten better from this, it gives me hope. But jeeze for the ones of us still suffering this is such a sad scary nightmare. ?
How long does the hair loss last for? I feel so depressed with everything else and now losing my hair like crazy, it’s getting noticeably thin toward my roots. ? I’m only about a month and a half into this after stopping the pill. Still dealing with the weakness in my leg, brain fog, anxiety, depression, insomnia/trouble sleeping/waking up multiple times, and also have ovarian cysts/pressure in my stomach. ?
I am in the same boat. My hair loss isn’t horrible. But I notice it. Look up ways to lower androgens to help the hair loss. However, I am also struggling with the depression and anxiety. Especially near my period. Right now I feel like I’m going crazy, nothing is specifically wrong, but I just feel off and super weird and have scary thoughts. Idk what to do. I hope it just goes away eventually. It’s been so hard. I have trouble sleeping as well, yet I’m so tired. It’s so hard, but we will be ok. Praying for you ??.
Thank you so much ? this has been the hardest thing physically and emotionally and mentally I’ve ever gone through. I don’t feel like myself at all anymore and feel like I’m missing out on life, like this whole year just won’t count for anything. ?
Did you girls ever experience body tremors?
I have been off birth control for 12 years. I still have heart racing, hair loss, ovaran cyst, high blood pressure, chronic fatigue, brain fog, chronic pain, depression, anxiety, migraines, headaches, stomach issues. It has disabled me. I am 52 years old. Was on birth control for 23 years straight. Just found this article and all comments.. I finally have some answers now after having every test and scan possible ran and told time and time again that nothings wrong. Prayers to all, but i am still suffering after 12 years. 🙁
Ladies, I’m in the same boat!!! I was on birth control pill for 3 years, and felt the Lord telling me to get off of it. Same symptoms you ladies are describing!! I was fatigued before while I was on the pill, but wow – coming off of it is a whole new level of fatigue. I can’t tell you how much research I’ve done on estrogen dominance, hypothyroidism, and so much more – all thanks to the negative side effects of the pill. I luckily found http://www.drbrighten.com who explains what Post-Birth Control Syndrome is. She has so many resources. She explained how birth control depletes our nutrients because our liver is so messed up from trying to process and excrete synthetic hormones. So, we have to revitalize our bodies with nutrients and get our hormones back on track. Dr. Jolene Brighten recommends these supplements: zinc, selenium, B6, tryptophan, turmeric, broccoli seed extract, DIM, calcium d-glucarate, and trans resveratrol. I got them all on Amazon. All of these help with the immune system, are antioxidant/antiinflammatory (which is needed since the excess synthetic estrogen causes so much inflammation in our bodies), and are potent in protecting against certain cancers (since estrogen dominance can lead to the onset of abnormal pap smears/cervical dysplasia/cervical cancer, etc). You can research as well… you definitely won’t find this information on the mainstream media. BUT if you dig long enough, you’ll find enough evidence of all of this being true. Especially with everyone’s experiences/stories lining up!!! (So many negative birth control testimonies are shared in the Apple App store reviews for Natural Cycles hormone free birth control aka thermometer cycle tracking). God bless you ladies!! I’m so grateful I serve a God who heals! You’re not alone in this!
Thank you for this. I too believe God wanted me to heal from the disaster the pill has caused me. I highly recommend the books “In the Flo” and the “Hormone Balance Bible”. God has our backs, and I’m grateful to now be off of the pill!
Does anyone else have the worst time waking up with severe anxiety? It’s like I try to sleep to forget what’s wrong with me and then I wake up and realize I’m still living this sad nightmare of my body falling apart. ? it takes me awhile just laying there to try to calm myself down. It’s so sad accepting this as our new reality and to know how each day is so hard and that we have to do this every day for basically a year. Just trying to take it day by day but it feels like a prison sentence honestly. Im trying so hard to stay strong but this is so hard mentally, physically, and emotionally. This has me seriously at my lowest and I’m pretty strong, the crazy suicidal thoughts are intense but I don’t want to end my life. ? please let me know if anyone else has struggled with this? I feel like nobody understands.
Update: Went to the ER and it’s confirmed I have multiple small ovarian cysts and then one large one. Definitely caused by the birth control. ? I was only on the progesterone “mini pill” for 3 weeks, along with my numbness/weakness in my leg, brain fog, depression, anxiety, and trouble sleeping, and have been shedding so much hair, I now have to deal with this and the spotting/light bleeding I’ve had for the past month. I deeply regret ever taking birth control.
Girl 100000% you’re not alone! I know EXACTLY how you feel. Please know it gets better it’s a long journey but it DOES get better. I’m 6 months off and I’m now seeing better days it’s still a struggle but nothing compared to the hell I endured the first 3 months! With every period it gets better. Look up some supplements to help your body during this time. Be kind to yourself, your body is working for you not against you. It’s trying to reconnect and heal!
So glad to hear you are feeling way better now compared to the first 3 months. It definitely has been a long journey for me its been 2 years post-birth control and I still struggle. May I ask what supplements helped you?
What do you still deal with 2 years later? ?
Vitamin D omega 3s and vitamin c
I also drank herbal teas. Raspberry leaf, vitex tea, turmeric and ginger, dandelion root and chamomile and lavender. I alternate them everyday.
This overall weakness in my leg and tiredness/fatigue in my body and mind is so hard. It’s just so hard to make myself leave my bed anymore. I just had to get a new waitress job recently and it has been incredibly rough trying to feel normal and be so active. I also think the birth control caused ovarian cysts because I’ve been having pain/pressure in my stomach and have been light bleeding for over a month now. These hormones are absolutely terrible. ?
Hey Andrea, have you gone to your ob/gyn to check up on the bleeding, see if it’s not from anything serious. If it’s just spotting, maybe your body is trying to regulate into having normal periods soon. But you can also check with a doctor to rule out some things. I’m sorry you’re going through a lot. I am currently going through some things my self since I stopped birth control almost three months now. ☹️
What symptoms u having after u stop the birth control ?
Sadly my obgyn is making me wait until January. I’m trying to get into a planned parenthood in 2 weeks but that seems too long too. I might go to a hospital and have them do an ultrasound to see if it’s possibly ovarian cysts. I have been feeling a weird pressure and light pains in my lower stomach for a month now and have been spotting light bleeding for over a month. This combined with the numbness/weakness in my leg, trouble sleeping, depression, anxiety, depersonalization, brain fog, and as of lately extreme hair loss just has me feeling so exhausted and unwell. I really hope our hormones can balance out soon. ?
Did anyone else have abnormal prolonged bleeding? I was only on the mini pill for 3 weeks and was spotting the whole time and then I stopped taking it a month ago and have been spotting and now have been bleeding for 2 almost 3 weeks now. ?
Yes. My periods have been extremely irregular, one month it was 9 days and the next I didn’t have it. Are you doing any better?
I stopped taking the pill a month ago, was only on it for a month. I have had spotting this whole entire month, and lately it’s been a bit more blood but I know it’s not a real period because it’s thin bright red blood but not thick or textured like a period would be. It doesn’t seem to be stopping. ? probably gonna order some Iron supplements soon, I just feel so weak in general.
I did my iron test and was fine which is good but i don’t understand why I’m so tired and weak all the time ???my heart rate feels weird I get chest pain sore throat nausea dizzy and sometimes I throw up
I feel the same. I’ve been off since sept 12. I’m so tired, weak, stressed, panicky, and have such weird pressure in my head. I’m scared it’s not from the pill and smg is seriously wrong. It’s terrifying. I can’t wrap my head around the pill being able to do this.
Yeah it’s so hard going through this do you have racing heart or chest pain??? I’m worry Can be heart problems cuz I never feel like this in my life
Hi there,
I have racing heart, some times chest pains, tingling/weakness in my arm/hands that comes and goes, breathlessness and the worst anxiety I’ve ever felt, along with some depersonalization. I’d love to connect with you all!
Hello everyone,
I posted awhile back about my symptoms, but, I feel like I’m relapsing. I got off the pill November 14th, 2021. Long story short I had all the symptoms you ladies were having. Debilitating anxiety, headaches, numbness, tingling, sinus and ear issues, you name it. I saw a naturopath, followed her course, things got better from about March-June. July, I started a new job, had some stressors in my life, and my anxiety and health anxiety have been SO high. I’ve also been having dizziness on and off and sinus/ear issues since a sickness in December of last year. I feel now my anxiety is as bad as it was since I went off last year. Having panic attacks, alllll the physical symptoms. I don’t know what to do and I’m messaging to see if anyone that got off the pill, if they feel they relapsed so to speak in symptoms. My anxiety is at its worst.
I have the same symptoms you do headaches got better but I do throw up everyday and I’m not losing any weight Im getting weight which I do t understand why I don’t eat to much xuz I’m scared of trowing up..anxiety it’s horrible Im tired all the time I don’t have any energy to do anything today I went to the dr he Prescribe anxiety pills and they did blood test for hormones and check hormones for thyroid Im so scared for this symptoms it’s horrible especial the anxiety
Unfortunately, I’ve had to take anxiety meds to get through this too. I was hoping I could do it naturally but it’s debilitating. Sending positive energy to everyone going through this.
Yeah it’s so sad I hope I’ll get better they give me meds for headaches I hope we get though all this it’s so sad I just wanna be my self again I’m tired feeling like this I don’t have any energy to do nothing how you feeling now still have the symptoms or u feel better
I’m still having symptoms. It’s hard to just get through the day. ?
Yeah it’s super hard u don’t have like chest pain or like sometimes u left arm or leg go numb
I’m struggling every single day living like this. ? I seriously feel my mental health and physical health declining rapidly day by day. How do you guys get through the anxiety? I am so scared.
Hi Angela! I feel you when it comes to debilitating anxiety. I have also been debating trying to balance out my hormones or get on meds because I am just so tired of living like this. May I ask how you’re anxiety has been since taking medication?
HI Chelsy,
I am seeing my doc today, and planning to go back on anxiety medication. I’d love to connect and hear about your experience. I am absolutely exhausted and just want my old life back!
As much as I don’t want to be on anxiety meds, it’s helped relax me and helped me sleep during the really tough times.
What brand or type of anxiety meds are you on? ?
Did your numbness go away and how long did it take to go away? ? what part of your body was numb/weak?
It’s getting better, gets worse with anxiety. It was in my legs or arms. Like a weakness feeling… it still comes and goes but feels maybe less frequent.
So you’re still dealing with the weakness feeling a year later? ?
Anyone else with the numbness/weakness in their leg or body part notice that it kinda migrates? Mine has been mostly in my lower left leg calf area and ankles and sometimes it’s my toes too and upper leg. It’s a consistent weak feeling like my whole left leg just feels so weak and it’s scary. I just started a new waitress job (I know, such bad timing) and being on my feet all night and coming home I just feel so much weaker and it kinda hurts too. Does this really take 6-9 months to get better? This is so hard
Hi! I have the same weird feeling in my left leg too!
Another side effect or issue I’ve been dealing with that I kinda put on the back burner has been that I’ve been spotting for 3 weeks but for the past week or two it’s been more like a period, but I don’t think it is my period, it never seems to end. Maybe my first withdrawal bleed since stopping the pill 3 weeks ago?Has anyone else had irregular bleeding? I finally called my obgyn but they can’t see me until February so I made an appointment with Planned Parenthood but they can’t see me until 2 weeks from now. Between the leg numbness/weakness, the brain fog, anxiety, weird breathing, fatigue, overall body weakness, not sleeping much, and now realizing this whole time I’ve been spotting and now bleeding I feel so drained and hope it all gets better. ?
I’ve been so weak, fatigued, and dizzy too. I also have swollen lymph nodes. My arms are constantly shaky and I’ll randomly get hot flashes and I’m so scared it’s not from the pill, iI’m scared it’s something like lymphoma 🙁
I’ve been getting hot flashes too, especially at night time. I just wake up so many times when I’m trying to sleep. ?
Does anyone else’s brain just feel fried? I am now noticing this new symptom of slight pressure in my head and almost like I’m just emotionless and lacking energy, I don’t feel like I’m existing in the present moment, I feel so bleh and robotic, it’s so sad. It’s like the pill has definitely affected my nervous system with my numb/weak leg and now this weird head feeling and depersonalization. Does this really get better and go away? I feel like I’m getting worse and so scared.
Thats how i feel right now with a lot headache pressure and numb in my head and tired all I wanna do all day is sleep I don’t have any energy like you said I feel like robot like my body is here but my mind
Do you guys experience hand weakness or your head throbbing? I even have swollen lymph nodes. I’m so scared it’s smg serious
Yes! I have pressure in my head 24/7. It’s so scary! I’m not sure what to do. I can’t sleep, I have horrible insomnia. What I wouldn’t do to be able to sleep it off.
Idk either. For sleep I’d recommend some CBD. But the pressure is constant. It makes me feel so weird
Is the pressure like someone squeezing your brains? Because i felt this at one time after i stopped taking the pill its definitely the pill , its been6 months sonce i stopped it, its been much better , i think it does get better as your hormones settle down
Im glad u getting better u never got like u Brest hurts and feel so Sensitive like it hurts when u touch them
If anyone on here has gotten better can you leave a comment? ? I’d love to hear people’s stories and experiences getting through this for inspiration. So proud of Raquel for writing this blog and helping us all stay connected.
Yep since i stopped in may i would say i am 80% better nand ass the article says its until your hormones settle down
Thank you for updating us that you’ve gotten a bit better, this gives me hope. ?
