Microgynon 30 pill vs Gedarel 30/150 pill

I used Microgynon for several years, as advised by my GP from the age of 15. I remember feeling very, very miserable at times and very angry and having a feeling of 'this is not me, this isn't who I am.' After taking the pill for nearly 10 years, I started to experience chronic stomach pain which would result in me being hospitalised every 7-8 months over a 5 year period. The first time I was admitted, I genuinely thought I was going to die. I had never experienced pain like it and was taken to hospital by ambulance. I was under a specialist for gastro problems, had multiple tests multiple times to try and find the cause of my flare ups. I would be put on a morphine drip once admitted and after a few days of tests would be discharged. The cycle repeated itself like this for the next 5 years, each time the pain being worse and eventually on my last hospital admission, blood in my vomit. I had ultra sound scans, blood tests, x-rays, MRI scans, CT scans, biopsies taken from my stomach, a camera that I had to swallow to monitor my digestion, blood and urine samples taken in the dark and sent off to a specialist lab in Cardiff to see if I had an auto immune disease, discussions on could it be cancer? Could it be another rare auto immune disease that was incurable? I had Oramorph prescribed to me at home to take as and when I had a flare up as when I was admitted to A and E each time, this is what I was given. I nearly lost my job working in a primary school due to time off and not really having an explanation in a formal diagnosis as to what was causing this issue, going through a disciplinary each time. Every time I was admitted to A and E, I would be asked if I was on any medication and every time I said 'just the pill'. I asked several health professionals several times, if this could be the cause of my reoccurring pain? I was told each time, no the pill can't do this to you, you would have pain more often. It was the suggested that it could be psychological, basically was it all in my head as tests all came back with nothing. I felt worthless. It was NEVER suggested to me that I should stop taking it to see if it changed anything. One day I decided to stop taking it. This was 5 years ago now and I have not had another episode of chronic stomach pain since. I had follow up appointments with my specialist who said 'it was as rare as hens teeth' for the pill to have caused this but he agreed and truly believed that it had been the cause of my reoccurring, 5 year battle, with chronic and debilitating pain. From being given the pill from such a young age, and a lack of education as to what is in it and what it actually does in order to work, I look back and can't believe what my body went through. Not just with the hospital admissions but with the constant bombardment of hormones that made me feel depressed, angry and at times despondent, all the time being told these feelings are 'normal' side effects. Treat your body with kindness and think about what you are expecting it to tolerate.

What they don’t tell you and should, is that if you have had a pregnancy effected by Hyperemesis Gravidarum, is that you may not be able to tolerate estrogen. It doesn’t apply to everyone, but sadly, it did apply to me and I had to come off them very quickly, because for me, it was exactly like being pregnant again, I was throwing up around the clock.

Didn’t like being on this pill. Caused vaginal dryness to the point where sex hurt. Libido on the floor, so low!!!

I have been on Gederal coming up to a year now and it’s been great so far. Moods have been positive, if anything it’s lifted my mood and cleared my skin completely. Periods are regular and period cramps are very light. Only negative I’ve noticed is it’s made me slightly more anxious around my period and possibly put a bit of weight on but can’t 100% tell on that.

I didn’t realise until I came off this but Overanette made me feel very low, and it was hard to get out of the negative hole I was in, where as before taking this I was very positive and never had any suicidal thoughts which I had on this pill. I was on this for a while thinking it was just how I was, down a lot and not motivated. Lost my sex drive completely. I came off and instantly it was like a cloud lifted and I felt so much better.

I've tried 12 birth control pills previously and learned that I'm very sensitive to progesterone. I took Gedarel for 2-3 months or so and it wasn't for me. It made me bleed so heavily the whole 2-3 months time that I had endometrial lining expel out of me, at the time it was quite scary as I didn't know what it was! I have also been on Cerelle the mini pill that also has Desogestrel in and I also had extremely heavy bleeding on that, so I think I'm just unlucky with progesterone. I'm now on the Evra patch and i love it

I originally went on the Gederal 30/150 combined pill because I had irregular periods and acne. This pill was recommended by my doctor to specifically help with acne. I really liked this pill, I didn’t feel like I experienced any side effects and it really helped clear up my skin. I still got the occasional spot but my skin was so much better. I also liked the ease of being able to chose if/when I got my period by continually taking the pill or having a 7 day break. My periods were super regular and would typically start 2 days after starting the 7 day break, and they would last 5 days with 1-2 heavier days in the middle but mostly very light. I didn’t notice any mood changes. Unfortunately, after about 7 years on this pill I had a few migraines with auras and was told by my GP that I had to stop taking this pill due to the risk of Stroke. I am now on the mini-pill which I am experiencing some negative side effects with.

I originally went on the pill to help ease period pains and I had already tried micrgogynon which made me feel nauseous. Getting used to the pill defo made me feel nauseous in the mornings a little but quickly went away. I have not had any serious side effects other than an increased emotional sensitivity and breast tenderness. My periods are a lot less heavy but thicker consistency? I'm not doubled over in pain anymore but I still take painkillers on my period. I would defo reccomend!!

My GP started me on this pill to help with perimenopausal symptoms (mainly insomnia and brain fog but to a lesser extent mood swings). For these, this pill has been a game changer and after only a couple of months, I feel like myself again. The only negative is that I've noticed a quite marked weight change and have gained around 3kg, most of which I think is water weight as I have gone puffy all over my body despite being an active person who spends a lot of time in the gym and has an active job. So I'm hoping this settles down after a couple more months, if it doesn't I think I'll try switching to another pill.

I used to be on this for years before having my two children and so I went back on but I’ve decided to come back off and try the copper coil instead of hormonal contraception. I remember when I came off I felt like I’d come back to life, as though I’d sort of been numbed when I was on it. I’d been on various types of hormonal contraception for over 20 years so I don’t think I’d noticed it happening to me over time until I came off. But having now had a few years off contraception altogether going back on I can really feel it this time. I had been losing my baby weight but that stopped when I started the pill again, I suspect it’s bloating and water rather than actual body fat. My sex drive has plummeted to basically nothing and I just don’t feel like me.

I was prescribed this pill after having no success with Rigevidon. I didn’t take it for contraception but for my PMDD. Gaslit myself into thinking that this pill made my moods more stable but in fact in made me way more emotional and often times hysterical. Caused me to have a migraine every week when I previously didn’t have any. Made me pile on weight. I wish I’d never taken it.

This pill helped me with physical aspects such as less acne, lighter and regular flow, decreased cramps etc however mentally it really didn’t work for me my brain felt so foggy I lost all motivation and had no attention span anymore, I became really restless and couldn’t focus on anything which was never something I struggled with in the past.

Used gedarel 30/150 for 3-4 years and never had any issues with it. I’ve never found a pill that can help my atrocious period cramps so can’t judge it based on that but everything else was great :)