Mini-pill and Depression?

Eeek, you're not on the pill while you're breastfeeding are you? If the docs told you its okay then they're full of it. Everything you consume goes into your breastmilk, and a single dose of hormones for you gets magnified by up to 20 times for your baby - and that could set him up for hormone and cancer issues later in life.
As for your emotional rollercoaster, it sounds like it could be your pill as well. After having a baby, your hormone levels are still going crazy, and adding more to that could send you over the edge - and once again, increase your chances of developing hormone positive cancer as well. Sorry, I'm not trying to freak you out, but I am a breast cancer survivor (dx'ed at 32) thats done a ton of research on the links between hormones, active cell growth, poor diet, and cancers. There are 3 times in a woman's life when those cells are most active - puberty, pregnancy and breastfeeding. And its during those times that mutant (possibly cancerous) cells can develop. If these mutant cells aren't destroyed by the body (as most are, we create cancer cells everyday, but if we're healthy they dont survive), the extra estrogen and progesterone can actually feed them and cause them to grow extremely quick and aggresive. That's how my cancer was caused, I took phytoestrogens shortly after breastfeeding.
I know that severly limits your contraceptive options, but I wanted to make you aware. Docs these days are slaying me the way they play with hormone meds regardless of the recipient. The biggest problem is that complications dont develop for years, so its never traced back. And anymore, the docs are getting more $ from the pharm. companies than they are from the patients, and its a very unhealthy incentive.

Even good changes are stressful. Your post basically says "Everything in my life has completely changed in the past 3 months and I find myself teary and overwhelmed." You should feel a little overwhelmed - you have been through ALOT. Be kind to yourself and relax your expectations for awhile. But if these feelings are interfering with your ability to function (and it sounds like they may be) there is nothing wrong with getting some assistance through a rough patch. Please call the OB that prescribed your pills and discuss your depression with him/her. They will have a better idea whether it is related to the minipill or just related to life. Either way it sounds temporary. Much better to deal with it now than to slide deeper into depression and have further to climb out.

Hi S.,

I don't know if I have real advice, but wanted to confirm that the mini-pill is the one that is progestin-only, right? If so, it's safe for breast-feeding. I also started taking it recently (a couple weeks ago) and wondered if it was affecting my mood, because although I had a really rough emotional stretch right around the time of our baby's birth (first baby, a boy born in June, I was hospitalized before, he was hospitalized after, etc), things were starting to get a lot better and then I felt like it was a step back. Not quite as bad as you are describing but still noticeable. So you are probably right to suspect it even though you have all kinds of understandable reasons for being distressed. Any time we play with hormones, mood changes are possible, I guess. If there are other birth control options that would work for you, probably worth considering.

And I've been there with moving from out of state for husband's job, buying first house, lacking a real support system, etc. I've been here two years but now that the baby has come, I realize I haven't been so great at developing that network! Anyway, good luck to you and hang in there -- sounds like you have a great family and will bounce back in time. (I should take my own advice when things are driving me crazy...) And if you do switch b/c methods, I'd be interested to know if it makes a difference for you.

K.

That sounds exactly like me after my first baby! I did feel better after stopping the birth control pills, but I still needed to go on antidepressants. You definitely should call your doctor!! If you go off the bcp or start ad and don't see a signficant change in two weeks, you need to try something else. There are lots of options out there that can really help. GL!