It goes away! I was on the bc pill for 16 years, went off in January 2018, and my post-birth control syndrome was so awful that I had to quit my beloved career. Just as the author of this describes, I thought I had MS (or something worse) and every day thought I was dying. I was so messed up, doctors prescribed me a beta blocker/heart medicine to lessen the effects of adrenaline that was just coursing through my body 24/7.
So basically, I went off in January 2018, the worst of my symptoms started April 2018, and I feel like I was fully recovered by early 2019. Knowing what I know now, I could have done MANY things to have sped up the process and made myself feel better. I also replaced bc pills with the Copper IUD which I’m convinced created some CRAZY inflammation in my body resulting in the severity of my symptoms. I’m actually going through the post-birth control syndrome process again right now (on week 7) because an OB/GYN convinced me to go back on bc pills again for a year. The symptoms aren’t nearly as bad (likely, I think, due to taking care of myself better and the IUD not being involved).
My advice would be to make sure you’re eating regularly, as to not stress your body out more than it needs to be. These cortisol spikes are no joke and you need that to take some time to calm down. Think calming foods like oats. Once I started eating more regularly, my recovery sped up BIG time! (I was, in the midst of all of this, still trying to diet, do Keto diet, and intermittent fast!) Keep your electrolytes balanced and chill on the caffeine if you consume it. I keep electrolyte capsules with me at all times and regularly drink these green drinks from the grocery that have 1000mg of Potassium in them. Maybe do a vitamin/mineral panel to see if you could use a boost in any vitamins. B6 as P-5-P helps during these times (but it can make me TOO sleepy if I take it on a regular basis…. it’s WONDERFUL before bed and if you’re feeling stressed. I think I’m naturally low, though).. Ashwagandha was a lifesaver for me at one point. Now it actually makes me feel too tired. Magnesium and Vitamin D3 have been beneficial for me as well. I hadn’t been taking either of these for a while and recently restarted while I’m going through this. Notice a big difference in my stress and energy level. You can take a liver supplement too — something that includes Milk Thistle. I take “Liver Life” by Bioray. Very helpful after detoxing from the pill after all those years.
I also since got that career back that I had to quit in late 2019. Life went back to normal and I can function again. Even though I’m more mildly going through this again, it doesn’t worry me because now I know it goes away. And it’ll likely go away faster for me this time since I’m healthier.
Good luck to you – you got this! Just hang in there! I know the anxiety is REAL but you’ll look back and be thankful when it’s over!
All of my doctors have told me to go back on birth control. Did you feel better once you did?
This post has been extremely comforting for me. Here is my story:
28 years old and have been on BC for about 14 years. I stopped it 3 months ago and it’s been absolute hell. The first thing I noticed was severe headaches for about 3 weeks. Around 2 weeks I began having daily heart palpiltations, almost constantly and debilitating anxiety. The heart palpiltations landed me in the ER once (30 PVCs in 30 seconds) and I had a full workup from a my PCP, a cardiologist, and my gyn. The ED doc and my gyn without hesitation told me that this is from stopping my birth control and to give it time. At about 2 months out from stopping the pill the palpiltations finally started to slow down. Now I am 3 months out and I still feel them every now and then but not anywhere near as much as I was. I thought I was finally in the clear and then 1 week ago.. HORRIBLE nerve pain. It started in my left arm from my shoulder down to my pinky and ring finger. Now I get aching pain in my lower left back and both legs. Sometimes it feels like a bad pinched nerve, sometimes I get finger numbness, sometimes its horribly aching pain either down my arm or in my calf and thigh, sometimes its aching joint pain. Its absolutely unbareable. Like most of you this has my anxiety to a max and I’m constantly thinking I have MS. I did recently have a brain MRI for the headaches which was clear and is the only thing putting my at ease along with this blog! Please if anyone else experienced horrible nerve pain let me know if you tried anything that helped or how long your symptoms lasted.
Hi I hope u feeling better u used to had headaches everyday? And yeah I feel numb and nerve pain what helping me a little bit with nerve pain is magnesium and b12 d3 and potassium… the only thing the un worried for me is the headaches and pulse and numb is just my right side it’s scary
Hi Michelle!
How are you feeling now?! I’m having the exact same thing! 14 days after going off BCP (after 20+ years) I ended up in the ER with tachycardia (racing heart) and massive dizziness upon standing. Full heart work up showed heart is good- thankfully. I’m close to 3 months off pill now- and the heart rate stuff has slowed a bit (yay!!!) but now I’m having the numbness/pins and needles/tingling in my arms/hands/legs. It just started- along with terrible anxiety and several episodes of “derealization” (basically massive anxiety that causes me to feel out of it and like I’m watching my life as a movie) I see my primary doc tomorrow and will see if she refers me to neurology. I’ve also read on this blog that vitamins can be depleted while on the pill- and can cause a whole host of nasty symptoms. How are you feeling now? Have you had any tests done?
Sorry to post so much on here. But how on earth did all of you ladies get through this? Each day is such a battle and it’s become so hard to not give up. Especially after seeing so many doctors and specialists and all of the money spent on that. None of them understand or have true answers or healing. How did you keep pushing on? I’m finding it so hard everyday to live a normal life and to be happy, this has genuinely taken the biggest toll on my life I’ve ever experienced, I just want my normal life back and I feel so weak and scared. ?
You feel any better or the same?? Have you done hormones test? I thinking on doing mine cuz I don’t feel my self every day it’s hard living like this
I feel the same and it’s been 3 weeks, honestly don’t feel any different and losing hope. I see everyone else around me living their lives and I just feel so stuck and alone and scared. I feel my body getting weaker each day and losing weight from barely eating. I hope I don’t die from this because I am that scared about how weak I’m starting to feel. ? I will look into a hormone test, it just seems like everything is so hard to do and even if we seek out help nothing is actually helping to feel better. I regret ever taking the pill, I never knew it would effect my life this hard.
Im sorry i undesrstand it’s being a month the i took out the nexplanon some day I feel better some days I don’t it’s hard sometimes to breath for me I feel brain frog all the time I have to be strong cuz i have 2 kids one is 3 years old and he needs me i never wanna be on birthcontrol ever again i hope u feel better
Andrea how have you been doing? I would love to chat! I’ve been experiencing similar symptoms.
Waking up multiple times throughout the night with adrenaline and weird breathing and fast heart rate sucks. And then when I wake up in the morning it’s the same, just so much anxiety caused by my body. I hope this stops soon. ? how long did this part last for you guys?
Hi Andrea! i’m so sorry you’re feeling this way too, I know exactly what you’re going through. I stopped birth control early september so almost 2 months, and it has gotten a little better but I definitely have ways to go. I have a lot of anxiety all of the time, weird breathing as well im always out of breath and feel like I can’t get a deep breath. my body just feels so off. I cant do my normal daily activities as of now because of it. I really hope it gets better for us soon, im so sick of feeling like this. Good luck keep updating on your symptoms!
Thank you so much Brooke, it’s so nice to talk to someone who is also experiencing this. Can I have your email or anything so we can both talk more and have support? My email is andrealizivey@gmail.com thanks so much. ?
It’s being really hard for me too it’s being 3 weeks I got out of nexplanon i have really bad anxiety chest pain I can’t breathe at night i feel like i won’t wake up the next day it’s horrible I have headaches numb in my right side of my head and tingling and a lot pulses i just wanna feel my self again
I never thought I’d hear other people experiencing the same symptoms of me but these are the exact same symptoms I am getting after being off the pill for a few months. I also have tingling in the right side of my head and a weird feeling that I am just not myself and major anxiety and waking up with a racing heart. I’m so relieved it’s not just me I was convinced I had a brain tumour❤️
I hope u felling better yeah it’s being really hard for me I still have the symptoms some days are better and some aren’t yeah me too I thought I had a brain tumor I went to the Hospital and they did cat scan they said everything looks good in my brain I think it’s just our hormones going crazy I never thought birth control will mess with u body the bad and emotions
It’s been almost 3 weeks of feeling numbness and weakness in my lower left leg. This morning I woke up and my right thumb was numb but slowly got better, hoping it stays away. Will this neuropathy completely heal/go away eventually or is it going to get worse and be permanent? I have been taking magnesium, Vitamin B, D, and Lions Mane and some days are better and some days are worse but overall I don’t feel much progress and I’m worried this will be permanent. My body randomly wakes me up multiple times throughout the night and in the morning I am immediately woken up with weird breathing and fast heat rate and adrenaline/anxiety. Every single day has become so hard to live, my body feels so wears snd I’ve become so depressed and had suicidal thoughts so much lately and it’s scaring me. I don’t know what to do to get better. ?
I am so happy I found this. I’ve been on the pill for about 2 1/2 years. I ended on Sept. 12th 2022. However, before I ended, I was on a week vaca, and wanted to “skip” my period. I never did this before. So my next few cycles were as follows:
5 weeks no period
One week period
3 weeks no period
One week period
4 weeks no period
One week period
2 weeks no period
Stopped the pill
Started period
4 weeks no period
One week period
Now I’m on a non-birth controlled cycle
The week after I skipped my period (the 5 week cycle), I developed a headache. This headache didn’t go away. It turned into extreme ear pain. I went to my PCP 3 times. They prescribed me naproxen, antibiotics, a steroid, a muscle relaxer, and told me it was just tension. My chiropractor (who usually always helps) was stumped. I went to an ENT to check my ears, nothing. I went to the eye doctor to see if it was a tumor or something pressing on my eyes, nothing. I have tmj, so I went to the dentist and paid for a mouth guard. That has helped my tmj, but not my headaches. Overtime, the headaches got worse. My pcp referred me to a neuro. My neuro appt was a month away still. The headaches turned into an all day, every day pressure in my head that made me feel dizzy and sort of like a “depersonalization feel”. I felt l like I constantly needed to adjust my eyes. Once I got off the pill which was cold turkey mid-pack, 2 days later, I went to the ER, they ran my blood and did a CT scan, nothing. I’ve had swollen lymph nodes, the drs say they’re fine. I also started an eczema rash on my face, which I never had before in my life. It has gone away for almost a month now.
I finally went to the neuro, got an MRI, nothing. My neuro had me get an MRA, nothing at all either. My neuro is having me test run the “AJOVY” migraine injection to see if it works on me. It hasn’t worked yet. I have another appt soon. I am so tired. I am so emotional and want to cry all the time. My head either feels like it’s going to explode or the pain will make me puke. I’m constantly having hot flashes. Scared I have pots, ms, or something like that. My anxiety is at an all time high. I’ve had panic attacks, but never like this. Could the pill really be the reason for my head to feel this way, even before stopping it? No doctors have an answer, and I’m terrified I’m losing my mind. I’m scared I’ll never feel normal again. I take vitamins every day and have a very clean diet. I’m unsure what else to do.
I’m here for you if you need to talk, I check this blog quite often. I find us staying connected and sharing our experiences helps us not to feel so alone with this as those who haven’t experienced this just don’t understand. ?
I’m just so scared. The past week my limbs have felt so weak and shaky. I already have horrible health anxiety and I’m scared it’s not from the pill. I can workout and such, but I just feel SO weak and shaky in my arms and hands. I’m scared it’s something like MS or ALS. I can’t talk to anyone about this:( idk what to do. I’m scared smg is seriously wrong. Idk how the pill would cause me to feel weak
I’m here if you want to talk I have my email in the above comments. Feel free to email me if you’d like to vent or have someone to talk to about this. ?
Headaches and migraines are very common when stopping birth control. I just recently stopped after 15 years on and off but last 8 years straight.
I’ve ran out of pills before my annual before and the migraines are killer. I’ve had headaches and migraines my whole life and I know the difference between hormonal headaches and they don’t respond to treatment for me.
Have you tried B2 or magnesium? My neuro recommended these as I still always had menstrual migraines even on bc. Helped a bit when I stopped bc.
I kinda knew to expect a lot of these symptoms after going off bc. I wish doctors would be more upfront about these things.
I’ve actually had vertigo and very weird nerve issues for 2 years so I can’t really contribute any of these problems to stopping bc. My biggest complaints are unrelenting cramps with no bleeding, excessive hair loss, and bladder pain.
I also think there’s a good chance I have endometriosis. BC is a treatment option and kinda masks the symptoms and I think even helps with the inflammation. I think my issues are probably an underlying condition that the bc was actually helping.
Hormones absolutely affects your neurotransmitters IMO. For example, I have ADD and my medication doesn’t work or barely works if I have my period. Kinda would make sense to have nerve issues if your hormones are out of wack.
For me, I’m pretty sure my shakiness is due to a new aversion to food after stopping the pill. Eating a balanced diet is definitely key to feeling better. For me, I just couldn’t push through meals so it’s been rough.
I totally agree. The past two weeks my hands and arms have felt randomly weak and shaky idk why. It’s been making me scared it’s something like ALS or MS. I’ve been so nervous. Idk what to do. I’m scared it’s not from the pill. I do take magnesium and b vitamins.
