Seasonale

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-23-2003
Seasonale
1
Tue, 05-18-2004 - 9:14pm
Hi Judie!! I forgot you moderated here, and should have called you weeks ago to ask your opinion on this.

Is anybody else out there on Seasonale? I started taking it 23 days ago, and am now on day 23 of my period. It has finally slowed do to an annoying spotting but goes back and forth from brown to red. I was on the pill (triphasil) for many, many years before all of my kids and NEVER had a problem with it. Will this ever end? I only take it because the thought of having terrible cramps only 4 times a year sounds so nice...

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Steph

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
In reply to: stephmomof4grls
Wed, 05-19-2004 - 8:31am
Hiya chicky! :D (For all of you wondering, Steph and I are IRL friends...)

We've got a bunch of Seasonale users here, some fans, some not-so-fans, but there's been a bunch of posts on it recently, and you're not the only one with bleeding issues.... One thing we tell most everybody who stops by with bleeding (that goes on and on and on) is that it can take some time for your body to adjust to these hormones that it's not used to. Some women have bleeding like this when they first start the pill, and usually it improves after the first month, but you're supposed to allow 2-4 months for an adjustment before you panic. ;) Seasonale might be different because of the cycle duration (84 days vs. 21), and that's something that you'll work out as you go along. The spotting might stop, or it might continue, but if it gets to the point where you're tired of dealing with it and it's making you crazy, ask your doctor if you can take a week off, have a period (which should still be better than your off-pill periods as far as shorter, lighter, and less crampy), and then start up again, it might give you some relief.

Even if Seasonale doesn't work out as well as you want it to, you can do the same type of thing with any pill that is all the same dose all month (so not Triphasil, but there's lots of other pills available). There's nothing magical about the formulation other than it's got a strong progestin in it (the same as in Triphasil), it's exactly the same pill as Nordette, just with different packaging and a different manufacturer.

I hope it gets better! Who has time for a period with 2 year old twins anyway? ;) Take care, hon...

Judie
Co-cl for Birth Control
Judie Cl for Birth Control