Progestogen-only / Mini pill vs Combined pill

I switched to Slynd having previously taken Hana but been unsatisfied with the experience, and can't ask much more from it. I found that my mood almost immediately improved, and I continued to experience a more stable mood. I do occasionally experience headaches around the time of the placebo break, but this was normal for me without medication anyway, and it's better overall to know exactly when this will happen. In my first month taking Slynd, I did experience a lot of bleeding - but I had been bleeding constantly on Hana, and I think this is down to the Hana pill insufficiently thinning my uterine lining and then the Slynd pill starting to work correctly, meaning I had to shed the build-up. In the second month I didn't bleed at all. After that, I did start to bleed in the placebo break, and experience increasing spotting between breaks, but this was still a very light amount overall (I am starting to think I might have just been a heavy bleeder to begin with!). After around 6 months of taking the pill, I did have one day of very heavy bleeding at the start of my Placebo break. From the next day I returned to having no spotting and a lighter bleed the next month. I am happy with this cadence personally, and I do suspect that someone who already bled lightly wouldn't experience this at all.

Genuinely hate this pill. I have always experienced acne but rarely on my body until now. My back chest and shoulders are covered. I have had bleeding about 2 times a month with no changes to the pain scale. I have gained a bit of weight. Where on the last pill I was on I had lost some. Which certainly effected my already down mood. Just is not working for me.

Using Sltnd for Endo rather than a contraceptive, this is my second month. First month I had breakthrough bleeding for 23 days but no period this month. Not had awful ovulation pain like before and my pain has reduced somewhat. Headaches are a bit of a pain as I am not a headachy person usually. Had a very stressful two months so not sure if my mood is stress or the pill. It has affected my sex drive but this can be affected alot by pain so we manage that anyway. So far I feel like it's helped with pain definitely need to give it longer. I don't take the placebo pills until month 3 so I take slynd constantly till month 3 as doctor recommended to do so.

I am 26. Have been on yasmin pill 7 months, I take in the evening just after food. I have PCOS and PMDD. I have found it to be good- it has really stabilised my mood as im not getting hormone fluctuations and has helped with insomnia and mood swings. The side effects: Breasts getting bigger [they might be slightly tender but also have large breasts to begin] and potentially more anxious/irritable but I also have more stress in my life so I think this is due to that. I have not noticed changes to skin [pimple every so often like before]. I also do 3 pill packs back to back without a break week and this caused some intermittent bleeding so now I do 2 pills back to back and this has gone away. I would recommend, once you get into the rhythm of taking a pill is easier.

I was on marvelon for 5 years and it really worked for me. Unfortunately I developed severe migraines in my pill free week so I had to stop taking it. But it was the best pill I ever tried.

This pill gave me severe emotional dysregulation (notably anger) to the point it almost felt like a fever dream. Granted, I only used it for a month, but that's because I genuinely couldn't tolerate it and had never experienced anything similar on other pills. I was angry to the point of having rage-inducing nightmares and feeling provoked by most harmless interactions. It also made me stress and ruminate a lot more. Frankly, I think it is appalling that such medication is deemed fit for use - which generally circles back to the issue of dismissal in women's healthcare. It was an absolute nightmare, and no one should have to tolerate going through that even if it does "get better eventually." To provide some perspective, the contraceptive pill in men's trials was shut down simply because it caused headaches. So why should we put up with symptoms that are a million times worse? Echoing other reviewers, I'd rather switch to a brand that doesn't come with the hassle (though ideally, the whole industry needs to fix up). Why this is the most commonly prescribed brand in the UK is beyond me.

I used this quite a while ago, I do not notably recall any mood-altering changes (hence why I rated "poor" instead of "terrible" to be fair, since every individual is different). But I will list below effects from when I was actively taking it and afterwards: - Heavier and more painful periods. I already struggle with painful periods, but while using Levest, they became unbearably painful (OTC barely helped, sweating, dizziness & nausea due to the pain). - I subtly started gaining more weight, despite no lifestyle or dietary changes. - I believe I had increased bodily hair growth. - After a period of heavy and painful periods, I eventually stopped having my period altogether, despite the 7 day break each month. When I stopped using it altogether, my cycle didn't resume. At one point, I didn't get my period for half a year until eventually being diagnosed with PCOS. However, Levest did not mask my symptoms during use either, it felt like it induced them (weight gain, hair growth, cycle dysregulation). I read another comment on here on hyperandrogenism concerns - and this symptom also relates to PCOS. While the issue of "pill-induced PCOS" is controversial and unconfirmed, it's still relatively acknowledged that those predisposed to the condition may find that using certain birth controls can induce it when otherwise dormant (especially progestin dominant ones, such as Levest). Synthetic progestin is often structured very similarly to androgens, hence why the body may register it as such. I heard that more recent brands have improved upon its configuration, so it's less similar - but from experience, I would say Levest hasn't quite got it yet.

Before I started contraception, I used to feel horribly sad around four days before I started my period. I knew it was my hormones making me feel this way, and I felt powerless. Since starting Levest, that has gone! My skin feels clearer too, I still get the occasional spot but they don’t seem to get as bad as they did before. I get tender breasts and light crawling around a week before going on my break week, which is similar to before, but now my breasts don’t get as painful. My periods now are more painful than they used to be on the first day, but the cramps are sorted quickly with a big breakfast and paracetamol, with no pain after the first day. They also come on the same day each cycle, are shorter than before, and tail off quicker. I also get a headache for a day or two during my break week - in the first couple of months of taking Levest, the headaches were almost unbearable, lasting a up to three days, but have got less painful and last a shorter amount of time as each month passed. On month seven, the headache was only mild and only lasted a day, which I’m counting as a win. My breasts seem to have got bigger, and I’ve put on about half a stone in six months - which is neither here nor there really, but I do feel like I’ve changed shape more than putting on weight? Some of my jeans no longer fit, but they did when I was a similar weight previously… I may try a tablet with a lower dose of oestrogen after this box of pills, to try to eliminate the headaches completely if they don’t go themselves, but they are nowhere near as bad as they were at the start.

Reduced my period pains massively. I used to get really really bad period pains before I got put on this pill, once I was put on it, I still got pains but nowhere near as bad as they were.

I have been on this pill for about 2 months and already have had a far better experience then I had on my pervious on.How ever the only think I have really noticed a difference is my appetite has increased quite a bit .surprisingly I was preparing myself for my sex drive to completely change and lose it all but it has actually been somewhat the same

Overall a good experience. Main side effects were becoming more irritable and increased body odour

It is great overall, but I spot every month on days 14-19 like clockwork. I like the pill so I am hesitant to switch.

I’ve been on this pill for many years. As a positive side effect, it helped with my acne, which makes sense as I used to have high testosterone levels. However, over the past few years I’ve started getting night sweats during the break week and noticed an increase in my blood pressure.