Ovcon 35 vs. Seasonalle (Depression)

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-24-2004
Ovcon 35 vs. Seasonalle (Depression)
2
Fri, 06-25-2004 - 12:29am
I've been on Ovcon 35 for a year now because several other pills didn't control my bleeding. I love that I have little or no period now, even with taking the placebos. But I'm afraid it might be too strong because it seems like I get much more emotional / grouchy, etc. on this. I'm afraid that if I try the Seasonalle I'll be bleeding all the time again. Anyone else had this problem?
iVillage Member
Registered: 12-30-2003
Fri, 06-25-2004 - 9:16am
Hi cutebanana, welcome!

Seasonale has less of a more powerful progestin and a bit less estrogen than does Ovcon 35.

Seasonale: 30 mcg ethinyl estradiol and 0.15 mg of levonorgestrel

Ovcon 35: 35 mcg ethinyl estradiol and 0.40 mg of norethindrone

It’s really impossible to say how you would do on Seasonale until you try it. Because of the extended cycle of Seasonale many users experience irregular bleeding during the first several extended cycle packs while they are becoming adjusted to it but it might be worth a try. If you would like to see how you would do on the dosage of hormones in Seasonale you could try a few packs of the standard 21/7 regimen pill Nordette which has the same hormone formulation. Let us know what you decide, ok?

Good luck,

      Jill

    

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-19-2004
Fri, 06-25-2004 - 1:28pm
Levonorgestrel is about 5.3 times more potent than norethindrone, and about 8.3 times more androgenic (see http://www.wdxcyber.com/ncontr13.htm). the dosage of levonorgestrel is lower in Seasonale, but not low enough to make it less strong than your Ovcon. If you're having depression problems on Ovcon, I would recommend trying another low-potency progestin pill, like one containing norethindrone acetate, norgestimate or drospirenone. I haven't encountered many complaints about depression with women on Yasmin (drospirenone), so you might want to try that. Since every woman is different, progestin potency may not be your problem (since norethindrone is the yardstick by which all other progestin potency is measured), but I would stay away from really potent pills like Desogen, Seasonale/Nordette, Loestrin, etc.

Personally, I'm having mood problems with Seasonale, and also had some mood problems on Ortho Tri-Cyclen (that's norgestimate). The OTC moodiness was actually related to hormone withdrawal and occurred the first few days after the end of active pills. I didn't realize that Seasonale might be worse for me when I went on it, because my BF and I figured that fewer inactive weeks meant less moodiness. Luckily, it's been about 9 weeks and the depression and anxiety is subsiding. If you're having problems past 3 months on your Ovcon, you might not want to jump to Seasonale because it might just get worse. Talk to your doctor about lower potency progestin pills and see if one of those is better.

Since you're worried about bleeding on Seasonale, I'll just put in my 2 cents and let you know that I haven't had any breakthrough bleeding yet. If you respond so well to your Ovcon, and haven't ever had bleeding problems on that, then maybe you won't on Seasonale, either.