Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  

News:

Menopause Matters magazine ISSUE 75 out now. (Spring issue, March 2024)

media

Pages: [1] 2

Author Topic: Now On Gedarel 30/50.  (Read 9510 times)

GypsyRoseLee

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 2172
Now On Gedarel 30/50.
« on: October 06, 2015, 05:59:59 PM »

Saw my GP today to get a repeat prescription of my BCP. I mentioned how I've had brown spotting virtually every day since I started taking it.

The GP was a locum but seemed quite clued up. He told me that I shouldn't take more than 3 packs together. He also suggested I try a different brand which is less likely to cause the constant spotting.

So here I am with Gedarel 30/50 which is identical to Marvelon I think?

But he told me to stop taking the Rigevidon now for 7 days to give my body a break and a chance of a withdrawal bleed (though only had one last week) and then start the Gedarel in 7 days time.

I have felt very low and anxious all day, really quite horrible.  Have no idea how I'm going to feel over the next 7 days with no hormonal help either?

I just feel heartily sick of it. I am going to give the Gedarel a try but if I'm still getting really down days and anxious like I have felt this last week then I'm going back to my GP and ask for ADs. I'm just so fed up with losing all these days and having to pretend that I'm fine when inside I'm breaking into pieces.

I realky struggled to get to sleep last night, despite nearly nodfing off on the sofa. But once in bed I kept getting nasty adrenaline surges every time I nearly dropped off. No idea why? And I felt so anxious today, and it totally ruined what should have been a nice day shopping with my Mum. No idea why I should feel so anxious today? The fresh bleeding stopped 3 days ago now.
Logged

honeybun

  • Guest
Re: Now On Gedarel 30/50.
« Reply #1 on: October 06, 2015, 06:06:59 PM »

Here is hoping you do really well on your new regime.

I think the trouble is....and I'm guilty of this....is the pursuit of feeling the way we did before this hormone upheaval started. As CLKD is fond of saying....it's not called the change for nowt.

Sometimes it's easier, well I have found it easier, to accept things are different and I will just have to accept this, and work with what I have got.

The BCP and/or HRT can only slightly mimic what our bodies did naturally.

Other ways have to be found to cope with the situation we now find ourselves in.....and I highly doubt that ADs are the first choice. Of course some women need them.

Relaxation, Yoga, self help books.....acceptance.

It's never going to be the same, unfortunately.


Honeybun
X
Logged

CLKD

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 73977
  • changes can be scary, even when we want them
Re: Now On Gedarel 30/50.
« Reply #2 on: October 06, 2015, 06:12:12 PM »

I found in the years when I didn't sleep in bed, that if I dropped off on the sofa to have a blanket handy - DH would put it over me and go off to bed.  I would wake in the early hours and wander upstairs ……. sometimes I would sleep but because I felt 'rested' I didn't worry too much.  I knew I would drop off in bed the next night.

You have your own hormones joining in too  ::).  I remember how I felt during my teen years  :-\.  Let us know how you get on during the week and remember, you are not alone!
Logged

Kathleen

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 4538
Re: Now On Gedarel 30/50.
« Reply #3 on: October 06, 2015, 06:19:14 PM »

Hello GypsyRoseLee.

Like many ladies here I follow your posts with interest and I hope your new BCP does the trick. I understand your concern about feeling worse but when I was having continuous spotting I worried about becoming physically depleted and the impact that was having on my emotional state. Hopefully the new regime will lift your mood without causing spotting, if so the temporary turmoil may be a price worth paying.
Wishing you well and let us know how you get on.

K.
Logged

Hurdity

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 13801
Re: Now On Gedarel 30/50.
« Reply #4 on: October 06, 2015, 07:17:27 PM »

Hi GypsyRoseLee

The thing is that with the COC Pill, although you are eliminating the fluctuations in the cycle when you take the tablet packs back to back, you are still taking a high dose of synthetic progestogens which may not suit everyone. I wouldn't want to take progestogens all the time. The only other time we have high doses of oestrogens and progesterone is during pregnancy - and this is our own natural progesterone.

I can't remember why you decided against trying Qlaira as Briony takes? There are variations in dose throughout the pack but there are at least some progestogen free days and only 2 ( or is it 3?) tablet free days. Your hormones will still dip and rise a little - but not in the same dramatic way as they do during peri-menopause and without the synthetic oestrogens and high dose progestogens?

I see that the pill you have been given has the same progestogen as Cezarette. Not sure if synthetic progestogens interfere more than progesterone with some of the beneficial effects of oestrogen?

Obviously I can see you are searching for something that makes you feel best overall as well as liniting unwanted bleeding - but as others have said you may well find that nothing will make you feel good all the time - there will be some side effects - but hopefully not so bad that you feel like you did before. For example I am post-menopausal and on HRT - but because I have a cycle I don't feel so good during the progesterone phase and also have to put up with a bleed because I limit the progesterone. Therefore there are days and weeks when I feel really rough and ready to throw in the towel and give it all up - but I persist because I know what the alternatives are without it - and don't want to face this yet.

I do hope you feel better on this one. Also did you keep a diary also of how you felt before starting HRT, and on the HRT that you were taking? It would be good to compare so that you know which you felt best on for most of the time.

Wishing you all the best!

Hurdity x
Logged

GypsyRoseLee

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 2172
Re: Now On Gedarel 30/50.
« Reply #5 on: October 06, 2015, 08:20:10 PM »

Thank you everyone, you're very kind.