Hey everyone, I am so grateful to have found this blog. It’s so assuring to read so many women’a similar experiences to mine. I was taking Lyleq a “mini pill” progestin only pill for only 24 days. I had such bad anxiety, depression, and leg feelings on it toward the end so I decided to stop. The next day or two I woke up with extreme leg numbness in my left leg in the calf area. I immediately was worried that it could be a blood clot so I went to the ER and had an ultrasound done on my leg. It came back negative and they reassured me that it wasn’t a blood clot. The next day I woke up still with the same numb and constant tingling feeling in my left leg/calf. I was also having moments of shortness of breath, I couldn’t breath in a full breath and that scared me. I had my boyfriend take me to another ER and had them do a d dimer blood test and a chest x ray because I had read that sometimes ultrasounds don’t 100% show blood clots sometimes so I wanted to be safe and take care of myself. Both the blood test and chest x ray came back negative luckily. It’s been 2 days since and I’ve been taking Magnesium and Vitamin B and D and have felt 60% better in my leg, not as much tingling pain but still some numbness especially when I bend it in toward me and most definitely at night time or when I’m laying down. I feel lucky to not have a blood clot (fingers crossed) but am so scared to be dealing with this unknown presumed nerve issue in my leg now. The uncertainty is the worst part, I’ve always liked to know what is going on with my body and how to fix things, so this unknown being in limbo is the worst. I have been having severe anxiety, depression, brain fog, leg numbness, leg tingling, shortness of breath, and have gone through whole thoughts of feeling like a ghost, anticipating dying at any moment and somehow being so numb and at peace with it if it were to happen because experiencing everything I have been forced to with my body currently is so unbearable. I don’t mean to be so morbid but it’s the truth of how this makes you feel, and I’m usually such a happy person. My partner has been so sweet and caring but the past week of me venting about how I’m feeling is definitely taking a toll on our relationship and I feel so bad about that. Hoping to keep taking vitamins and to gain more strength and happiness day by day. I’m going to my primary care doctor on Monday but feel doubtful that they can help me much at all. Considering going to a Neurologist but not sure if they’d help either. I’m a bit worried about how much money I’m spending on these doctor visits in general but just want to make sure I’m okay. Feel free to share anything that has helped you guys, I’m appreciative of any info that can help me feel a little bit back to normal again. Much love ?
So sorry you’re going through it! Thank you for reading and I’m glad you found some comfort in our stories! Stay strong! It takes a whole for many women unfortunately. A lot of us didn’t feel better until around month 9- 1 year after stopping the pill. Here’s the doc link, it might help you out too! https://youtu.be/dch7xMdc-Lk
I’m so glad I found this blog. Like most of you, I have been on a roller coaster ride of terrifying symptoms since getting off birth control around 2 months ago. I got off birth control because my heart was racing for weeks. But little did I know, just days after getting off, the symptoms would be far worse with panic attacks, anxiety, tingling, and feeling like I was outside my body – not like myself. I felt and still feel crazy. My gynecologist is dismissive of my symptoms. My symptoms actually felt like they were resolving after concentrating on my diet (no caffeine, sugar, alcohol, dairy, or red meat), but then came back. I now have a constant tingling feeling and regular bouts of anxiety. My situation is further complicated because I have endometriosis and birth control is needed to control my painful symptoms.
A couple of questions –
-Does anyone else have endometriosis who is dealing with these issues?
-Has anyone tried going back on birth control after these horrible symptoms resolve or even while they’re occurring? If so, did the symptoms resolve after being back on birth control?
(This may sound nuts, but it is an option I seriously have to consider or else the only answer may be endometriosis surgery for me.)
Hey! Thanks for reading and commenting. I’m sorry you’re going through this!! I do not have a personal experience involving endometriosis. Many women do not go back on the pill after experiencing these side effects because eventually they’ll have to come off of it and go through the process again. There are amazing homeopathic methods out there; naturopathic doctors that specialize in this is the best way to go, in my opinion!
My documentary explains a lot of what you are probably experiencing. YouTube: https://youtu.be/dch7xMdc-Lk
It feels very comforting, yet also very sad to read all these comments. I came off the pill early July this year, with the symptoms appearing almost immediately. It started with my fingers and arms “falling asleep” and numb out during the night, but after a few weeks they were numb pretty much all the time. I have not lost strength, I lift as much as I used to during exercise, it’s more like a sensation of tiredness in my arms and legs. I have almost constant pain in my fingers (and sometimes my toes), but X-ray and blood works has ruled out arthritis/rheumatism etc. Muscles in my face (chin, jaw, tongue), upper back and neck have been so tight and painful. The nipple pain (as I see many describe) has been so severe I can cry if my boyfriend touches them. I have had really bad anxiety and felt so depressed and alone and so SCARED. Have been googeling like crazy. Thank you so much for providing motivation to hang in there ❤️ Much love to you all
How are you feeling now? Are you still dealing with numbness in your body? How long did the numbness last? I’m currently experiencing numbness in my leg for 3 weeks now and just curious when it will go away. Hope you feel better. Thanks so much. ?
Omg ladies ladies! 26 this year and i took the pill for 4 days so thati didn’t miss ramadan fasting its a muslim thing! Still gor a period bt it was 3 days long ! 2 weeks after that pill i was having panic attacks randomly, each symptom described and docs gave me antidepressants straight away! Got bloodwork done mri and all sorts all normal! Only 4 pills and its now month 3 of suffering its better now and i am sure it will get better ! Its a relief knowing this random “anxiety” to a very bubbly mum of 2 is caused by a pill and not because shes going crazie! It didn’t add up to why randomly i got anxiety! And yes i thought it was a brain tumour! The fogg the dizziness grinding teeth, not eating because of fear! I am glad i read this article!
How do you feel now love? ?
I quit birth control in January of this year and two weeks later I experienced the exact same symptoms listed in this post, it took about over a month of research and multiple ER visits for me to finally realize it was the birth control as that is the only thing that changed in my life. During my last ER visit I had a doctor give me a high IV dosage of thiamin as he stated my symptoms were that of low thiamin. After I was discharged 3 days later my symptoms (tremors, neuropathy, fatigue, muscle weakness and joint pain, etc.) slowly started to dissipate and improve for months after that. However, in July, all of the same symptoms slowly started to develop again and I couldn’t figure out why. Finally, I remembered at the time I started to improve that the ER doctor stated he gave me a high dose of thiamin so I purchased benfotiamine (100 mg 4x daily) and a prenatal vitamin. Once I started taking these within 3 days my symptoms have started to alleviate again, it’s slow but it is definitely improving as I felt as though my body were shutting down before this. This is by no means medical advice, but I do want to share what helped me improve as before this I was getting worse by the day. The odd thing is blood work did not indicate a thiamin deficiency but who knows what is really going on in our bodies during this difficult time.
I’m about 4 months into stopping the pill after taking it for 4 years and my anxiety has skyrocketed along with depressed feelings. I havent felt like myself in awhile but my boyfriend has been supporting me greatly through this which is amazing to have. It’s just so annoying to feel like I’ve lost touch with my body no matter what I do. I’ve tried certain supplements and really focused on my health, but no matter what these symptoms persist. I’ve isolated myself and even things I really enjoy it’s just hard to hold onto but I still try to get at it even if my mind is telling me to just lay in bed. My brain is foggy and I’ve had the worst bowel movements recently. I’ll even be in moments of pure joy and my mind almost goes against me and spirals into overthinking. I just feel really out of control and I know it’s pretty much a waiting game from here on out, but it feels good to know I’m not alone when I’m hormonally blone out of proportion. I’ve just never had to deal with something like this and I just want to feel “normal” again. I mean before the pill I was anxious and struggled with a lot side affects but now it’s like that but ×1000. So either way I didnt feel great on the pill and it’s been a rollercoaster getting off of it too. I’m really just trying to be kind to myself, but my mood is all over. I did try a probiotic which helped a little with my digestion, but my head, heart, and body had yet to sync up again. I think the most prominent thing is the depersonalization and constant fatigue which truly drove me crazy, but its comforting to know that again I’m not alone and that it will get better. I just don’t know how long it will take for my hormones to readjust. I want to get my energetic happy loving self back with only mild anxiety, not crippling obsessive thoughts. It’s even become harder to talk about my feelings, I feel like I was getting really good at opening up to my loved ones and now I’m just a lot more closed off because honestly it’s just so hard to pin point how im feeling. It’s just all over the place, but I’m still here trying to thrive and get better which is what matters most. I’ve never wrote a comment like this but I think it’s a start to help my post birth control journey run a little smoother.
Hey! I totally relate to your story, im experiencing very similar symptoms. I was on birth control since i’m 16, im now 21 and I stopped birth control 3 weeks ago. I never struggled with anxiety in my life and two days after I stopped birth control I had an insane panic attack. I didn’t know what was happening, I almost went to the ER because I couldn’t breathe. Heart palpitations almost constantly, crying outbursts 3-4 times a day, couldn’t fall asleep at night, internal tremors, tingling all over my body, felt like I can’t breathe (I think due to health anxiety) and so much more. The first week was hell for me, it felt like it was never gonna get better. I’m still struggling with the anxiety and my heart rate is always kinda high, I can’t workout without my heart beating out of my chest. it sucks because I want to do my normal daily activities and can’t because I can’t breathe or my heart pounds. After 3 weeks i’m slowly getting better, panic attacks are less although I do constantly feel anxious, and i’m not crying as much. But I went to the doctors like everything else and im physically fine. It’s definitely from BC and as our hormone levels level out, the symptoms will subside. We all just have to hang in there and remind ourselves we aren’t crazy! Safe to say i’m done with birth control for good. Good luck to everyone with their journey! Feel free to contact me if you want to talk about it :).
Omg i feel like each one of us had same symptoms! Its almost 3 months after only taking the pill for 4 days in my life! Just want to ask how you were feeling now?
I was only on the pill for two months started getting hot flashes with bad anxiety stopped the pill right away its been a month and still have tingling hands random muscle spasms elevator drop sensation light headed acasonaly just so scared been to the doctor for my heart thought I was having a heart attack EkG normal no stroke I honestly am so scared a constant feeling I’m going to die its so hard to sleep or have any peace I’m sosad that I’m experiencing this and I want answers why don’t they the Dr’s know this why wouldn’t they were us was on the pill for pelvic pain and end up being scared for my life and Dr’s looking at me like I’m crazy
Omg!!! Yes!!!!! Got off BC last year November 2021, within 2 months of getting off RAGING ANXIETY, never really experienced it before the pill, experienced my first panic attack, etc. now have horrid health anxiety bc of heart palpitations, internal tremors, random dizziness, random rushes of adrenaline, all of it. I’m so sorry you’re going through it yet thankful to have found you to relate!!!
Hey! You’re still experiencing this almost a year after getting off BC?
Very possible a year later unfortunately.
Are you still experiencing the internal tremors and muscle spasms? I can’t sleep because they jerk me awake at night. Not sure how I’m going to get through this.
Reading your story almost sounds like reading my own exactly. I stopped the pill about two months ago but have just been having crazy serious anxiety this past week I’ve had massive panic attacks and don’t feel like myself and feel like outside of my body. I’ve had a racing heart and almost went to the hospital for it as well as I just couldn’t control it. I constantly feel anxious and just don’t know how I am going to cope with it anymore I feel like giving up with how bad it has been. It’s so reassuring to know I’m not alone ❤️
How do you feel now I feel the same way most days and I’m scared
Very informative read
I will be sharing with my partner
Thank you
I went off birth control 5 mths ago and have had the worst time ever. Shaking anxiety, panic attacks, nausea, tender breasts, stomach issues, depressed feelings etc. And I have never had any of those. I am slowly slowly getting better trying to eat well and supplement with magnesium, vit b, and all the others listed. Does anyone else get the anxiety right when you wake up in the morning for several hours? Along with nausea? (and I’m not pregnant!) And can anyone update their timeline for when it completely stays away and gets better?
Thanks!
Hello, have you seen any improvement or used anything that helped?
I did! It was only for a few weeks but thats better now! I would be shaking as soon as i woke up it felt like i was having a seizure! And the hot flushes! I am happy its all over now we still suffering but it will get better after reading the article and hearing other womens stories i am positive and this will help with the anxiety alllot
I’m now having a setback. I had a bad 6-8 months of symptoms. It let up finally. I was going good except around my period I would get small weird symptoms. Now almost a YEAR later, I’ve just gone through a week of bad symptoms. During ovulation, and now a week away from my cycle. Nausea is insane. The tingling has come back. I wake up with surges of anxiety and adrenaline. I have like restless leg syndrome but pretty much all over. I feel very weak. I just hope it’ll pass again. It sucks to have it all come back. Anybody else have this happen? Please also feel free to contact me if you need assurance/support. Laurensalinas2020@yahoo.com
Hey Lauren, same experience here. Got off of the pill last November and had debilitating anxiety, craxy physical symptoms, panic attacks, never experienced any of this before. Saw a naturopath in February, got better from Feb-May. Started getting small issues around my period, increased anxiety, sore breasts, etc, but it was manageable. Starting in June/July it started happening during ovulation and also right before/during period. Now as of this month I’ve been experiencing heart palpitations frequently on and off for 3 weeks and my anxiety is at an all time high.
It sounds like you have Akathisia. I have it too from other meds but was doing well until it came back with a vengeance after stopping the pill. I don’t know how to wait this out. The movement is extreme and the inner terror is deadly. I hope you are doing better?!
