Desogestrel pill vs Norgeston 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 was on Cerelle for 6 mths which was not working out for me as I had prolonged, frequent irregular periods on it. The doctor suggested changing to Norgeston and it has been great. I have been on it now for 5 months and my periods, although not regular (actually there has been a slightly longer gap between periods, which is nice) have been back to normal length of around 6 days long. In fact better than normal as I’d been getting very heavy periods possibly due to me being perimenopausal. I’ve got lighter periods now that don’t come as often with no bad side effects. Also, a good side effect is that I don’t get feelings of depresssion any more before my period like I used to when not on the pill. I did have a blip recently with bleeding - but it’s because I missed a pill and I bled for 20 days, so I asked my doctor and they told me to take 2 pills a day until the bleeding had stopped for 7 days and this has worked. I recommend this pill!

This hormone made me suicidal. I was trialling it for 3 months as I intended to get the mirena coil but wanted to see how I reacted to the specific hormone before I had it more permanently in my system. All day every day all I could think about was killing myself. I felt miserable and severely depressed. I started getting spots on my face and chest, one of my breasts is still slightly larger than the other since taking and stopping this medication (past them being sisters not twins level of different). The low mood wasn't noticeable to me until I'd run out of the 3 months script and couldn't get any more for a while. Within days I felt miles better. My period had been stopped already by my cerazette usage, and it didn't return while I was taking Norgeston. Absolutely I would recommend trying Norgeston before committing to the Mirena coil, if I hadn't I'm not entirely sure I'd still be here!

I can’t describe how happy I am to have found this pill after being put on about 5 different combined pills, both types of coil and the implant and having horrendous side effects. The only side effects I’ve had with this was a little spotting when first starting, and now I have normal regular periods. My skin, mood, tiredness etc has not changed at all. This has the same hormones as the kyleena implant so maybe avoid if you’ve tried that and didn’t get on with it. Couldn’t recommend this pill enough if you’ve tried multiple methods and none of them seem to be working for you!

I completely lose my sex drive when taking the pill. The vaginal dryness isn't as bad with the mini-pill as it is with the combined for me. I started experiencing muscle twitches on this pill which I personally feel are linked so have stopped taking it.

After being off this pill for 6 months I have seen an enormous improvement in my mood, weight and overall well-being. I gained 9kg on this pill! I’ve been the same weight for a very long time, so to gain 9kg in a few months seemed odd but it was shrugged off as an ‘age thing’ as I’m approaching 30. Yet as soon as I came off this pill I lost the weight. I in part put this down to the extreme bloating I experienced on this pill. Insane levels of water retention stopped me from being able to wear any of my clothes. Not to mention the constipation! This had a serious impact on my well-being, self image and consequently my sex drive. Retrospect is a wonderful thing. Just wish I’d tried coming off it sooner!

I started taking this pill around 9 months ago after switching from another progesterone only pill (cerelle). The reason I switched was because the pat pill gave me a period every two weeks. When I first started taking Norgeston this issue completely cleared up, however, has now come back in the last two months. Aside from this I have also been noticing in the last few months I have been getting extremely low moods as well as very painful headaches so I’m thinking of switching to the combined pill

After randomly having issues with the copper coil (after 5 successful years) and reluctantly having to go back on hormonal contraception I was dreading it but this pill is far better than any other mini-pills I've tried. I was able to compare the effects to my hormone-free self thanks to my time with the coil and in comparison to earlier pills/minipills in my late teens, I honestly feel like the side effects are far less. The main side effects that make me consider coming off it are increased in thrush outbreaks, cold sore outbreaks (both were very rare for me before I went on this pill) and low mood/angry moods. The main side effect I don't mind but encounter a lot is nausea. It's in comparison to other pills I've tried (A LOT) that I'm willing to accept the above side effects. I'll take a bit of low mood over whole-body acne, sky high blood pressure and heart conditions any day! (For context I'm not allowed on the combined pill again after I had blackouts and ended up with a heart condition after being on Cilest so my options are very limited. The copper IUD gave me a great 5 years but refuses to stay in place now (3 failed attempts with a new coil and not sure I can handle another) so it seems the mini pill is my only option!)

It's not been terrible but I'm really not a fan of this pill. I'm on the pill for my endometriosis (to stop my periods) but I can't use the combined pill due to migraines. I've still had periods on this pill - they've been very regular though, with 26 day cycles. My skin has been really bad. It's been very oily with more acne which has been on my back/shoulders/upper arms/chest as well as my face. I've also gained weight quite quickly which has resulted in a lot of stretch marks. I've completely lost my sex drive. I get a lot of pain around ovulation and in the week before my period, as well as my period.

I changed to this mini-pill from Cerelle as that one gave me quite bad anxiety. Apart from slight weight gain, feeling tired in the few days before my period and having quite a heavy period in the beginning this pill has regulated my periods and shortened them. Will continue using it.

Whilst it shortened the length of my period they’ve become very irregular, meaning some time I have a week between full period and some times a month or so. Also I get intense cramping on the first day. But it’s decreased my migraines. Not the worst for me but definitely not the best