Hormonal Contraception: The Pill [General Discussion]

Daniel Green97 said:So, I’m making the switch from Yaz to Yasmin—which feels like a big step!—and I was wondering if I should start my first pack of Yasmin right after finishing my last active pill, or if I need to follow up with the last placebo pill first?

I switched from Yaz to Diane and started the new pack immediately following my last placebo pill. That was what my gynecologist told me because I actually ended up getting my period during the second-to-last placebo week, but honestly, you really ought to just clear this with your own doctor.

I’ve been scrolling back through this thread forever and honestly, I’m just lost—can someone give me a ballpark idea of how much blood work costs before starting pills, and where in the US can I actually get that done? Also, can I just go get the labs done first, then take those results straight to my private insurance provider for advice or a prescription, or is the deal that I have to do a consultation first, then the tests, and then come back for another consultation and an exam?

If you have supplemental insurance, just go through your referral for blood work. 🤷
First, I went to see Dr. Ginić—told him exactly what was going on—and he ran a Pap smear, then sent me off for some blood tests. Once I got back with the results, he just handed me a prescription for some pills. 🙂
I didn't end up paying for anything except the medication itself.

Now for my situation: 😁
Since I’m officially off the pill now, I figured I’d ask just to be safe—because, let's be honest, I can never quite trust how condoms perform:
How many Novynette pills should I take, and what's the actual protocol for using them as emergency contraception?

Doc, why on earth am I seeing this heavy brown discharge right in the middle of my cycle today—almost a brownish-burgundy shade—that feels like it might be signaling a heavier flow coming on?

Has anyone else dealt with this? I’m not experiencing any other symptoms or weird discomfort, and I’ve been taking Yaz for a few months now without any issues.

??

Ladies, I need some input here. Does anyone actually take birth control pills if there’s a history of thrombosis in the family? Seriously, is that even a safe move?

My gynecologist initially recommended Lyndynette 20, but once I actually sat down and read the fine print in the instructions, I hit a massive red flag. It explicitly warns against taking these pills if there’s a family history of blood clotting issues. So, what did I do? I called her immediately to lay it all out. Honestly, after that conversation, I told her it’s probably better if I don't even start them. Why take that kind of risk?

I reached out to the folks over at Cybermedu with those exact same questions regarding my gynecologist, and they told me that I’m actually cleared to go for some additional blood clotting tests. But here’s the kicker—my own doctor hasn't mentioned a single word about it! Why the silence? Why is there such a massive gap between what the specialists suggest and what my actual physician is bringing to the table? It’s incredibly frustrating.

Does anyone out there actually have some real-world experience with this? If you do, please, for the love of everything, speak up! I would be incredibly grateful for any insight you could share.
Look, let’s get one thing straight: I am perfectly healthy. Seriously. My fitness levels are fine, my diet is on point, and I don’t have any underlying issues. But these birth control pills? They are absolutely, unequivocally unbearable. Is it even legal for a medication to be this brutal? One minute I'm fine, and the next, I’m being hit by menstrual cramps so intense they feel like a physical assault. It’s beyond "uncomfortable"—it is completely intolerable. How am I supposed to function when my own body feels like it's under siege every single month because of a pill that's supposed to "help"? It makes zero sense!

For the last few months, I’ve been dealing with these brutal pains in my legs, starting just below the knee and going down.
Could this be linked to the pills?

I’m honestly not even sure if anyone here is actually going to give me a straight answer...
I’ve been on Cilest for seven years now.
I have never, ever dealt with mid-cycle bleeding until this exact moment.
I still had five pills left in my pack when this spotting started.
Now I’m just sitting here wondering what the hell I’m supposed to do.🙂>
It started this past Monday, and in a complete moment of panic, I just stopped taking them—which, looking back, was definitely not the smart move. 🙂>
When am I supposed to start the next pack? Should I wait seven days from when the bleeding started, or should I just skip the whole month and wait for my next period? I am completely and utterly lost.
Last winter, I tried taking a break from the pill, but then my cycle went totally haywire and I didn't get my period for three months until things finally stabilized. Honestly, I was convinced I was pregnant.
My gynecologist is out on medical leave right now, and frankly, she’s a total disaster anyway.
I had my liver function tests done about three months ago and everything came back perfectly fine.

I started taking Lindynette 30—my cycle kicked in on the first day (I took them specifically to deal with heavy, painful periods)—and here I am on day ten, still spotting. It’s just a few drops a day now, but I'm wondering... is this kind of thing normal during the first month?

rapiddrifter4 said:I started taking Lindynette 30—my cycle kicked in on the first day (I took them specifically to deal with heavy, painful periods)—and here I am on day ten, still spotting. It’s just a few drops a day now, but I'm wondering... is this kind of thing normal during the first month?

It’s totally normal. You can expect spotting for the first three months.

