Ortho Tri Cyclen and Sexual Side Effects

i've been taking otc lo on and off for 4 years it has increased my sex drive 100% && also has my hormones outraged

Michelle wrote:

I have been on these birth control pills for 3 years now maybe. My boyfriend and I are having lots of problems in our relationship including not having sex ever. I just don't feel like it ever. When we do have sex, i feel like im doing it for him, just so he;s happy and its almost like a chore. I feel terrible and i love him to death, i just never feel like it. Its tearing us apart. Should i switch? I just started to realize this recently. I think i need a new birth control..can anyone suggest a better one?

I have had the same problem with having no sex drive while taking Ortho Tri Cyclen. Are you still on it? And if not, did your problem get better once you stopped taking it?? Help!

I have been on birth control since March. I'm having some of the typical symptoms - mood swings, headaches, cramping, breast tenderness, vaginal dryness, etc. But the worst is that my sex life has started to crash! Everything starts out fine. Hot and heavy and I'm ready to go. I'll get so close to having an orgasm then it will go away and I normally can't get it back. Lately it seems to happen nearly everytime my boyfriend and I have sex. It's become so frustrating that I don't even want to try for myself. My boyfriend wants me to stop taking the Pill but, neither of us really like using a condom everytime and I don't want to go back to having 2 week periods. Any help?

You should not have the weight gain from pills, my DR said that rarely happens when you're on the pill. i have bought online at emedicalstate.com/buyorthoevra

I had horrible migraines til I realized that the pill depletes you from vitamins. I started eating a banana every day and took a.multi vitamin and haven't had one.since. I was having 3 day migraines....insane.

I am just now realizing this is why my sex life sucks. I am finishing this pack and switching to copper IUD. I have been on this stupid pill for 6 years and I feel sorry for my husband for having to put up with my low sex drive for so long. I am lucky he has even stayed with me. I can't ever orgasm during sex and my drive is horrible. The only time I get super horny is when I stop taking the pill during the 1 week of my period. That's how I noticed it was killing my sex drive. It only took me 6 YEARS TO FIGURE IT OUT. WHY DON'T THEY TELL US THESE THINGS WHEN THEY PRESCRIBE IT??!!

I have been on Tri cylon regular and low and also allesse all within 5 years.. and I have noticed I have no sex drive whatsoever and also gained weight. (probably water retention) and I do get cramps in my calfs from time to time where its unbearable and wakes me up from my sleep. I am going to go back to condoms or do the pull out method because this is just affecting me in a negative way. Also not the greatest for your health to be on birth control since its messing with your hormones.

same as everyone else. started on the depo shot (DON'T DO IT!) and after my thirdbinjection, it was like a total 180 degree switch. completely lost my high sex drive and orgasms disappeared, became an emotional wreck and gained weight. so i switched to otc and am relatively unimpressed. emotions definitely calmed down (whew, thank the gods) and my sex drive came back but not at all close to how it was before birth control. i used to have sex and enjoy it daily, even want it twice a day, then on the depo it became never, and now on otc maybe once every five days, and i have to kind of work my way to wanting it, i rarely start out in the mood. at least i can orgasm again. but i still have gained a lot of weight since going on otc, like 20 lbs. sucks. i wish i could just ditch birth control altogether but i'm only 21 and even though i'm in a long term relationship and live with my partner, we are not ready for a child, or the risk of pregnancy, and i don't want to rely on only a condom.
one word of advice to those who don't like condoms: try non-latex ones. and aloe cadabra lubricant. many women's vulvas are irritated by latex and don't realize it. and aloe cadabra is a natural, organic lubricant you can get online (and cheap!) just try it out, i promise it will improve your sex life. non-latex won't irritate and feels closer to wearing nothing and the organic lube is compatible with the condoms and very enjoyable. i HIGHLY recommend it from personal experience. my partner and i have never touched a latex condom since (plus the plastic smell grosses me out and makes me stink down there after).
best of luck!

Nicole wrote:

<quoted text>
OMG I just started taking otc lo 3 weeks ago and I have trouble getting wet. If I do get wet it's just for a couple minutes then I'll dry up and not get wet again no matter how hard I try. It's really frustrating. Just yesterday my boyfriend said that maybe it was because of the new birth control that I couldn't get wet. I'm going to go to the doctor in the next days and see if I can get a new pill. Does anyone think me not being able to get wet has to do with something else? PLEASE HELP!!!

