Birth control pills make me depressed and tired, and my serum ferritin is low. Please help.

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

There are few things I like to point out from your history.

1) Yaz or Yasmin is not the right choice of birth control pills right after childbirth ( Yaz and Yasmin are combined oral contraception containing estrogen and progesterone, and this is not safe immediately after childbirth if you are breastfeeding the child )

2 ) If Yaz is causing a lot of side effects, it takes time to switch to other forms of contraception. You can try progesterone-only pills or Depomedroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) injections or implants. These tend to have lower side effects.

3 ) Tiredness and low energy are a symptom of reduced blood counts. They are seen even before the change in your blood counts.

4) Low ferritin means your iron stores in the body are very low, and all the iron absorbed from your food is going to replenish the stores. Low ferritin is another sign of impending anemia.

If you are not satisfied with iron tablets or not tolerant of them, you can opt for iron injection under a doctor's supervision. Before trying all that, try to include iron-rich substances in your food. These include peanut or groundnuts, jaggery, green leafy vegetables like spinach, red meat, eggs, liver, milk, beans like black beans, kidney beans, dry fruits, walnuts, dates, iron fortifies, salt, and flour. If the tiredness and lethargy persist, getting a thyroid test done as low thyroid causes energy loss.