ADHD women and birth control pills? | ADHD Information

I'm about to have to stop birth control pills all together.  I could take one type of pill due to having migraines.  Now it's giving me migraines too. 

The doctor told me that it was the only one that he could give me, even Mircette (designed for migraines) would give them to me.

Hi, I'm wondering what other ADHD women's
experiences have been with birth control pills, and if
there are any suggestions on decent ones.
I might have to switch mine, and I am totally lost
based on my experiences thus far. I also don't want
to keep experimenting, since depression for 1-3
months with each new pill, plus having to adjust to
new combinations of hormones, isn't something I
want to do to myself if I can avoid it.
Some background:
I've been on Diane-35 for birth control for most of the
last 4 years, except from March 2004 to March 2005.
Because everyone was telling me how terrible it
was, causes strokes and all that, I decided to try first
Alesse (March 2004 to end of August 2004), then
nothing, then Ortho-Tri-Cyclen (February and
March2005). I'm back on Diane because Alesse
made me feel physically uncomfortable and
emotionally.. weird (more unstable than normal
would describe it), and on Ortho I was very, and
suddenly, depressed (the depression went away
suddenly when I wasn't taking the pills, during my
period in Feb., but I tried another month to make
sure).
But I've been told that I should be on Diane-35 for a
maximum of 5 years, if that, and it will be 5 years very
soon. I was told my only option is to search and
search on the internet... which I've done many times,
and is impossible for me (I'm terrible at navigating
this thing!!!) The nurse at the clinic I was at really
seemed to think I was being oppositional by asking
so many times, but I was, and am, just frustrated.
Any advice/stories/website suggestions would be
greatly appreciated.
Emily

ps yes, I'm new here! So, here's some of my story:
I'm 23, and I got diagnosed with ADHD two years
ago. I've been taking Dexedrine since then whenever
I've been consistently working or going to school (the
times other than that, I took off on two adventures -
one for a month and another for 8 months, with
enough medecation for 2 weeks the first one and
one month the second). I've recently returned to
school (4th year university) and for the first time ever
have a coach.Hi,
Do you remember the name(s) of the thread(s)? I
looked before posting the message, but didn't find
anything. I did the search (body of messages, all
forums) again, and same result (keyword: birth
control - first asked for phrase, then for all words)..
I'm on Diane-35 right now, and it's great for me, but it
isn't supposed to be prescribed for birth control
anymore, and EVERYONE keeps telling me I need to
change.
On Ortho I had trouble and on Alesse as well, and
those two are recommended for people who get
depressed on bcp's. All my friends, in particular my
ADHD friends, seem to be against being on an oral
contraceptive, in part because of not finding one they
are comfortable on. Hence asking on this forum
(which is a great forum, I must say!)

There have been discussions about this before- look up birth control in the search here.

What bc are you on? I am on Levlite and have no probs with it..
Hey trying, sorry for turning you in a wrong direction. For some reason, I thought the topic was discussed a bunch. Must have imagined it...
With the keyword "women,"  there is a topic about whether the pill- in general-  HELPS adhd symptoms...Don't think that's what you were looking for much...
good luck,
Amanda
Hi,
thanks,
I searched with "women" as a keyword and found
that thread.
The funny thing is that I find that Diane-35 DOES
help with ADHD symptoms. So I was extra surprised
(to say the least) to find that the others did, to
different degrees, the opposite and worse!

I've got several months before I have to change, if it
turns out I do, so I guess I'll just keep looking.

I've been on regular generic Adderall for a year, and Depo-Provera (the shot) for approx 5 years. I've never had a problem w/Depo. It didn't make me gain weight. I think Depo is the best invention EVER! It's cheap, effective and you don't have to remember to take a pill at the same time every day. Another great side effect is that your periods stop - so no PMS rollercoaster.

*I meant Depo is the 2nd best invention ever - Adderall is the best!

I've been on Ortho try cycline for 11 years now, I'd like to try seasonale but I'm sort of in the philosophy, if it ain't broke don't fix it.....because of stomach problems when I first went on pills, I did try a couple different ones, but ended up back on ortho....my only suggestion would be to keep doing what your doing, do some research on your own, make sure your doctor is fully informed and try to give every pill 3 months, that seems to be how long it takes your body to get use to it....good luck