My script for my birth control ran out earlier this month. I've been taking Microgestin FE 1/20 for about a year. Before that Lo-Ovral, Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo, Yasmin, and probably a couple other 'Lo' brands.
I began taking birth control when I was 18. I don't remember the brand but I do know I was terrified of gaining weight. Instead I lost ten pounds and spent the two months I was taking it spotting and feeling more emotional than usual. I was also terrifyingly bloated. Thus began the merry-go-round of birth control pills.
At some point in the last five years I came to terms with never having a BC pill that didn't give me some undesirable side effect. I'd already learned this was the case with psych meds but something about birth control being so essential to every woman's life made these side effects feel completely unfair.
With the expired script I took the opportunity to confer with friends and the internet for a better pill. Sure enough everyone has horror stories with one brand or another. Most of my girlfriends have settled for pills that are mildly inconvenient. Brands that didn't give them cysts or months of bleeding this time around. WebMD shows a similar story. With easily over 30 brands reviewed, you'd be hard pressed to find anything at all rated over 3 stars, most barely garnering 2. I spent hours pouring over these reviews and was left pretty discouraged. If I'm lucky I won't get an ovarian cyst but if I don't, I'll go crazy or gain 50lbs or stop finding men attractive because of their smell.
Because there's no winning I've decided to just take what a friend is taking and hope it's better than the Microgestin I was previously on. But we'll see, I'm not going to hold my breath. Besides, there's always the future of the male pill. Here's to that.
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3 comments:
I know you mentioned that you'd been on Lo-Ovral, was that one of your bad experiences? I've been on it for about 3 months now and have had pretty much only positive side effects: less acne and more boobage. But I know that no two people will react to a given med in a given way. It can be incredibly frustrating to try to find a medicine that works with your body, good luck with your search!
With lo-ovral I just got bad acne and bigger boobs. It would be so much easier if all our bodies responded the same, wouldn't it?
and thanks! I hope Lo-O is lovely for you.
Hi. I've been using the NuvaRing for a few years and really like it (although you should check for its presence post-coitally--sometimes it comes out during...) It's a very low dose of hormones secreted vaginally in a plastic ring for three weeks, then you pull it out. It's actually half the hormones of some of the low dose pills I was on in my youth like 7/7/7 and TriCyclen, but I don't have bleeding or issues because I'm perimenopausal and in my 40s already. This is the one I've been happiest with over the past 25 years or so...
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