Hormonal coil (IUS) vs Combined pill
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Overview
Rated 3.5
892 reviews
Every 3-8 years
Frequency
Over 99%
Effectiveness
None
Blood clot risk
None
Effect on fertility
Rated 2.8
2765 reviews
Daily
Frequency
91% - 99+%
Effectiveness
Increased
Blood clot risk
None
Effect on fertility
Hormonal coil (IUS) ingredients
Main hormones in Hormonal coil (IUS)
progestogen
Combined pill ingredients
Main hormones in Combined pill
progestogen
oestrogen
What Lowdown reviewers say
Benefits: What this contraceptive can help with
Adenomyosis
Endometriosis
Heavy periods
Menopause
Period pain
Acne or bad skin
Heavy periods
PMS and PMDD
PCOS symptoms
Period pain
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£From £0.16/day
Check out our latest reviews
Real life reviews from people like you
Hormonal coil (IUS) reviews
892 reviews
Used for 18 mo - 3 yr
28 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 1 week ago
Sex drive plummeted on this, plus I think it made doggy uncomfortable and even painful, never had that issue before! I also had breakthrough bleeding whenever I did have sex, although this was the only time I would bleed. I had more intense period cramps and sore breasts on this than I had on any other contraception (implant, combined pill and mini pill), and I'm so glad to have it gone! Absolutely horrific experience getting it in, and ended up getting it out by myself at home when the sexual health nurse didn't want to remove it. Thankfully it was barely even uncomfortable to remove (would still recommend going to a health professional to remove though just in case!).
Somewhat negative mood
1 more effect
0 helpful
0 comments
Used for 3 - 6 mo
42 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 2 weeks ago
I've had the mirena coil for four months, I'm still bleeding irregularly (period every 8 days) and lots of spotting. I've been dizzy for months, I'm feeling very low, I have water retention and a lot of lower back pain that feels like a pinched nerve so I'm battling to concentrate on work. I really want to have it removed but I'm terrified of going back to the alternative of extreme heavy periods that made me anemic.
Somewhat negative mood
2 more effects
0 helpful
0 comments
Used for 3 - 5 yr
26 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 2 weeks ago
I had Kyleena for 5 years. For the first 6 months I had painful cramps, but my cycle became very light. I have noticed that I have had increasingly more acne, especially back acne, so be prepared for your skin to be very itchy. Towards the end of having it, I had constant light bleeding through the month and there was no regularity to it (probably because the hormones were wearing off). I have had incredibly bad bloating, water retention, and generic weight gain. I'm a very light build so this weight would normally have been easy to lose. Finally, I had to undergo investigations for ovarian cysts as I was getting all the symptoms for them, and after a bit of research it turns out that Kyleena can be a contributor to the formation of cysts. Overall, I have really liked the Kyleena. The side effects have been fairly insignificant compared to other methods. But just take into account the potential insidious side effects like cysts etc that can happen. I've now switched over to the copper IUD because of these side effects, and I'd prefer to be hormone free.
Somewhat negative mood
2 more effects
0 helpful
0 comments
Used for 18 mo - 3 yr
28 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 1 week ago
Sex drive plummeted on this, plus I think it made doggy uncomfortable and even painful, never had that issue before! I also had breakthrough bleeding whenever I did have sex, although this was the only time I would bleed. I had more intense period cramps and sore breasts on this than I had on any other contraception (implant, combined pill and mini pill), and I'm so glad to have it gone! Absolutely horrific experience getting it in, and ended up getting it out by myself at home when the sexual health nurse didn't want to remove it. Thankfully it was barely even uncomfortable to remove (would still recommend going to a health professional to remove though just in case!).
Somewhat negative mood
1 more effect
0 helpful
0 comments
Used for 3 - 6 mo
42 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 2 weeks ago
I've had the mirena coil for four months, I'm still bleeding irregularly (period every 8 days) and lots of spotting. I've been dizzy for months, I'm feeling very low, I have water retention and a lot of lower back pain that feels like a pinched nerve so I'm battling to concentrate on work. I really want to have it removed but I'm terrified of going back to the alternative of extreme heavy periods that made me anemic.
Somewhat negative mood
2 more effects
0 helpful
0 comments
Used for 3 - 5 yr
26 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 2 weeks ago
I had Kyleena for 5 years. For the first 6 months I had painful cramps, but my cycle became very light. I have noticed that I have had increasingly more acne, especially back acne, so be prepared for your skin to be very itchy. Towards the end of having it, I had constant light bleeding through the month and there was no regularity to it (probably because the hormones were wearing off). I have had incredibly bad bloating, water retention, and generic weight gain. I'm a very light build so this weight would normally have been easy to lose. Finally, I had to undergo investigations for ovarian cysts as I was getting all the symptoms for them, and after a bit of research it turns out that Kyleena can be a contributor to the formation of cysts. Overall, I have really liked the Kyleena. The side effects have been fairly insignificant compared to other methods. But just take into account the potential insidious side effects like cysts etc that can happen. I've now switched over to the copper IUD because of these side effects, and I'd prefer to be hormone free.
Somewhat negative mood
2 more effects
0 helpful
0 comments
Combined pill reviews
2765 reviews
Used for 1 - 3 mo
21 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• today
Within the 1st month, I had terrible mood swings; I become angry and irritable towards my parent. I seemed to calm down but then pick back up again in the next week. From withdrawal from this, everything was ok, apart from having a few pains and it also made my periods light. I didn’t have any symptoms of nausea or vomiting but I did gain a bit of weight and had breast tenderness (i dont know if my breast got bigger). By the 2nd month, I ended up feeling really low and had quite dark thoughts; my headache got worse and I was crying a lot during the day/night. Because of this I’m no longer taking this pill.
