sunshine0806

Also, I know that risks with the pill are blood clots, stroke, and heart attack. These risks increase with age - I'm not over 35, but I'll be 26 soon. I used to take Estrostep several years ago, and if I remember correctly, my info packet had a chart which showed that health risks are quite a bit higher at my age than they are in a 20-year-old (that's how old I was when I first took the pill). I don't smoke, I'm not overweight, and I don't have a history of blood clots, strokes, or heart attack. However, I remember soon after I went on the pill, I had chest heaviness on and off for about a month. I never found out what caused it, though I have mitral valve prolapse, and occasionally have PCV's (irregular heartbeats). I thought it could've been associated with that, though I recently read about a woman who had the same thing happen to her when she started on the pill; she thought it could've been a blood clot. I stayed on the pill for 8 months (eventually I quit it because it was causing vaginal dryness that made sex and even going to the bathroom really uncomfortable). I never had mood changes while on Estrostep, but I made the mistake of going off it in the middle of a pack. My moods went completely crazy. I walked out on my job because I was too unstable to handle it. I cried constantly and thought about suicide for no reason. My moods eventually settled down, but this experience I think is linked to my depression. My cycles got really irregular and I think my seratonin levels have been out of whack since then, too. Lexapro has helped to re-balance things - my menstrual cycles are almost completely normal and my moods are more balanced as well. I do not want anything to affect this progress.

Yes, I can go off the pill if I notice changes, but going off it was the worst part for me (though it prolly wouldn't have been so bad had I waited until the end of my pack!). My boyfriend is quite a bit older than me (in his mid-50's), and has some erectile problems, so I wonder if he can even father a child. I'm 26, and I know that women's fertility goes down dramatically at age 27. So, I'm not even sure a second form of birth control is warranted, but with my luck, I would get pregnant. Mycatwillow - I also have pretty bad PMS moodswings, so maybe the pill would help with this. PMS time is really the only time I have moodswings anymore, so it may be worth it to give it a try.