i'm having major trouble finding an oral contraceptive that doesn't cause me side effects. i'm 25 y/o and starting taking desogen when i was 18 to help regulate my cycle and ease my cramps...it worked great, and i never noticed any side effects from it. after about a year, my gyn switched me to ortho-tricyclen to help with my acne. again, great results, no side effects. after about a year, i stopped taking the pill for almost 2 years because i was in college and couldn't really afford the copay (and i wasn't sexually active at the time anyway). but my cycle eventually got all wonky again, and i couldn't bear the cramps...so i went back to my gyn who started me on ortho-tricyclen again. it's been downhill since then...i started having severe nausea on ortho-tricyclen after being back on it for 4-5 mos. so my gyn switched me to estrostep...i still had some mild nausea during the first week of pills, but it was bearable, so i stuck with it. then, after about 4-5 mos on estrostep, i began to have insomnia and depression so severely that i had to call in sick to work pretty often. so i went to my primary doctor who decided to change me to kariva (generic mircette) since the hormone levels don't fluctuate as much...i have now been on it for 5 mos, and i have zero sex drive and terrible depression around the time of my period.

i plan on going back to my primary doctor (it's very hard to get an appt with my gyn) to see what she thinks i should do because the lack of sex drive is obviously putting a strain on my relationship with my boyfriend, and i'm honestly scared about how depressed i get with my PMS now. has anyone else had this experience of being on BC when you were younger and suddenly just not being able to tolerate it once you got a little older? or has anyone had trouble like this with the bill and then switched to the ring or the patch with better results? i know your natural hormone levels change as you get older, so i'm worried that i'm just not cut out to take BC anymore.

thank you very much if you took the time to read all this! ;)