Expert: Drea Jean H. - 5/10/2006

Question
Hi I'm taking Lutera birth control tabs and in the past couple of years (even while on the Ortho Evra patch) I have had mild mood swings, sometimes feeling a combination of apathy and mild depression. Also, since we got our dog almost a year ago, I have discovered a tendency for me to get extremely angry with him when he does his business inside or doesn't do it outside when I think he needs to. I feel I need to take some kind of herb like St. John's Wort to boost my feelings of well-being but I've read that St. John's Wort can minimalize the effectiveness of birth control. Are there other similar herbs you can suggest to boost feelings of well-being without interfering with the birth control?  I'd rather avoid taking a prescription if possible.

Thanks,
NRP

Answer
Hi Nadia,

I don't know all the diffrent medications that can interfer with pills, but herbs and natural remedies usually dont change the effectivness of birth control. If they do, it will mention it in the directions. There are LOTS of diffrent mood elevators out there. If you work with your local natural remedies store, they will be able to tell you more about what will help. And if any confusion remains, check in with your Dr., to be safe.

Also, relieving the stress may be as easy as stopping one of the two forms of birth control you are on. Unless there is a good reason for you to be on 2 kinds, then it is very possible cutting one of those out will help your mood, because birth control completley contributes to that.

Thanks,

Drea Jean