Fertility awareness methods (FAM) vs Progestogen-only / Mini pill

I’ve been using NC since 2021, I use to love this app and tell everybody about it until I had sex on a green day and got pregnant. I used to think it would never happen to me as I’ll use the app right. Measured every day and was very religious with the app. However, I ovulated earlier and fell pregnant! The app only goes off previous ovulation compared to current meaning it doesn’t prevent pregnancy as yes you have red days but it’s just a prediction! For example green day on day 6 (had sex) and ovulated on day 10 (red days) and fell pregnant. Ovulated 5 days early! Sperm can live inside you for 5 days hence why I’m pregnant and will be getting an abortion.

I've had an entirely positive experience using Natural Cycles. While using the impant I was struggling with acne, mood swings, irregular periods. And since swapping to use Natural Cycles I've felt much better in myself, my periods are very regular, I feel I understand my body and cycle so much more, and my skin has cleared up. In 5 years of using it it's been 100% effective at preventing pregnancy, I'm very careful to measure consistently, and I use the Oura Ring to help get accurate readings. But this small effort seems like a small price to pay in exchange for getting rid of all the nasty side effects of my previous contraception

I started using Natural Cycles a few years back. I was never on any birth control as a teenager as my mum didn't want my young body being put on hormones. However, once I settled down with my current long-term partner, I wanted to have the peace of mind that I wasn't going to fall pregnant. The first few years of using Natural Cycles were great and empowering, understanding the changes in my body and knowing when I had ovulated was great. What I had failed to understand was it predicted with its algorithm your date of next month's ovulation based on your previous month. Well. I managed to fall pregnant not once, but twice in the space of 8 months. The first time around, I thought it was my fault and I had not taken my temps properly (even though I never had an issue in the past). I had a surgical abortion as I was 3 months pregnant before I actually found out. I was willing to try again and really get to grips with it even though the clinic was very strongly advising me to go on some form of HBC. In the past 6 months, my body has recovered from the abortion and got back into its usual swing of periods and I saw I was ovulating again. This time around I invested in an Oura ring to pair with my NC app to be certain of my temps being taken. All was well, I stuck to my green and red days religiously. I use the pull-out method on red days (if we do have sex). And I trust our pull-out method completely because we definitely know he does not ejaculate inside of me or we tend to stick to oral sex rather than penetrative. I noticed my temperatures lately had been higher than usual and my ovulation was confirmed a bit earlier than usual. I didn't think much of it as I had stuck to our red days and green days as shown. When I went on calendar view, I saw that my fertile window just gone was a lot shorter than 6 days and I had unprotected sex (on a green day) that was 2 days before I ovulated. I did a test and indeed am pregnant yet again. I contacted NC straight away and got them to go through my data, which they did and have taken full responsibility for the muck up with their algorithm. I advise you to check your fertile windows and note any other observations (cervical mucus), because the algorithm cannot be trusted. And from what I now know, ovulation may change throughout different cycles (stress, sleep etc). I will no longer be using them ever again which is sad as I did so enjoy using it.

I’ve been on multiple brands of pills, Cerazette, Yasminelle and Microlite. Microlite was the bane of my existence , it made me extremely hormonal I was constantly crying and a very irritable person but I’ve been on Cerazette about 2 years and have found it’s the one I agree with the most

Generally happy with this pill, which I'm now able to get from my GP. It's much better than Desogestrel for me. I haven't had a period since I started it and no breakthrough bleeding either. My skin is great on this pill and my weight hasn't changed - if anything I lost a bit of weight, which unfortunately made my boobs smaller. I read this pill has a diuretic effect but I haven't noticed that at all. Initially I had headaches and some disturbed sleep, but these went away after the first month. My sex drive is lower but not to the point of it being an issue. I love that it has the safety of a 24-hour window, plus it's made my mood really stable and has stopped my periods.