I intend to try this new BCP and see how it goes. It's a newer type of progesterone, so if the prog is the problem I'm hoping I react better with it.

Though I don't understand how I can feel perfectly fine and good on it for over 2 weeks, then it all come tumbling down?

If I react badly to it, then surely I would react to it all the time, not just selectively?
Logged

Briony

  • Guest
Re: Now On Gedarel 30/50.
« Reply #6 on: October 06, 2015, 09:37:51 PM »

So hope this works for you. Like others have said, this new progesterone is at the other end of the pill 'scale', so it could be just what you need.  Have a look at the Avon Pill Ladder.

I would try and resist ADs for the moment and give this at least three months to settle. Otherwise you won't be able to tell which of the two is helping and which of the two is causing potential side effects, if that makes sense? It definitely took at least four months for me to feel significantly better.

Hang in there x

Logged

Briony

  • Guest
Re: Now On Gedarel 30/50.
« Reply #7 on: October 06, 2015, 09:45:08 PM »

Here is hoping you do really well on your new regime.

I think the trouble is....and I'm guilty of this....is the pursuit of feeling the way we did before this hormone upheaval started. As CLKD is fond of saying....it's not called the change for nowt.

Sometimes it's easier, well I have found it easier, to accept things are different and I will just have to accept this, and work with what I have got.

The BCP and/or HRT can only slightly mimic what our bodies did naturally.

Other ways have to be found to cope with the situation we now find ourselves in.....and I highly doubt that ADs are the first choice. Of course some women need them.

Relaxation, Yoga, self help books.....acceptance.

It's never going to be the same, unfortunately.


Honeybun
X


Honeybun, such wise words. I need to print this out and stick it on the fridge/desk/computer/bed  and anywhere else I turn to in moments of need!

I just wish I'd known it was coming; I'm sure I'd have appreciated my 'before' life a lot more than I did. I'd also have put having a family before my career and other things that don't, in the big picture, really matter. That said, at least it has helped me discover who my true friends  are and also what really matters in life!
Logged

CLKD

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 73977
  • changes can be scary, even when we want them
Re: Now On Gedarel 30/50.
« Reply #8 on: October 07, 2015, 09:59:22 AM »

Maybe because the hormone takes time to be absorbed, initially there's no adverse reaction?
Logged

SadLynda

  • Guest
Re: Now On Gedarel 30/50.
« Reply #9 on: October 07, 2015, 10:40:30 AM »

GRL, sorry things are not going as well as they were for you.  Thank you for all the sharing you do though, it really helps us to know what is what.

Great advice here ladies.  Especially love HB reply, I too need to print that one out.

 :hug:
Logged

dahliagirl

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 1523
Re: Now On Gedarel 30/50.
« Reply #10 on: October 07, 2015, 12:56:18 PM »

Hi

My gut reaction as a long term pill user is that the pill you have been changed to is a much better choice than the regivedon/ovranette/microgynon one and I hope you will be more settled on it.

I was happy on the pill and did a lot of dancing, walking, and healthy eating.  During the week off, my biggest problem was oestrogen withdrawal headache, and the best thing for this was to make sure I did not get thirsty, at all, ever.  I used to feel quite a sense of relief when I went back on it.  The other thing was to be absolutely routine in taking it and not waver by more than an hour.  I had lovely skin  ::) which I really miss but I started with the itchy dry privates then  :o  so it did not help everything.

I think honeybun is so right when she says hrt/coc does not replace everything.  I am sure there is so much more going on, other than progesterone and oestrogen changes, that affect us.  And I am very guilty of the pursuit of lost times.
Logged

Briony

  • Guest
Re: Now On Gedarel 30/50.
« Reply #11 on: October 07, 2015, 02:37:49 PM »

Hi

My gut reaction as a long term pill user is that the pill you have been changed to is a much better choice than the regivedon/ovranette/microgynon one and I hope you will be more settled on it.
 

Couldn't agree more! The pill you were on is the cheapest and one of the safer ones - but it is one of the least well-tolerated.
Logged

GypsyRoseLee

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 2172
Re: Now On Gedarel 30/50.
« Reply #12 on: October 07, 2015, 05:55:52 PM »

Thanks dahliagirl. I forgot that you take the BCP. Did you have a break at the end of each pack every month? My GO recommends I take them back to back for 3 months at a time.

I am hopeful that a more oestrogen rich formula will suit me better. If not, then I see my consultant in December and I will ask her about maybe trying very high dosage oestrogen and separate Utro.

Funnily enough I started to feel much better mid morning. Anxiety gone, but I feel very, very drained. I wonder if this is because I didn't take the BCP last night and I'm benefitting from the prog leaving my system? I also wonder if after 2.5 packs back to back I'd had too much of a build up of prog and hence suffering with my old symptoms for the last week?

Just so many questions which I know will never get answered.
Logged

CLKD

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 73977
  • changes can be scary, even when we want them
Re: Now On Gedarel 30/50.
« Reply #13 on: October 07, 2015, 05:56:47 PM »

You've been worried too which can be draining  ;)
Logged

GypsyRoseLee

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 2172
Re: Now On Gedarel 30/50.
« Reply #14 on: October 07, 2015, 05:57:52 PM »

Yes that's true CLKD. I just don't seem able to shrug off worry anymore. It really gets it claws into me.
Logged
Pages: [1] 2