Progestogen-only / Mini pill vs Combined pill

Hi everyone, I’ve been on Cerazette since October. Before that I had a Mirena coil, but I was bleeding constantly and had it removed after 10 months. First month on Cerazette was great period on time, only 4 days. Since then it’s been a mess: weeks of spotting short breaks a few days of bleeding then spotting again now spotting again with very sore breasts, which feels like another period starting My GP says to wait 6 months for things to settle, but I was told the same with Mirena and it never improved. I can’t use other hormonal methods and coils don’t suit me, so I’m really stuck. This constant bleeding/spotting is physically and mentally exhausting, and it’s affecting my relationship too. Did anyone actually see improvement on Cerazette? If yes, how long did it take? Or did you eventually have to stop? Thanks for any honest experiences.

I felt satisfied until I came on here and realised my symptoms might be to do with this pill. I had a baby 14 months ago and have recently felt awful - low self esteem,anxiety, back pain, bad skin, weight gain, bloating, headaches, migraines... The list goes on. I thought it was part and parcel of having a small human but I'm starting to think it might be because of the noriday. In terms of my periods this is the best mini pill I've tried which is why I've still given it 3 stars. They're shorter and not too heavy or painful so an improvement for me. But due to the other symptoms I might have to look at an alternative. Maybe the dreaded coil.

The good thing about Cerelle is that it stopped my periods. However, it triggered an androgenic response for me so I gained weight on it, got lots of stretch marks (which I have never had before), experienced hair loss, experience increased and darker body hair, and it gave me bad skin, also seemed to be more irritable all the time. I have been changed to a combined pill now so fingers crossed everything gets better!

Ok

I switched to this pill after being on a mini pill and feeling a lack of emotion, not necessarily depression just nothingness. My doctor advised this pill would help with symptoms of PMS and I couldn’t disagree more, I am a usually very happy positive person. I felt angry, irritated, hopeless and then ultimately depressed in just 6 weeks on this pill. I ended up having a panic attack and it then dawned on me that the only thing that has changed recently is this new pill. I stopped taking it the day this happened and I have felt completely fine and back to my normal self since. Personally I would never recommend this pill, I never suffered from any mental health issues before the pill and it’s made me go off contraception completely. The ONLY thing I would say about this pill that is a positive is that my skin was flawless, but that isn’t worth it for me alone. My skin wasn’t bad before other than an occasional hormonal spot here and there.

I started taking Eloine for contraception but also as a way to mange my PMDD. It has definitely helped with managing the severe depression from PMDD and keep my mood more stable. I have more energy than I used to. I have felt slightly more hungry but also in a new relationship and started taking it just before Christmas so hard to tell if that is caused by the pill, or just general indulgence. The most annoying symptom I’ve had is irregular breakthrough bleeding, which has happened a lot. I bled continually for the first 5 weeks and now it comes and goes.

I've loved Lucette for control over my periods and it largely got rid of my acne. My boobs got bigger which I loved too because I felt better proportioned. I think I gained some weight in my midsection, I didn't mind that for the other benefits it gave me but also could have been due to age. I think I had more discharge and would wear dailies for comfort. I wouldn't have come off it but was told I shouldn't have been on it in the first place due to having a history of migraine with aura that wasn't picked up earlier.

I’ve been on Yasmin consistently for 13 years and have never had issues. I remember the first 1-3 months of taking it I did have a bit of nausea but after that, no side effects. I know I am one of the lucky few, but I really love this pill. I never have any issues and never period pain, I have great skin, no weight gain or libido loss. I haven’t changed brands because of how amazing it has been for me.

Such a shame my body didn’t like it because my brain definitely did! I have felt so much happier in the 6 weeks I’ve been taking this (compared to years of being on Microgynon) BUT I have had thrush 3 times in those 6 weeks!!! It caused a lot of vaginal dryness which led to thrush :(

I first started using microgynon aged 19 (it was the first pill offered to me when I wanted to go on the pill) and aside from weight gain, I didn’t really have that many side effects and got on well with it. I stopped using I when I was 22 after a break up. I then went back on it aged 25 and had a totally different experience. I didn’t gain as much weight the second time round but my breasts did go up a cup size which was annoying as none of my nice bras fitted me anymore!! I experienced period like cramps constantly, enough to need to take painkillers sometimes. At first I ignored it but after a few months of being in constant low level pain I couldn’t take it anymore. I have now switched to Yasmin after the pharmacist suggested it may be due to the type of progesterone in microgynon causing the cramps.

It’s made my skin worse, my anxiety is terrible, I am a lot more emotional and I feel worse. It did make me periods go from 11 days to 3 days though which was the point of me going on it.

I started Femodene when I was 16 for my acne, this was for my face and bacne/chest. I found it worked well for me however I did get the odd “hormonal” spot on my face when coming back onto the pill. When it comes to day to day though, I won’t lie everything felt numb. I had no excitement anymore, no motivation, I felt grumpy and tired and 0 sex drive. I felt alone but had people all around me. From being on it for so long I couldn’t remember what I was like before so have nothing really to compare it to. I train in the gym 4-5 times a week and I found I wasn’t seeing as much progress as I should have been as well.

It seems with this I lose and gain weight easily, overall loose weight I don’t have much appetite and I’ve lost a lot of breast fullness which is a shame