I am so unbelievably grateful that I found this, I have had a week of everything that has been described here. The worst anxiety of my life, pins and needles/burning sensation in both arms and legs, extreme fatigue, and muscle weakness starting in the left side of my body. I went to the InstaCare last week and they sent me to the ER worried about a stroke or heart attack. I am only 28 years old, so that was unlikely, but I went anyway. They did an MRI, cat scan, EKG, and blood work and everything came back normal. They sent me to a MS/neurology clinic where I was told that since my brain scan came back normal, it is unlikely it is MS. They took more blood for further testing and the next step is an MRI on my spinal cord. I have been googling like crazy and pretty much drastically declining mentally. I had not even thought about the fact that I just went off birth control 2 months ago until this morning. As soon as I woke up, I googled “can going off birth control cause pins and needles and body weakness” and this came up. The story in the article has almost been my exact situation and I just can’t even believe it. I will be seeking out someone who can test my hormone levels. Anyway, I am so sorry this has happened to so many. It has been truly the worst thing I have ever experienced.
How do you feel now? ?
I am almost 5 months into this journey. I am still dealing with random symptoms. I still have the feeling of weakness in my arms. My jaw and facial muscles are sore all of the time. My energy is not the same as it was. I used to work out 5-6 times a week and now I shoot for 2-3 times a week. Some things have lessened (such as the tingling and burning sensations) and new things have come up. I am still just trying to get through it. It is not easy. I have taken a break from seeing doctors since they couldn’t find anything. 3 MRIs, 1 CT scan, tons of bloodwork, and several neurological tests. Everything came back within normal range. This has been one of the most difficult things I have gone through, but I am trying to be patient and give it 8-10 months to see how things have resolved.
Update 6/20/2022
I had the MRI and everything came back clean, my doctor still referred me to a neurologist since he wasn’t sure what could be causing it all. Before paying even more money to see a specialist I decided to give it some more time.
I dealt with internal tremors for a few weeks after making my initial post but since then I have slowly started to feel better. The numbness began to recede in early May, starting in my numb foot and working its way up my left side. As of today, my leg is no longer numb, as well as my upper arm. The only remaining numb body part is my left hand, which comes and goes depending on the day.
I started taking a prenatal vitamin as well as iron, vitamin D and Magnesium. I think the Magnesium helped A TON. Apparently, birth control can drain your body of Magnesium and that can affect your nerves. I also spoke with an acupuncturist and she said that neuropathy is very common with hormone fluctuations and that acupuncture can be super helpful in relieving the numbness. This made me feel better but also frustrated that the 3 doctors I saw did not seem to think this was a valid medical diagnosis, and that women’s health is so misunderstood.
My advice would be to listen to yourself and take good care of your body. Get rest, stay hydrated, take your vitamins, and give your hormones time to adjust and level out!
Hello,
Have you recovered fully? Anything you did to alleviate the symptoms?
Do update please
Hi,
All symptoms went away by June. I think just time and the magnesium supplement helped.
Hey Meg, how long did you experience these post birth control symptoms for? How many months did your numbness last? Thanks so much ?
Is there anything specific you did to get rid of and/or sleep with the internal tremors? I’m struggling to sleep because of how odd and scary it feels. I have to take anxiety meds and sleep side which I hate doing.
Are you still experiencing body tremors?
I can’t sleep because I feel very uncomfortable. This is how I came across this post… I googled what could be wrong with me…The numbness in my legs, arms and face are just making me feel very depressed. I stopped taking birth control 2 weeks ago after 15 years of being on them. A few days ago I thought I was having a heart attack and my anxiety has been getting so extreme. I have been feeling very depressed, extremely anxious, my heart is racing all the time, I’m not myself, I even just started counseling because I dont know whats going on. And feeling numb makes me feel more anxious ! I dont want to feel like this anymore!!! I am really scared .
Hi! We’re not both losing our minds here! I was just freaking out about my symptoms. I’m going off estrogen (long story…I’m not really having early menopause). My whole body is uncomfortable, but it’s hard to describe…it’s like my body is anxious. My thoughts are too fast, I’m over-worrying, and my brain is foggy. My heart beats either too quickly or too fast at random intervals. I’m not feeling like myself either. Then – yep – all of the symptoms make the anxiety worse. It’s the hormones. We gotta give it some more time.
Hey, have you seen any improvement?
Anything that helped relieve symptoms?
Do you feel any better now? ?
Do you feel any better now? What side effects have gone away and how long did it take? ?
(I am not sure if my comment posted in the thread, so I am posting it again here)
I was on the pill for 4 years and it has been 2 weeks since I stopped taking it. I’ve been getting the internal tremors, excessive muscle twitching when I lay down at night, tingling too. I had a really scary episode exactly 1 week after I stopped the pill. I was driving and my hands had started tingling (I drank alcohol the night before so assumed it was from that, or dehydration). It soon became such an intense tingling that almost felt like a pounding sensation in my hands, which then spread throughout my whole body which completely tensed up and was extremely tingly. I pulled over just in time as my whole body cramped, my fingers getting stuck in an extended position to where I could not move them. I called 911 because I thought I was either having a seizure or a stroke or some other kind of episode. By the time they arrived, my muscles had relaxed but my hands were violently shaking. Not just “had too much caffeine” shaking, but full on tremors. Since then (one week), I have had muscle weakness, the twitching, internal tremors, an overall feeling of fatigue, and extreme anxiety. I had anxiety to begin with but it has intensified to the point where I’m terrified to drive or be alone in public due to the fear of having another episode like that or collapsing from weakness. I went to my PCP who ordered blood work which all came back normal, and I go next week for an MRI to rule out MS. I have been an emotional wreck and scared for my life that I have MS, but seeing this thread has been so comforting. I am so sorry that all you other women have experienced this but I am so relieved to know that I am not the only one, and that I may not have MS.
I have the same thing Samantha. The tremors for me are the worst and I’m scared it is something more serious. And the racing heart and feeling like you want to crawl out of your own skin. I’m exhausted too. I feel some sense of relief hearing this is common but it’s so scary.
When did your tremors stop? It’s so scary, I’m having a hard time sleeping. I feel like I’m going crazy!
Pls what supplements did U take n can U heal with a leaky gut …I’m 8 months off n had a great run n then a bad setback of weeks if anxiety again …I need reassurance it gets better with just time Pls Raquel can U answer me
Hi Tammy,
So sorry you’re going through this. Everyone’s body is different, it took me almost a year to feel better. Sleep and excessive was crucially important for me. I’ve used jrplantbasedsolutions on Instagram for stomach help in the past. Hope you feel better.
Thanks,
Raquel
Thankyou for answering me ? did U get weeks if bad days too around 8 months off I was going good I thought maybe it’s a hormone shift …U have given me hope x
I am going through the same. It was like 7-8 months of bad bad symptoms. Then a break. And now I have had a setback for a whole week. Weakness, hot flashes, dizziness, and fatigue, extreme depression and anxiety. I hope things have gotten better for you.
Hey all!
So happy I found this blog. I stopped birth control (Junel 120) about a month ago. First week was great! Second week I started to get super dizzy. It was like it took my eyes an extra second to catch up when I turned my head. I missed work for a week because I was scared to drive! A week after that my left side started to go numb. I freaked out thinking I was having a stroke and went in to the doctor. We did blood tests and they all came back normal. I am now going to get an MRI but I haven’t scheduled it yet because I think it’s the hormones! The dizziness has pretty much gone away (lasted about 2 weeks) and I think the numbness has slightly improved (on week 2). Now I’m feeling little bursts of buzzing in the numb leg. Super distracting! I did get my period after 3 weeks of stopping the pill though, which I was happy about. Hoping these symptoms clear up soon as it is causing lots of anxiety.
I FINALLY HAVE SOME ANSWERS. Okay guys, this will be long but hopefully helpful. I was suffering with a lot of symptoms (original comment posted in September). I went to so many doctors, holistic doctors, ended up in the ER 3 separate occasions, ran every blood work and test including MRI, EEG, EKG, Holter monitor, tilt table test, Covid antibody test, Lyme and a lot of other ones. I was convinced something was wrong because my symptoms (even though off and on) were getting worse. I’ve been off birth control for 10 months (on it for 12 years). Every single test came back normal. I finally figured out what’s been going on in my case. It’s my cortisol level. I made the connection when I started taking Flonase and was getting SEVERE symptoms (on top of the ones I was already experiencing). Stay with me. Flonase is a corticosteroid (synthetic cortisol); no idea why I didn’t know this. I would use it at night and be up all night having panic attacks, shortness of breath, chest pain, complete numbness, pins and needled, throwing up, vertigo, internal tremors and a swaying feeling, every time I would doze off, my body would wake itself back up with a jolt of adrenalin. I was experiencing panic attacks like never before. I would wake up gasping for air and would feel like I was in actual danger and would get derealization to the point my own house didn’t feel safe, I didn’t even recognize the room I was in. I just assumed that I was having another rough night of post BC symptoms (similar symptoms I was getting post BC and before Flonase). I was using Flonase (and Afrin) off and on for months and never made the connection that my symptoms were exacerbated only the nights I used it (keep in mind I wasn’t using Flonase for 3-4 months and was still getting these symptoms only way more mild). I decided to randomly look up side effects of Flonase. I came across this website: https://www.askapatient.com/viewrating.asp?drug=20121&name=FLONASE
and there are 100’s of people with the same experience. I’ve pretty much been having all of these symptoms on a more mild level since being off the pill and finally made the connection that excess cortisol (stress hormone) can be giving you these symptoms. I did more research and read “after stopping BC, the body increases it’s stress response because your ovaries have not fully adapted to producing hormones independently. This will cause high cortisol release and further exhaust the body.” I also looked up some things and saw excess cortisol can give you systems like pins and needles, numbness, muscle weakness (all things that resemble MS). After going to so many doctors who were awful, I found a really good one who, after hearing my systems, thought it sounded neurological or autoimmune (I was convinced it was POTS or MS). He’s one of the best doctors I’ve gone to but even he seems quick to take the medication route which I don’t like. I have another appointment soon and am going to mention all of this to him and will update you guys on his take.
My advice to anyone who still wants to seek out a professional is to skip over everything and try and get in with a good endocrinologist. I spoke to one who was amazed at the fact that at how many doctors don’t send patients to get it done the current time of their cycle.. Apparently, it needs to be the last week of your cycle for the most accurate result. She also informed me that a lot of hormone (and even Lyme) test come back inaccurate. My cortisol level was high but I don’t even fully trust it. Your cortisol level varies throughout the day. If I could go back and save time and energy, I would have either done an at home hormone test or went right to a functional/holistic doctor or endocrinologist. I personally can’t afford continued visits but I will be looking into a more affordable one or will do my own research on how to support my body now that I know what’s going on.
I’ve left doctors appointment feeling so defeated because of how dismissed I felt. I had every anti depressant and sleeping pill including Ambien thrown at me and was even suggested to go back on the pill. I had one doctor tell me I was hallucinating my internal tremors because I was tired. The fact that not one of them made the connection between my hormone imbalance and these symptoms is wild to me. I told every single one they only started AFTER coming off the pill. My symptoms since discontinuing Flonase have been mild and now when I get them, I just tell myself I’m okay and my body will adjust. I really hope this helps someone!
Your body is pretty much just stuck in fight or flight mode when your stress hormone is imbalanced. Things like tingling, pins and needle, numbness, dizziness are all symptoms of extreme stress. Even though your mind may be calm, your body isn’t. The thing that really through me off about my panic attacks were how random and unprovoked they would be. I started getting really bad health anxiety which only made things worse. EFT tapping has really been helping me when my normal mediation and yoga wasn’t cutting it.
Hi Adriana!
I’m experiencing literally everything you listed and have had almost every single test you listed as well. Did this ever improve for you?? Right now I’m being diagnosed as POTS because of my extreme heart rate changes but it’s not getting any better. I want to get into a functional medicine doctor to see if they can do some hormone testing to see if there’s something they’re causing this. I didn’t have any of these issues before I came off birth control!
I’m so happy that I found this thread. I am 27 years old, been on birth control since I was 18. Throughout my time on birth control, I have complained to my GYN about irregular bleeding, cramps, nonstop periods at times, weight gain especially in my breasts and lower stomach, and overall not feeling well. The solution was to always switch which kind of birth control I have been on. In my nearly 10 years, on birth control I’ve tried 5 different pills including the mini pill, had a Mirena IUD, and 2 Nexplanons. The most recent was in October 2021, my GYN informed me my only option was to try the depo shot. The shot was the worst mistake of my life. It seemed great at first, it stopped my non stop bleeding and cramping I was having for a short time. After the first 2 weeks, I bled for 14 days straight. Then I began having severe moodiness, crying all the time, severe anxiety and depression.. so bad that I saw a psychiatrist and was given multiple medications, that didnt help at all. Finally, I decided enough is enough. I felt AWFUL!! I didn’t get my second shot of depo In January 2022 and leading up to this, as the short wore off, I had HORRIBLE nipple pain, crying, severe depression, bloating, nausea. I swore I had to be pregnant, took 4 tests that were all negative. I felt like I was truly going crazy. My doctors solution- “take the mini pill to help balance things,” except nothing got better. I gave up birth control for good at the end of January 2022. I’ve been off all birth control for almost 2 months now. In this time, I still don’t feel great. While my anxiety has nearly disappeared and the moodiness has improved, I am left feeling severely worn out. I am always so tired, I feel like I have the brain fog and dizziness everyone here has described. I’ve had one “period” that was very light and only lasted 4 days. My hair is falling out in huge clumps and I’ve gained 20 pounds in the nearly 2 months since stopping birth control for no reason at all. I am taking vitamin D, magnesium, omega 3, and a B complex but I am not seeing any improvement. The dizziness and brain fog is what worries me most. I feel like I am so worn out and “not here in the moment” and I am so young. I wish I would have quit birth control years ago instead of just agreeing to changing so many times because of my GYN pushing it on me. If anyone has a similar story, please reach out. I am open to trying anything to feel better and regain my life again.
