Menopause Discussion > Personal Experiences

Drovelis (estetrol/drospirenone) experience/diary

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Konijntje:
I just took my 10th pill and not feeling great. The diuretic effect of drospirenone has clearly kicked in (with a vengeance) and I’m incredibly thirsty and have a dry mouth all the time. It started with a bit of a dry mouth when I woke up since day 5 probably? But today, ugh. I also have some eczema on my hip and that is dehydration driven for me and I normally only get it during cold winters (and we are in a heatwave right now!). I also have had dry eyes for years and gel drops for those, but I’ve been needing to take those more often. I’m hoping this dry mouth thing will lessen soon (I’ve read that it often does, but not for everyone).

I’ve also been having hot flushes for the past few days, but there is a heatwave and I’m really feeling I’m about to get a bleed (and I always have more hot flushes before my period), so still hoping that once my own hormones settle down, the estrogen will be sufficient. Otherwise I might ask if I can supplement with a small amount of transdermal estrogen.

Still am very tired, have a headache (that is slightly less than a week ago) and have cramps and feel moody. I also still think this progestin might work out for me, since mood issues seem to be of a different (better) quality than with progesterone and other progestins, more mood swings and not overall anxiety/low mood.

Lots of people seem to start bleeding in their second week and I’m really hoping I will too, because that might get rid of some of the side effects (that feel like PMS).

Konijntje:
I just took my 14th pill, so 2 weeks in. Dry mouth improved a little, but still annoying. Also still have a headache, fatigue and cramps. I’ve been a bit dizzy too, not as much as pre hrt, but just enough to worry me if it gets worse.

Still no bleed, so if it doesn’t come next week, I’ll probably will take the placebos to force one, I’m hoping it will reduce my cramping, since I already had it on the tibolone.

I also still have some hot flashes and my nights are ranging from just ok - pretty bad, so I’m thinking estrogen is not sufficient still.

Mood wise, not great, but not very low either. I’m not sure drospirenone will be the best progestin for me, but it’s certainly better than the ones I’ve tried so far.

I’m probably going to try for multiple months with how things are going (if things don’t get worse), at least until my next phone appointment (in 2 months, so would be 2.5 months on Drovelis). If the diuretic properties of drospirenone keep bothering me so much, I might ask to try Qlaira, as I think dienogest is a bit similar to drospirenone, except without the diuretic effect.

bombsh3ll:
If you are looking into a non diuretic pill with 17 beta estradiol I would recommend Zoely over Qlaira because it's monophasic, providing much better hormonal stability and better suited to continuous use for menstrual suppression.

The chaotic dosing of Qlaira is designed to replicate a menstrual cycle, which to me is the definition of madness when you are taking something that can eradicate menstruation and hormonal cyclicity.

I am very happy with Zoely and find the progestin very tolerable, I don't even feel like I'm taking a progestin.

Konijntje:
I wouldn’t mind Zoely either. I’d prefer to try Qlaira first for a few reasons. Most important one is that the progestin seems available seperately, so I could switch to transdermal estrogen at some point (oral does give me some nausea, so might not be my preference in the long run).

The mimicing a cycle isn’t my preference either, but I’m sure it wouldn’t be as bad as my own cycle. I wouldn’t mind a bleed as long as it isn’t heavy (like my periods).

Konijntje:
2.5 weeks in.

Last Friday my cramps were very bad, I was sure I would start bleeding, but I didn’t. So, I’ll probably take the placebo’s this month to force a bleed. I’m also wondering if my neck pain is from the drospirenone, it isn’t as bad as on other progestins, but it is there. I do sometimes have some neck pain without progestins, so it can be coincidence. When my mirena got removed, my neck pain just vanished in a few days, so the placebo break will probably give me an answer.

Fatigue has lightened a bit and so has the headache (it comes and goes). The thirst/dry mouth hasn’t really unfortunately, still annoying.

Mood wise still the same, a bit moody like pms, but not really depressed. So drospirenone definitely agrees better with me than anything I’ve tried.

I’ve read a bit more about qlaira and Zoely. If the thirst doesn’t stop, I’m going to ask to try qlaira, because dienogest and drospirenone are the only progestins (besides dydrogesterone) that don’t seem to increase cancer risks (which is a big deal to me, as I have 2 aunts that got breast cancer around age 50 and multiple other relatives that got breast cancer later in life. No brca gene). There is also an option to take dienogest as Climodien (hrt with 2mg/2mg estradiol/dienogest) or standalone 2 mg with transdermal estrogen, should the multiphasic qlaira not agree with me. Dienogest works extremely well in keeping the lining thin (it’s often prescribed for endometriosis), so it should be a good option for longtime hrt.

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