Progestogen-only / Mini pill vs Combined pill
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Overview
Rated 2.7
1491 reviews
Daily
Frequency
91% - 99+%
Effectiveness
None
Blood clot risk
None
Effect on fertility
Rated 2.8
2767 reviews
Daily
Frequency
91% - 99+%
Effectiveness
Increased
Blood clot risk
None
Effect on fertility
Progestogen-only / Mini pill ingredients
Main hormones in Progestogen-only / Mini pill
progestogen
Combined pill ingredients
Main hormones in Combined pill
progestogen
oestrogen
What Lowdown reviewers say
Benefits: What this contraceptive can help with
Period pain
Acne or bad skin
Heavy periods
PMS and PMDD
PCOS symptoms
Period pain
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Check out our latest reviews
Real life reviews from people like you
Progestogen-only / Mini pill reviews
1491 reviews
Used for 6 - 12 mo
22 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 2 days ago
went on cerazette after trying out microgynon30ED and noriday (which both caused frequent irregular bleeding). My GP told me cerazette was fantastic for people who experience frequent bleeding on other mini-pills and often their periods stop. i started it back in late september 2025, and experienced bleeding every second week. fine, i thought, it’s just my body getting used to it! by november i was having just one period a month again! yay!! this was short lived however, as by december i was back to having it every 2nd week. in january i bled for 25 days straight. i was told that the first 3-5 months are expected to see changes in bleeding, so i stuck it out a bit longer. unfortunately the bleeding never stopped, and i continued to get my period now every week and a half, or sometimes even more frequently with only 3 days break in between cycles. :( it’s end of may now and have been on cerazette for 9 months. i am still bleeding every week and a half and honestly im sick of it. i have stopped taking cerazette now. hopefully there’s another one out there for me :(
Top side effects not reported
0 helpful
0 comments
Used for 3 - 6 mo
38 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 3 weeks ago
I was on the depo shot for 22 years and really started to worry about my bone density as my mother has osteoporosis and I was also struggling to inject in certain bits of my stomach from scar nodules. So I swapped to the mini pill as its the same but with less side effects. I originally came to this site to read the reviews and as usual, people always tend to leave a review for the negatives. I can honestly say Ive had absolutely no side effects, my period still hasn't returned after being on the shot and I've actually lost weight. Hopefully someone needs to read this.
Very positive mood
1 more effect
0 helpful
0 comments
Used for 18 mo - 3 yr
24 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 3 weeks ago
Not a good experience, lots of weight gain, more emotional/moody. cant wear contacts anymore
Somewhat negative mood
3 more effects
0 helpful
0 comments
Used for 6 - 12 mo
22 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 2 days ago
went on cerazette after trying out microgynon30ED and noriday (which both caused frequent irregular bleeding). My GP told me cerazette was fantastic for people who experience frequent bleeding on other mini-pills and often their periods stop. i started it back in late september 2025, and experienced bleeding every second week. fine, i thought, it’s just my body getting used to it! by november i was having just one period a month again! yay!! this was short lived however, as by december i was back to having it every 2nd week. in january i bled for 25 days straight. i was told that the first 3-5 months are expected to see changes in bleeding, so i stuck it out a bit longer. unfortunately the bleeding never stopped, and i continued to get my period now every week and a half, or sometimes even more frequently with only 3 days break in between cycles. :( it’s end of may now and have been on cerazette for 9 months. i am still bleeding every week and a half and honestly im sick of it. i have stopped taking cerazette now. hopefully there’s another one out there for me :(
Top side effects not reported
0 helpful
0 comments
Used for 3 - 6 mo
38 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 3 weeks ago
I was on the depo shot for 22 years and really started to worry about my bone density as my mother has osteoporosis and I was also struggling to inject in certain bits of my stomach from scar nodules. So I swapped to the mini pill as its the same but with less side effects. I originally came to this site to read the reviews and as usual, people always tend to leave a review for the negatives. I can honestly say Ive had absolutely no side effects, my period still hasn't returned after being on the shot and I've actually lost weight. Hopefully someone needs to read this.
Very positive mood
1 more effect
0 helpful
0 comments
Used for 18 mo - 3 yr
24 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 3 weeks ago
Not a good experience, lots of weight gain, more emotional/moody. cant wear contacts anymore
Somewhat negative mood
3 more effects
0 helpful
0 comments
Combined pill reviews
2767 reviews
Used for 12 - 18 mo
31 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• today
Honestly the best of all of the pills I’ve taken. However, after 18m on this I’m going to come off it and go back to natural cycles due to the following - loss of sex drive, constant and I mean constant headaches, generally feeling a bit ‘flat’ and tired all the time. I also have heavy limbs which is a weird side effect. That said, Zoely did not have any negative implications on my skin, weight, appetite and I don’t get mood swings- in fact I just feel a bit too flat overall so perhaps If mood swings are an issue it might suit you! But I’ve gone the other way
Somewhat negative mood
1 more effect
0 helpful
0 comments
Used for 8+ yr
32 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 1 day ago
Regular and shorter period (4 days) and light flow. It made my skin perfect and my hair a bit thinner. I gained a lot of weight while on it and it was impossible for me to lose it, no matter how much I worked out or what diet I was doing. If I could go back I wouldn’t start using it, as in my case I only needed it for contraception.
Somewhat negative mood
3 more effects
0 helpful
0 comments
Used for 1 - 3 mo
21 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 4 days ago
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 12 - 18 mo
31 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• today
Honestly the best of all of the pills I’ve taken. However, after 18m on this I’m going to come off it and go back to natural cycles due to the following - loss of sex drive, constant and I mean constant headaches, generally feeling a bit ‘flat’ and tired all the time. I also have heavy limbs which is a weird side effect. That said, Zoely did not have any negative implications on my skin, weight, appetite and I don’t get mood swings- in fact I just feel a bit too flat overall so perhaps If mood swings are an issue it might suit you! But I’ve gone the other way
Somewhat negative mood
1 more effect
0 helpful
0 comments
Used for 8+ yr
32 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 1 day ago
Regular and shorter period (4 days) and light flow. It made my skin perfect and my hair a bit thinner. I gained a lot of weight while on it and it was impossible for me to lose it, no matter how much I worked out or what diet I was doing. If I could go back I wouldn’t start using it, as in my case I only needed it for contraception.
Somewhat negative mood
3 more effects
0 helpful
0 comments
Used for 1 - 3 mo
21 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 4 days ago
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
• 5 days 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
• 5 days 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
• 1 week 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
• 2 weeks 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
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