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[vintagefiend]

Hello,
I've had horrible emotional perimenopause symptoms for a while now and have tried a variety of treatments.
I am now in my second month of qlaira. The first month, I didn't notice I was on it- which I took to be a good sign as previously unable to tolerate any hormonal medication for that long!
However, this second month, I really don't feel good at all- depressed and anxious. I will persevere, particularly if I know that this sometimes happens- just weird that it didn't happen in first month.
The other concern which may be related is that I've read on here that it's more akin to HRT and I've realised (after much trial and error) that I'm not yet a candidate for HRT as doses too mild for my early stage of peri/meno (I'm 44). I thought that qlaira prevented ovulation- as with other contraceptive pills- but could it be that it's not "strong" enough and merely adding to my my fluctuating hormones rather than overriding them? I really want a blank canvas, want to eradicate my own cycle!
Should I just wait a bit longer before making a judgement call?! Thanks 

[dahliagirl]

Normally, you stick it out for 3 months.  Try keeping a diary.  Also, make sure you are sleeping and eating properly, exercising and drinking plenty as this will help you ride it out.

Qlaira should do the same as a normal coc, except that the oestrogen used is more like our own and the phase without any pills is shorter.

The high dose of progestogen stops ovulation, and this is helped by the oestrogen, which also keeps bleeding under control.  This is a tri-phasic pill so the amount of hormone changes gradually and gives you more of a 'cycle' which may take a bit of getting used to, but it should be consistent.

[vintagefiend]

thanks Dahlia, appreciate the response- I will give it the full 3 months.
 I hadn't realised that the progestogen in qlaira was high and I'm a bit concerned about this as have had v difficult time with various progestogens and would prefer to minimise! But I have read that qlaira good for those who can't tolerate other ocps so i took this to mean people like me (with likely prog intolerance/pmdd). But then again- various other forms of progetogen would affect me within a day or so whereas qlaira was fine for first month (which totally amazed me!). For some context- when i had mirena coil- i was loopy after a couple of days and that was def the prog!! good to know ovulation will stop- maybe I'm not fully suppressed yet. Thanks again.

[MIS71MUM]

From what I've learnt from the MM Qlaria expert, it has progesterone in it for 22 days, so could it be the build up of the progesterone in your system that you are reacting to?

Also correct me if I am wrong anyone, but I don't think Qlaria has strong oestrogen like some of the other CP's. But the oestrogen is bio identical and not synthetic in Qlaria.

I'm not sure but the only other way to get a blank canvas would be to switch off your own oestrogen production. Not sure how effective this is, but I know another member of this site is currently undergoing this treatment.

Good luck!

[vintagefiend]

Thanks Mis71- it certainly feels like a progestogen thing! Feel v on edge and furious!! (NB 2 kids at home, hence the summer holiday fury! just about reining it in in front of them)
i have tried chemical meno/ zoladex and that was disastrous, i'm afraid- i was v v depressed- so i think i need my oestrogen (the add back was not enough)
it would be helpful if progestogen wasnt in 22 of the qlaira tablets! i know that femoston has prog in only half the tablets- maybe i should try but dont know what prog it has and i'm soooooo exhausted from the trial and error! i will stick with qlaira for 3 months, though. thanks again x

[vintagefiend]

sorry another question if you're still there Mis71! Is there an official expert on qlaira on MM? CHEERS

[MIS71MUM]

Yes - the expert to me is Briony - I'm sure she won't mind me mentioning her name. Also Angel66 has been on it a while and about to come off it I think.

I do know Briony says that she started to feel better after 4 months. So maybe you will need to give it a bit longer. Briony also likes the progesterone side of HRT rather than the oestrogen.

[vintagefiend]

thank you, Mis71- that's really helpful.

[Keithee]

Hi vintage friend. I am on my 3rd month of qlaira and I am struggling with bad irritability in the first week of pill taking. I'm hoping this will get better but not sure where to go next if it doesn't improve. Like yourself I am struggling with kids/ school holidays so do not know if this is just exacerbating my feelings of irritability!! Starting to feel down/ weepy too... I've tried loads different pills and always struggle with side effects, mirena not an option for me.
Hoping symptoms improve once kids are back at school!!!

[dangermouse]

The pill is stronger so is more likely to stop ovulation and over-ride your cycle compared to HRT. Takes a month to kick in initially so you may be feeling the truer effects now your own hormones have been dampened down.

I tried Qlaira but I really didn't feel good on the progesterone in it and think that is more dominant in this specific pill as the Oestrogen is plant based, so you may feel the prog more if it doesn't suit you.

If you find the progesterone you are best with then you can play around with that family of pills. I felt depressed on Levonorgestrel but uplifted on Norethisterone. I thus had the choice of oestrogen dominant (Brevinor) or progesterone dominant (Loestrin) which suited my body chemistry.

Like with HRT, it's about trial and error.

[Keithee]

Thanks, I have tried all various types of pills/ formulations/ progesterone types. I found loestrin 20 fine at first then made me incredibly depressed. Tried brevinor to see if more estrogen improved the depression which it did, but I had horrendous irritability and breast pain. I thought of may be trying norimin as it's in between the 2 but the Dr suggested qlaira. Perhaps I should try norimin? Running out of one's to try. I've been on femodene, femodette, microgynon 30, cilest, cerazette, micronor, yaz, yasmin, loestrin 20, brevinor..... running out of options 

[Keithee]

Forgot mercilon, 2 attempts at insertion of a coil and said I'd have to have a general anesthetic... prozac, .... agnus castus, magnesium, vitamin d, epo, Trans and mef acid for bleeding on cerazette. Getting desperate now

[dangermouse]

Well for similar reasons, I used to take Brevinor for half the month at end and beginning of cycle, and Loestrin for the other half when oestrogen is higher in mid-cycle and that seemed to tame the extremes like you had. I tried Norimin but found it similar to Loestrin due to the prog dominance but only for a few days as had found my system worked so stuck with that, if had given it longer Norimin may have been a good balance.

I found the pill too potent once my oestrogen surges had calmed down (Brevinor suited me for many years when younger) which I think was due to less need for Norethisterone to oppose the surges, so I felt a bit more irritable on it. Nothing terrible though but I felt medicated as opposed to relieved so have stopped it now - I guess like when you take antibiotics when you need them and you feel great but once you no longer need them they make you feel rough!

[Keithee]

Thank you danger mouse I never thought about combining the 2 at different points. I felt a million dollars when I first tried loestrin but gradually got more and more depressed verging on suicidal which is completely out of character for me. Brevinor I felt like an enormous irritable bomb lol.... but my hair had stopped falling out and started growing again .
This has been going on for at least 6 years, trying different pills.  I'm 40, have had bad arthritis for 2 years now and symptoms seem to be getting worse with everything.  I can not not be on the pill as I am a nightmare. I've young kids too, 2 with special needs so I need to be on as much of an even level as possible!!

[dangermouse]

Yes the GP suggested I try a Triphasic so I could take higher or lower oestrogen depending on how I felt that day but they only had them in Levonorgestrel so she said to use the 2 Norethisterone pills in the same way.

Sounds like you have a lot to cope with and that fear of not wanting to make things worse when you're already doing a balancing act I'm sure resonates with many here, including myself!