Seasonale???

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-05-2004
Seasonale???
2
Thu, 08-05-2004 - 2:46pm
Hello,

I'm new here so if i'm posting this in the wrong place please forgive me. Anyway, I've been thinking about going on the pill. My boyfriend is coming home from Baghdad for 2 weeks this coming November and I'd like for him to be able to enjoy his vacation without any worries whatsoever. Of course i know that the pill is not 100% effective, but i hear the chances of getting pregnant are extremely low when it is taken correctly. I've never used any sort of birth control before (except condoms). I was thinking about Seasonale. I saw the commercial on tv and really like the idea of having only 4 periods a year (my periods have always been 7 days - really annoying). However, i was reading another post about the weight gain issues that another woman was having with that pill. I refuse to gain any weight...i have worked so hard to get these 30 pounds off before my boyfriend comes home and i just can't stand the thought of gaining it back.

**So my real question is has anyone had any real success with Seasonale?

Also,is there anyone who didn't have any break through bleeding at all? And if you did experience break through bleeding, how long did were you taking the pill it take until it stopped. (a month, two months?...)

Was there anyone who didn't have any side effects at all? Sorry, I just want everything to be taken care of by the time he comes home.

*thanx*

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
In reply to: oeskimopieo
Fri, 08-06-2004 - 9:06am
Hi there! Truthfully, ANY pill has the potential for side effects like I've listed up in the FAQ folder post about side effects. Weight gain is always possible (though not a given) with any pill, as is breakthrough bleeding, breast tenderness, etc., but most of the time the side effects are temporary. Seasonale is only packaged differently from the regular 28-day birth control pills, hormonally it's exactly the same as the pill Nordette. And yes, many women do well on Seasonale, they just normally don't come to a message board to tell people about it! We talk about a lot of problems here, so it often seems like some pills are just awful, but really there are no BAD pills.

If you want to shorten and lighten your periods, any pill can do that for you as well (most of the time it works that way). I used to have heavy seven day periods (super plus tampons about every 2-3 hours for the first 3 days), and with Nuvaring my periods are about three days and fairly light without much in the way of cramps or discomfort. I had heavier periods on pills with higher estrogen doses, but still nowhere near as heavy as before I went on the pill.

Typically what my doctor wants is to put a woman on the lowest dose pill she can take to still keep her from having breakthrough bleeding. In theory, the lower the doses of both hormones, the less likelihood there might be for side effects, but that's not always the case. You should work with your doctor to see what pills his patients have been successful with. If he puts you on a monophasic (all 21 active days the same dose) pill and it works well for you, you can take packs back to back if you still want to avoid periods. It can take a couple of tries to find the right pill, so if you want things to be groovy by November, you might start talking to your doctor now!

I know you're really worried about weight gain. I've been on ::counting on fingers:: five different hormone combinations over the last 7 1/2 years and I haven't gained weight from any of them. I'm not the exception to the rule, but you'll find that some women gain weight, some women lose weight, and some women don't have any weight changes from taking the pill. It's impossible to predict whether you will or won't gain weight by any of the ways that women gain, you're really going to have to try it out for yourself to see. Some women retain more water, and Yasmin is a good pill to try to prevent that, some women will feel hungrier and eat more, and some women's tolerance for carbohydrates may decrease (this is more infrequent), making them more susceptible to weight gain.

I hope that's enough information to get you started! Good luck, I hope you can find something that works for you!

Judie
Co-cl for Birth Control
Judie Cl for Birth Control 
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-04-2004
In reply to: oeskimopieo
Mon, 08-09-2004 - 9:56am
Wow, there are certainly a lot more people out here than I thought who are either on or questioning going on Seasonale. I've been on it for nearly a year now - one of the first patients to be prescribed it at my GYNO's office - and I've had the breakthrough bleeding on and off throughout the first couple of packs (usuall a week or two before getting my period) but the longer you're on it, the less breakthrough you'll get. Yes, it takes time to get used to, and if you can't deal with the breakthrough, then you should go on it. But it's so light for me, that usually only a small panty liner is needed, if anything at all. Give it a shot, and see for awhile if you can deal with it. And best of luck!
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