Weddingbee boards

I have been on 2 pills and there are good and bad to both. For almost 4 years and I was on ortho-tri cyclen lo and no cramps, great skin, larger breasts and everything was great for about 3.5 years. Then I started to go a little nuts, or for real I developed pmdd. I talked to my doctor and we switched and now I am on yaz. Still no cramps or anything, I do get more breast tenderness but I had the same before I was on any pill. I know yaz is a  little contreversial at the moment, but its all about the hormones and how you react to them and what each of us went through doesn't mean you will or you won't. I LOVE being on BC as I like knowing exactly when I will get my period. The only downside and its pretty big...my sex drive is not what it was and it takes a little more effort for me to want it.

I had a mediocre experience with the pill, but my MOH had an awesome experience (10+ years, no problems in any way!), so it totally depends on your body.  I'd recommend trying it out, with the caveat that it's not the only good BC out there.  I gained a significant amount of weight because the pill made me absolutely STARVING all day long, so when it caught up to me I switched to the Paraguard IUD (which is hormone-free).  I LOVE having an IUD!  It does cause heavier periods than I've ever had, so I'm pondering a switch to the Mirena IUD (which only has localized hormones and reduces your periods to almost nothing), but overall I highly recommend IUDs.  It's awesome to have (literally) "built in" birth control.  It's so cool!

I have been on a variety of pills since I was 15 years old for ovarian cysts (Mircette, Ortho Lo, Ortho Reg, Sprintec, Ortho Tri Cyclin and a bunch of others). While most held my cysts at bay I did still have one rupture while on the pill. I also experienced drastic mood swings between extreme anger and extreme sadness. Some helped with acne, some made it worse. Some helped with cramps, some didn't. All caused extreme nausea. I believe it really takes a lot of trial and error to find the right pill for you.

In my case I decided to go off the pill and switched to Nuva Ring for the past two years. I love it so much. I no longer have the extreme mood swings (which caused lots of problems in my personal life), have not had a cyst rupture (yet), no nausea, and it is sooo easy and convenient.

Best of luck to you and hope you find the right contraceptive for you!

I've only been on the pill (Loestrin24) for only a few months now, but I have had zero negative side effects.  

And it definitiely has given me a lighter flow, and reduced my cramps. 

Like Miss Riley, I also use Nuvaring and I think it's fantastic. One of my gfs tried it and had some side effects though, but I think she was an exception. Most people I know who have tried it love it. It's so easy since you only have to worry about it once a month - the only con that I have found is that it doesn't feel as good to have sex with it in. But I usually just take it out and put it back in afterwards, no biggie. :)

I hated taking the pill (ortho tricyclen lo), but only b/c I would always forget it.  The side effects were minimal (maybe b/c I would always forget it...).  Then I used the Nuva Ring for about 2 years, and I LOVE that.  It's low, site specific dosage, and much easier for me than taking a pill.  I did experience a lower sex drive, but my skin also improved (I've always had acne).  However, it's gotten to be very expensive, depending on insurance.

As a cheaper alternative, I've just recently gotten a Mirena IUD.  My insurance wouldn't pay for BC, but it will pay for an IUD b/c it's an 'in-office' procedure.  Weird.  So far, it's not too bad.  It works for 5 years, with no upkeep.  I like this part.  It does have a small amount of hormones, but there is another one - Paraguard I think - that has NO hormones, and uses copper as a sort of spermicide.  IUD's are very effective BC, and I think they're often overlooked.  The placement can be painful, but you can ask for a Valium beforehand as long as you have a ride home.  :)  Mine wasn't too bad - it's like bad cramps for a few minutes. 

Good luck in your choice!

I've been on Apri for about 5 years and it's been great! Before I started on the pill my periods were SUPER heavy,long and painful...sometimes putting me out of commission for the first day. I also had bad acne. Being on the pill my periods are cramp free, much shorter and it comes exactly 2 days after my last active pill, within a 4 hour timeframe every month so I'm never caught off guard. Absolutely no mood swings...but then again, I'm very mellow and have never been moody. My skin is totally clear! Haven't even had one pimple since I've been on the pill!! I was hoping for the increase in breast size...unfortunately that didn't happen for me. Unlike the majority of women that get on the pill, I lost about 8lbs after I started the pill...not good when you're already thin. I've had no problems with contacts which I was worried about when my doctor was listing possible side effects.

I have to agree with others though, there is a decrease in sex drive. Mine's didn't disappear but it is lower. I also never had any headaches before I got on the pill and now I get maybe 1 headache every 3 months or so which isn't too bad. Good luck deciding!

I think the important takeway from this thread is that everyone's different, and your body's reaction to different combos of hormones will vary.

I took variants of Ortho Tri Cyclen for close to ten years with a few trials of other pills mixed in, and had both positive and negative side effects. I also had different reactions to some of the ortho generics, which are theoretically supposed to be identical to the brand name, but aren't always in practice. Ortho (and its generic Tri-Sprintec) was the best for me in the end, and I absolutely couldn't take Yaz, which I tried at one point; I know other women who are the exact opposite. Finally off it now b/c of moodiness and contact issues and (more importantly) because it's less of a concern now if other methods fail, but on balance it was worth it for the years when I was in my 20s and not in a position to have a child. (We do sympto-thermal now too; I like many aspects of being hormone-free, but do miss the crystal clear skin, short/predictable periods, and lack of cramps that came with the pill!) My old ob/gyn also felt that for women with endometriosis, being on the pill minimizes the potential for infertility treatment if you don't want children till you're in your 30s, because it can help prevent long-term damage related to endo, which was one reason I chose to stay on it long-term.

I think the biggest thing is to be proactive about choosing and managing birth control, whatever the method---if you're taking the pill, understand which one you're on and what hormones it uses, and what the other options are. (Different pills use different hormones in different doses, and you might find that one is great and one is awful for you.) Find a good ob/gyn who is responsive to you being actively involved in that conversation. I'd start with ortho or one of the other "big" ones only because they're very tried and tested, so you have a good body of literature on what the good and bad side effects might be. (When I was on Yaz, it was only a few years old and it was hard because women were just beginning to report some of the negative side effects, so they weren't well documented; my doc would have to go digging into the research to try to figure out if something was a side effect or unrelated.) Give it at least six months to see how you do---it can take your body that long to recalibrate to it---and if it isn't working, choose something  different to try. For all of the horror stories, there are plenty of stories of people who've been on the pill for years with great success, so it's really hard to know which category you're in until you give it a spin---good luck!