Posted by Nina78 on June 5, 2006, at 13:29:47
In reply to Bipolar and hormones..., posted by TrishP on June 5, 2006, at 8:50:19
The best I found on internet was:
Bipolar disorder - what pill to use?Are there any specific birth control pills that are recommended for women with bipolar disorder? I have tried Ortho-tricyclen® and Tri-Levelen®. With both of them, I have had depressions worse than before I ever started on Lithium. I could really use some help.
In general it is felt that the progestogen component of birth control pills has the most effect on aggravating depression. Estrogen has the opposite effect, it usually improves depression. The progestogen in Levlen® is stronger than the progestogen in Tricyclen® milligram per milligram. I would expect Levlen® to be slightly more depressive than Tricyclen® but there is a confounding factor. Both have varying doses of the hormones throughout the cycle. The could conceivably worsen a cyclic process like manic-depression. I would think it would be better to be on a mono phasic pill that had a low progestogen potency such as Orthocyclen®, Norinyl 1/35 ®or Desogen 1/35®. It's possible, however, that any combination could worsen the symptoms. Basically this solution involves trying different pills and giving each one about 2-3 mos before drawing a conclusion. There is almost no scientific investigation in this area, i.e. effect of OCPS on manic-depression that I know of.
poster:Nina78
thread:653133
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060604/msgs/653225.html