Seasonale???

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-26-2004
Seasonale???
8
Mon, 04-26-2004 - 3:10pm


Can anyone tell me anything about Seasonale? I have a teenage sister, who does not like taking the pill because of the mood swings it causes. In fact, non of us take the pill because of the mood swings. I am one of 3 sisters. Because of the lower doses of progesterone and estrogen in seasonale are mood swings still a problem? and do the seasonale pills need to be taken at the same time every day like the traditional pill?

any help would be greatly appreciated :)

-Jessica

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-30-2003
In reply to: jmartin106
Mon, 04-26-2004 - 3:30pm
Go back through the last few days of posts--there is a ton of posting about Seasonale--people don't really mention mood swings--the main complaint is BTB (break-through bleeding) I was on Seasonale for 5 weeks and never stopped bleeding; I'm back on my regular Pill and STILL haven't stopped. (I'm waiting for my doctor to call me back and tell me what to do!) There are some good low-dose Pills out there, though. I've been on Alesse and Loestrin, which I think are low-dose and I like them.
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-15-2003
In reply to: jmartin106
Mon, 04-26-2004 - 3:49pm
All birth control pills should be taken within a window of +/- 2 hours in order to have the best possible protection from pregnancy & the least possibility of having other hormone-related side effects (like BTB, etc.). (Except for POP which have a narower window, but that is a different subject.)

Seasonale is a monophasic pill, so for many women it *should* have less of an effect on mood swings than tri-phasic pills (like ortho-tri-cyclen, triphasil, & others) - but this does not hold true for all women!

As already pointed out, there have been a lot of complaints here lately from people having BTB on Seasonale. This is likely because period skipping (which is essentially what Seasonale is doing) does not work for ALL women, and especially does not always work the *first* time someone tries it - it seems to be something our body has to "get used to". Many women who first start BCP have BTB in the first month. If you start right into trying to go three months without a period, the likelihood of BTB is a lot higher. We're seeing a lot of it right now because this pill is so new, there aren't many people who have been on it longer than the first three-month pack.

IF I wanted to try Seasonale (I don't take any BCP anymore) & could get my doctor to agree to this, here is what I would try: Get a prescription for Nordette - the same formulation as Seasonale, packaged normally - 21 active pills, 7 placebos. Take the first pack normally, 21 active pills, 7 placebos to get a period. Keep up this one month at a time regimen until I had NO BTB during active pills. Once I was pretty sure I wouldn't get BTB taking them "normally", I would start taking two packs back-to-back, then having a period- so 42 active pills, 7 placebos to have a period. Once two months together was working with NO BTB, I would then try the three packs together & see how that worked. At this point, you're doing the same thing as Seasonale is doing in one pack, but you've eased your body into it, *hopefully* suffering less BTB that trying to go to three packs back-to-back, right off the bat. At this point, the only reason I could see for switching from Nordette to Seasonale would be if it cost less to get Seasonale.

This method might not work to reduce BTB, but it might! If anyone ever decides to try it, come back & let us know if it worked!!!

Good Luck, whatever you decide.

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-16-2003
In reply to: jmartin106
Mon, 04-26-2004 - 10:46pm
Seasonale is just a regular pill. All the same rules apply. Take it at the same time everyday. The only difference is that you don't have teh placeabo pill every month. I have had spotting for about 3 weeks now. I was told it would take a few cycles to get adjusted, so I am waiting it out. From what I hear, it doesn't go away when Seasonale is stopped, so I figure if I out this much time into, I might as well go all the way. It is not really effecting sex since I broke up with my boyfriend like 6 months ago, so now is the perfect time for me to adjust.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
In reply to: jmartin106
Tue, 04-27-2004 - 12:08am
I thought I would share my experience....I was on Ortho Tricyclen ( a triphasic pill) for quite a while and I had all kinds of problems with being super emotional. I switched to Levlen (a monophasic pill) and I've completely leveled out. So, I don't know what kind of pill (monophasic or triphasic) you or your sisters have tried, but giving a monophasic pill a try might be worth it.
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-26-2004
In reply to: jmartin106
Tue, 04-27-2004 - 8:47am
Thanks so much! You guys are great!

My next question is.....what is the differece between monophasic and triphasic pills?

-again, thanks

jessica

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-21-2004
In reply to: jmartin106
Tue, 04-27-2004 - 9:10am
Triphasic pills give you three steps (dosages) of hormones over the cycle of each pill pack (28 days) with the last week being placebo pills with no hormones. Usually the amount of hormones will increase with each week till you get to the placebos. This may account for why a number of women experience mood-swings (as I did) on triphasic pills.

Monophasic pills have the same level of hormones in each dose throughout the month (21 days) and the one week of non-hormone placebo pills.

Hope that helps!

Andi in NY

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-26-2004
In reply to: jmartin106
Tue, 04-27-2004 - 10:17am
Thanks Andi. That is a help:)
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-12-2004
In reply to: jmartin106
Thu, 05-13-2004 - 12:21am
I guess I'm a little different from most people that have been on Seasonale. I have not had any BTB at all! Which is amazing considering the problems I have had with other pills and believe me, I have been on MANY different kinds!!! I loved it the first month that I was on it. It's cheaper all the way around-1 co pay (if your insurance covers BC pills) as opposed to 3 and you save money on tampons/pads. Win-win situation right? Well, the second month I started getting a little moody, mostly towards my BF, I'm now in the 3rd month and am moody as ever! To the point that I really can't stand myself sometimes!!! I'm also bloated. I think I've gained 5-8 lbs in the past month and a half. My cousin is also taking Seasonale and had a bit of BTB in the first month or so but now is fine. No BTB, no moodiness-nothing. If we could all be so lucky!!!