Menopause Discussion > Personal Experiences
Drovelis (estetrol/drospirenone) experience/diary
bombsh3ll:
That's a good thought, I took think about what progestogen will suit me best when I graduate from OCP to hormone therapy, and both dydrogesterone and dienogest are on my shortlist.
I'm lucky enough to be breast free due to my family history but still keen to minimise the long term progestogen burden for cardiometabolic, cognitive and quality of life reasons.
Konijntje:
I tried dydrogesterone (duphaston) last year, but maybe too short of a time. It made me very anxious, it felt similar to levonorgestrel (I tried microgynon 30 some years ago) for me. But I’m very sensitive to progestins and since dydrogesterone is first choice here in the guidelines, I know plenty of people that do well on it. (My neighbour has been on femoston for almost 15 years, her GP (same as mine) advices her to stop every few years, but she just says no and continues to take them ;D).
Konijntje:
3 weeks (+1 day). Almost finished with the active pills. Last week was very rough, on Friday, my lower back pain was through the roof and I thought that I was either going to have a bleed or my lower back pain just kept building up like on progesterone. However, it was neither of the 2. Still no blood and I still have the pain, but it is a bit lighter again.
So, I am going to take the placebos this first month to force a bleed, since I’m hoping the cramping will get less afterwards.
Headache and neck pain is still there, but definitely slightly less. Thirst/dry mouth/dry skin isn’t getting less and is driving me kind of crazy. I did order some products to stimulate saliva production, hopefully that will at least help with the dry mouth. I’m very moody, but I’m not sure if it is the pain (haven’t been working out either) and dry mouth or the drospirenone.
I still have the occasional hot flush or night sweat, but I think less than the second week, so the estetrol might turn out to be just the right dose or just slightly too low.
I’m still planning to take the Drovelis until my appointment, as I read everywhere it takes a few months for mood to settle, but I’m pretty sure I’m going to ask to switch to qlaira then if the dry mouth continues. The dry skin is also a problem, because my hands are already pretty bad (bleeding knuckles) despite using creme, usually that is only a thing in winter when it’s cold. I wasn’t expecting this side effect being so bad for me, but I’m happy to know, so I can also take Slynd of my list of options if it doesn’t get less.
Konijntje:
I’m now 2 days in on the placebo’s and started very light spotting. I still feel like my lining needs to be shed, although it could be very thin from the tibolone and now Drovelis and the severe cramping could be just a side effect. Who knows?
Anyway, if the bleed isn’t any heavier tonight, I don’t want to start a new pack yet, but I do want to take estrogen (I have estradiol tablets), because I’m experiencing hotflushes and night sweats (I think the estrogen is too low in Drovelis, I was still having the occasional hot flush and night sweats on the active pills, so it was to be expected that those symptoms would reoccur fast on placebo). Would taking just estrogen stop my bleed (I don’t want that)? If it would, I guess I’m settling for nothing another day.
I’m really hoping things will get better on my next pack, because this month has been rough.
bombsh3ll:
I would absolutely take either the estradiol tablets or at least start the next active pill pack rather than suffering.
Anyone who can make a prediction about your bleed in this situation is probably off spending their lottery winnings, however there's no medical advantage to withdrawal bleeding on birth control pills.
It is a relic from a very paternalistic era in women's health care built in for no other reason than so we wouldn't think we were pregnant, being such untintelligent creatures that we couldn't understand amenorrhea as a side effect.
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