Portia and Mood Swings: What Users Say

• Anonymous
• August 27, 2009

For Birth Control "Amazing... I was on YAZ, and it caused spotting and weight gain. After a year, they switched me to Portia, and I lost all the weight and haven't spotted since; also, my PMS is completely nonexistent now, and the killer mood swings I experienced on YAZ are gone too. I can't stop raving about how great Portia is; it made me feel like myself again."

• k19...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• June 23, 2018

For Birth Control "Started taking Portia about 2 months ago. Had to stop because I was not myself at all! Felt like a cloud was over my mind at all times. Caused extreme anxiety, depression, and mood swings. Lost friends and broke relationships. After 2 days of accidentally not taking it, I noticed I felt like myself again and refuse to go back on. Please watch your body and your mental response-don’t want anyone to have to go through this because of a silly pill!"

• AJa...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• December 8, 2019

For Birth Control "I’ve never been on birth control. I haven’t had a regular period since I was 20. I’m now 30. The first 4 days I would get nauseous for about an hour after taking it, not realizing they recommend you eat something 30 minutes before taking it...a meal or a snack like crackers and cheese...the last 3 days the nausea has faded. I did notice I was a little more emotional, but I am aware that my body is adjusting to this and learning how to act right after so long. As crazy as it sounds, I just want a normal cycle that makes me feel like an actual woman and not like something’s wrong anymore. I’ll update this if things change. Hoping it’s all smooth sailing because I have no problem stopping it cold turkey and just coping with PCOS and irregular periods."

• Ros...
• January 7, 2019

For Birth Control "This product should be banned! Everything that can go wrong will go wrong! Painful abdominal cramping all day, every day, breast tenderness and heavy pain in breasts, dramatic mood swings, intense depression, cramping during sex, yeast infections, dry skin and scalp itch, numbness in arms and legs, heart palpitations. It is taking STOP IMMEDIATELY and talk to your doctor. I was put on this without my consent!"

• Anonymous
• Taken for less than 1 month
• March 17, 2013

For Birth Control "I've been on a couple of birth control pills since I was 17. I'm 24 now, and I just started Portia. I've noticed bad bloating and weight gain. I work out a lot, and I've felt HUGE for over a week now. I've also had mood swings and BAD acne."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• June 29, 2012

For Birth Control "I have been on Portia for over a year. It has made me lose weight and caused me to have crazy mood swings. I got two benefits from the pill, which are weight loss and definitely did not get pregnant. This pill works really well for me, and I will continue using it until I'm ready to have a child in the future."

• jen...
• January 28, 2014

For Birth Control "I switched to Portia 12 days ago when I started spotting from another birth control (Alesse). I just wanted to say I started taking Portia on Tuesday and have been crying for consecutive days from Friday to Tuesday out of nowhere. I have also found it very hard to get studying and it made me a much lazier person. I will be discontinuing this birth control today because my mood swings were affecting me too much."

• Mra...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• June 12, 2019

For Birth Control "I was reading a lot of these reviews and honestly can’t relate to most of them. Fortunately, I’ve had a fine experience using Portia except for one side effect. But I’ve been on Portia for about a year and a half and actually got randomly switched to another brand, in which I even requested to go back to Portia! I only get one day of cramps and a 3-day period, so it’s been nice. The one bad thing is the severe mood swings/depression I get the week before the placebo pills. At one point, I was starting to think I had bipolar disorder! (Before realizing this was due to the birth control). Thinking about switching to a new brand just because of that, but I may return to Portia in the future."

• Riv...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• January 9, 2017

For Birth Control "I don't have acne issues, my cycles are the same: painful and heavy. But my only issues that I can't deal with are the mood swings, bad dreams, and tiredness. I've been taking it for 2 months now, and my attitude SUCKS! I don't even want to do things I enjoy. And there is absolutely no sex drive! I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one having these issues. I was starting to think I was crazy."

