Seasonale

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-13-2004
Seasonale
25
Mon, 05-31-2004 - 9:01pm
Has anyone been taking this and having lots of spotting? I've been on it 4wks and got all the symptoms that I was going to start a period, bloating, cravings etc and have been spotting for 10 days. Anyone had good or bad expiriences with this? I'm trying to decide if I'm going to stay on it. Thanks for all input.
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-31-2004
In reply to: pastabean
Sun, 06-06-2004 - 9:57pm
I have decided to just give seasonale a try. I'm on day 2. I'm a teacher and have just started summer break, I figure what better time to experiment than now. I have never experienced any negative side effects while on the pill, so maybe I'll be lucky and the same will hold true now. Thanks for your advice, keep your fingers crossed for me!
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-14-2003
In reply to: pastabean
Sun, 06-27-2004 - 7:22pm
I'm not sure if this is the appropriate place or not, but since I have just begun the first week of the third month and have a prior post in this thread, I wanted to post an update on how I am doing on Seasonale for others to use as reference.

I started out with problems from Seasonale regarding acne, panic, moodiness, and hunger/weight gain in addition to the breakthrough bleeding. Durring the the first month I began a period a few days before the final week, when I would normaly have a period. The period was more painful than I was used to (since I don't really have cramps) and lasted about five days longer than normal. In addition, it was almost all "clots" and "gel-like" rather than a normal "flow". Still, I did as told and kept taking them and held out hope for things to get better. Half way through the second month my panic dissapeared, I no longer have the hunger, my weight is back to normal, my skin is better than before, the moodswings are gone, and best of all the breakthrough bleeding lasted only about four days in the second month and was so light that I only needed panty liners for it. I am hopeful that the next no-period month will go very well, perhaps without any bleeding at all. And I hope the scheduled period won't be too harsh. I am very happy with Seasonale now and glad I did stick it out.

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-18-2003
In reply to: pastabean
Mon, 06-28-2004 - 10:29am
I just saw the commerical for seasonale last night and had two thoughts...1) wow that would be great to only have 4 periods a year. 2) Hmmm, what's so different about seasonale?

I had to do an active to active back to back one year on vacation and had no problem. So I started to wonder if I could just keep doing that for a while to avoid my period. If it IS safe not to have a "pill period" why not just use the same birth control you use now and back to back them?? Right now I'm on Yasmin and it is working well for me...before I was on Demulen (sp?) and that was cool for a while, but I started to get bad "sick" headaches around my period time with that. So with Yasmin, I still get "sick" headaches, but not nearly as often or as bad.

Of course I would call my doctor to make sure it was okay to use the active packs back to back, but I just wondered if anyone already does that with their regular BCPs and how they like it...

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-30-2003
In reply to: pastabean
Mon, 06-28-2004 - 10:45am
Hi mindyourstep, welcome!

Many women have been skipping their periods for years using regular monophasic pills. Monophasics have all 21 active pills with the same dosage of hormones and are much more likely to allow skipping without irregular bleeding than trying to skip on a triphasic pill such as OTC. There is nothing 'different' about Seasonale (it is the same formulation of hormones as the 21/7 regimen pill Nordette) except that it has been tested and approved for an extended cycle regimen of 84/7. Talk to your doc beforehand but you could try skipping on Yasmin and see how it works for you. Let us know how you're doing, ok?

Good luck

      Jill

    

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-18-2003
In reply to: pastabean
Mon, 06-28-2004 - 10:56am
Thanks! I will definitely look in to my option of taking Yasmin to skips a few periods. I don't know if I'll do it that often cause I like the "reassurance" of the period. Then again, I like to have options!

Avatar for danibopper
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-30-2003
In reply to: pastabean
Sat, 07-03-2004 - 12:30pm
Hi pastabean,

I'm on my second pack of Seasonale, and so far I think it's the best continuous birth control pill I've ever tried. I did have "spotting" (a week long period) after weeks 2 and 8 but I have not had any since. I am at the end of my second week in my second pack and haven't had any sign of starting a new period. I didn't have a period during my week of inactive pills because I had a laparoscopy that week (I take CBCP's for endometriosis). I have taken other BCP's like Yasmin and Lo-ovral continuously previous to Seasonale so that might be why my body didn't have such a hard time adjusting.

Good luck with whatever you decide. If the discomforts are not worth the possible long term benefits for you, then you might want to look into other options, and there are tons of them out there!

Danielle
iVillage Member
Registered: 07-04-2004
In reply to: pastabean
Sun, 07-04-2004 - 10:45am
I recently started taking birth control for the first time, and I've also been experiencing lots of breakthrough bleeding. I started taking YASMIN 15 days ago and I've bled every day since. I actually started taking the pill the first day of my period, though, so I'm wondering if that has anything to do with it. I'm hoping it will stop when I start my next pack of pills.
iVillage Member
Registered: 07-07-2004
In reply to: pastabean
Thu, 07-08-2004 - 12:08pm
I would love to try Seasonale -- four periods a year sounds great -- but I have so many problems with spotting on regular pills that I don't dare. For my honeymoon last year my doctor suggested that I skip the placebos and try not to have a period, but it didn't work. . .I had bleeding practically the whole time (uggh). It is always worse when I travel, too, something about my body's clock being messed up or maybe I don't get the time changes quite right to take the pills at the same time every day. It sounds like those with spotting problems anyway have a worse time with Seasonale?

I have tried many types of BCPs and some are better than others for me. . .On Ortho Tri Cyclen I had terrible mood swings. On Yasmin I felt great but my blood pressure shot up (and I've never had high blood pressure before). I'm taking Microgestin now and my bp is back to normal, with a little spotting but not too bad.

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-08-2004
In reply to: pastabean
Thu, 07-08-2004 - 3:45pm
Hello, I too was on Seasonal for three months. I experienced horrible breast pain, which at times woke me up at night.I was having many pregnancy symptoms as well from this pill. I also had spotting for about the last four weeks that I was on the pill. Like you I did not know what to do. My doctor suggested that I try a new pill. He immediately switched me to mircette and all of my side effects disappeared. Many of my friends have also had these experiences and have also gotten off of this med.

Kimberly

Kimberly---Momma to Brady born 06/16/05---New Baby due 03/11/09

 

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iVillage Member
Registered: 04-19-2004
In reply to: pastabean
Thu, 07-08-2004 - 4:36pm
I'm now in my 11th week of Seasonale. All of my original side effects (moodiness, anxiety, irritability, skin problem, and breast pain) are about 95% gone. For the last week, though, I've been having some very low-grade spotting on and off. The last two days have been a bit heavier, but I still haven't required a tampon. It's basically been some sort of pinkish brown tint to my normal CM, and doesn't even soak through my underwear. This is the first time I've had extended spotting on any pill, so it's a little weird, but hasn't been bothersome. It also didn't interfere with any, ahem, "recreational activities" enjoyed by m and the BF over the weekend. ;)

I'm hoping that this spotting will decrease or go away entirely in the next pack. For what it's worth, this is my first time spotting on this pill. I think it's just that right now 10+ weeks is too long for my uterus without an off week. ;)