Somewhat negative mood
2 more effects
0 helpful
1 comments
Used for 6 - 12 mo
35 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 1 day ago
I was extremely anxious. I would be extremely jittery and uncomfortable in my own body each day I took it. I was very emotional by the evenings and tired from being so anxious..
Very negative mood
1 more effect
0 helpful
0 comments
Used for 5 - 8 yr
35 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 1 day ago
I felt my best on Yaz. I had lots of energy, my mood was always good. But I got over 10 UTIs a year. I was on so many antibiotics. I couldn't get to the bottom of it. We looked at everything with my Dr. Only when I went to treat my reoccurring dry eyes it clicked. The week after I switched pills from Yaz, I havnt had a UTI since. I spent years suffering and countless antibiotics
Very positive mood
1 more effect
0 helpful
0 comments
Used for 1 - 3 mo
21 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• today
Within the 1st month, I had terrible mood swings; I become angry and irritable towards my parent. I seemed to calm down but then pick back up again in the next week. From withdrawal from this, everything was ok, apart from having a few pains and it also made my periods light. I didn’t have any symptoms of nausea or vomiting but I did gain a bit of weight and had breast tenderness (i dont know if my breast got bigger). By the 2nd month, I ended up feeling really low and had quite dark thoughts; my headache got worse and I was crying a lot during the day/night. Because of this I’m no longer taking this pill.
Somewhat negative mood
2 more effects
0 helpful
1 comments
Used for 6 - 12 mo
35 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 1 day ago
I was extremely anxious. I would be extremely jittery and uncomfortable in my own body each day I took it. I was very emotional by the evenings and tired from being so anxious..
Very negative mood
1 more effect
0 helpful
0 comments
Used for 5 - 8 yr
35 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 1 day ago
I felt my best on Yaz. I had lots of energy, my mood was always good. But I got over 10 UTIs a year. I was on so many antibiotics. I couldn't get to the bottom of it. We looked at everything with my Dr. Only when I went to treat my reoccurring dry eyes it clicked. The week after I switched pills from Yaz, I havnt had a UTI since. I spent years suffering and countless antibiotics
Very positive mood
1 more effect
0 helpful
0 comments
Used for 1 - 3 mo
29 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 2 days ago
I have PCOS and PMDD. It did help with mood swings and cleared up my face acne, however it made me put on weight quite a lot so I decided to stop it in the end as it was becoming really hard to move around
Somewhat negative mood
3 more effects
0 helpful
0 comments
Used for 18 mo - 3 yr
27 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 6 days ago
If you gave up looking for any birth control because of the side effects, give Drovelis your last chance. I could not believe that such a pill exists anymore, given that every other pill made my face go full baboon's behinds. I have to take some contraception because of endometriosis. I'm taking it continuously without withdrawal days to stop my period completely. My symptoms are non-existent and my ovarian cysts have even shrinked so much they're not visible on the ultrasound anymore. From time to time, spotting occurs, sometimes not stopping for weeks. In that case, it's time to take a withdrawal period and let the uterus clean itself. I do this 2-3 times a year. The period cramps are noticeable but manageable. The biggest downside I am struggling is often reocurrence of candidiasis which is extremely uncomfortable, but given the circumstances it's the best thing I could ask for. I'm trying to manage with probiotics and autovaccines but to no avail.
Very positive mood
2 more effects
0 helpful
0 comments
Used for 3 - 6 mo
19 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 2 weeks ago
Started on Gedarel due to having suffered with Pmdd for a long time , was fine at first mood was abit better , but then I noticed I felt numb and couldn’t feel any emotion , was irritable and angry all the time , also gained a lot of weight despite being very active , cramps got very bad during the withdrawal bleed and I feel like this has completely changed me as a person - would not recommend
Very negative mood
3 more effects
0 helpful
0 comments
Used for 12 - 18 mo
23 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 2 weeks ago
I have switched to drovelis due to extremely low mood caused by previous combined pill (ethinylestradiol and gestodene pill). I was extremely depressed after 4/5 months of the previous pill and It felt like my mood was artifically altered so I quickly realised It's the pill which prompted me to changing the pill. Drovelis has been wonderful despite some intial issues with at times intense breakthrough bleeding around the 3 and 6 months marks. These days I do not experience any breakthrough bleeding or any issues. I very strictly adhere to the pill regimen and it works wonderfully for me. I forgot about my intense period cramps I have been dealing with ever since i was 16.
Somewhat positive mood
1 more effect
0 helpful
0 comments
Used for 3 - 6 mo
40 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 2 weeks ago
This pill made me feel terrible. Severe weakness, lightheaded, buzzy inside, made me feel like I was having low blood sugar episodes on occasions where I thought I was going to faint pass out. Gave it a good three months and had to come off it. Felt so much better. It did start to clear up cystic acne though but I just wasn’t functioning well on it!
Somewhat negative mood
2 more effects
0 helpful
0 comments
Used for 1 - 3 mo
22 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 2 weeks ago
Started taking this and within the first couple of days I started to get really dry which is something I’ve never experienced before especially just under my vagina it would get so dry my skin will have slight tears that will bleed and sting and I’m more itchy down there regularly and have had thrush symptoms twice after going 10 years without.
Worse skin
1 more effect
0 helpful
0 comments
Used for 1 - 3 mo
18 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 2 weeks ago
This pill was the first of three that I have used, and is without a doubt the worst. It made me cry about everything. The cleaners had moved my soap dish from one side of the sink to the other and I cried about it. My mood became so low that I distanced myself from my friends and started attending therapy. When I stopped taking the pill, my mood improved dramatically and I experienced far less anxiety. Was not a great time in my life. Thanks a lot Yasmin.
Very negative mood
0 helpful
0 comments
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