I'm Baaaaack!

Hello dear readers! I am so, so excited to be back with you - and I'm feeling like a new woman! Why such a radical change in just two weeks? Prayer - and the power of the blogosphere. I thank God for pointing me to Sarcastic Mom's blog - in particular, the entry on her struggle with deep depression caused by Ortho-Tri-Cyclen (a version of the Pill). It hit me like a thunderbolt when I read it - it was exactly what I'd been experiencing since switching recently to Ortho-Tri-Cyclen.

Let me say up front I'm a huge proponent of the Pill - took Triphasil for almost 10 years before having Princess #1 and relied on a different version of the Pill in between #1 and #2. I did struggle with mild depression and anxiety while on it, but it was manageable.

After finishing breastfeeding Princess Grace in November 2006, I went back on the Pill, but I've had to bounce around several different kinds because no matter what kind I tried, I had breakthrough bleeding every month (sorry if this is TMI, but I want to get my story out there in case someone else is experiencing the same). In January 2008, my doc put me on Ortho-Tri-Cyclen, and it was downhill from there. It wasn't just mild depression - it was I don't want to get out of bed, I don't care what I look like, I can't do anything, I'm a total failure depression - and it got worse by the day.

When I read Sarcastic Mom's post, I just broke down and cried. It all finally made total sense, and I was so relieved to have a potential solution - a way out of the hole in which I'd sunk. I stopped taking the drug immediately, and I seriously started to feel better within 24 hours. Two weeks after stopping, I feel like a new person, and I am so very grateful.

So, I'm back - and hopefully better than ever! Thanks so much to all of you for your prayers and kind thoughts. In particular, thank you to:

--my oldest and dearest friend Amy (can't believe you still love me after all these years - thank you for hanging in there!), for sending me a beautiful handwritten note;
--Susan, for offering me hugs;
--Julie D., for continuing to check on me; and
--Nancy, for being ready to stage an intervention if needed (or at least a Cher-worthy slap and a "Snap out of it!") :-P

I have the most marvelous friends in the world, and I thank God for each of you. I also thank Him for my blog readers - I've missed y'all, and I hope I'm coming back better than ever. Please keep reading - I'll try to make it worth your while.

And, check out Sarcastic Mom - she's smart, hysterically funny, and the weekly bare tushie photos of her little cutie make me laugh!