I just wanted to give you some hope by sharing my experience. I stopped taking birth control in December of 2019 and was shedding like crazy for 6 months – 1 year. Now, I am about 2.5 years out and my hair is growing like CRAZY. I have tons new hair growth and it is so much healthier than it was before. My emotions, moods, and overall wellbeing started improving after a few months. I feel better all around than I ever did on birth control, it’s like a night and day difference. Best of luck to you Molly, I hope to hear that you’re doing better as time goes on!
Aw thank you so much for the reply Kim! I’m so glad to hear that you are finally feeling better!! I sure hope in a few months I can say the same. I’ve been having an awful time with migraines too since coming off. Hoping things will start to improve soon.
I’m have some crazy crazy shedding and it started about 6-8 weeks later and I’ve lost half my hair and im FREAKING out! Im so glad to hear your hair grew back. I hope I am that lucky and this stops. Thanks for sharing – I had other symptoms too but this one is still driving me nuts!
Hi! We have a similar story, my doctor put me on depo last october. All was fine at first then I ended up getting the second shot in January. After that I realized how awful looking I got and how I gained 7lbs in one month. i waited for the shot to wear off and was excited to feel better. The DAY I missed the shot I got extremely sick and it didnt let up for about 24 days. Hot ashes so bad I had to change outfits all day long, I napped everyday, felt nauseous, sore nipples, cystic acne for the first time in my life. I did loose like 4 lbs that first month (water weight I think). I still have more fat than i should. I went to my doctor and he actually got mad and yelled “im wasting all the patients time” so never going back there. Some herbs that greatly impacted my symptoms and made me heal my month long illness: Dong Qui, Black cahoosh, daily one life detox, VITEX!, zinc, zinc and drinking a whole bunch of herbal tea! This is horrible that we have to go through this but don’t loose hope, the body is powerful and can overcome anything.
Oh my!! I cannot believe your doctor spoke to you in that way! I had the exact same symptoms as you when my first shot wore off, it was miserable!!! I still do not feel back to “normal,” I’m going to post a reply here with what’s been going on. I’m about 5 months off now, it’s been so tough!! Thank you for posting which supplements worked for you. I will have to try those. I sure hope you are feeling better now.
Just to give an update… I am now almost 5 months off birth control. The beginning of March, the symptoms hit me really hard. I had a severe migraine, unlike any I’ve ever had before, with debilitating pain behind my eye so much so that I went to the ER twice in one week. I wasn’t able to drive to work and missed several days. The migraine lasted 10 days. I had an extensive work up done- MRI, lots of blood work, CT scan, I saw a neurologist and ophthalmologist. No one could find anything. I truly felt awful, I couldn’t function. I just laid in a dark room for days. Eventually the pain let up and I’ve been able to go back to work but since then I started having issues with diarrhea, I saw a GI and had a colonoscopy, that came back fine as well. I’ve had hormone testing by my primary and all of that came back “normal.” Everyday though I am still having a “pressure” like sensation in the side of my head and experiencing brain fog, like something in my body doesn’t feel “right.” I am severely exhausted still and spend most of my weekends sleeping. I lost a lot of hair in this last month too, one day I washed it and it came out in huge clumps, I was sure there would be a bald spot. This process has been so discouraging but I am doing my best to stay positive and hoping one day it lets up. I am so thankful for this website, I check back frequently to see how everyone is doing. Thank you everyone for sharing.
I will also add I lost my period during months 4 and 5. I had a very light period during months 2 and 3 post birth control but then went 53 days in between cycles when I was feeling at my worst and having issues with the migraine. My sex drive is also pretty much non existent. I’m hoping this month I will have a regular period. It’s so crazy how long the effects of this medication can last.
Hi Molly! How have you been doing? I’m three weeks into stopping my birth control of 16 years of taking it. Anxiety, cramps, nausea are hitting me all at once this week. Hoping for relief.
So I’m now 11 months since I was “due” for the next depo shot and the past 2-3 months have been awful. I started having visual snow (seeing static in my vision), still having migraines, had another HUGE amount of hair loss, dealing with bad pressure in my head still, cystic acne, and HORRIBLE anxiety and brain fog. I actually had a panic attack yesterday while getting my hair done at the salon. Literally I was sitting there fine and all of a sudden I felt like I was going to pass out, my heart started racing and my Apple Watch said it was 154, I started shaking horribly, even my teeth were chattering and I was sweating profusely. The anxiety has been so bad. I got a prescription for Effexor but I am scared to start taking it. I’ve also been dealing with ovarian cysts and my most recent ultrasound showed a hydrosalpinx, which means one of my tubes is blocked. I’m waiting to get into the GYN to follow up but I have a feeling they are going to recommend birth control again. I will never take birth control again but I am relating so hard to all of you that all of these symptoms are terrifying and really debilitating mentally. I’m only 28 years old and this has ruined my life. I can barely go to work and I don’t get to enjoy anything anymore because I feel so bad physically and mentally. I also went to an ophthalmologist for my vision issues and he said I have optic nerve edema and recommended I lose weight. I gained 25 pounds on depo and I have not been able to lose it no matter what I do. I think this is caused from intracranial hypertension induced from the hormonal issues coming off birth control because all of us are complaining of head pressure. I’m also having ringing in my ear, which is a symptom of IIH. I am still getting my periods but they are irregular ranging from 29 to 40 some days. I just feel like doctors don’t listen and don’t believe all of this is caused from birth control. I feel like a crazy person when I go to the doctor and I am getting so tired of dealing with these symptoms. I was really hopeful it would be better by now but it’s just continuing to get worse. It’s honestly really discouraging. I’ve had so many tests and spent thousands of dollars on doctors visits, supplements, and acupuncture. I think the acupuncture was helping the most but I am not noticing a huge difference with it since these other symptoms worsened lately. I’m taking Omega 3, magnesium and vitamin D3. I really think all of us need to start some type of support group or something because this is so hard to go through alone and I feel like people don’t believe it is all related to birth control. At times my brain fog is so bad I feel like I can’t even communicate or function and we should not be feeling this way, especially those of us who are so young and have so much life to live! Like how are we expected to go on like this??? It just makes me mad that none of these issues are disclosed or even talked about when doctors are handing out birth control like candy and then it seems like it’s up to us to fix ourselves. I’m honestly at the point of trying to get in with a naturopathic doctor because I have tried literally everything but it’s just so expensive. I just don’t know what else to do. ?
Hey love, I also developed ovarian cysts from only taking a progesterone “mini pill” for only 3 weeks. I had pressure on my stomach on and off for a month after I stopped and then went to an ER and got an ultrasound and yep ovarian cyst. They also think I have PCOS now too. ? this has all been so hard. I’m 26 and was healthy and happy before all of this happened and feel that this has ruined my life completely.
I completely agree!!! So this past week I spent 3 days in the hospital because all of a sudden I developed racing heart rate and was near passing out multiple times. I know found out I have POTS. I 100000% believe this is all related to coming off of birth control. I’m only 28 years old and my quality of life is like zero. I haven’t been able to go back to work because when I stand up my heart rate is going up to 130 to 150, even with the beta blocker they prescribed me. I’m literally just in shock and don’t know what to do. I had an echocardiogram in the hospital that was fine and now I’m like how do I deal with this at home?? Also the brain fog and head pressure/tingling is AWFUL! I feel like I literally cannot think straight or even function. The holidays have been miserable because I can’t do anything or even be here and be present in the moment. This is terrible. I don’t understand how birth control can mess us up this badly. I pray we all get better soon, there has to be some light at the end of this miserable journey. ?
I am so glad to have found this article after trawling the Internet for weeks now reg my symptoms and finding only finding ‘good news’ reports on coming off the pill and how ‘normal it would be for periods to resume within 3 months. I started to convince myself that I’m seriously ill, I’m now off Yasmin 5 and a half months now, with no period yet, excessive weight gain even though I workout every single day and count my macros (avid gym goer and have never struggled with weight). I’ve gained 16lb in 2 months, an extra chin, puffy eyes, exhausted all the time, pain in my shins, pins and needles, water retention and a constant feeling like I have brain fog and a sinus infection. I’ve been to my doctor and get the ‘you’re young and healthy give it 9 months’…give it 9 months to feel like a totally different person, like I’m living in someone else’s body..
Hannah, I completely agree with you! Not sure how old you are but I am 27 and just came off birth control almost 2 months ago. I am having all the same symptoms as you!! I have gained 20 pounds in the last 2 months for no reason at all. Like you, I work out and try to eat healthy. It has me so discouraged and I am at a loss as to what to do. I feel like doctors don’t believe this is caused from the birth control. The brain fog is what worries me most along with the weight gain. Like what did this medicine do to us?! And why does it take so long for things to “balance out”?? There has to be something we can do to help our bodies through the process.
Has anyone experienced pulsing tinnitus after stopping birth control? I also have had the weakness in my arms feeling, buzzing bees feeling, and insomnia. I doze off to sleep and all the sudden my body twitches a little bit, could be my face, nose, arms, foot, leg, ab muscles, and it’s just enough to wake me up. I never had anxiety before the pill, I developed it during the pill, got off and I’ve had the worst anxiety about my health, and two panic attacks which I’d never had before in my life. Needless to say it was the scariest moment ever, it felt like I was dying.
Yes, yes, yes!! I was on the depo shot for 4 years. about 2 months after not getting my last shot. I started to get eye twitches, then they eyes stopped and now it is all over my body. I searched everywhere, and this is the only article/info that I have seen other women experience this. It’s all over my body, legs, stomach, back, shoulders, head. I also jerk as soon as I get drowsy and sometimes I even catch myself making a noise when I jerk. I know my body very well, and I know it started once the depo was detoxing. My periods came back in about 3 months, so that was good for me. I use organic feminine products and they really helped to get that part back to normal, but these twitches are crazy, and og course the doc said they never heard of this.
yes, it started off with eye twitching, now it is all over my body!! I was on the depo shot for 4 years. A couple of months after my last shot. I also jump whenever I get drowsy. I know my body very well, so I know it started when I stopped the shots. Doc said no chance it’s from the shot.
Has anyone else experienced internal tremors? I get them almost every single night. It’s been about 6 months since being off the pill (was on it for over 10 years)
Yes, I get these and sometimes a weird feeling of weakness in my arms. I also have terrible anxiety and insomnia. The minute I start to get drowsy my body lightly twitches. It’s awful.
yes! I was on the pill for 4 years and it has been 2 weeks since I stopped taking it. I’ve been getting the internal tremors, excessive muscle twitching when I lay down at night, tingling too. I had a really scary episode 1 week after I stopped the pill. I was driving and my hands had started tingling (I drank alcohol the night before so assumed it was from that, or dehydration). It soon became such an intense tingling that almost felt like a pounding sensation in my hands, which then spread throughout my whole body which completely tensed up and was extremely tingly. I pulled over just in time as my whole body cramped, my fingers getting stuck in an extended position to where I could not move them. I called 911 because I thought I was either having a seizure or a stroke or some other kind of episode. By the time they arrived, my muscles had relaxed but my hands were violently shaking. Not just “had too much caffeine” shaking, but full on tremors. Since then (one week), I have had muscle weakness, the twitching, internal tremors, an overall feeling of fatigue, and extreme anxiety. I had anxiety to begin with but it has intensified to the point where I’m terrified to drive or be alone in public due to the fear of having another episode like that or collapsing from weakness. I went to my PCP who ordered blood work which all came back normal, and I go next week for an MRI to rule out MS. I have been an emotional wreck and scared for my life that I have MS, but seeing this thread has been so comforting. I am so sorry that all you other women have experienced this but I am so relieved to know that I am not the only one, and that I may not have MS.
Yes!! I cannot sleep! Please tell me yours went away!
Anyone else have all these symptoms plus no period?
I’m so glad I found this. I wasn’t on the pill but had the Nexplanon implant (progestogen only) for 5 months – and I’ve been having tingling, skin crawling, chest pains, hand and foot pins and needles on the left side for weeks. I had my implant removed about 6 weeks ago and the symptoms aren’t letting up. Doctors won’t listen to me say anything about how it might be the hormones – but ECG and bloods have come back clear so I really can’t find any other explanation. I get panicky that its something like a brain tumour or heart attack but im trying not to think that because otherwise my anxiety spirals.
I am so happy to see all these comments. I have been off the depo shot for about 3 months, all of a sudden, my left eye starts twitching, then I started to get twtiching all over my body, my head, shoulders, legs, stomach. I called my OB/GYN, she of course says she has never heard of this being a withdrawal symptom of BC. I told her it didn’t start until 3 weeks after I missed my shot. Still nothing, suggested blood tests, everything came back normal. She wants me to see a neurologist. I was getting nervous that something could be wrong with me until I ran across this article. Im so glad that I did. I will be taking the vitamin recommendations. I feel ok, except for the twitching. Thanks so much ladies!
Does anyone get bad joint pain? I got off the pill end of July. Fast forward to beginning of October, and I’ve been hit with fatigue in the muscles like the author described, pain in my joints that migrates and are now primarily bothering my hands, and I had slight tingling. Nothing has come up in my blood and my doctor is sending me for an MRI to rule out MS. This seems all too similar.