I have been taking Hana for 4-5 months now. Generally I have enjoyed the effects of taking a POP, but the specific effect Desogestrel had has led me to trying Slynd instead. Aside from the contraceptive effect, I mainly started taking this pill to combat low mood, hormonal headaches and to hopefully lighten my period. I did find all of these things improved on Hana, but I found that inconsistent and increasingly frequent bleeding was killing my sex drive, making it a touch redundant and prompting the switch. I would have likely reluctantly kept taking Hana (or tried a different brand) as I do feel my mood has benefited overall, and it is advised that bleeding can settle down over time, but now that Slynd was finally available in the UK, I see no need to compromise. In my first month on the pill, I had no bleeding at all (as you would expect). I also generally didn't notice many other side effects. I did have some mood swings - which took me by surprise, but were easier to handle once I identified what was happening and generally settled down after the first month. I also noticed slight vaginal dryness (not uncommon for me in my luteal phase and nothing a bit of lube can't fix) but have been unable to determine if this has also settled. As I got to the last week of pills in my first pack, I had a withdrawal bleed, which again was not unexpected. I was pleased to note that this was much lighter than my normal period, even if it lasted longer, because I could essentially just wear period underwear instead of my normal underwear and that would last all day. In my second month, I noticed some light but otherwise entirely manageable spotting. This alone would not have dissuaded me from taking this pill. I again had a withdrawal bleed around the start of the last week in the pack and would have been happy with that cadence. This is where the problems started, however. Through the course of the third month, I noticed that the light spotting was turning into more prolonged bleeding, which by the end of the month was almost constant and in some cases led me to leak through my clothes. Having done some research online, I decided to try taking two pills instead of just one - this did seem to make the bleeding lighter but it has continued. While I feel that the hormones have overall had a positive impact on my sex drive, it is very hard to feel attractive or think about sex when you are constantly bleeding.

I have been on this pill for 4 months. My periods are regular which is the ONLY good thing about it. My skin is awful, bloating is insane. The bleeding is heavier than I’ve ever experienced and my sex drive has completely disappeared. Everyone’s experience is different but personally, this is the worst pill I’ve ever tried.

3-6 months: (started the pill on 14/10/2024. I've done a review on my first 3 months so this is a follow up) Day 126 - 17/02/2024 – I’ve pretty much had 2 back to back periods with a 2 day break between which I really didn’t appreciate. They really hurt and I convinced myself something was wrong. I have made a doctors appointment to talk through everything. I’m just fed up with bleeding all of the time. I’m spending SO MUCH on pads it’s ridiculous. 12/03/2025 - I’m on my second week of my 6th month of the pill. I’ve kept having back to back periods and consulted the doctor. Because I’m coming up to 25 I had a routine smear (that came back clear) and the doctor did a pelvic exam and they recon it’s the pill that’s the cause of all the bleeding (which I assumed it was anyway. But better safe than sorry). I’m fed up of the bleeding but they’ve given me 6 more months after this to see if it settles. If not we’ll switch to something else. 5/4/2025 - I’m coming to the end of my 1st week in the 7th month of the pill. All I can say is that I’ve stopped bleeding/spotting for the most part. It’s been about 3 weeks since I last bled. So I guess the doctor was right. However, I had like a 1 day period at the beginning of the week it was painful and some period blood and then nothing since. But the last couple of days I’ve had some cramping as if a period wants to start but hasn’t yet. Overall, I think we’re getting back on track hopefully. Sorry I didn't reflect as much but it's pretty much been the same sort of story for the past 3 months

Since taking the zelleta pull my mood has gotten a lot worse. I catch myself crying over little things I would have never cried about before. I used to take the cerelle pill which worked well for me but now I get irritated easily and lasch out at my boyfriend a lot.

Never have had a pregnancy scare (touch wood). I’ve been on Noriday for at least 5 years now and affect trying 2 different BC’s and another mini-pill, this is by far the best off.

I’ve been on this pill for about 4 years now and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. Periods come and go when they please (at least 2/3 times a month) and can last for weeks on end. I tried to change to Desogestrel after a trip to the doctors but that made me throw up for 5 days straight. I’m limited to what pills I can take due to family history so I’m stuck with this until I can find an alternative, only plus side is is haven’t fell pregnant once whilst on it.

I wanted to come on here to write this review and want people of the potential side effects of this medicine. I have experienced a really negative change in general outlook, mood and self worth and completely put it down to this pill. I have today thrown it in the bin after becoming so down that I couldn’t function. I have been on this pill before & for a lengthy stretch, but this time (after having a child) has been completely different and utterly awful. At the start of taking it my periods were quite constant, but they did get lighter and more manageable on this pill. If the mood change wasn’t so bad I would still take it but it’s not worth it at all

I have been on Cerazette for 4 years now. Initially, I had headaches, breast tenderness and mood swings. These symptoms subsided after 3 months. My periods became very irregular and then stopped altogether. Although my doctors deny this all the time, I feel like the pill caused excessive weight gain. Yes, I have had circumstances that affected my life but the weight gain was dramatic. In the first year alone, I gained 15 kilograms. After 4 years, I am up to 25 kg extra weight (BMI 29) and I am struggling to lose the weight with diet and exercise. Lately, I have had more bodily hair growth and am losing some hair on my head. Not many mood swings but definitely feeling angry most of the time. I am also struggling with a very low sex drive, which is starting to affect my marriage. I have an appointment with my GP, will try to switch to the combined pill to try.