Drovelis pill vs Gedarel 30/150 pill

I tried Drovelis to attempt to manage PMDD (severe mood drop on top of existing depression) and PCOS. After 5+ months, my sense is that it was absolutely helping with PMDD. I aimed to take it continuously to minimise any mood drop' and did so for 3 months at first. Unfortunately, I just would not stop bleeding - it was more than 'spotting', enough to get through 3-4 tampons a day, every day. Then I tried 2 months of allowing a break between active pills to see if encouraging a 'period' would reduce the breakthrough bleeding, but to no avail. I didn't even used to suffer heavy periods, so I'm genuinely gutted I couldn't seem to settle and stop bleeding on this, as it was great for my PMDD and had no other negative side effects (beyond breast tenderness and temporary breast enlargement in month 1-2). Doctor's advice was if it hadn't settled by almost 6 months, best to try something else (so now I'm starting Yasmin).

I’ve only been using this contraceptive pill for 10 days, however I’ve not been using anything for the last 3 years. The immediate side effects were some dizziness and a few headaches here and there. After about 3/4 days these seem to have disappeared. My skin has broken out, however this is also the festive period and I’m wearing make up more than usual, so it’s tricky to tell if Drovelis is the cause. Im the last 2/3 days I have noticed I’m feeling a lot more anxious than usual, my heart rate is often elevated, which is affecting my moods, I’m going to keep going until the end of this pack as often you need to try for at least 3 months to see if it settles, and I’m experiencing some period like cramping. My weight hasn’t changed, but I do have less of an appetite now. I started the pill as I have suspected PCOS and since starting, I’ve not had as many ‘cravings’ for foods and I feel fuller for longer - which helps me manage my weight. I’m not actively trying to loose weight right now (what’s the point in the festive period) but I would have usually retained a lot more water (due to the amount of festive foods I’ve been having) but I’ve not seen the increases stick around for more than a day, which is great. I’ve also noticed my usual permanent bloating has been going down, and it’s certainly showing in my face. Overall, if the anxiety subsides I’ll be very happy with this pill, fingers crossed it does over time as I’ve not experienced half of the usual side effects from taking the pill and those I have experienced have been relatively mild.

So far I don't have a bad word to say about this pill! This is the second combined pill I've tried after being on Microgynon 30 for about 6 months a couple of years ago. The experience I had on Microgynon was very negative and scared me out of trying any other combined pills until I read up about Drovelis. I'm in a long term relationship and only on the pill for contraception reasons, so slightly improved skin is just considered a bonus for me! It's nice to have found a pill that actually positively affects my mood rather than negatively impacts it like Microgynon did for me. I also lost my sex drive completely on Microgynon, but have been pleasantly surprised that I haven't had the same experience with Drovelis. I would even say it's improved my orgasm experience and feel like I get more aroused than I used to before being on pill - which I didn't expect at all! The only negative I've found with Drovelis is the occasional spotting when taking the active pills. This happened around month 3-4 of taking it but it seems to be happening less now. The spotting isn't heavy enough to use a pad or a liner but isn't ideal (hence the 4 stars). I feel like this is a great pill to try if the older generations don't work for you :)

I was initially prescribed GEDAREL 30/150 to treat acne when I was 15. I have been diagnosed with clinical depression since age 14 which is managed with SSRIs. I can confidently say that GEDADAREL has not had any effect on my mood, but it should be noted that I have been on SSRIs for the entire time that I used it. It also drastically improved my acne which was an absolute miracle at that age. The only other side effect I noticed was larger and more tender breasts. I have always had light periods and I didn’t notice much of a change to my periods on the pill. I remained on it continuously until age 19. I took a break for around 9 months, during which time my acne returned. Went back on it age 20 when I got into a relationship and was on it continuously until the start of this year (age 23). I stopped using Gedarel because I am currently celibate and single and I haven’t had any severe issues with acne, so it feels unnecessary to pay for contraception. When I need contraception again I will definitely go back to Gedarel.

This pill has been amazing for me. I've been on and off for several years and can confidently say this pill completely clears my hormonal acne - where other treatments have not worked. No negative side effects either!

