pills similar to demulen

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-26-2005
pills similar to demulen
1
Wed, 02-28-2007 - 9:40pm

Hello!

I haven't been on this board in over a year because my problem was miraculously solved. After spending 1 1/2 years trying different birth control pills (yasmine, otc lo, ortho cyclen, estrostep fe, and ovcon-35) in an effort to stop break through bleeding, I found a solution in demulen. I've been coasting along with nice, light, right on time periods for over a year now, until the other day my pharmacist hands me a pill pack and says, "The manufacturer stopped producing this one, you'll have to either switch to another brand or try the generic, zovia." It may be silly of me, but I don't really trust generics for birth control purposes. Is there another pill that is similar to demulen in its proportions of progestin to estradiol. (and in the type of progestin?)

When I was on this board a year ago, someone sent me a wonderful link that explained the contents of each brand of pills. I used this to look at the pills that gave me problems, and this led me to pick demulen. Do you know of a link like this? I've been spoiled by nice, friendly periods, and I really don't want to go back to this spotting business. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Wed, 02-28-2007 - 10:20pm

You don't need to be afraid of generics--they're the same hormones that are in the name brand pill, according to the FDA they are just as effective as name brand pills. The big difference is that the manufacturer of the generic didn't have to go through all of the expense of testing and studies to prove that their formulation works, and less cost to the manufacturer means less cost to you.

In truth, there is only one pill that contains the progestin that is in Demulen--that's it.

We do have a post in our FAQ section called "Your Pills and What's In Them" that describes every pill I've been able to find if you're really not comfortable with Zovia. There are still a number of pills and progestins that you haven't tried, it's possible that one of those might work for you as well, but there's no way to know without experimenting.

Let us know if we can help, okay?

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