Zovia 1/35E and Depression: What Users Say

• Aug...
• October 10, 2016

For Birth Control "I do not recommend this birth control if you are prone to depression or anxiety. It's absolutely terrible. I was prescribed it to stop my heavy bleeding and painful cramps during my period. It has done nothing to lighten the flow, the cramps are just as bad, if not worse, and I've had complete anxiety, despite my treatment and medication for it. Please be cautious. I wish I'd never taken it."

• Hea...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• February 7, 2019

For Birth Control "I'm so thankful for Zovia! I’ve had awful experiences with past birth control pills (Lutera, Aviane, & Yaz) and prefer to take the natural route for health and have been very anti-pill for a long time. While off the pill, I have struggled with PMDD that kept getting longer and cramps that caused me to miss work. I had insomnia, irritability, crazy itching on my stomach and legs, depression, crying spells, fatigue, muscle pain, flare-ups in digestive and reproductive pain, and zero sex drive. I was a mess and tried every natural treatment in the book for years with no luck, and in fact, was getting worse. I had no quality of life and agreed to take Zovia. Since starting, I sleep like a baby, the itching has stopped, I’m calmer, happier, more “sane,” and at peace with life. My sex drive is back better than ever, and I feel healthy again! Cramps are really light. I can function again! The only side effects I’ve had are mid-cycle spotting and water retention, but having my life back makes those symptoms seem like nothing compared to before."

• Kel...
• August 21, 2013

For Birth Control "Zovia cleared my acne and helped regulate my period with no pregnancies. However, it caused huge mood swings around my period. I was very irritable and sometimes depressed. Also, if I didn't take the pill at the exact same time (or within an hour), I spotted."

• nee...
• Taken for 10 years or more
• June 26, 2012

For Birth Control "I've been on Zovia almost 10 years now. It's cheap and worked for the reason I was taking it, which was to prevent pregnancy. I can't say whether it made me gain weight because I figure after ten years it's bound to normalize. I can say I get pretty bad PMS, but I'm not sure this pill was ever advertised to treat PMS symptoms. I experienced depression, bloat, irritability, anxiety, and lethargy the week before every period. I attribute some to my family history of anxiety and depression, though, and it was never something I brought up with my doctor. Never thought there was any reason to change it until now. Recently, I did find a side effect to be too much to bear: low libido. I don't even want a man to look at me, let alone touch me; it's so terrible."

• Cee...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• September 16, 2022

For Birth Control "As someone with endometriosis, Zovia was great for suppressing the pain. I am also someone who sweats a lot and has very oily skin, and this has helped so much. Even though this has had the best pros of any birth control I have taken, the depression and anxiety were too severe for me to stay on it. If you are already someone who deals with long-term depression, I do not recommend this."

• Anonymous
• September 27, 2011

For Birth Control "The good aspects of this pill for me were no weight gain, no loss of sex drive, and my breasts got a bit bigger. However, I could not continue into my 4th month on Zovia because I had such intense mood swings that I drove everyone around me crazy. I had to switch to a different pill because I was on a constant emotional roller coaster: crying, being angry, feeling depressed, hopeless, and paranoid that my boyfriend was cheating on me. I felt like I was losing my mind, and my boyfriend and I almost broke up over it. I became a completely different person, and it only became worse as I was on the pill for longer. Hoping another pill will work better!"

• Anonymous
• September 27, 2011

For Birth Control "The good aspects of this pill for me were no weight gain, no loss of sex drive, and my breasts got a bit bigger. However, I could not continue into my 4th month on Zovia because I had such intense mood swings that I drove everyone around me crazy. I had to switch to a different pill because I was on a constant emotional roller coaster: crying, being angry, feeling depressed, hopeless, and paranoid that my boyfriend was cheating on me. I felt like I was losing my mind, and my boyfriend and I almost broke up over it. I became a completely different person, and it only became worse as I was on the pill for longer. Hoping another pill will work better!"

• Anonymous
• November 1, 2011

For Birth Control "So after reading the reviews, I feel a little bit better because after two weeks of taking this pill, I have gained 5 lbs, and my breasts went from a normal B cup to a large C cup. Usually that would be a great thing, but it's very uncomfortable, and the weight gain is upsetting because I work out 4-5 times a week and eat healthily. I used to be on the NuvaRing, but it is too expensive, so I tried a low dose birth control, but on this, I was spotting all the time and became very depressed."

• StR...
• March 12, 2018

For Birth Control "I stopped taking Zovia after only a month or two because it made me seriously depressed. I felt like life was pointless and was often in generally negative moods. As soon as I switched to a new pill, my dark moods immediately went away."

• str...
• November 24, 2014

For Birth Control "I took Zovia for about 6 months, mainly to regulate as well as clear up my skin. It did those things wonderfully, however, I had the WORST night sweats imaginable! I would wake up in the middle of the night soaking wet. I'd have to change my clothes and sleep on a towel. It was awful! This problem outweighed the benefits, so I took myself off. I did get depressed before my period also."

• Anonymous
• June 10, 2011

For Birth Control "I was on Zovia for 3 months and had side effects from the start. In the first month, I had a weight gain of 8 pounds. It caused a lot of nausea. It made me severely depressed. I'm switching to Nordette. On the positive side, it did regulate my extremely irregular periods."

• Bet...
• April 12, 2015

For Birth Control "I've been using Zovia for almost four months now, and so far I think it's been wonderful, besides a few things. This was my first time ever trying birth control, and I wasn't too sure about it. When I first started Zovia, my first month was great, no side effects or anything. Then my second month came, and that's when everything went downhill. I started to get bad cramps, was very depressed, and was always throwing up. Also, my periods have actually gotten heavier and still last a full week. To this day, I still throw up every month one day out of my second or third week before my period. I still experience some depression, but other than that, my cramps and everything else have gone away."