Norgeston pill vs Desogestrel pill

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!

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!! :)

My sex drive is like nothing it’s gone. More spots than before. My cycle length is around 50 days and my period is lasting for 9.

The POP is quite new to me having been on the Depo for a long time. I was on Lovima to begin with but then the pharmacy gave me this one on my next prescription to begin with things were as normal there didn’t seem much off a change until I started experiencing severe anxiety like I never have before. My heart was racing for no reason and I was in a constant anxious state. I felt like I was going crazy. I called the pharmacy as I was needing a new prescription but asked if I could try a different brand as this one was not agreeing with me and the pharmacist says it sounds more off a pill problem then a you problem which made me feel a lot better as I say I felt I was going crazy. I am now on a different brand off POP so swing how this goes.

kept periods at a normal level, just sometimes more frequently. extremely helped cramps, as i suffered very badly with them before. increased sex drive, and has not had much of an effect on my mood. i do have acne but i had acne before, and i can sometimes get rid of it.

Tried this after not wanting to be on the implant anymore without realising it's the same hormone! Anyways, my period got lighter but they lasted 10 days as opposed to 5 days. I gained a good few kilos in weight. Also started having period-like cramps even without being on my period, which was odd. I have recent stopped and will be trying Noriday.

I suffer with PCOS and migraines with aura so as a result was put on desogestrel. I would bleed for a week every two weeks. Every two months I'd have a heavy bleeding for 21 days. My skin got awful. I became miserable, but I'm pretty sure this was as a result of the side effects and not due to the pill itself. I was told to give it 6 months but these side effects just intensified.

Started taking Desogestrel in August to primarily help with my period and ovulation pain. First month was okay, a bit emotional at times. First period on the mini-pill wasn't too bad, very similar to my normal ones, with pain on my first couple of days. However, didn't notice much difference for the rest of it as I suddenly got Appendicitis and had surgery at the same time. Possibly because of both my surgery and the pill, I had vaginal dryness, maybe thrush and spotting a few days afterwards. I was lightly bleeding for a week with minimal pain. A week and half break then started bleeding again, first very lightly lightly and no pain. Thought it was going to end then started getting very heavy and painful without easing for a week. After nearly 3 weeks, finally ended. 5 days of no bleeding and then started again. Looking at switching to the Combined pill and have been referred to gynaecology.

I have previously been on this contraception for a number of years and it worked for me. I had no side effects or symptoms. I stopped taking it some time ago and with my upcoming wedding I wanted some extra protection to ensure I didn’t get pregnant before the big day. Me and my partner previously used natural tracking and the withdrawal method. However this is not as effective. On my visit to the family planning, I was encouraged to try this pill again as I previously took it and had no side effects. Unfortunately this time I have experienced crippling anxiety to the point where I have struggled to cope day to day. I also had a period which was lighter but longer than my normal cycle. 7 days compared to my previous 3/4 day bleed. For the first few weeks I had breast tenderness and swelling however this settled down. I have chosen to come off this pill to protect my mental health and well-being. I will be using good old condoms from now on!