Only side effect I've noticed is increased acne

More agitated for the first month. Very tender breasts and they grew a lot but have gone back down a bit since. Periods are heavy but only for 2 days then finish on the 4th day which is much shorter than before. Cramps are very bad on those 2 days tho. My contacts get sooo dry but after 4 months the other side effects calmed a lot.

Overall had a very negative experience, especially with my mental health. I had severe anxiety. It works for lots of women, but not for everyone.

I was put on this pill for suspected endometriosis and I felt extremely dizzy 24/7 on it to the point where I couldn't go out. I was having multiple panic attacks a day because I'd never felt like this before. I had to stop it because it was affecting my ability to work and felt back to normal again 24 hours after taking the last pill. As the first pill brand I'd ever taken, it put me off hormonal contraception for life as it nearly lost me my job and the side effects were 100x worse than my endo symptoms. I haven't had a single panic attack since and it's been over a year since I stopped it.

It did control my periods making them regular each month. I was hoping it could control my heavy periods due to perimenopause and adenomyosis. I tried continuous pill taking with this and it does not work. After or nearly at finishing a blister pack, my body just starts bleeding like I'm on a period, so I have to give it a 4 day pill-free bleed. I'm happy that the periods are regular and 4 days long per month, but not happy that the periods are so very heavy still, in the first few days. I started feeling anemic even though I take iron supplements, so I was forced to take tranexamic acid during the 4 day bleed to reduce the bleeding. Tranexamic acid works but it always gives me a bad headache. So basically I feel unwell all through the 4 day bleed - either I'm bleeding profusely and low on iron, or I'm taking tranexamic acid and not bleeding profusely but have a bad headache all day while I'm taking tranexamic acid. So for that reason it's not an ideal pill though does improve things a bit. I'll also add, the first month I was on this, I felt unusually fatigued all day, falling asleep at my job, wanting to sleep 10 hrs at night, etc. I also had severe stomach cramps which could not be alleviated even if I took the pills just before bed - I'd just wake up middle of the night from the stomach cramps too. And it gave me bad flatulence, like IBS, for hours after I take a pill, farting all the time. And I had loss of sex drive and vaginal dryness too. I switched to Gedarel 20/150 for a lower estrogenic dosage to reduce all those side effects but then I started spotting pretty much a couple days after starting that, so this means the estrogen wasn't high enough to control bleeding. So I went back on to this Gedarel 30/150 and thankfully I seem to have regained myself and all the side effects were gone. So I stuck with the Gedarel 30/150 for 2 months already. My body got used to it, all side effects gone, no more vaginal dryness, low sex drive, stomach cramps. The heavy periods during the pill free days however, are not great as I described above... and also the fact this pill doesn't seem to work for continuous pill taking regime for me as my body always wants a bleed at the end of a pack... Not sure why.

I take this continuously, running packets together with no break. I haven’t had a bleed in years and my acme has reduced. I don’t have a period and improves my skin. What’s not to love! No negatives!

This is the best pill I’ve been on (aside from Dianette) and it doesn’t adversely affect my mood as much as other pills I’ve been on.

It did it's job as a contraceptive. I have been using a combined contraceptive since I was 17 to help with my periods and acne- I didn't even have a boyfriend at the time. I had been on it for over 10 years and last summer was the last straw. I developed an ectropian cervix which is where the cervix kind of swell I guess is the right term but basically the cells that are on the inside of the cervix come visible on the outside of the cervix. This caused lots of spotting and bleeding during sex which was obviously a huge red flag. I had been back and forth to the Dr's and felt dismissed most times, then jt came to my smear test. I was of course very apprehensive and bled during the procedure. I was referred to coloscopy 2 years ago and I am still waiting for that referral. My smear came back clear. However I was so worried and anxious and when I asked at the Dr's, I was told to still keep the referral. This then leads me onto my next major side effect. Since being on the pill I have been prescribed anti anxiety medication. 2 different brands for about 5 years. I experienced headaches and a complete loss of sex drive, which now coming off the pill has only just started to return a year later. I was miserable. I was a different person completely. But each time j felt completely dismissed by my GP bar one. I came off it last year after being very emotional and decided enough was enough. I had got married in the April and decided that getting pregnant was not a complete disaster so it no longer served its purpose. It has been the best thing I have ever done for my body. It has knmy been since coming off it, how much I have realised it effected me, both physically and mentally.