• Emz...
• March 13, 2017

For Birth Control "Absolutely terrible! I've been on many oral birth control pills, and this is one of the worst. My mood swings are so intense, zero sex drive, and I am snapping over little things. I am switching back to Gildess FE ASAP! 10,000% better."

• Anonymous
• August 23, 2011

For Birth Control "I switched to this from the NuvaRing about three to four years ago. It originally worked great; timed my periods perfectly (always Sunday at noon after the last active pill), would stop my period with no breakthrough bleeding when starting another pack and made my periods light and pain-free. It was also an effective birth control method as I've never been pregnant. This year, however, my boyfriend and I noticed I would have severe mood swings in my third week of active pills. I would literally not want to be in a relationship. I've also noticed breakouts on my face and body and get mild cramping every few months."

• DoU...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• October 1, 2019

For Birth Control "One of the worst BC pills I have ever been on. Took it for 8 months. The only pro - I didn't get pregnant. Everything else was a con, here is the following: severe - migraines, PMS (PMS would be almost a month long), mood swings (to a point of psychosis & paranoia), depression & anxiety, cystic body acne (vile). Complete loss of libido, made my current partner seem repulsive. Weight gain (I gained 15 pounds!) greasy skin & hair, constant dermatitis and dry patches of skin. Would make me bloat before and during my periods immensely. Did not matter if the periods were 'lighter' considering the PMS, and bloating was so bad to a point of needing to take time off work. I started getting horrible gingivitis on this pill, bad breath & garnered over 6 tooth cavities after 6 months of being on this pill. I never get cavities. Once I went off this pill, all of these disgusting and unfortunate side effects went away. If a GP prescribes you this pill, say no."

• Anonymous
• Taken for less than 1 month
• September 23, 2019

For Birth Control "This is the worst birth control I’ve been on. I switched to Portia from the BC shot due to bleeding for 3 months straight. It’s been one week since I’ve been on this pill, and I have already had 3 mental breakdowns. I’m extremely emotional and am easily triggered, and once I start crying, I literally cannot stop. Other than my mental health, this birth control has stopped my bleeding, and I haven’t had any physical adverse effects."

• Ash...
• June 21, 2013

For Birth Control "I have been on Portia off and on for the past few years. My pharmacy kept telling me that Levora was the same, which seemed pretty true. I have no period. I thought something was wrong with me, but nope, I got all checked out by an OB, and the pill just causes me to not bleed, which is fine by me. I do, however, get sore breasts every month when it should be my period, and I have slight mood swings. Overall, I think it's a good pill."

• Que...
• September 8, 2022

For Birth Control "I was given Portia as a birth control option because I didn't want to have any more children at the moment. I started to suffer from severe depression to the point of a suicide attempt, I had severe anxiety and mood swings. Seven months into using the birth control, I stopped bleeding excessively, and it turns out I developed a serious amount of fibroids on my uterus to the point that I had to have a total hysterectomy at the age of 34."

• xxs...
• January 24, 2017

For Birth Control "I got pretty bad mood swings/anxiety with this, but worst of all, I got cramps. I had cramps all month long for about 3 months before I switched. It would feel like someone punched me in the uterus, and I'd bend over in pain at random times in the day. However, I did experience this with other Barr/Teva pharmaceutical birth controls. I didn't get pregnant, so I suppose it was effective in that sense."

• CJa...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• June 3, 2019

For Birth Control "I have been using Portia birth control for less than 1 year. I had the IUD for 2 years but had to come off of it due to getting numerous cysts. Prior to the IUD, I was on Levora, which worked well until it didn't. Anyway, I was already diagnosed bipolar 5 years ago, but have had unreal mood swings, weight fluctuation, depression, anxiety, and low sex drive ever since being on Portia. I found this blog today, and I am low-key annoyed that I didn't look into these side effects sooner. I am coming off of this medication and consulting with my OBGYN, demanding alternate birth control. I do not recommend this form of contraceptive to anyone."