Raquel, do you have the initial forum where women talked about their symptoms?
I have horrible migraines. They don’t “hurt” but I do have a weird dizzy feeling.. like too much pressure. Also light and sound make that feeling worse like a migraine. Been happening last three days.. I went off pill a month ago so I haven’t even had a normal cycle yet. What have y’all done to fix this imbalance? I can’t even function. Excedrine and ibp don’t work at all…
I’m so glad I saw your post. I stopped birth control about 2 months ago now. I have been having weird headaches that range from a migraine like feeling to just a “weird something isn’t right” dizziness and feeling “off” with no actual headache like pain. It truly is like an out of body experience. Really has me wondering at times if I need to go have a CT or MRI as well. I’m only 27 years old but was on birth control for nearly 10 years. Have your symptoms improved at all since you posted?
Hey ladies!
First and foremost, thank you for all the comments and for those of you who have personally reached out, I’ve really appreciated talking to you. Just wanted to update you all and let you know the documentary is coming out in about a month on Amazon Prime. If you’re not already following on Instagram @hormoneously_alone_ please do to hear the release date and stay updated! A lot of you have asked what you can do to help, the best way to help me is to help you and help other women by telling them about this documentary, it’s truly eye opening and packed with information that will probably validate a lot for you. My goal is that this will push for better patient care, informed consent, and more research on the pill. I appreciate all of you, thank you for being apart of this journey.
Stay strong,
Raquel
That’s great Raquel! I can’t wait to watch this and share it with others.
Hi Raquel, I am so happy I found this website. Since stopping the pill a few months back I am experiencing tingling sensations in my legs and now arms this month . And wake me up at night the only thing that helps is Advil temporarily. I Also feel joint/bone weakness and fatigue. When I first experienced the sensations in my leg and asked if it was due to getting off the pill my gynecologist said most likely not but what else could it be I’ve never felt these pains if you will until i stopped BC.
Have you experienced these symptoms? What did you do to help it or stop it? I feel like I am 60 years old already but I just turned 40 and I’ve noticed even when just kneeling on my knees for a minute I have a hard time getting up or straightening my legs. My husband tells me it’s because I’m 40 now LOL but I really don’t think it is my age Any insight or recommendations to help would be greatly appreciated! thank you so much
Hey Raquel! Can’t wait to watch this and spread the news. Do you have a release date yet? I don’t have IG.
So I started having these symptoms, pins and needles, back tingles, muscle twitching all while on birth control. I came off BC due to high blood pressure and the symptoms continue! Anyone start having symptoms before coming off bc? My vitamin levels and blood work are all normal and my pcp is sending me to a neurologist and I too am afraid of MS
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I deleted your email in the comment.
Did anyone explore peripheral artery disease (PAD) as an explanation for their symptoms? I’ve read that risk of PAD increases with birth control even after discontinuing use.
I relate to all of this. I was on the pill for 12 years and have been off of it for 4 months so far. My symptoms have been so intense this month. Chest tightness, shortness of breath, mouth ulcers, ringing in my ears, pins and needles and numbness in my arms and legs, restless leg syndrome. My chest feels so uncomfortable if I lay on my side. All of these symptoms are so bad at night that it causes insomnia which leads to an intense migraine the next morning. I’m also experiencing this strange sensation (mostly at night) that feels like my body is swaying from top to bottom when I close my eyes (like vertigo – but it’s not the typical dizzy feel). It’s hard to explain, but it’s like if you’ve been on a boat all day and then step off, you can still feel your body move even when it’s not. It feels like my nervous system is shot and my body feels so uncomfortable. No amount of yoga, deep breathing, or activity is making it better which are things that usually help me. I’ve experienced anxiety for years, but these panic attacks feel nothing like my usual anxiety burst. They fill my mind with extreme darkness and dread like something horrible just happened. It leads to extreme depersonalization quickly and I don’t even feel like I know myself or my boyfriend who I’m very close with. I came down with a cold over the week and spoke to my doctor about some of these symptoms thinking I could have some sort of infection causing the chest tightness – she prescribed me an antibiotic. Having these symptoms during covid and cold season has especially caused anxiety because I don’t know what symptoms are what anymore. I’ve been tested for covid this week and it was negative. I’ve gone to an ENT specialist and neurologist who told me everything was fine. My doctor and gyno shrug everything off. The crazy thing is, I went off of the pill about 3 years ago for around 6 months and didn’t have the same symptoms. I experienced bad acne and mood swings which led me to go back on it. This time around, I didn’t experience as bad of acne, but I would definitely take that over what I’m going through now. I’ve recently gotten rid of all social media, but I would love to speak to some of you. I’m not sure if any of you would be interested, but maybe we could set up some sort of chat (via whatsapp) or FB message (I’ll reactivate mine) if anyone needs some support. Just a thought! Raquel – Would you be able to share that blog/board you found helpful of other women sharing their experiences?
Hi! I’m having a similar experience and would love to talk to you. I’m on Instagram and Facebook. Insta: jodiluch
Facebook: Jodi Lynn
Email: j_jodi@hotmail.com
Thanks! I look forward to hearing from you 🙂
Hi Jody, are you getting the pins and needles and weak legs and arms?
Hi Crystal! Yes!! And numbness in my legs. If you want to talk more, send me an email:
j_jodi@hotmail.com
Or jodiluch on Instagram.
I’d love to share stories with you.
Hi Crystal! Yes, pins & needles plus numbness in my legs. I’d love to chat some more with you. Send me an email- j_jodi@hotmail.com or jodiluch on Instagram and we can exchange stories and symptoms. Take care!
How long did your numbness in your leg last? Do you feel better a year later? ?
Hi Crystal- I’m having trouble replying. I’d love to talk with you.
I am! Please message me on Instagram . Would love to talk or get any insight or recommendations to ease the joint weakness and sensations in arms and legs. @patone17
I get that same symptom of swaying back and forth, it’s awful!
Hey I got a chat going with other women n U can join too
Hi. What is the chat?
Hey what is the group chat? I would love to connect with you all. ? my email: andrealizivey@gmail.com
Hi. Please can I join that chat?
Thank you
Hi. Do you have a way to connect?
I would be interested in chatting with you ladies too since I just started my journey. Thanks!
Hi is there a whatapp support group?. Got mostly the same horrible side effects of stopping bc.
Here’s my update:
Still have extreme anxiety and depression. I now get very angry very easily. And I get hives on my face because of estrogen. I’m not here to complain. I’m here to let others know in case you have the same symptoms. The hives came randomly and I took a Zyrtec and they went away within 20-30 minutes.
Coming across this article was a huge help for me back when I was experiencing this and feeling alone. 29 y/o female who ran out of birth control in November. Woke up in February with a hot flash and a burning sensation on the left side of my head. Pins and needles. Tingling on my left side as well. Went to ER and was told I was fine. I too thought I was deficient in vitamins. Started drinking Gatorade… took more vitamins…. requested lab work…. saw a neurologist…. had an MRI done. I also thought I had MS… or some form of a neurological disorder. One night I woke up with a weird sensation in my spine similar to writer’s bees feeling. All of it the same. I developed muscle twitching and tremors from all the anxiety. My neurologist is a woman who quickly pointed out it was my birth control. That my body was regulating itself and it usually happens and bursts around 3 months. I was put on steroids which were the worst and did a lot of calming exercises. I asked to be placed back on birth control (I know but this is what I wanted) …. 8 months later I am back to feeling normal. I have very tiny slight leg tremors here and there but I developed this after the whole incident. It was a very depressing time in my life. Mentally speaking. I developed a crazy amount of anxiety and this is what I have left. Still working on it
Hello, since returning on birth control did all the symptoms get eliminated and not come back? How are you feeling now?
I stumbled across this blog and am SOOOO glad I did. I too am currently experiencing the same symptoms after coming off of the pill (Jolessa). For anyone that don’t know, Jolessa is a three month period free option, then the fourth month you can take the white pill if you like or start another pack. I would just start another pack to keep from getting my period. My doctor said that it was ok to do that. First, I experienced pins and needles in my right hand, then it moved to both hands, and finally the feet also. The first few weeks, I felt this odd feeling like my entire body was falling from the air. I was tired and my anxiety is through the roof and at times my eyes feel like there are pressure in them and hurt, which gives me a headache that sits right behind my eyes.
I find that when I lay down or stop moving is when I feel the pins and needles. I most often feel like I’m falling out of the air while trying to sleep. Its been a month and a half since I took the last pill. I’m now getting joint pain in my hands and fingers. This affects my hands most often in the morning. During the day, its not as noticeable.
I also turned to “Dr Google” and self diagnosed myself MANY times. That’s how I stumbled across this blog. I feel as though this is hormone related but my primary care doctor won’t run the correct hormone level testing to see what’s happening. She also said that the hormones are already out of my system.
I feel alone prior to reading this blog. I just have to remember on the bad days I’m not alone. There are women out there experiencing the same issues….
Did this ever resolve for you?
I’m so thankful I found this article. Although I’m upset that we are all suffering it is so nice to know I’m not alone in this. I unintelligently decided to quit birth control in January, half way through nursing school, because I thought I would help give me more energy. A month later I had tingling in my right foot with extreme anxiety, brain fog, and depersonalization. I got a CT at the hospital and later an MRI. I thought it was MS. No one believed what I was experiencing wasn’t psychosomatic. Similarly to Raquel I also had severe numbness and pins and needles to the point where I would wake up when shake my arm out in panic and feel nothing for a good 30 seconds. Many of my friends and family thought I was becoming a hypochondriac because of school and I started to believe it myself. I started to feel so sick I felt weak, sometimes nauseous, anxious, depressed and oh the brain fog was and still is outta control. A few months after quitting I began to experience joint pain and muscle aches. You can only imagine what I started to diagnose myself with then. I thought RA or lupus and then went down the road of being tested for that. Eventually the joint pain went away but the depression, anxiety, and brain fog still linger. I’ve lost a significant amount of hair and my acne is back and worse than it’s ever been. Also after remembering how normal I felt on birth control I went back on for a few days 3 times since January. I was thinking I would go back on and then come off by working with a functional health doctor when I have the funds. It was bad idea. I hope I haven’t added more time to my recovery.
Ive been failed by traditional medicine. I’ve been to the ER twice, urgent care 3 times, endo twice (she was the most helpful but told me to go back on bc), and pcp three times. All my lab results came back clear.
My plan is to do a Dutch hormone test and work with a functional health doctor to aid in recovery but I know the best medicine sometimes is just time.
I know a lot of us have complained to family, friends, significant others who are all probably just as frustrated as we are. Feel free to reach out to me on IG. I find comforts and some control over this horrible syndrome when I comfort and speak with others. My IG is rncbecky
I wish everyone a full recovery and you are not alone.
I am so glad I found this article. Reading everyone’s experience with post-birth control syndrome has given me the piece of mind I so desperately needed. I stopped taking birth control pills a little over 6 months ago (after taking them for 3 years) & my post-birth control journey has been one heck of a roller coaster ride. I started experiencing immediate withdrawal symptoms the next day I stopped taking the pill. I’m 27 years old & am a relatively healthy person, so the moment I started feeling “sick” I knew something was wrong. I experienced a wide range of symptoms all at the same time. I started having really terrible anxiety & panic attacks (I’ve never experienced anxiety before in my life). They were really bad – I couldn’t control the tremors; felt short of breath; I would have heart palpations & would hear my heart beating fast, which would only trigger my anxiety even more. Perhaps more debilitating would be the constant ringing and fluttering in my ear (sometimes in both). Since stopping birth control I’ve experienced a whole lot of (random) symptoms that are too long to list, but the anxiety & fear have been the worst. There are days where fear just takes over my whole body & I’m scared that there is something physically & mentally wrong with me. Needless to say, time is the best medicine – as each day passes, I slowly feel better. While I still have some bad days, I’m able to “control” my anxiety/ fear & let it ride out. Looking back now, my hormones were really out of whack before I even stopped taking the pill because I was experiencing some symptoms while I was still on it – but, of course, I didn’t attribute it to the pill. I know it seems like it will never end, but it does get better! I suspect I still have a long way to go to feel like usual, perky self, but there is hope at the end of the tunnel! I know your doctors will probably suggest you go back on the pill, but going back is not the solution. Our bodies are resilient – let’s not lose hope!
Hello,
I’m so glad I found this article. I took the pill for about a year and a half, but noticed my periods were starting to just start whenever they wanted, early usually. So what’s the point right? I got off of it. It’s been two months and I’m barely feeling the side affects. Ive always had anxiety and Ive been on Lexapro for 4 years now and it’s worked great. Leveled me out. But all of a sudden I was getting extreme panic attacks, not just every once and awhile, but one right after the other. I wake up with a jolt of adrenaline. My symptoms include tightness of chest, fatigue, depression, shortness of breath, brain fog, nausea, depersonalization, hot flashes, and restless legs. I was so scared about what was happening and during a panic attack I called my mom who found this article and it all clicked. My hormones are completely out of wack. Causing severe symptoms. I’m at the beginning of this journey and have no idea how long it’s going to last but hope I can help someone else with my comments. We aren’t dying, we are just having withdrawal symptoms. And just like bad drugs, the solution is not to get back on the pill. It’s to find the best ways to deal with the symptoms. If anyone wants to talk, I’m here.
