Levest pill vs Microgynon 30 pill

started this pill when i was 16 for heavy irregular periods. really helped regulate them + shortened them from 7 days to 5! tbh i think it made them a little more painful though came off it after 3 years because my skin randomly got a lot worse after being clear for the duration of using it - got really painful hormonal spots on my chin but all in all a great starter pill for me! i’m pretty sure it sorted out my mood swings too lol but not sure cos it was aaaaaages ago

Levest has done me good. I have gained weight since being on the pill however I am no longer going to the gym regularly so I cannot blame levest entirely. Would recommend

Very helpful for my acne and confidence, but my mood noticeably changed to feeling numb quite often. I’ve felt very physically and mentally tired over the last 13 months, but can’t remember a time before then. Great at stopping my periods for 4 months, before I breakthrough bleed and take a break. When I do bleed, it is extremely heavy, but it is less painful.

Originally went on the contraceptive pill to control and ease very painful and heavy periods, it helped and made my periods regular and easier to deal with. However, around 12 months in I began having regular migraines with aura which are dangerous when using this pill, it was an amazing pill other than that major side effect I had no emotional affect because of it.

General side effects were minimal but had constant spotting that didn't improve over time. Switched to a different pill (Yasmin) and spotting stopped immediately. Switched back to microgynon due to other bad side effects from Yasmin and spotting again within 4 days. Time to continue the search...

Was on the mini pill and it completely wrecked me. I use this to manage endometriosis. It works well for that purpose. My mood is stable. My adhd has improved bd im responding to medication better (compared to the mini pill). So far, im extremely happy with the pill - who knew being a functional human being is pretty great??

I was given the combined pill as my first ever contraception. It was great in terms of regular periods, lighter periods, convenient to use, not invasive to have etc. However, whilst using it, I had migraines every single time I was menstruating, sometimes with aura and were extremely debilitating. This ultimately meant I had to come off the pill, and I didn’t realise until around a year after being off the pill that my migraines had nearly stopped completely, and when I did have them, they weren’t nearly as severe. Other than debilitating migraines (which may not be the case for everyone as I did experience them before going on the pill), the combined pill was amazing in all aspects.

On this for about 14 years, taking a few short 6 months breaks. Only in hindsight can I connect the dots on some side effects including eczema (many people go on the pill for acne, it has a drying effect so you can imagine for someone with dry skin it makes it worse) and recurrent UTIs. These symptoms became pronounced when going on and off the pill in my 30s. Dryness and loss of libido when trying to go back on it again recently was unmanageable. Sex drive and sensitivity completely disappeared. 6 weeks later I am working it out of my system and sensitivity and libido is slowly coming back. I would also question the role the pill has played in depression and anxiety over the years. I have no evidence for this but can only say that coming off it I have never felt more peaceful or like myself. Since I have fairly light periods and no other menstrual or health issues except eczema I would say going on the pill was the wrong choice for me in hindsight and have since educated myself on my hormones and am using natural cycles.

While it was brilliant to stop my period, I struggled with the moodiness and lack of sex drive. I wasn’t motivated to exercise, while I loved going from a B cup to a DD cup the rest of my body grew too. Headaches and migraines frequently which isn’t ideal either.

I went on this pill to manage my extremely heavy periods. I've loved having lighter and shorter periods and my skin has been great, but decided to come off the pill after ~3 years as I started getting very anxious. I've found since coming off that my anxiety levels have been a lot lower.

I started this birth control as my very first form of contraception. I was put off by the thought of breakthrough bleeding on the mini pill, so my doctor put me on microgynon without much thought. The first month was fine, although very quickly I started to get terrible headaches which continued until I stopped taking the pill altogether. After around the first month I vaguely noticed i’d be in a bad mood all the time - I was either very snappy and grumpy, or my emotions were very ‘muffled’ and I didn’t feel much of anything. It’s very hard to describe, but I wouldn’t feel happy or excited - i’d just feel low and ‘nothing’ all the time. I didn’t enjoy hobbies I liked before, and I wasn’t interested in anything. I think the craziest side effect I randomly realised was that I felt way less affectionate towards my boyfriend. I wasn’t interested in being cuddly with him, kissing him, ect. Honestly it’s the main reason I wanted to get off microgynon. Along with the headaches and mood, my sex drive disappeared completely (and I naturally have a very high sex drive), i’d experience brain fog all the time, and I felt immense fatigue. I’m diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome so I assumed it was just that, but the tiredness I felt was nothing like i’d ever felt before, and I feel much better now that i’m off the pill. I’d be too exhausted to even get out of bed, and if I did manage to go outside i’d feel faint and dizzy. The positives were that I didn’t get pregnant (we didn’t use any other form of contraception and didn’t use the pull out method, although I did take a pregnancy test every few weeks to be safe), and I was able to control when i’d bleed. I’ve always had extremely painful periods where i’d throw up and almost pass out from the pain, but the bleeds were very light during my breaks and the cramps were tolerable. I would take the packs continuously for 3 months and then have a 4 day bleed, and didn’t have any cramping or breakthrough bleeding at all. Altogether I found microgynon to be a good form of contraception, the side effects were enough for me to come off it.

After taking the contraceptive pill for the past 15 years and being told it’s perfectly safe, I found out at the beginning of this year that I have 3 tumours on my liver as a result of long term usage of the pill. This week I underwent major surgery and had a liver resection to remove the biggest tumour, which at over 7cm was at risk of haemorrhaging. I’ve got two other smaller tumours which will hopefully shrink now I’ve come off the contraceptive pill. I hope my story highlights that hormonal contraception is NOT SAFE!

I have been able to live my life fuller due to the less horrific and heavy periods - now I only have 4 periods a year and it’s now in my control