Norgeston pill and lighter periods

I was on Cerelle for 6 mths which was not working out for me as I had prolonged, frequent irregular periods on it. The doctor suggested changing to Norgeston and it has been great. I have been on it now for 5 months and my periods, although not regular (actually there has been a slightly longer gap between periods, which is nice) have been back to normal length of around 6 days long. In fact better than normal as I’d been getting very heavy periods possibly due to me being perimenopausal. I’ve got lighter periods now that don’t come as often with no bad side effects. Also, a good side effect is that I don’t get feelings of depresssion any more before my period like I used to when not on the pill. I did have a blip recently with bleeding - but it’s because I missed a pill and I bled for 20 days, so I asked my doctor and they told me to take 2 pills a day until the bleeding had stopped for 7 days and this has worked. I recommend this pill!

After being off this pill for 6 months I have seen an enormous improvement in my mood, weight and overall well-being. I gained 9kg on this pill! I’ve been the same weight for a very long time, so to gain 9kg in a few months seemed odd but it was shrugged off as an ‘age thing’ as I’m approaching 30. Yet as soon as I came off this pill I lost the weight. I in part put this down to the extreme bloating I experienced on this pill. Insane levels of water retention stopped me from being able to wear any of my clothes. Not to mention the constipation! This had a serious impact on my well-being, self image and consequently my sex drive. Retrospect is a wonderful thing. Just wish I’d tried coming off it sooner!

After randomly having issues with the copper coil (after 5 successful years) and reluctantly having to go back on hormonal contraception I was dreading it but this pill is far better than any other mini-pills I've tried. I was able to compare the effects to my hormone-free self thanks to my time with the coil and in comparison to earlier pills/minipills in my late teens, I honestly feel like the side effects are far less. The main side effects that make me consider coming off it are increased in thrush outbreaks, cold sore outbreaks (both were very rare for me before I went on this pill) and low mood/angry moods. The main side effect I don't mind but encounter a lot is nausea. It's in comparison to other pills I've tried (A LOT) that I'm willing to accept the above side effects. I'll take a bit of low mood over whole-body acne, sky high blood pressure and heart conditions any day! (For context I'm not allowed on the combined pill again after I had blackouts and ended up with a heart condition after being on Cilest so my options are very limited. The copper IUD gave me a great 5 years but refuses to stay in place now (3 failed attempts with a new coil and not sure I can handle another) so it seems the mini pill is my only option!)