I recently decided to take the plunge and go on birth control to treat some side effects of PCOS (mainly incredibly irregular, long periods and unrelated increasingly intense ovulation pain--as in so bad it makes it uncomfortable to exercise let alone try for another kid if we ever wanted to). I haven't been on the pill since college, and never reacted well to it. I was in it partially for BC, and also because I had exercise-induced amenorrhea and several stress fractures so I needed to have some cycling estrogen. I of course can't remember the name of the pill I was on for the longest time that did work well for me (which was prescribed by the campus doc at my college). I had a lot of water retention with one (not weight gain), insane mood swings with another, but it was ultimately relentless yeast infections that sent me running for a Paraguard IUD after I was done competing in sports in college so didn't need to worry as much about my bones. After my second daughter was born is when everything went haywire.

I asked for something low-dose due to my past difficulties, and my doctor prescribed Loestrin 24. About 1.5 weeks in I was hit with exhaustion--the kind you only experience during your first trimester of pregnancy. I have had a few intense headaches (I never get headaches otherwise), slight shortness of breath, and cannot think straight (it seems to go along with the exhaustion). I'm also constantly an inch from flying off the handle.

Has anyone experienced this, and were you ultimately able to find a pill that worked for you? I'm so close to just tossing the pack (don't worry--I'd actually do a drug drop off), but i am also fed up with getting my period every 24-36 days and it lasting for 9-10 days with 2 days of horrible ovulation pain in between. I'd really like to find a pill that works for me. Any suggestions?