Hormonal Contraception: The Pill [General Discussion]

I think they merged your Diane thread into the main Contraceptive Pills topic.😉

I was grinding through them for about a year—just steady progress, nothing flashy—and then I stumbled upon that "legendary" thread, and now, here I am, officially deep in the Trinovium trenches.😁

Here start the quotes from electricdriver78's post on 01-14-2003 at 14:37

I’ve been on it for seven months now. No plans to stop until I make a call on pregnancy. Hopefully, my hips don't start aching before then. 😁 So far, no side effects—except maybe every tenth hair grows back a little slower than usual.

I took them to get pregnant. I didn't experience any side effects at all. Actually, my period was shorter and wasn't even painful.

Every month on Diane, my weight would swing by five pounds. Not to mention I felt like a water balloon because of how much my ankles would swell up...
Plus, the irritability was actually painful...
Now I'm on Cileste and everything is fine...
But for one of my friends, it was the exact opposite—she only started feeling better once she switched to Diane...
It looks like it really is down to the individual...

I’ve been keeping a close eye on this forum regarding the decision to start birth control🙂 the topics here are top-notch, and honestly, the community—well,

There has been quite a bit of discussion surrounding various contraceptive pills, yet I haven't noticed any mention of this specific brand.

Yasmin by Schering

I started taking them last month, and so far, things are relatively alright. (Though I have gained about 2 pounds—hmm.)

Does anyone here have any personal experience with them?

Thanks

ZAGAS said:I took them for pregnancy. No side effects at all. Actually, my period was shorter and didn't hurt.

How long did you take a break before getting pregnant?

For the first four months, I was dealing with some pretty heavy depression. Honestly, there were times I thought about just calling it quits. 👎
Over those seven months, I’ve dropped about fifteen pounds. 😕
I look like a toothpick now, and my appetite is basically non-existent.
My doctor insists this isn't being caused by the pills, but I just keep getting thinner and thinner...
I did some digging into it, and they told me not to switch anything up because some medications can actually have the opposite effect—making you constantly hungry.
Everything else seems fine, though. No headaches or anything like that, so aside from the lack of appetite, I guess things are okay.

Man, these E side effects have me seriously stressing out... like, should I even be taking them or what? My doctor basically prescribed them just to deal with this breakout mess and to get some facial hair growing. Hm, I guess all I can do is try them and see what happens... As for the breast growth, honestly, that’s kind of the silver lining. Right now they're basically just two slightly larger pimples, so any actual growth would actually be a win for me👍
Thanks for the input

placidbear46 said:My doctor primarily prescribed them to deal with acne breakouts and facial hair growth.

That’s exactly why they use Diane—it’s for when women deal with androgenization (excessive hair, acne, maybe even hair thinning—usually tied to PCOS). Honestly though, doctors prescribe Diane just for birth control all the time, which isn't great.

If you're just using it for contraception, Diane should be your absolute last resort; but in your situation, I think your doctor made a solid call.

What’s the move? You really ought to get a pelvic ultrasound to check your ovaries (see if they're polycystic or whatever); get your female hormones checked (estrogen, progesterone); thyroid stuff too, maybe. And if you have heavy hair growth but your ovaries come back normal, you might want to look at adrenal hormones (cortisol, aldosterone...). Just to nail down the diagnosis.

And before you start the pills—and then every six months or so after—get some bloodwork done: a full CBC, liver panels (bilirubin, AST, ALT, GGT), and definitely check your platelet count (!!! super important). Most hormonal pills bump up the risk of blood clots, heart issues, etc.
If there’s no history of those issues in your family and you're relatively healthy—plus you don't smoke (or barely touch them)—you should be fine.

Have another chat with your doctor; but if we're talking acne and extra hair, Diane is actually a good choice—provided you're sure the ovarian issues are the culprit (which they usually are). If you haven't run the tests yet, see my list above. Definitely get that bloodwork done.

Is this tablet available in the States?

Yeah, and a few other things are heading south too...🙏

boldgardener93, thanks for getting back to me

It’s not depression that’s getting to me, it’s more like pure irritability—or rather, hysteria. Personally, I’m holding up okay, but honestly, things probably aren't looking much better for those around me.😈
It wouldn't be the worst thing if these pills helped me drop a few pounds, too.😁
I’ll still be using them for another two months, so I’ll just play it by ear after that.

By the way, my gynecologist prescribed these, claiming they’re basically the gold standard available on the American market right now...

Arthur Wilson11;
You can find them in Chicago, though they aren't covered by Blue Cross Blue Shield.

John Howard10 said:Arthur Wilson11;
You can find them in NYC, but they aren't on the Blue Cross Blue Shield coverage list.

😕 How on earth is that even possible?

And can you actually get them without a prescription? 😁 😉

I agree with those who say that contraceptive effects vary from person to person. I started taking Diane-35 when I was 15 and finally "retired" from them at 22.🙂
During the first three months of use, I gained 15 pounds, which was surprising since I wasn't prone to weight gain. Later, I dealt with frequent bouts of depression, irritability, moodiness, a dropped libido, and—of course—an insatiable appetite. I just kept eating and eating. On the bright side, my complexion was phenomenal; my skin looked smooth and radiant. While I don't usually have hair issues, they did seem thinner and weaker during that time.
The biggest trouble hit whenever I tried to take a break; my period would simply vanish. Eventually, I decided to throw in the towel and quit entirely. I didn't have a cycle for seven months. That’s when I was diagnosed with PCOS. The doctors wanted to load me up with more pills again, but I turned them down. Thankfully, my body just figured itself out. Everything is fine now. Should I mention that I lost those 15 pounds? Or that the mental fog and moods are gone?
Good luck with the Diane-35, but please be careful. By the way, my mother is an esthetician, and she often recommends them to her clients for severe skin issues. Everyone seems happy with the results, but I have to wonder: is a perfect complexion worth such a high price?

I was scrolling through Strava earlier and happened to read that piece about Diana... honestly, it just makes me feel incredibly relieved that I don't have to deal with PCOS or any of those other hormonal headaches, because I can only imagine the absolute nightmare that would be.

So, they have a whole stash of medications available for purchase that aren't even listed on the official schedule

They claim you can't get them without a prescription... at least, that’s the official line. But when I actually went to buy them, nobody asked me to show a single scrap of paper from my doctor.😕

They end up costing roughly about $77. (That covers a three-month supply)👍

boldgardener93 claims this stuff helps you drop pounds🙏 and honestly, if it works, I might just jump on the bandwagon myself...

John Howard10 said:They run about $77. ( over a three-month period ) 👍

That means they're basically twice the price of standard options.😕

I'd say most birth control pills go for roughly $17.

Kenneth Hernandez67 said:So you're saying they're basically twice the price of the standard ones.😕

Standard birth control pills usually run about $17.

Triquilar$12.
37 x 3 months = $37.

😳

Hmm, I honestly had no clue—these are my first posts in a really long time.

And here I was thinking... they were actually a good deal??!!!!😵

Honestly, it’s probably better that I didn't find this out.😢

But what can you do? I’m still going to spend money on them, and I’ll inevitably forget this whole thing anyway.