Desogestrel pill vs Cerazette pill

First contraceptive pill I have tried in years. It made me have really bad thoughts and made me feel really depressed so had to come off it. If you live with mental health symptoms, please be weary of this potential side effect.

I was worried about side effects going on to Hana but had zero side effects apart from breast tenderness for the the first two weeks, and a regular period (although slightly lighter and shorter than normal) in week 3. I started seeing some spotting in week 5, I'm in week 7 now and on day 16 of continuous bleeding. It's reasonably light but inconvenient. No PMS symptoms other than the breast tenderness, which started in week 1/2 and is the same as the breast tenderness I got with PMS. I'm going to stick with it for now but if the breast tenderness and continuous bleeding hasn't stopped after 3 months I may give up on it as it's pretty inconvenient.

I have been put on the progestogen-only pill recently after 10 years on the combined pill, because none of my doctors ever bothered asking if I suffer from migraines before :) I have been on it for just over a month and I have not enjoyed it. I feel really, really tired (which is a side effect that is listed as 'uncommon' on the leaflet), not feeling like myself at all and have had some digestive problems with ups and downs of constipation/diarrhoea which I did not suffer from before going on this pill. I also found this pill more of a faff compared to the combined pill, as you have to take it every day at the same time. I normally take it at 9AM but that means that if I am going anywhere early in the morning, I have to take the packet with me. Although mine has a 12-hour window in which it can be taken and it still provides cover, I prefer to stick to the same time for safety. I also do not enjoy the fact that there is no 'guaranteed' bleeding to know that I am not pregnant, and that bleeding can happen at any point, randomly. That does not work with my lifestyle and it made me truly miss my previous combined pill which didn't need too much adjusting to my life. I have not had other major side effects (but then again, I have been on a pill for 10 years), but I have decided that this doesn't suit my lifestyle and I will stop taking it soon. I have invested in a Ladycomp device (99.3% accuracy, same as the pill but without hormones!) and once I finish this packet of pills I will be stopping all hormonal contraception. It's a shame that, for someone who definitely does not want a pregnancy, there aren't many options available but I am glad I found Ladycomp which has the same accuracy as the pill without taking hormones. I hope the Lowdown will start talking about it on their platform soon!! :)

I went on this pill because I get migraines with aura, so can’t have the combined pill any more after being on Microgynon for years and having no major issues. I had some headaches to start with on this pill while I got used to it. Cerazette was okay, it stopped my period for the most part (got a v light period with intense cramps every 4 months or so), and it didn’t affect my sex drive. However my boobs hurt every month and periodically, despite not getting a period. My nipples literally felt like razors!! And the vaginal dryness was not fun. I’ve been lucky that I’ve never had bad skin but it was really greasy when I started Cerazette and I noticed more hormonal spots around my chin that wouldn’t ever really go. I definitely feel like I was bloated a lot more and noticed some weight gain but this could have been down to my lifestyle at the time - was going out and not always looking after myself in terms of what I ate and drank. I’ve always suffered from brain fog (thanks ADHD and depression), so it’s hard to say if Cerazette also had an affect on this, but I definitely had mood swings for the first few months of being on this pill. The highs were high and the lows were low for 3-4 months.

Tried this help with pre menstrual mood. I tried to stick with it because my doctor said that it make take a while to settle/get used to. It did help make me more chilled, but the irregular bleeding / spotting and headaches meant the benefits didn't outweigh enough for me to continue to use it.

I feel like shit

I've been on a wide variety of contraceptives over the last 20 years but Cerazette has been the one that has affected my libido. Periods stopped for the 3 years I was on it which was great, but there doesn't seem much point taking contraception if you're not having sex. I've been off it now for 2 weeks and hoping things will return to normal. I'm 42 so hopefully not perimenopausal just yet. Not sure yet how my husband will feel about going back to condoms longer-term, but I'm fed up of synthetic hormones so he'll just have to deal with it (or get the snip!).

I have been on this pill since 2016 after months of trying to find what works for me. I waited it out for it to be fully in my system and I love. I do occasionally have spotting but that is usually when I am stressed or if I am ill. I have gained a bit of weight but I yo-yo in general. At the start I was on it for preventing pregnancy as I was in a relationship. Now being single, I use it for period pain relief and to not have a period in general.

I started using cerazette when I was 14 for heavy periods and pains and it was great, no note worthy side affects and stopped my periods altogether. However it stopped working for me after 2/3 years and I started bleeding almost constantly, not as much as a period but enough for it to be a nuisance.

On the whole I had a really great experience - my periods stopped which I loved, no major side effects - except one. I found that the longer I was on this pill, the more it effected my libido. After 8 years on it, I recently decided to take a break to try and restore my AWOL sex drive. If this wouldn’t have become a big side effect, I would have definitely stayed on this pill until I was looking to conceive.

This pill took me from overweight to obese, happy to anxious and grumpy, and from having a high sex drive to having absolutely no sex drive whatsoever. The low sex drive was also accompanied by vaginal dryness so any attempt at sex would hurt and was not worth it. Only positive was my periods and hormonal migraines stopping but in the end this was not enough for me to continue taking this pill.

It was awful. I put on 10lbs in 3 weeks. My boobs went up 3 cup sizes. Low mood, bad skin. There was nothing good about this pill

I took me a whole year to realise my depressive state, my terrible body odor, my thick and dense body hair, my hair loss and my constant headaches were related to the same thing: the pill. The only thing that was evident from the start was how oily my face and body became and consequently, all the acne that I got on my face, chest and entire back were due to the pill. Another thing no one tells you about is how your breasts lose density and become smaller and saggy (as opposed to the enlargement caused by estrogen). And you can also have constant insomnia. After 2 years taking the pill and accepting that I would have to deal with side effects for many years to come (I have endometriosis), my spotting turned into heavy bleeding and then into multiple periods in a single month. The diagnosis: I had developed an intolerance to synthetic progestogen. How great! After stopping the pill, I felt like I had taken a shot of serotonin, and only then did I notice how depressive I had been all this time. It's been a battle, but I believe I'm uphill now.