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[GypsyRoseLee]

These last 4 weeks on HRT I was feeling really good. Within 24 hours if finishing my Utro my bleed arrived. Carried in feeling good until 4-5 days after finishing Utro when my mood really, really dropped and I felt very depressed and anxious for the next 8 days. Also felt extremely tired during day despite having had decent night's sleep etc. Then on day 9 after Utro mood suddey rose.

Back to feeling good again. Hormones............

I presume I was suffering with prog withdrawal? So when I move on to taking the Pill next week will I be able to run 2-3 packs together so I don't get a prog withdrawal in the 7 days when you don't take the Pill?

Thanks.

[Poppyflower]

Hi,

I took my birth control continuously with no break for up to 6 months at a time. Because you will not be using it for birth control you can start it at any time in your cycle and it took almost 2 months before I stopped having any bleeding. Also, just so you know my gynaecologist let me know that in fact I could just take the pill as long as I like continuously as long as was tolerating it, that the bleed is not an actual period bleed where the lining is shedding, because of the continuous hormones it will not have built up. The bleed is simply a withdrawal bleed when on the pill. I wish you great success with the pill, and if there is one you did well with in the past maybe try the same one?

[GypsyRoseLee]

Thanks Poppyflower.

Do you take the Pill rather than HRT? How do you find it?

[Briony]

Some pills have fewer than seven day breaks - Qlaira being the obvious one (too new in UK to feature much in comparison charts) but also Yasmine I think. Then there's Seasonale (or is it Seasonique) which has only four bleeds per year. I think the type of progesterone in the pill makes a difference too? From people's experience with HRT, Levonorgestrel seems best?

Not exactly the most scientific sources, but interesting:

http://www.fainamd.com/resources/Which+OCP+is+Best+Handout.pdf


http://pregnancy.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Birth_Control_Pill_Brands



http://www.cosmopolitan.co.uk/body/health/a21392/which-pill-is-best-for-me/

[Poppyflower]

I did start off taking the pill, but I am now on HRT. I had a hard time finding a pill I could tolerate, even though in the past I have had no problems with the pill. I think it is a great option as I am now having problems with my HRT and am thinking of possibly going back to the pill, the last one I tried was actually the patch and I was tolerating that one not to bad.

[GypsyRoseLee]

Interesting. Rigevidon which I have been prescribed contains Levonorgestal which I'm pleased about. Though I have never had a problem with Utrogestan apaet from feeling slightly tired.

It was just that this month I seemed to react badly to prog withdrawal eg sudden huge mood dip, insomnia, extreme tiredness all which kicked in 4-5 days after finishing the Utro.

I intend running my packets of Rigevidon together so I won't have the 7 day break. Medically there's no need for me to have a withdrawal bleed anyway.

[Briony]

Worth a look too:

http://contraception.about.com/od/thepill/tp/ProgestinTypes.htm

[Briony]

I intend running my packets of Rigevidon together so I won't have the 7 day break. Medically there's no need for me to have a withdrawal bleed anyway.

Funnily enough, I think this is another name for Microgynon which is the one I wondered about moving to. The only thing that put me off was the seven blank days - though if you can avoid those and take it continuously, then that's not an issue. Trouble is, with this (like any other) the reviews are scary. Sometimes I wish I could put a ban on my PC being able to google certain things!

[Poppyflower]

This is just a thought as my gynaecologist also proposed simply taking 1mg of estrogen daily 7-10 days before your period started. I did not do this as my periods were sometimes 23 days and sometimes 28 days. It was explained to me that when we take the prometrium at the beginning of our cycle once we are done our own progesterone is also on the rise so as opposed to it being the withdrawal from taking the prometrium it is that we are not really stopping with progesterone our estrogen is dipping and therefore feel crappy. This is only for us that our in perimenopause and still getting a period. This is the reason for being on the pill instead!!

[Briony]

Poppyflower, that's really interesting. Explains why I got it on a lowish dose patch but it's less obvious now I'm on the pill. Is it OK to ask which pill you take?

[GypsyRoseLee]

What is Prometriam?

[Briony]

Some pills have fewer than seven day breaks - Qlaira being the obvious one (too new in UK to feature much in comparison charts) but also Yasmine I think. Then there's Seasonale (or is it Seasonique) which has only four bleeds per year. I think the type of progesterone in the pill makes a difference too? From people's experience with HRT, Levonorgestrel seems best?

Not exactly the most scientific sources, but interesting:

http://www.fainamd.com/resources/Which+OCP+is+Best+Handout.pdf


http://pregnancy.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Birth_Control_Pill_Brands



http://www.cosmopolitan.co.uk/body/health/a21392/which-pill-is-best-for-me/

Although from a safety perspective, Levonorgestrel (and its generation) is apparently the preferred choice with BCP, it's not the progesterone I thought was in Femoston. That's a shame as the one in Femoston seems like a popular choice and is non androgenic, I think (unlike Levonorgestrel) . I'd be really interested to know why it's used in HRT but not the contraceptive pill.

[Briony]

What is Prometriam?

Micronised progesterone - like Utrogestan, I think?

[Taz2]

What is Prometriam?

http://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-8042/prometrium-oral/details

Taz x

[Poppyflower]

Yes, in Canada we call utrogestan prometrium, but it is the same thing. I did try about three different pills started with a low dose one then on marvelon then ortho cycles. I have Crohn's disease so along with seeming to not tolerate these pills I had possible absorption issues. I ended up on ortho evra patch which seemed not to bad. After reading extensively on this web site I decided to try HRT and am currently on prometrium for first 12 days of month and have just increased my estradot patch to 75. This is a link I found helpful in trying to decide what birth control to try. Qlaira is not on there because it is not available here in Canada as far as I know. Wish us all good hormonal luck.http://www.fainamd.com/resources/Which+OCP+is+Best+Handout.pdf