Does anyone else experience extreme chills as well? It takes awhile when I wake up to get out of my system but it started with all these other symptoms.
Hello i am experiencing very similar feelings, how can i talk to you privately?
Hi, I’m experiencing all these symptoms after coming off the pill, including the chills. Would love to speak to you if that’s alright! It helps to know I’m not losing my mind.
Feel free to message me on Instagram!
@hormoneously_alone_
Hello Lily. Sorry I’m barely seeing this. Chills are still part of daily feelings. What else are you feeling? It’s interesting how I didn’t get all symptoms at once. It’s been a new one here and a new one there. Right now I’m having bad heart racing moments. My anxiety is always bad right now and I have suffered from it before so it’s just way more intense. I get extreme depressive episodes. I’ll check back to see any responses more regularly or you can email me at laurensalinas2020@yahoo.com
I started having a lip twitch and now tingling (pins and needles) sensation in my lip and extremities. It’s been 5 weeks since I stopped birth control and my instinct is I am going thru a withdrawal since I took it for 6 years. I also have a neurology appointment set up for Friday and my primary care doc said they will most likely have me do an MRI. I wish this topic was more researched because I do think there is a strong correlation.
Raquel, can you share the 10 page forum board you originally found?
Raquel, when is your documentary out? I’m keen to watch it. Also, I’m 7 months in and I’m left with only brain fog, good days ans bad days but did it last this long for you? It’s the last symptom that’s bugging me as you can probably tell! Xx
Hey Jamie,
Thanks for writing. It should be done within the next 2 months. I’m super excited (and nervous) to share with everyone! So many women have reached out about it and I hope it helps as many people as possible.
A lot of people wonder when the symptoms subside or go away completely. For me, I noticed a huge change at 9 months. By a year, I felt pretty much back to normal. It’s a very long process for most, but you will get through it. Sending health and happiness your way. -Raquel
Hi, I’m currently dealing with the same thing after only being on the pill for 3 months. How long were you on? I also read some stuff about the pill increasing copper levels which can diminish zinc and magnesium and cause a lot of DP symptoms. Supposedly high copper levels wreak havoc on mental health. Do you know anything about this? Thanks so much for the info!
im really wanting to see this documentary!
Hi Raquel
Thank you so much for sharing your experience! This is exactly what has happened to me. I am now 6 months post stopping the pill and feeling so much better but still experiencing some of the symptoms. I also thought I had MS and even spoke to my GP about it. Hearing these stories has encouraged me to continue being patient with my body and allow it to recover. I second a good diet, supplements, gentle exercise and sleep.
Hi Lorraine- What supplements have helped you? I’m overwhelmed when trying to decide what to take. I’m currently taking magnesium, bcomplex, b12, zinc, Lemon balm, vitamin c, and a probiotic.
Thank you!
Hi Jodi! I was on a good all round supplement. WellwomanMax and I also took magnesium for the terrible anxiety I had plus vitamin c so nothing different to you! It all definitely helped. My symptoms have mostly gone one year on but I still have headaches, slightly sensitive to noise, light and an odd feeling throughout my body sometimes. Feel free to email me thierryfan@hotmail.com
Hello everyone,
I wanted to share my little story of taking pills. In 2018 I started taking my first pill because I was having menstrual delays due to lack of estrogen. I was prescribed Drospifem 30, which I tolerated well for 10 months. Since it was my first pill, I was supposed to go for a checkup at the 10th month.
The doctor: are you ok? Do you have any complaints?
Me: everything ok, only, I get stitches in my abdomen 2 hours later after taking it.
Doctor: Ahaaa, then dose 30 is strong for you. Let me prescribe you dose 20. It is the same active ingredient from another company: Xellia 20.
Me: yes, sure. It works.
I was supposed to start the new pill right away, which completely destroyed my mental life. The problem was that I had only been informed of the physical side effects, and since I had tolerated the first one well, I didn’t even think along the lines of it destroying my psyche.
2 weeks later I had severe depression accompanied by depersonalization, derealization, borderline personality disorder, crying fits, severe panic attacks, suicidal thoughts, I was out of my body, I no longer recognized myself. OMG, I was disconnected from my body and looking at the world through a veil. Thank God, my sister was with me and told me it could be because of the pill. Until I understood that these symptoms were from the pill, I was unknowingly making myself sick by reading false information about my symptoms and definitely didn’t want to believe it was because of the pill. I was on this drug for a whole year and after stopping, the symptoms were partially gone. Currently my body is in the adjustment phase without the pill. I am doing very well. After a month I am almost back to the old Sona with a little strange feeling, but hopefully it will get better and my mind and body will be in harmony again.
Please be careful because the strong change of dose of estradiol-drospirenone can trigger such symptoms and problems.
So, my dear ones, it was my story that will always stay with me. Hopefully, when my body completely recovers, I will be berfreit of these memories as well.
Stay healthy!!!
How are you doing now? How long did it take for your head fog / depersonalisation feeling to go away? X
There is still 30% brain fog. I am now in the 3rd month of self-healing and feel much better. It is only after 2 or 3 months that the body realizes it is not getting synthetic hormones and starts to recover on its own. I am now suffering from severe peripheral nerve symptoms and sinus problems.
all of this is me to a T !!! Im curious on everyone’s age. ive been on birth control for many years, except off when i was pregnant (have 3 boys, 24, 9, 5) i know pretty big age gap from the first child. i was really young with the first one. anyhoo Im 41 yrs old now and tried the mirena in 2018 instead of remembering a pill (which was the “mini pill”). after about 2yrs of it i wasnt feeling right and took it out and thought since im older now and wont be having kids anymore i figured id go all natural. about 3 mos or so not being on anything i started not feeling my self and alot of anxiety and crying and rage, very irritable. all of these things more than normal. im feeling a little better emotionally, but now i have the numbing in sporadic places all over my body and face. been going on for about 2 mos now and just trying to take advice from all you ladies and just let time heal. im so glad i read this before i went back on birth control. thank you all.
Thanks so much for posting this, I spent all day googling “brain fog after quitting the pill, out of body feeling” and all the variations, and this post is the only one that recognizes the impact on mental ailments when it comes to the pill. I had a bad episode today and its still kinda there, after stopping the pill 2 months ago. I had to take a pill today to quell the symptoms, I guess it kinda did or maybe its just the “placebo” effect… who knows. But I hope this doesn’t go on for much longer. I knew it had to do with the pill because I had tried a couple years ago to get off of it but gave in and went back on because the symptoms were just too much to handle. How long did it take for all of you to level out and see the brain fog and depression and anxiety to subside?
Thanks
Dis you get any answers on how long it takes for the brain fog etc to go? Xx
Hi Jaime, are you feeling better?
Hi darl, good days and bad days still. What’s left is the spaces out feeling/ head fog. I have managed the anxiety and panic attacks (they came from not knowing what was happening I guess ) so now I know I have managed them. I sometimes get heart palps but much less than before. I’m also 8 months pregnant now so hard to tell what’s what. I hope we all become symptom free soon and we can get back to giving our lives and families 100 percent . Im currently 10 months post my nexplanon removal. Take care ladies , much love xx
I’m sorry to hear so many of you are suffering. Stay strong and know that it takes a while to feel back to normal. You will get through this! Although I’m not a doctor, I can confidently say that if everything has been checked and nothing is found, and the only factor left is the pill, it’s the pill. I’ve met and have spoken to so many women with issues related to the pill or some other form of hormonal intervention and it is so sad the lack of knowledge and science that is out there. Unfortunately, doctors by nature need to label illnesses based on what they’ve learned, and that’s it. If they didn’t learn it, it’s not “real”. The effects of coming off the pill hasn’t been studied enough which is why we need to continue to advocate for better healthcare and research for women. Treat your bodies well, exercise, try not to eat any foods with added hormones or anything that can alter your hormones; meat, dairy, alcohol. AND SLEEP. Sleep is so important for restoration and rebalancing. I wish you all well, and happy to hear my story helped so many of you. Stay strong. – Raquel
Raquel, can you share the 10 page forum board you originally found?
Hi Rachel,
Did you happy to take yaz? I’ve found that girls on yaz, spironolactone or similar forms have the worst withdrawal. I’m working with functional health doctors and all signs point to Oxalate toxicity as the cause due to those pills impact on the kidney and calcium levels.
Hi, how did you find out about other women having horrible withdrawals from Spironolactone?
I took it for 10 months before I started to notice joint cracking/pain and spider veins. Now I’ve been off it 5 months and I have dry skin and eyes (with floaters and pinpricks), neuropathy symptoms (buzzing) in my feet, migraines, and cramping and bloating from ovulation till my period. I had painless periods since my first at age 12 until now at 33. No family history of early menopause, my mom had me without effort at 40. My doctors still try to tell me it’s just getting older. I’d laugh in their faces if it weren’t so sad. Symptoms like these don’t just appear suddenly, the simplest explanation is usually correct and the simplest explanation here is that I took an androgen blocker for 11 months.
I was on spiro because every month I have a PMS breakout. It helped, but I’d rather have the worst acne in the world than all these symptoms. I’m absolutely terrified of endometriosis or ovarian cysts, since I’ve read reports on reddit that spiro can cause both. Maybe you can link me to where you’ve found other women dealing with withdrawals? I see a lot of reports of side effects while still on spiro, but very few of the withdrawal symptoms like I’ve had. It’s ridiculous, because I’ve been on so many medications before and never had problems. I was even on birth control for 5 years and the only side effect was weight gain, and coming off was no problem. Doctors act as though spiro isn’t a big deal, it’s just a diuretic, but it’s the same thing as drospirenone/Yaz. Spiro is a huge deal and it ruined my year. I’m trying to be thankful that it didn’t cause other side effects some women report. This drug wreaked havoc on my normally functioning system, it’s absurd and I’m still in shock, wondering why I took it, but I DIDN’T KNOW. I’m trying to warn everyone I can.
Im so thankful I kept searching for answers. I bant believe only taking birth control for 4 months has affected me so badly. I was taking gianvi. I loved it til I started noticing depression and major anxiety.
I called just like you and made appointments with doctors where they all look at you like your crazy until one woman listened and agreed it was the birth control. I’m also thankful I found this post . I was feeling tingling in my face, lips, arms ,legs, hands .. weakness, tired, hair falling out, crampy feelings ..
I’m hoping this goes away soon . You gave me hope
Hi currently wondering if you’re symptoms went away, Currently I felt tingling in my face, lips arms, legs it did go away but now it back. Once I decided to get back on estarylla the tingling started I will never take this medication again. Hopping I get back to normalcy!
How are you feeling now Annie? And did you start feeling the tingling while still on the pill? I’ve been having tingling in my arms/legs for 4-5 months, and now it just started in my face a week ago. I just realized a week ago that it could be the pill and got off of it. Now that my face is tingling too I’ve been terrified that I have MS. I’m really hoping somehow it’s related to the pill too.
How are you feeling now Annie? Is the tingling gone? I’ve had tingling in my arms and legs for 4/5 months, and tingling in my face started a week ago (after finally getting OFF the pill when I realized it might be the problem). Did your tingling start while on the pill or only after stopping it?
Hi Tiffany! Did you start having the tingling while you were still on the pill, or only when you got off? I started having the tingling while on the pill, and now that I stopped taking it, it’s getting worse.
I started having the tingling while on the invading and it’s continued while off. Is yours still there?
Hi I’m 28 years old and I had a the birth control that goes in your arm for about 3 year but I started feeling bad after I took out like 2 months after I was getting anxiety attack and panic attack I was getting tingling all over and muscle weakness as well I have 3 kids and the prescribed anti anxiety medicine even though I didn’t want to take it my kids needed me and I was wondering what cause this to me was I going crazy did someone put something on me I was so scared I’m still scared because the health is very different when it come to these things I’m still trying to pick my self up right now and trying to figure how to heal my self because Gyn don’t think it effected me in anyways so she don’t want to do hormones testing which I think is a good way to go now I’m getting off balance feeling while I’m walking like I’m on a elevator and he suddenly stops I don’t know what that about but it start after I had my panic please can some one give some advice please
I have experienced the exact same thing. If anyone needs to chat to me please dm me on my Instagram as I’m always on there. Basically I got my nexplanon out in aug 2020 and Iv been going through hell just as u ladies explain. I also have a 4 year old. And I’m now also pregnant with my second child which was the whole reasons I got the nexplanon removed. What your all experiencing is post birth control syndrome. Everyone is different and everyone’s symtoms will vary in how it affects you and for how long. My biggest problems, were sever anxiety; panic attack, fatigue, hart palpitations, and now I’m left with just the fatigue which is bad in inself. I’m finding comfort in the fact that our body’s are so clever and WILL balance out it can take time tho, what I’m readin around 8-10 months. But everyone is different. I know it helps to have someone who is going through the same to talk to so I’m on jamie_josephine – please breath , take care and perhaps take a hormonal balancing herb or something, I did as well as magnesium. But make sure it’s safe for you to do so. Remember most Drs will deny as that seems to be the trend!!! Xxx
Thanks for writing this. Currently struggling with high blood pressure and anxiety three weeks after being on the progesterone pill. I only took it for a week! Interesting to know if anyone else has struggled with their blood pressure and how long it took to regulate. Thanks
Have your symptoms changed yet?
Hi Mo
I took the progesterone only pill for 3 weeks and also struggled with anxiety and high blood pressure (as well as lots of other horrible things) after stopping. That pill really messed me up but I am recovering. The anxiety lasted for months unfortunately. 6 months on it has pretty much gone. Hopefully it goes away quicker for you! I suspect your blood pressure will calm down as your body starts to recover.
