Vasectomy vs Progestogen-only / Mini pill

As a woman the vasectomy is the best contraception I feel we have ever had. I have no pain, weight gain, mood swings, plastic packaging or costs. I highly recommend.

Sept 1998. Had a vasectomy. Easy and quick. Done in the hospital operating room on a Friday morning. Went home And took it easy. Took it easy at work Monday no problems. By Wednesday started feeling pain in testicles. Called doctors office. Doctors gone on holiday. Anyway from this point the pain only gets worse and all the doctors have to say is that they have never seen anyone in such pain. Within the first six months I had met with a variety of doctors and tried a wide variety of drugs, therapies and nerve blocks. Nothing worked for more than a few hours (nerve blocks did!). I had the vasectomy reversed June 1999 at my own cost of $2000. It was about three months before i felt better from that. Sadly only my left testicle had resolved. The right side still had the same pain. I had a semen test done. First ever in my life. I had sperm count of 125 million / ml. Surgeon thought that was great but still pain persisted in my right testicle. Followup turned into another vas reversal but just for the right side. This one I didn’t have to pay for because it was for chronic pain. Sadly it didn’t help. Now it’s 2020! I have endured this for 22 years. I wish I had never done it. That’s my absolute last word.

Vasectomy has been a very effective contraceptive for me. It is good because it has allowed my hormones to follow a natural rhythm. Unfortunately I have experienced depression(and severe PMS) as I would like to have more children(but my partner does not). This has decreased my libido significantly and made me consider using hormonal contraception to level out my hormone levels.

Started taking in April 2024 finished the last pack September 2024. Had spotting for the first couple months in the place of period which was frustrating (spotting for 14days instead of normal 5-7day period flow). Once settled, periods just completely stopped which made me feel slightly uneasy as there’s no indicator of “missed period” for pregnancy sirens to ring. Mood was a strange one, felt slightly mentally exhausted but difficult to tell whether that was life or the pill, but I do remember having PMS type symptoms (emotional, cramps) once a month, almost mimicking a period without the bleeds.

Lloyds Pharmacy gave me no warning when they changed my Crescent generic version of Desogestrel for Lovima. My fatigue is awful, acne (it's like reexperiencing puberty), very tender breasts prior to my period, and suddenly anxiety that has gone through the roof for no real reason. My sex drive had already suffered on Desogestrel, I need the mini pill due to migraines so not sure will I necessarily be able to tackle this, but so far I have just as low libido on Lovima. For the first time in a long time I've had period cramps, but minus any spotting or bleeding. On the plus side, perhaps no signs of weight change. Desperately trying to get a new prescription.

I have only been taking this pill for just over a month, but so far I am really happy with it. No change in moods, sex drive or skin. My boobs have grown lot - which I'm not mad about! Although I do feel slightly frumpy, as though I have put on a bit of weight - but it isn't hugely noticeable I don't think. I did have spotting for the first 2.5 weeks of using the pill which has now stopped completely.

I’ve taken it for 6 years now. Not really any side effects. However, it might have affected my mood negatively, but i am not certain as I went through big life changes when i started taking it so my mood may have been a result of that. Also lost a bit of weight at that time and it stayed off. Didn’t get my period anymore for a couple of years but now i have irregular bleeding sometimes (Some months more, some less).

I started the POP because I had a few migraines with auras on the combined pill and had to stop this. When I started the mini-pill my periods became very irregular. However, I went on the combined pill in the first place because of my irregular cycle so this may just be me. I have noticed my periods are lighter but I never had heavy periods anyway. I have had a few cases of spotting for 2-3weeks after getting my period but this hopefully seems to have settled now after 5/6 months and I get a 3-5 day light period. My skin flared up with bad hormonal acne about 3/4months after I started taking the POP and hasn’t gotten any better. Another reason why I went on the combined pill initially was to help with acne so I feel this has regressed since starting the mini-pill. Also, I have had some horrific cramping at random times. A couple of times has been a whole week of painful cramps but again this hopefully seems to have settled down a bit after about 7/8 months of taking the POP. Overall, I’m not happy with the side effects I’m experiencing, especially my skin, and am considering trying the hormonal coil, but will give it a full year on the POP to see if my body starts to settle.

I really wanted to like Desogestrel. Initially, my skin was the worst - so oily and immediately broke out in painful acne. This quickly subsided after about 2 weeks. For 3 months, my breasts were so enlarged and sore all the time. I noticed around the 3 month mark that I was experiencing vaginal dryness too. My periods have been totally irregular - since starting Desogestrel in May I've had 10 periods. Many of these were trigged by intercourse. The volume of blood and the level of pain was variable for every period, making it hard to predict. The final straw for me was I started losing my hair around the 5-6 month mark. My hair is noticeably thinner on top and the ends are ruined / look awful. The only positive for me has been that it made me more energetic and have a better / more even mood. It did has not affected my sex drive and I gained a negligible amount of weight.

My periods are much lighter now, I probably bleed for about 3 days in 3-4 months - it is irregular though unfortunately so I can't predict when it may occur. My mood is much more stable than it was before and whilst using other hormonal contraception. I have been getting much more increased sweating recently though and had not made the link that it may be connected to the pill before seeing it on the Lowdown website. I have had a really positive experience with the mini-pill, especially after having used the implant before.

I was prescribed generic Desogestrel mini pill to treat my adenomyosis. I was only on it for a couple of weeks, but I couldn't cope with the symptoms. Daily bleeding and bloating but more worryingly, horrendous nausea, dizziness and migraines. Also had swollen tender enlarged breasts.

I’ve never have had a pain free period over the years my periods of gotten drastically worse which it gotten to a point that i was physically sick during my periods and was house bound for the whole entire wake up period I have PCOS and i was scared using the pill as I read up online that the pill is bad for it I had gotten to point that I was tired and fed up in having painful periods so I as recommended by my nurse to try the Cerazette pill I’m shocked in how quick that this pill stopped my periods however I am over moon that this is the case I don’t wish become a mother so I will be taken this pill till menopause positive effects periods stopped acne on my face and back is starting go Low moods have gone no longer feel bloated Negative effects Little bit of breast pain Little bit of period like cramps only a week coming to what would be my period due this doesn’t last long and I just take paracetamol which helps

This desogestrol progesterone only pill was recommended to me during a specialist appointment for severe Menorrhagia, I also have endometriosis. On the first day of taking I did not notice any symptoms, on the second day my whole abdomen from side to side became painful, tender and swollen, same on day three and four progressively becoming worse. On day three and four I was getting pins and needles in both my hands intermittently. I felt nauseous on day two, three and four (this became constant from day three to four) and had some dizzy spells on both days too. I also experienced tender breasts from day 1 to 4. I exercise well everyday and noticed I was sweating more than usual and breathless after exertion, a lot more than usual. My sex drive changed because of the side effects I think. I stopped taking this medication after the fourth tablet because the side effects were so bad.