Vaginal ring vs Progestogen-only / Mini pill

This has been one of the worst experiences of my life. It killed my mood completely, I never felt worse about myself and had worse mood swings. Low libido, feeling ugly, body pain... overall, never again.

I had a terrible reaction to this unfortunately, despite my optimism. Main symptoms were intense nausea that caused me to not eat for several days, insane anxiety with some panic attacks (especially as I slept) and some depressive thoughts. I took sick days from work believing it was the flu. I thought there is no way birth control could cause these side effects. After a call with my GP, we suspected it could be the ring. I tried to stick with it but on only day 14, awake at 5am due to recurrent panic attacks, I took it out. The next days were perfect. I ate all the food I could and was so grateful for a restful night's sleep. The difference in how I feel is night and day. I understand that this reaction is probably rare but this is what happened to me.

I suffer with PMDD, making my periods a very awful time for me due to how depressed I feel. I was on the combined pill before, but found this was worsening my emotions and making me feel horrendous. The ring was an idea my GP suggested, thinking that because the ring is a gradual release, that stays in your body for the duration you don’t wish to bleed, it would affect me less. This is absolutely what’s happened and I’m much happier on the ring. I’ve never had any problems with feeling it, I’ve noticed a few reviews stating they bleed through when taking it back to back and from my experience this is the case with most contraception. I wouldn’t recommend if you want to take back to back as you do bleed through.

I switched to Noriday to stop the irregular bleeding and spotting I developed on Desogestrel/Cerelle. After eight years without periods on Desogestrel, I began having irregular bleeding at 40 — two periods a month plus spotting in between. Once I changed to Noriday, the chaotic bleeding stopped immediately, and the brain fog and fatigue also lifted. I suspect these symptoms were linked to perimenopause, and they’ve settled since starting Noriday. Ideally, I’d prefer no period at all, but having a predictable three-day period on Noriday is far better than the chaotic bleeding I had on Desogestrel.

I switched to Noriday to stop the irregular bleeding and spotting I developed on Desogestrel/Cerelle. After eight years without periods on Desogestrel, I began having irregular bleeding at 40 — two periods a month plus spotting in between. Once I changed to Noriday, the chaotic bleeding stopped immediately, and the brain fog and fatigue also lifted. I suspect these symptoms were linked to perimenopause, and they’ve settled since starting Noriday. Ideally, I’d prefer no period at all, but having a predictable three-day period on Noriday is far better than the chaotic bleeding I had on Desogestrel lately.

I was moved from Yasmin to Cerazette by my gp due to my blood pressure being affected. It's my second month and I hate it. I had no side effects from my other pill and was on it for 4 years. My periods used to last 4 days and were regular. Now I'm on day 12 of a very heavy and painful period. Even when I wasnt bleeding I was spotting. My skin has gotten worse, constantly oily and my hair is so greasy all the time. I used to be able to wash my hair once a week (curly), now I have to wash it 2 or 3 times a week due to build up of oils. I have also started losing a significant amount of hair Everytime I brush and wash it. I also lost all appetite and have lost almost 4kg. Also I've never struggled with body odor until now, no antiperspirant helps to prevent it and it's very embarrassing. My entire lower back and pelvis aches and I feel really depressed and fatigued.

I thought I would try this pill because it had some fairly good reviews and I cannot tolerate estrogen. The first week of taking this I had racing thoughts, felt extremely panicky and did not sleep well.. this settled down so I carried on. I strarted spotting a few days before the placebo pills which turned into light bleeding that lasted all the way through to pack 3 !!! It’s a great contraceptive because you can never have sex! My mood has been terrible. I have been tearful, very cranky and irritable at things that would never usually bother me. I have felt quite dizzy at times and almost “unreal.” I have experienced panic like never before. This pill is making me feel like I am going crazy. I’m stopping taking it as I would rather have period pains than feel like this! Awful .

I went on for 2 weeks, my skin went so oily and congested week 2. Constantly felt tired falling a sleep in the afternoon and unbelievably hungry. Probably gained 7 pounds in 2 weeks. But my skin was the worst part, it became unbelievable oily. It did chill me out but provably too much, i dont like to feel tired every day.

Overall, Slynd has been better for me than any other hormonal contraceptive ive tried befofe. I do get some spotting every once in a while and my sex drive is a little bit lower (compared to when i used to ovulate) but its been good. I have no period pain and no severe mood swings which was my goal. Have started to get some minimal acne on my forehead and chin now that im 5 months into it, fingers crossed it will settle down soon. Nothing major though!

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.

It's my 4th month, and I hate it. I have anxiety and a depressive mood, and I am so irritated with everyone and everything constantly for no reason, and I don't want it to affect my loved ones because I know this is not who I am. My hair's thinning vigorously, and my period, which was 5 days long, has increased to 15 and counting! And it's not just 15 days of light spotting, it's a full-on heavy period which has left me so damm tired and dizzy all the time with all the iron loss. yes i missed one day of the pill which i know can create spotting but that was 2 months ago. i have been consistantly taking my pills since and its just getting worse and worse for me. i honestly dont want to continue but i have heard it gets better after a while of use. but from what i see its doing to my body and mental state i just dont think i can continue like this. I dont know what to do.