"ortho cyclen made me so depressed i wanted to end it.  i started it when i was young, and it was my first pill.  nobody told me how extreme the side effects can be, and i was on it for years, just thinking i was a horribly depressed person and that life wasn&#039;t worth living.  if i wasn&#039;t so close with my family i really think i would have put an end to myself.  turns out they gave me the wrong prescription and had originally intended to give me tri-cyclen.  when they switched me over (after years) the depression lifted.  i don&#039;t know how much it prevented pregnancy (i would imagine well) because it turns out i&#039;m sterile anyway.  *sigh*  but it ruined my quality of life so badly i wish i could do it all over again. they don&#039;t warn us enough."