This is so weird. Please tell me did u find out was it the birthcontrol???
I just got married 3 weeks ago and that's exactly when I started this birthcontrol. I hate it I can't get wet either and I just don't feel like having sex even though I try. Idk wat to do this is not normal because we HAVE been sexually active before but stopped about 6 months before our marriage. Now that we are married I'm disappointed to how I'm feeling and I really think its this pill but I've only been taking it for 3 weeks. Could this be it?

My advice is to get off that pill ASAP! I blame that pill for wrecking my sex life. I honestly didn't read all these posts, but I'm curious if anyone out there is suffering from lack of sex drive even years after taking OTC? I've been off of it for 8 years, and my sex drive has never recovered. Is it just me???

Its good to know its not just me. I have been on the pill for 7 years and things are just getting worse. Im never interested in sex, I only do it to please my husband. I wish I could get into it, but I just can't and I feel like its ruining my marriage sometimes.

Yeah, it's definitely affected our marriage. We are in therapy. I HATE those pills. Awful!

I was on OTC Lo for about 8 months... My sex drive went from constant to NEVER. I had to force myself to get into it for my boyfriend's sake. I mentioned it to my gyno at my last appointment and I switched to Loestrin tonight. Less hormones and all... Hopefully this helps!

I actually am quite happy to have found this page. I wanted to research side effects of birth control and especially ortho tryclen lo. Because I have had NO sex drive since I started the otc lo. Its causing problems between my boyfriend and I. I will admit I love that it has taken my acne away, but I started gaining weight which has not been fun. My acupuncturist has informed me that there are a lot of other side of effects that people are fighting to get on the info packets of the drug. I'm going to perhaps go back to condoms to get my sex drive back, and my acupuncturist said she can work on me with balancing my hormones and getting rid of my acne. I think I'm going to attempt that route. Also I have been having stressful anger outburst which feels uncontrollable. This is VERY strange for me I am a very spritual person and have done a lot of self transformation to be a empathic caring person and I'm feeling like my stress anger outburst are almost involuntary. Then I cry afterwards because I feel so terrible and embarassed. I am taking into consideration 4 months ago I terminated a pregnancy, and my nurse and dr informed me it takes at least 3 months for our bodies to adjust to birth control. Its been a challenging road and I know it takes 6-12 months for our bodies to balance out from pregnancy/and or termination. I wanted to write this post because I am EXTREMELY aware of my body and how it feels and when I feel affected by things. I think these side effects are real and should be taken into consideration. Also BC pills can cause leaky gut syndrome which should be researched more! I hope this helps!! But if you are looking for a good acne cure it worked for me! I also tried the nuva ring and it made my acne worse.

I also would like to add I think the main reason for not having a sex drive on BC is because we are not properly ovulating which is when our eggs are ready to be fertilized and we feel extremely sexually active at that time. I DO NOT recommend the Fertility Awareness Method unless if you are really paying attention to you bodies temperature, checking your cervical fluid, and feeling your cervix knowing when your fertile. Sperm can also live up to 10 days!!! I got pregnant this way. You can still ovulate even the day after your cycle!! Unless if you are ready for pregnancy or willing to terminate. I've been through this and would hope NO woman has to go through a termination. It messes with you more than you will ever know!!!! Its going to be a long healing journey for me. and It is nothing to take lightly!!!!

Michelle wrote:

I have been on these birth control pills for 3 years now maybe. My boyfriend and I are having lots of problems in our relationship including not having sex ever. I just don't feel like it ever. When we do have sex, i feel like im doing it for him, just so he;s happy and its almost like a chore. I feel terrible and i love him to death, i just never feel like it. Its tearing us apart. Should i switch? I just started to realize this recently. I think i need a new birth control..can anyone suggest a better one?

I'm having the same problem!! I've been on Tri Cyclen for years now and hardly have a sex drive whatsoever. It's really causing problems in my relationship and could possibly be the reason for parting ways in the future. A few months ago after traveling I ran out of pills, so I had to go a month without, and when I saw my bf I just couldn't get enough sex. Likely it had to do with ovulation, but I noticed a significant difference.
Tried another brand of BC a few years ago for the same reason, lack of sex drive, but didn't make a difference. I think I may go off the pill and maybe try an inter-uterine device if it's safe enough.
Also looking into herbal pills to boost libido.. but they're expensive...
Did you end up finding something that made you feel better?