Hi! I just have a question about potential emotional side effects of birth controls. Over the past few months I have had some changes in my birth control. While studying abroad, I had run out of birth control for the last few weeks of April/first week of May. At that time, I was taking Loestrin 24. However, after starting to take the birth control pills again, I had to switch to the generic version of Loestrin 21, Gildess FE 1/20 at the beginning of July because of changes in my insurance and price issues. Coincidentally, within the past two weeks I have been having severe emotional problems. Granted I have been in some stressful situations lately, my emotions have seem to be on a rollercoaster. This has involved feelings of anxiety, paranoia, depression, loneliness, and somewhat suicidal thoughts. The main problems that have been surfacing have been in the form of an extreme paranoia that seems to make me scared that I will become completely not myself one day and do something that I would never otherwise do. Even though I truly know that this will not happen, I just can’t seem to stop negative thoughts from popping up in my head about this and other things. It’s quite frustrating, and can be very confusing and disheartening, since I am typically a very positive, passionate, and caring person. And these negative thoughts and feelings seem to just pop up out of nowhere, or can be sparked by other negative situations such as a sad news story or a scary movie, or seeing violence on television, things of that sort. Would it be possible that the buildup of these birth controls and switching between types could have sparked this? I was also taking Malarone to prevent malaria while I was studying abroad from January through May, and was reading that side effects can include depression, thoughts of hurting yourself and others, paranoia, and anxiety. I had very briefly talked to a nurse on the phone from my OBGYN’s office and she said to completely stop my birth control for now, and I have an appointment with my actual OBGYN on Friday. I was just wondering if perhaps you would have any advice on possible reasons for this, or on how to help calm these emotional issues. Thank you!