• not...
• October 23, 2019

For Birth Control "I've been on Portia for almost 3 full months, and I hate it. I’m so emotional all the time and cry over everything, and I was never emotional before! Also, I get insanely bloated. It looks like I’m 7 or 8 months pregnant, and it makes me cry. Also, I've noticed I’m extremely tired all the time and have lost a lot of motivation in school. And the most recent problem is dryness down there! It will happen in the middle of sex, and it’s the worst thing. So, I’ll definitely be switching."

• Anonymous
• May 29, 2011

For Birth Control "I have been taking Portia for 7 months now. Everything was fine the first 6 months, and then all of a sudden, I got really bad acne. I have also noticed I have crazy mood swings, and so has my boyfriend. I am going to switch."

• Lex...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• November 15, 2018

For Birth Control "Like many others, I was switched to Portia after Levora (which I loved!) was discontinued. Have to begin by saying I was skeptical of the whole gaining weight or having mood swings while on birth control stories, but man, did this pill mess with me. Giving it 3 stars because it shortened and decreased my pain during menstruation immensely, but it wasn’t worth the massive mood swings (namely unwarranted irritation and then extreme depression)—that just came out of nowhere about two months into taking this pill. My appetite also majorly increased and was much insatiable, which was kind of a bummer. I think I gave Portia a fair shot, but after about 4-5 months, I’m switching to a different pill—I understand everybody is different, so this may work for some, but definitely not for me."

• Lex...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• November 15, 2018

For Birth Control "Like many others, I was switched to Portia after Levora (which I loved!) was discontinued. Have to begin by saying I was skeptical of the whole gaining weight or having mood swings while on birth control stories, but man, did this pill mess with me. Giving it 3 stars because it shortened and decreased my pain during menstruation immensely, but it wasn’t worth the massive mood swings (namely unwarranted irritation and then extreme depression)—that just came out of nowhere about two months into taking this pill. My appetite also majorly increased and was much insatiable, which was kind of a bummer. I think I gave Portia a fair shot, but after about 4-5 months, I’m switching to a different pill—I understand everybody is different, so this may work for some, but definitely not for me."

• Mcl...
• August 1, 2020

For Birth Control "Just like everyone else here, I was just recently switched from Levora. I loved Levora and never had any side effects. Now, Portia, I have been on for a solid week now and have already experienced extreme mood swings, and the smallest things will set me off and send me into bawling my eyes out for no reason! My boyfriend was the first to notice it, and I looked up reviews, and I have all of the same mood swing side effects as everyone else. I’ve been on multiple different pills, and this is the first one to ever give me any side effects."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• July 18, 2014

For Birth Control "I have been on it for a year now. My acne cleared up a lot! I am much more emotional over the last year and cried a lot more, but I didn't think it was from the pills till I read the comments on here. I have gained some weight. My period is shorter than before, is now three days. I haven't gotten pregnant, so it's working for me!"

• Ang...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• November 16, 2015

For Birth Control "I've only been on this birth control for about a month, and I already don't like it. I've been spotting for about 2 weeks now, I get headaches, vivid nightmares, gained weight, terrible mood swings. The list goes on... The reason why I switched birth controls was because my last one (the Depo shot) was giving me extremely bad headaches and cramps. Also, I bled for 3 whole months while being on it. I just want to find a birth control that fits me and doesn't give me all of these symptoms."

• hb8...
• June 23, 2011

For Birth Control "I have been on Portia for two years. I would say overall, not a bad birth control. When I originally switched to Portia, it was much better than the pills I took before. I no longer got nausea after taking it, like with my old pills, and it cut down my period. Right now, I can say a bad period is three days long, which isn't bad at all, or it just doesn't show up, which is nice. I have gained no weight from it. My only complaint is, since I started it, I've noticed I've gone from wanting sex to having almost no interest in it, and I have become dry. My mood has been getting worse each month, so I think it's time to switch to a different method."