Not sure if this is the right spot for this, but I’ve got a question:
Had sex with my boyfriend on Monday and the condom broke, though he didn't finish. Went straight to the clinic the next day for emergency contraception and took it exactly as directed (2x2). Then on Wednesday, the condom broke again 🙂 but he wasn't even close to finishing. My last period was June 19th, and before that May 18th (my cycles run long), so I'm wondering if I should be worried? Thanks.

hey there

I just found out I have a small cyst on my ovary (possibly endometriosis) so I started taking Novynette. Has anyone here tried them? I’m curious about how they affect acne or weight gain, maybe? Also, I’ve been feeling a bit nauseous, so I guess I wanted to know if that's normal and when it usually wears off? One more thing—the box says you get your period during the 7-day break, like on day 2 or 3, but it makes it look like you'd be cycling every 23 days?! THANKS

Has anyone here recently decided to stop taking birth control pills? I’ve been on Lindynette 20 for about the last nine months to help manage some irregular cycles, but I finally made the call to stop. Now, about five weeks after my last period, I’ve started experiencing this strange, light spotting—it’s much lighter in color than my usual flow—and I’m dealing with abdominal cramps that feel just like my regular menstrual cramps. I suppose I’m wondering if this is just some weird way my body is reacting to coming off the pill, or if it might be something more serious that warrants calling my gynecologist to check things out?

Richard Fisher81 said:Ladies, I need some input here. Does anyone actually take birth control pills if there’s a history of thrombosis in the family? Seriously, is that even a safe move?

My gynecologist initially recommended Lyndynette 20, but once I actually sat down and read the fine print in the instructions, I hit a massive red flag. It explicitly warns against taking these pills if there’s a family history of blood clotting issues. So, what did I do? I called her immediately to lay it all out. Honestly, after that conversation, I told her it’s probably better if I don't even start them. Why take that kind of risk?

I reached out to the folks over at Cybermedu with those exact same questions regarding my gynecologist, and they told me that I’m actually cleared to go for some additional blood clotting tests. But here’s the kicker—my own doctor hasn't mentioned a single word about it! Why the silence? Why is there such a massive gap between what the specialists suggest and what my actual physician is bringing to the table? It’s incredibly frustrating.

Does anyone out there actually have some real-world experience with this? If you do, please, for the love of everything, speak up! I would be incredibly grateful for any insight you could share.
Look, let’s get one thing straight: I am perfectly healthy. Seriously. My fitness levels are fine, my diet is on point, and I don’t have any underlying issues. But these birth control pills? They are absolutely, unequivocally unbearable. Is it even legal for a medication to be this brutal? One minute I'm fine, and the next, I’m being hit by menstrual cramps so intense they feel like a physical assault. It’s beyond "uncomfortable"—it is completely intolerable. How am I supposed to function when my own body feels like it's under siege every single month because of a pill that's supposed to "help"? It makes zero sense!

I’ve actually been on them for the last nine months, despite having the exact same medical history on my mother's side, plus my grandmother on my father's side has varicose veins. When my primary care physician found out I was taking contraceptives, she told me straight up that I shouldn't be using them. That led me to see my gynecologist, who just asked how I was feeling and sent me for liver function tests. After those came back normal, she told me to just keep going. Lately, though, I've noticed quite a few broken capillaries appearing on my legs, which honestly spooked me quite a bit, even though my doctor insisted it wasn't related to the medication. In the end, I decided to stop taking them on my own without telling her. I mean, I guess I’d much rather just deal with having a period every other month (which, honestly, might actually be a blessing in disguise 😁) than risk facing serious health complications later in life because of them.

@dancing, I’m seriously thinking it could be linked to those pills and maybe some kind of blood clot situation in your veins! You definitely need to call a gynecologist right away and lay it all out for them!!!

rapiddrifter4 said:I started taking Lindynette 30—my cycle kicked in on the first day (I took them specifically to deal with heavy, painful periods)—and here I am on day ten, still spotting. It’s just a few drops a day now, but I'm wondering... is this kind of thing normal during the first month?

Well, this definitely isn't "normal" anymore. It’s day eighteen for me now, and the bleeding has actually picked up—I'm going through two or three pads a day—plus I'm seeing some clotting. To make matters worse, my skin has completely flared up; I've got breakouts everywhere, especially around my chin. Just pimple after pimple.

My doctor at the local clinic won't even see me because I showed up for the wrong shift today—what am I supposed to do?

And that’s just how things go—nothing out of the ordinary!
For those first six months, your body is basically just trying to find its rhythm—so seeing these kinds of irregularities is actually pretty standard.😉

Here are my complaints—I've been on these pills for about 10 days now and my arms and legs are tingling terribly... I can't even remember if that's normal or not... 🤷

I was taking them until three years ago, then I took a break, and now I'm back on them, but this tingling makes me feel a little weird... 😢

Hey there.

I was wondering if anyone here has gone through private testing—like at a clinic—to get all the necessary labs done before starting birth control... just curious about how much that actually runs you.

Thanks in advance.

A friend of mine is heading over to Europe to pick up some medication, so I asked her to grab a pack for me while she’s there. Does anyone happen to know the current retail price for Logest pills in that region?

So, after another round of endless searching—who knows what I'm even looking for anymore—my cousin comes to me. She says she was told she has some kind of cerebrovascular damage, and apparently, it was triggered by her birth control. Her symptoms were headaches, dizziness, those weird visual flashes... so she went in for testing. Honestly, it sounds completely bizarre to me that oral contraceptives could cause something like that. Has anyone here dealt with anything similar?😲