If your problem is actually your hormones, seeing a psychiatrist in my opinion is the exact wrong thing to do. They don't do hormones, they dispense drugs for mental illness. It would seem the most logical thing to have done long ago would be to stop taking the birth control pills and see if the problem goes away. If there's any chance it is the pill causing the problem, you're trying to fix what isn't broken and might end up on difficult medication intended for other problems. Because I've lived long enough to get old, I've seen a lot of evolution in the women I've known and how they deal with birth control. There was a time many years ago when every female I knew got on the pill, but then that changed because of the effects of it. After a time, every woman I knew was instead using diaphragms and the men condoms if they wanted more protection or were having sex with men outside of long-term relationships. My advice, which you're perfectly free to ignore completely, is to stop taking the particular birth control you're on before you do anything else. If that fixes the problem, you don't have to do anything else and can address your birth control in other ways that don't involve playing around with your hormones. This is a pretty much a standard advice -- if you start taking something new, it can even be a supplement or a new food, if you notice new problems, just stop doing the new thing and see if that fixes the problem. If it does, it's the easiest way to fix it. Again, it sounds like you're trying to force something here that might be best just not being used. If stopping the pill doesn't solve the problem, you'll know that wasn't the problem as well, and then you can pursue other avenues of fixing the problem. Whatever you decide to do, all the best.
Ugh, ya. It's hard. I'm so glad you are going to see a psychiatrist as I think that will help. I also will say wonderful things about therapists. There are good and bad ones out there but they can really help with skills needed to work through panic attacks and bad times in general. Did you make up with your boyfriend? I'm the cl on the relationships forum here . . . we are always happy to chat about relationships there!! :>) You can find it under R's in the community list.
Hi there, welcome. I'm here to tell you from personal experience that hormones absolutely can trigger anxiety! And you are manipulating yours through your BCP. Things like reduction in estrogen or imbalance due to adding estrogen can trigger it. I mean, really, we can't win sometimes. LOL So, how long has this been going on? 5 years now? I think too that hormones can trigger it but it usually would happen to someone that may be predisposed to it. Now, I have it but am in general an even keep person. So, it's kind of cyclic for me with regards to my cycle. Do you feel any better on your 'off' week of the pill? Do you do anything for treatment of anxiety regardless of the origin? I'm thinking of things like counseling or therapy to learn coping skills. Meditation. Breathing exercises. And the other possibility of adding on medicine to help. I do absolutely have more stabilized mood when I get enough rest and exercise regularly too. Are you going through a particularly stressful time right now in your life?