Hey Lorraine, I took the progesterone only “mini pill” norethrindrone pill called Lyleq for only 3 weeks as well. I stopped a week ago, and for the past week have had leg numbness and leg tingles. I can’t bend my leg the whole way without feeling so much resistance compared to my other leg. Also experiencing intense high blood pressure, anxiety, depression, and shortness of breath. How long did you symptoms last for until you felt better? Thanks so much ?
Thanks so much for this post. It’s been the only thing giving me hope I’m not crazy. I also have been off the pill for two months now and my symptoms mirror yours. While I’ve had anxiety my whole life I was convinced that this was different. Part of this was more than that and every doctor told me that it’s all anxiety and didn’t seem to take my symptoms (which have been scaring the hell out of me) seriously. I really just want to get my life back and hearing all these stories makes me feel I have control again. Thanks so much for the hope you’ve given me you for sure are making a huge difference!
How are you feeling now?
I am currently experiencing the very same symptoms after being on the pill since February. I didn’t have much of a fun time on the Pill itself, and they tried me on 3 different kinds. I’d finally had enough and stopped around the beginning of September. Since then, I’ve suffered from the usual – headaches, sore breasts, heavy periods etc but about a month ago, during my first period after birth control nerve issues. Started with tingling in my inner thighs and then pain radiating down my legs. Now I have weird sensations in my right foot and pinky, ring finger on my left hand. They are usually worse close to menses. I too searched Dr. Google and thought MS. I suffer from anxiety and this certainly did nothing to help. I also noticed a rash under my arms that still lingers. It’s red just before my period and for a few days gets petechia. Then disappears. This started on the Pill. I believe I have a hormonal imbalance but I’m getting nowhere with the doctors. My doctor took the same Pill I was last on and loved it so she dismisses any negatives. My eyes have also not felt right, like a mild pressure behind my right one and sinus pain. I don’t know what they did to the Pill, but it’s not okay. It’s a huge relief to read similar stories although I feel for all of you.
Hi Claire,
How are you feeling now? I just come off the Pill on 11/28/20 since then started tingling in the whole body then my hands and feet. I’m 34 years old never had health issues before. My doctor isn’t helping at all. I don’t know what to do anymore. I really just want to get my life back.
Thank you,
I’m so relieved to read this post. It’s hard because I feel like there’s nobody that understands what I’m going through. I’m 27 now and I was on the pill and the implant together for a total of 10 years. I recently went off the pill last month and felt fine for a two weeks or so then I started having major sinus pain and it was severe to where I went to the ER twice but doctors said it was allergies after giving me several antibiotics in case it was an infection. The first time I went I had an anxiety attack which I hadn’t had one for years and it hit me hard because I was in pain and having to wear a mask and go to the ER without my husband with me just terrified me because of everything that’s been going on I didn’t want to be alone. It was so bad to where my legs were shaking and I was hyperventilating and I felt dizzy and out of it. Then a few days later I got this dizziness in the shower which felt like I the whole room moved and have been feeling like that for now a month. I can’t tell you how much this has made me feel to where I cry at least once a day because drs have been just writing me off and saying it’s anxiety when I know there’s more to it. I’ve seen two ENT. Two primary care doctors, allergist, eye doctor, and now I’ll be talking to my OBGYN to see if it’s because of my hormones. All my bloodwork has come back normal. I’ve done a CT scan and now I’m getting an MRI. I was a healthy person before all this and now I’m suffering with what they think is vertigo. I hope you guys all feel better and pray that I will get back to normal. It’s not fun because you feel like to everyone else that your crazy but you know your body more than anyone else
Hi Ariella,
We have almost identical stories! I’m 29 and had been on the pill for 12 years with minimal breaks until this June. I lost my job and therefore health insurance and after 2 weeks of being off the pill i got hit with my worst vertigo attack ever. i got back on the pill for three months thinking it would help before deciding i was done for good. the dizziness hasn’t gone away, the fatigue is terrible and tests show barely anything. i’m working with a naturopath now to try and help and i have low iron, vitamin d and a slight hormone imbalance. i’m hoping like everyone else in about 8-9 months it resolves itself but as of now it feels like nothing is getting better and i’m losing hope. Are you feeling any better yet?
How are you feeling now hon? For me the cloudy brain/heart beating fast at night is still here – my nervousness and anx has mostly gone but this head and heart is very much not normal for me. And I’m x6 months in.
Hi Jamie! Things are very slowly feeling better. I can tolerate a little more exercise and the brain fog seems to be gone- it’s mainly the dizziness I’m left dealing with. Every day I feel more like myself but I maybe only feel about 65% right now. It’s been about 6 months for me and I’m hopeful that at about a year it’ll be over, just trying to be patient! For me the dizziness is the worst, it’s not a spinning feeling (except for maybe the first day of my period) but more of an internal dizziness and rocking feeling. Incredibly uncomfy and seems to be triggered by almost anything; too intense of a workout, gluten, lack of sleep, stress, etc. I’m also oddly dealing with some low blood sugar issues around my period. I think all of these things though are signs of my body trying to get it back together so trying to give myself some grace. The anxiety, crippling fatigue, massive hormonal chin breakouts, and puffy / swollen body and face seem to have passed so I think we’re making progress!
Holy crap I’m so glad I read this. I was on the pill since age 17 and just now stopped at age 35. I regularly ride centuries and workout at the gym so I’m pretty in tune with my body and head, but this withdrawal has been absolute hell.
Two weeks after stopping, I experienced massive anxiety attacks and vertigo. It was really bad for about a week and now it’s still there but I can at least go about my day without having a few panic attacks. I also had my first real suicidal depressive thought. It felt so out of character that I ran out of my room and told my boyfriend about it. I didn’t recognize myself and I’ve just been feeling so invaded by this anxiety and vertigo. It does seem to be getting better now, though, and especially to have found stories like this.
I’ve managed to do away with the extreme anxiety and depression by sleeping better and eating well. Honestly the worst is this feeling like I’m on a rocking boat. I thought something was wrong with my inner ear somehow and spent a week google searching, convinced I’d be trapped in this vertigo prison forever. Searching google for “pill withdrawal symptoms” yields stuff like headache and dizziness, which is definitely nothing near the psychic and emotional hell I’ve been through.
I think it’ll just take time to stabilize. I wish I’d found this blog sooner.
Hi! I literally have the same issues still dealing with. It’s been about 10 months since i stopped taking the pill. The dizziness set in 2 weeks out but everything else came about 3 months later. Have you learned anything from your naturopath about the blood sugar/internal dizziness?
How are you feeling now? For me after almost x 6 months of this
Still left with dizziness/brain fog and sometimes at night heart palps and shortness of breath. Just wondered how everyone is getting on … xx
How are you feeling now? For me after almost x 6 months of this
Still left with dizziness/brain fog and sometimes at my heart at nigh races and shortness of breath. Just wondered how everyone is getting on … xx
Hi Jamie.
I was reading your story and which is similar to mine. I came off the mini pill in August 2020. I was only on it for 3 weeks! But it really messed me up. I believe the progesterone only contraceptives are the cause of these side effects. Like you I am 6 months off it and doing so much better but still mild dizziness, brain fog and anxiety. I’ve been taking vitamin c, an all round vitamin and magnesium. I hope you are feeling better.
Lorraine!!!! So so nice to get a reply! Thank you!!! I would love to stay in touch and compare what works for what symtoms and exchange advice etc… it’s nice to have some support. I wouldn’t want to give out my number on here so please if your on social medial send me a dm! I’m not on here everyday and on there more often. My Instagram is @jamie_josephine but encase your not on social I’ll check back on here again soon. I’m doing ok I must say, Iv managed to banish my anxiety and panic attacks but it’s this brain fog that’s driving me insane the most. Almost like there is a glass window between me and the world and I just can’t remember what I’m doing ! Xxx
Hi Jamie! I’m glad we can all support each other on here! I am really starting to feel like my old self. Last big thing for me is mild dizziness but it’s fading. I know how you feel with the brain fog. It was horrendous. It will go! I cannot believe how messing with your hormonss can make you feel. My situation was complicated by anaemia so I’ve also been on iron tablets for 6 months. I’m not on ig but happy for you to email me at thierryfan@hotmail.com xx
Hi. I am 20 and have been having these same issues after getting off birth control back in March. I had been on it for about 6 years and decided to go off. I have struggled with brain fog and anxiety over these past 4 months. Although some days are better than others, I do not fully feel like myself. Doctors tell me to go back on the pull so that my hormones level out, but that seems like a temporary solution. I want to feel normal again and not scared anymore.
Hello! I have to say how relieved I felt when I found this post. Though my experience is due to taking hormone replacement therapy (and now going through withdrawal and feeling like I am losing my mind and my self), this post helped me feel much less alone. I have searched and searched for any posts on experience with this – many women are told that their fatigue, low libido, etc is due to low testosterone. I am 39, pre-menopausal, and not taking birth control (copper IUD). I believe that my issue was due to hypercortisolism, undiagnosed, but instead was given a “bandaid” which certainly did boost my energy, mood, strength, cognitive ability and libido. But I was now reliant on testosterone every 3 months. When it would begin to decline, I could tell as the side effects were fairly severe and I really couldn’t function without it. That scared me. My body was telling me not to continue. Just as it had with the BCP. I listened. Now, I am having side effects so severe that it is difficult for me to get out of bed, I have the brain fog you described perfectly, I stood in the grocery store with memory loss for longer than I ever have in my life (scared the crap out of me). Depression and anxiety are real, lack of will, motivation, joy, sex drive, interest in anything is upon me pretty heavy right now. Luckily, I am a current student of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture, though going through this while in grad school is no easy feat. I have a wonderful herbalist (who is also one of my teachers) who specializes in OBGYN and has worked with other women who are attempting to wean off of hormone dependency. It will be a long process, but I am willing to take it. So far, I am happy with the support these herbs are giving me. I am surprised that I have been unable to find any information pertaining to this experience online. I just want to say thank you for posting this so we can feel less alone. Hormone therapy of any kind is something that should be used with caution, intuition and proper education. Just slapping the birth control pill or any hormone replacement in someone’s hand is not proper care. I feel for everyone going through this right now. There is “the other side” of this! It just takes time. Do not lose hope.
Have your symptoms changed yet?
I’m 65 and have been on estrace vaginal cream for years. Recently had a bad infection from cat bite and major antibiotics given which in turn caused a yeast infection that took two months to resolve all with doctors help. I am now allergic to estrace and the withdrawal symptoms as all above have described. I feel like my head is going to explode. My doctor suggested putting the cream on skin which goes directly into your bloodstream and causes high estrogen.
What herbal help are you taking if you don’t mind me asking, I’m desperate!
I had extremely debilitating symptoms from an IUD and three different gynecologists told me it was not the IUD.
I thought I was crazy. It’s so challenging when you know something isn’t right but you second guess yourself.
Once I finally took the IUD out, I felt like myself again in about three weeks.
Depression, anxiety, there are so many things that hormones are the cause of or at least exasperate. It’s not talked about enough
The side effects can be so bad, I hope this article helps other women get help for themselves, and not get dragged into unnecessary and expensive tests and extra drugs. Very interesting.
Wow. I can so relate to all of this.. Except for i didnt use the pill, i used progesterone cream.. And when i did quit, i had this severe reaction starting about a month after i february this year.
My skin is burning, all over torso like I rubbed myself in chilli. And pins and needles in hands/feet, arms and legs. My spine/body buzzez like you wrote.. And this severe fatigue. Like i need to sleep asap on and off thru the day.
DP and brainfog. All of my symptoms getting worse everyday now.. How long did it last for you? Im bed-bound now :/ And can you recommend any websites of forums that talk about this? All i get when i Google are headaches and stomach issues. Not this with nerves and psychological stuff.
Thanks for sharing your story!
I wonder if it’s progesterone related contraceptives. I’ve got it from two attempted at the mini pill – three weeks each – and three months of the Mirena coil, which is progesterone too. This was all in the space of 6 months. I just want it to stop now! The tingling, buzzing, numbness, pins and needles, weakness, joint pain and muscle twitches (which are probably due to poor sleep).
What are they doing to our medicines???? I am 62 years old and I took the Pill, and other drugs in my life. Drugs used to be safer. And they actually did what they were supposed to do. I lost faith in the FDA, AMA, and you name it when I had a violent reaction to Lupron at 40 yrs. old. I have not be well since. I believe after years of research the only explanation is it damaged my mitochondria and I will never, NEVER be the same…….read my article in Hormones Matter April 2016 for full story.
Hi Raquel, I saw your documentary, and thanks for sharing your story.
I’ve been on the mini pill for 5 weeks, I was prescribed it for heavy menstrual bleeding (caused by a fibroid – why did they think the pill was a good idea?). It’s actually made the bleeding worse, I’ve had a period for 2 weeks, and today I felt leg weakness for the first time.
I’m not going to be taking the pill any more, and I’m going to try acupuncture for the heavy bleeding (suggested on the HERS Foundation site).
I’m so angry about these side effects! I went out today, but had to go home as soon as I felt the leg weakness. I don’t know how long it’s going to go on for or when I can actually leave the house again without feeling like I’m going to have a fall.
Thanks again for sharing your story and giving us more of the information we need.
Carol