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[GypsyRoseLee]

Was doing really well on Gederal. Had very nearly 3 straight weeks of feeling 'good' far better than I have done in a very long time.

Came to the end of the first break and decided to allow myself just a shortened 'break' of 4-5 days (even though GP advised me to run 3 packs back to back).

So, took last Pill last Saturday night, and my withdrawal bleed started on Monday night. Just quite a light flow. But on Wednesday my mood really plummeted. Felt very low and fed up. That nasty 'unable to take any pleasure in anything' sensation.

So, in a bit of a panic, I started my next pack Wednesday night. But I don't seem to be picking up! Mood still very flat. Unable to laugh or even smile genuinely. Feel slightly jittery. And today I've had a bad headache all day and feeling slightly nauseous. Bleed has finally stopped today.

Really wish I hadn't bothered giving myself a withdrawal break from the BCP. I've had a very miserable few days. Just can't believe my symptoms came back within 48 hours.

And now I'm suffering from both the withdrawal AND now my body reacting to starting progesterone again (think this is why I have the headache and nausea?).

Anyway, just wanted to moan a bit and hopefully pass on some useful information for other women using the BCP.

[Briony]

Going to post twice as separate issues. Firstly this (especially info re back to back pill taking):


To anyone considering the BCP, this may be of interest. It was from Dr Annie Evan's FB page and contains slightly different info from the Avon Pill Ladder.

http://media.wix.com/ugd/bd2962_03c990a85f144c28b75c1a975a1bb94b.pdf

[Briony]

Second post!

Thanks so much for the warning. I am just really sorry that it has affected you this way. From my previous post, quoting Annie Evans, you can see that the thinking does tend to be that we do not 'need' a break, so perhaps it is  worth not having one? Alternatively, is it worth slapping on a patch during the next break?

 I am due to have a pill break on Monday and, if I am honest, am scared stiff! Even my friends who've taken this pill for over ten years - and really rate it - say they still get slight nausea and a headache when they re start, so it's almost inevitable us first-timers will?

I called my doctor on Friday (no apts available for a fortnight) and pointed out that since starting Marvelon/Gedarel, I've had non stop constipation, bloating, jitters, aches, stomach cramps, intermittent bleeding and now, towards the end of the pack, my nails have split and I have a load of spots. Oh, and I have lost the ability to censor what I say to annoying people  . To me, this suggests it's just not the right pill (though whether I need less estrogen or a different progesterone, goodness knows). The doctor was really unsurprised and seemed to think it was silly to give up so soon as such side effects are very common and very rarely last. (Apparently it's only when side effects get increasingly worse that it's more of a concern). I felt a bit pathetic by the end of our conversation. I guess it is still only day 18. Perhaps I was expecting too much?

The more I reflected on her words, I think she's right. She said it's mad to just switch from one thing to another without waiting at least three months for side effects to go. She also said it's not ideal to switch hormones without previous medication getting well and truly out of your system - otherwise you're not giving the new stuff a true and fair trial. (I only waited a few days from Qlaira to this pill).

I know you have taken Marvelon for longer than me, but I guess you too are very much in the 'early days' boat. Given how well you got on with it generally, I'd try to just write this off as a blip and experiment next time with no break (if it aint broke ...). If you do ever feel like you have progesterone overload, you can always look into topping up with a patch or gel (isn't that what Chi Chi's specialist suggested recently?).

Bloody hormones! 

[GypsyRoseLee]

Thanks for the link, very interesting.

I am just really surprised that all my symptoms came back with such force and so quickly. Took my 4th tablet if the second pack last night, but still no sign of improvement. Feel very low and depressed today, verging on tears. Everything feels too much effort and overwhelming. I just can't believe that being off the BCP for just 4 days could cause such a reaction for 4-5 days now? Especially when I had such a quick and positive transition into taking Gederal.

Are you going to risk a withdrawal break yourself this time?

The thought of topping up with oestrogen patches during any future breaks seems very sensible. I will run the idea by my consultant next month.

[dahliagirl]

re: constipation - the pill contains a large amount of progestogen which slows down the smooth muscle of the intestines.  I always found the week off sorted me, but it gradually got worse over the 3 weeks on.

You need to counteract this with a good breakfast of soluble fibre (ie, oats, fruit and veg, pulses) and not bran, which dries out rather like peat-based potting compost as it moves though the colon and water is removed.  Movicol is helpful, if expensive, and lactulose is cheap (but windy).  Avoid ducosate - it hurts!

Oestrogen withdrawal headache - pre-empt this by not getting thirsty - sip water between drinks/meals.

Hope this helps.

[GypsyRoseLee]

That's helpful to know, thank you dahliagirl.

My mood started to improve around tea time, within just a few minutes. But then another headache arrived soon after. The third one this weekend. So it's obviously something chemical adjusting in my brain.

