I can attest to Depo being a complete libido killer. On the other hand, periods fuck up my life for one week per month.
I’d rather have to be coaxed into sex than vomit on my shoes. YMMV, of course. 
Julie
Combination birth control pills (most people are on these) contain two different synthetic hormones - estrogen and progestin. They all contain the same type of synthetic estrogen, but there are different types of synthetic progestin. Each type has different levels of “progestational effects” (I think that’s the word) and “androgenic effects”. One progestin might be very, very androgenic, one might be entirely non-androgenic. Different pills have different amounts of estrogen and different amounts AND types of progestin.
Different hormone combinations and levels affect different people in different ways. Too little androgen is often the culprit in a pill-related decrease in sex drive, but too much androgen can cause unpleasant side effects as well. (Acne, hairiness, weight gain) And sometimes people respond to a certain synthetic progestin better than another.
So, basically, if you’re getting pill side effects that are really bothering you, TALK TO YOUR PROVIDER! Tell them what’s wrong! Get them to try you on some other type! (This is NOT an unreasonable request, they do this all the time) If it doesn’t work, you can always go back, and you shouldn’t be miserable just because their first guess didn’t happen to be the one that was perfect for you.
And… hi Dad! waves No, I’m still not planning to become a gynecologist.
Actually, some women report an increase in sex drive when on the pill. The brief stint I did on birth control pills didn’t seem to affect mine one way or the other. They just got rid of the cramps and the worst of the PMS.
As with all other side effects from the pill, it all depends on how your particular body responds to the particular pill you’re on.
I can’t believe this is the SDMB - what is with this onslaught of anacedote? Fifty-fifty would be okay, but this is almost entirely “what I think happened to me.”
Whoa.
Chill out j.c. - anecdotes were exactly what I was hoping for when I started this thread. I wasn’t planning to sue a pharmaceutical or anything, I just wanted to raise awareness & get some girl-talk going. It’s a “if I’d known then what I know now” kinda thing.
Now if we wanted to talk about having our annual exams, then there’d be some real ranting!
By “we” you mean “she,” right? I mean, i don’t see condoms or vasectomy on the list of things you’ve tried. Or are you taking these medications and suffering the side effects also? 
hee!
I’ve had both increases and decreases with the Pill. Pregnancy is a much larger damper on the ol’ sex drive, though, so I’m living with it.
AFAICT, the effects vary wildly from person to person and with the brand of pill. I’ve known about this particular one since I went on the Pill about 8 years ago.
Nicely done! Very accurate and complete! Six years from now, you can take my Board recertification exam for me!
How were the manatees? Are they red meat?
Dadgop
Does the word “sea cow” mean anything to you, dad? Besides, 1) They’re definitely mammals, and it’s those that I don’t eat, and 2) They were all barnacle-encrusted. And they didn’t look very tender, either.
Okay, ladies, I have a question:
I’m on a tri-cycline pill, but it’s not one of those dispensers with the dial that you spin to the correct day to dispense the pill. It’s one where the days are labeled and you just pop out the pill under the correct day. A couple of weeks ago I was on the white pill part of the cycle, but I accidentally popped out a blue pill on the same day of the week and took it (it was really friggin’ early in the morning). The next day I realized what I had done, so I took two pills, per the instructions for when you miss a pill–that day’s and the previous day’s. But now it’s time for me to take the missing pill, and, um, I already took it. Have I ruined this month’s birth control cycle? I just skipped taking a pill for that day and went into the placebo pills, planning to start a new pack next week like I normally do. There are no instructions on what to do when you take an extra pill in the little insert. Should I have thrown away the packet and started a new one when I screwed up? Do I need to use a backup method of BC (I thought I would, just to be safe–don’t need no brats at the moment).
I’m currently on Ortho-Cyclen, a close cousin of the pill mentioned in the article. FWIW, I don’t think it’s reduced my sex drive at all. In fact, I don’t think the Depo reduced my sex drive, either. I mean, it made me just shy of a raging lunatic for a couple of months, it gave me headaches, and got rid of all my natural lube, but it really didn’t reduce my sex drive.
To be honest, though, I knew about the side effects of both the pill and the shot before I went on them. It’s a risk-benefit analysis. When I read them, I don’t assume that I’m going to get every single one of them. If I do have side effects, it depends on what they are–some are manageable. I had depression as a side effect for the Depo; that, IMHO, was not manageable. However, my cold allergy might be caused by the pill. I can deal with it. It’s better than getting pregnant at age 20 when I still have to finish school. A reduction in sex drive would, in my case, be an acceptable side effect as long as it wasn’t total. Besides, most of the time, my drive is too much for my own good.