Progestogen-only / Mini pill vs Combined pill

All in all the desogestrel pill is easy to remember to take and really simple. It helps to give myself some peace of mind and hasn't given me too many bad side effects. I had no change to my mental health at all but did have irregular periods. For example I bled for 7 days then stopped for two days then bled again but then the next time I had a 5 day no bleed and then continued again. The periods don't really come with cramps which is good I did have some pain in my upper stomach but not sure if this was due to the mini pill or not. The only thing is the day before my period when I try to sleep my stomach feels uncomfortable but it's a good indicator to tell me if it's going to start. At first I did feel an increase in hunger but that decreases over time. Overall I like this pill apart from the irregular periods and will continue to use this pill for a while

I had always suffered with very minor anxiety, however once I went on this pill I was a wreck. It was like I became a whole different person, I was irritable, mean, and I was constantly upset. In the space of a month I went from a D to and E, and I gained weight like I never have before around my lower stomach. I had always been rather skinny around there, but even after 2 years of not taking it, I have never been able to return to how my body was beforehand. The first 2 and a half weeks were normal, but after that I bled consecutively for 9 weeks, with a few 16 days staggered in between where I only briefly spotted.

Cerazette has been great for me! Used to get very heavy and debilitatingly painful periods (though not diagnosed with anything), and now occasionally get a day or 2 of light bleeding with very very mild cramps. My mood is not effected by my cycle anymore and I feel much more stable and happy. Has also worked well as contraception, which is what I am taking it for!

I really liked this pill - except i started getting migraines on the off pill days so I had to stop.. But it stopped my pms and it also made my hair thicken - had a lot less hair shedding while I was on it, which was nice as I have fine / thin hair.

I felt it was very effective at preventing pregnancy because I lost almost all interest in sex and the few times we had sex, it was painful, I sometimes bled. I don’t know if the thrush was directly related or down to trying to sort the dryness with oestrogen cream and changing products. I didn’t have any other side effects but after 9 months I had to stop using this. I moved to a mini-pill and a month into using that my libido is improving as is the dryness - the last time we had sex it was almost pain free.

The first few months of this pill felt great, but at around 6 months I started getting breakthrough bleeding consistently (3/4 weeks a month). I don’t think it’s a good choice if you’ve been advised to skip the placebos/break as it feels like the withdrawal bleed is necessary. I also haven’t seen much improvement in cramps. My mood and anxiety have also gotten worse since taking this. It’s a shame that prednisone is used instead of another progesterone as this is known to have bad impacts on mood.

I was put on this pill by my GP to try and help with the PMDD I was experiencing on the second half of my cycle. I had previously been on Eloine for this which really helped but I can't have this any more due to adrenal insufficiency. Since starting Gedarel I feel like my mood is worse, I just feel flat all the time. I can't sleep, tired but wired. This definitely is not the right answer.

I only stopped this method because I started getting migraines with aura, if this didnt happen I would've happily continued taking this method of birth control. when I did have breaks from it the 'periods' were light and minimal cramping, which was much better than what I had before. If I chose to have no breaks I had no periods or bleeding at all. there was a decrease in my libido which only really affected my initiation, as I wouldn't initiate sex myself but would still engage in it happily if my boyfriend initiated. however this was something we both noticed, I also stopped being as horny as I used to be so, which I didn't massively mind but it was definitely a change. this method did make me notice my migraine a lot more which is what led me to changing it however I did have these migraines previously. I did experience weight gain however I dont have the best diet so could be completely unrelated.

I was having very irregular, heavy, long periods to the point I became aneamic. This really helped bring it under control, it was great at first. With time I noticed I didn’t feel like myself, I couldn’t experience happiness like normal, I had put on weight, I was getting gut issues like reflux and sensitivity, my hair had thinned, my libido was gone and I was dry even when aroused. I stopped the pill and all these issues fixed themselves after about 6 months but now my periods are irregular again.

Switched from Yasmin to Qlaira safe to say i’m going back to Yasmin. I have been on Qlaira for about a month, it was fine up until i realised near the end of the pack I began feeling extremely “crazy” and depressed, my emotions were too much and extreme like an emotional rollercoaster, I also noticed so much of my hair shedding, it made my hair thin, avoid if you don’t want to risk your hair falling out and if you want to keep your sanity.

No major side effects that I can think of. Its the only pill that did not make me feel irritated for the whole 28 days after having my two babies.

I absolutely love this pill! It’s honestly the best one I’ve ever been on. I experienced very mild, temporary changes at the start which passed quickly - nothing troublesome at all. And best of all my moods haven’t changed like they have on previous combined pills I’ve tried, which is life changing. My withdrawal bleeds are regular and predictable which is a bonus. Overall, my experience has been really positive :)

Painful sex painful vagina, pain when peeing, constipation, no sex drive, low mood, achey legs, insomnia, generally felt rubbish