Loestrin 30 pill vs Junel Fe pill 🇺🇸

Although taking it on time was a bit of a chore. It was the best method I ever used. After a couple of years it stopped my periods entirely which was great and any bleeding I did have whilst on this pill was very minimal and over in 3 days or less. It cleared up my skin beautifully and I never had any issues with it which was a relief as I had to try many different pills to find this one. I stopped taking it for a bit because although it had no negative impact on my mood I did feel like it dulled the highs and lows of my emotions a bit and I wanted to see what I would feel like off it. Sadly, while I was on that break they discontinued this pill. I am so sad about it. Currently back on the hunt for an alternative and it's not going well. Really wish they'd bring it back!

Context: I was put on Loestrin in 2014 as an attempt at controlling my endometriosis. I'd had a tubal ligation a few months prior so wasn't using it for birth control. Within a month of starting it I wound up in the ER with severe abdominal pain. When I say severe I mean it felt like a cross between gallstone attack and labor pain. A CT scan showed that my small intestine was severely inflamed and the docs said it looked like Crohn's disease. I was given antibiotics, steroids, potassium, and pain meds and it started to get better. Two weeks later I was back in the ER again with the same symptoms and was asked if I had recently made any changes to my diet or taken anything new that could have caused it. I never even suspected it could be the pill until I realized that was the only change I'd recently made. I stopped taking it and started researching and found that there is a link between hormonal birth control pills and intestinal issues and Crohn's. My gyno said it was a very rare side effect and agreed I shouldn't take it anymore. Lo and behold, I don't have Crohn's and haven't had any issues since, nor have I bothered with trying to control my endometriosis with any kind of hormonal birth control after such a miserable experience. It's just not worth it.

Overall I thought this pill worked really well for me however for years didn’t realise that my dwindling sex drive was due to it. This actually caused ongoing difficulty between myself and my partner as we slowly mis-matched in drives which could be upsetting and confusing for both of us. I’ve been with my partner over 8 years and knew it wasn’t because I wasn’t attracted to him. Coming off the pill has confirmed that as I’m nearly a year off and am very nearly back to what I was like pre-pill which is amazing. I had to stop taking it because of supply issue and moved to Yasmin as after researching a lot it seemed most similar. I reacted so badly to that one though it finally gave me to push to stop using contraceptives (apart from condoms) and I’m so glad!

I am on this pill as a form of management for my endometriosis, and regular ovarian cyst formation when I ovulate. This helps manage the pain (although it's still present) and has stopped my ovulation. I take the Junel 21 Day tablets that do not include the ferrous fumarate tablets and have completely stopped my periods. I definitely feel a little brain fog on this pill.

It does what it's meant to do and it greatly improved my period symptoms but it makes me so depressed and anxious sometimes that I'm considering switching pills.

I really enjoyed this pill and thought it was a great option. I stopped taking it to switch to the IUD because of convenience