Am very relieved my mood is lifting, the awful deadening depression I get is just horrible. But I do sometimes wonder how much punishment my nervous system can take.

[dahliagirl]

I have seen it suggested that low dose oestrogen can be taken during the week off to prevent oestrogen withdrawal, or back to back packs but I expect this will depend on your doctor.

I did not connect the oestrogen withdrawal headache for years - I had it occasionally in my 20s and it always coincided with long train journeys (obviously in hindsight, you are being careful of your water intake because of going to the loo!).  It was only after a kidney stone when I was drinking lots of water that I connected it with the week off, and getting thirsty - feeling thirsty is cited as a trigger for non-aura migraine.  It is a horrible headache if it gets out of hand - it feels like your brain is loose, and you start to feel sick if you move.

If you get a headache, take something like ibuprofen immediately, or nurophen plus if it has got going, along with movicol to counteract the codeine, and keep hydrated.  A couple of paracetamol will not do the job.

I found these two problems much more pronounced in the last 4 years I took the pill (from 45 - 49) and I don't miss them!  However, I used to feel good the other 3 weeks    If you can pre-empt any digestive and water problems, you should feel a lot better overall.

(The constipation issue is another hobby horse of mine - if only I had understood the link between progesterone and smooth muscle relaxation and the resulting slow transit through the colon,  my pregnancies would have been easier    )

[charliegirl]

I can relate to the horrendous depression. Am feeling like that at ,Kent. Just swapped from Estradiol to Tibilone due to side effects so hoping it may settle down. My partner has had to cuddle me all weekend! Didn't want to do anything at all.😕

[Briony]

Dahlia girl, thanks so much for such useful information. I'm a life long vege, eat  at least ten portions of f and v a day and it's having no effect, so I think I will try the medication you suggest. I'm so bloated, I feel sick and get cramps now on a daily basis. (Usually a regular 'twice a day ' girl, so this is quite a shock to the system!). 

[Dorothy]

I've recently started drinking 2 glasses of water at the start of the day, one before each meal, one before a bath or shower and one before bed.  A friend emailed me an article about it and I thought I might as well try it...unlike most of the other 'improve your health' ideas, it was free to try!  I certainly feel much better when I do it, don't get any headaches and surprisingly, I don't need the loo any more either!

[GypsyRoseLee]

The sudden depression is awful isn't it charliegirl. I've only had hormonal related depression (had PND years ago) so don't know what 'normal' depression feels like. As far as I know normal depression doesn't come and go so quickly or so completely. But this hormonal depression is so grim and soul destroying.

It's so different to 'just feeling fed up'. I hate it. Really glad mine has lifted, and hoping I won't experience it again for weeks and weeks if I run the next two packs together.

Hope you are feeling better now?

[GypsyRoseLee]

And so the rollercoaster goes on and on. As I went to bed last night I started to feel jittery. Skin on neck, scalp and shoulders became itchy. Took me ages to drop off to sleep as my heart seemed to be beating a little too fast. Didn't sleep well. Woke this morning with an itchy rash around my neck and shoulders, with itchy little red spots. Feel quite low and tearful again.

Just don't understand why I'm reacting like this when I initially started so smoothly and positively on Gederal last month.

Fed up I must say.

[Briony]

Just posted this on your other thread, but have c and p to here too in case others are only following the one thread. Itching (but no rash) was a side effect I always had with Qlaira. Had it badly in months one and two but it was far better from then on. Didnt have a rash, but scratched the skin raw. Last Friday, week three of Marvelon, I woke up with  weird prominent blotches on my left hand. They were almost like burns and were all over my knuckles. At the time, I made no connection to the pill, but you've now got me wondering? Hopefully, it wont last ...
B x

Other post =

Hate to say this, but this makes me feel a little less of a freak feeling as I have done on this new pill. 

Joking aside, I think you need to look at in perspective if you can (know that's easier said than done): overall, you have felt better on the pill than beforehand and your bad times are cyclical, so it's clearly a hormonal issue; you responded to this new pill (overall) far better than the Microgynon so its estrogen bias is clearly better suited to you; your body, like mine, is hormone-sensitive (is that a word?) and has been deprived of estrogen for a while so it's going to take a while to sort things out; and you have suddenly drenched your body in this potent estrogen and then taken it away again, only for it to be re-drenched. With all that in mind, I'd not be too concerned yet.

I have been reading reviews of BCP to quite obsessive extents this past week and there do seem to be a number of people who've had a harder time on month two than one, so I suspect it's still just settling issues. The fact that going back on has induced the jitters - something I had from day two onwards - makes me think it may be the estrogen that's affecting us. Perhaps a few months of Mercilon (same prog but only 2mg estrogen) would be a sensible bridge for us both til we're more used to it? Even 2 mg of EE is still much, much more potent than anything we had in terms of HRT.

Am aware I am rambling - hope this makes sense?

B X