pill question

[<3bis]

Hello! I have been on the pill 'Dianette' for seven years due to mild acne in my early teens. The other day i went to a different doctor to my usual gp who was horrified i had been on this for so long as it is so strong and usually used to treat unbalanced hormones. She prescribed me a new pill, 'Marvelon', however since i started taking it two weeks ago, i have been feeling awful- mega moody, angry and uptight, i dont know if this is the change in hormone levels, but my friend said that Marvelon caused her to feel like this too. Does anyone have any info?

Thankyou :)

[Miss Zippy]

I know that Dianette works by suppressing male hormones in the body (which cause the acne) so perhaps you�re moodiness is caused by a rise in these hormones? I�ve been taking Marvelon for about 10 years and have had no problems whatsoever but we�re all different and I know that it can be a case of trial and error to find the pill that suits you. Perhaps your body is unsettled from the change in pill and your body needs to adjust to the fact that the male hormones are no longer being suppressed.  Unless you feel really bad, I would stick with Marvelon for three months to see if your body settles and the side effects you�re experiencing subside.

[fairy!]

I was put on Dianette in my teens for the same reason, & have been taking it for about 8 years now.  I've checked with various doctors throughout the years if it's ok for me to have been on it this long & they've all said there's no problem... I think maybe different doctors just have different opinions??  I might look in to it a bit more now though, as I wasn't aware it was a strong pill compared to others. x

[morg_monster]

Hi bis.  I was on Dianette for 4 years for acne, the doctor told me that 5 was the max, but i thought i would change anyway (i hated the dirty looks the pharmacist would give me as i tried to convince her yes it was prescribed to me for contraception so i could get it for free - she knew the truth!).  The doctor started me on brevinor, but the spots came back a bit, and i had a month of spotting, and felt very bloated.  so went back to doc he was very sympathetic and put me on Yasmin instead.  This pill is supposed to 'make you feel better', though as a budding medical statistician i checked out the info, basically when they did the big trials they noticed a side effect that a lot of the women were mentioning that they didn't feel as hormonally emotional around their period, and had better skin. 

So it is not guaranteed, but it has been great for me my spots went away again, I actually have less period pains and i think i do get less hormonal now.

so maybe try that? the thing is there are so many pills out there you don't need to suffer.  I was only on brevinor for one month and my GP said it was fine to change (but then i think he is an especially lovely doc)

[morg_monster]

just read fairy!'s post: just some more info.  The medicine in Dianette is as Miss Zippy says a strong female hormone.  It is so strong that if you got pregnant while on it, the baby would be seriously deformed.  This is why they have to package the medicine in a contraceptive pill, so that this situation doesn't occur.  This is part of the reason I went off it; we all know it is remotely possible to get pregnant while on the pill, I'm not always the best at remembering to take it and I just thought that situation would be so horrible to get into I didn't even want to risk it. (plus my spots were a lot better...!).  Also I figured I'd be on the pill for a looong time now for contraception so i thought i'd change to a more 'normal' one.

Another thing is that it is very expensive compared to other pills, so some doctors may try and encourage you to change for this reason. Fair enough, but be aware and don't get bullied into something you don't want to do!  If your doctor says it is OK to still be on it, then I wouldn't worry, drug companies understandably usually err on the side of caution majorly.  And for all we know it could even be an NHS recommendation as it costs them so much to keep people on it long-term. 

[fairy!]

That's really helpful morg_monster.  I mentioned Yasmine to my doctor as I'd heard it was a 'nice' pill, but he just said I was fine on Dianette so no reason to change.  I had no idea about the deformed baby thing... v scary :-(

[netibiza]

My daughter was put on Dianette when she was 14yrs for acne - but now at 18yrs the FPA doctor was horrified - so she is now on Yasmin but spots are coming back - should she switch back regardless to Dianette?  or is it really dangerous after so long. We live in Spain and so can buy it over the counter.

[Englishbird]

I was on dianette for 6 years - my doctor was horrified too - bearing in mind that he was the one that kept letting me have the prescriptions. 

Have been on Jasmine aswell.  I never had any probs with Dianette.

3bis - the body can also take a little while to re-adjust. I'm now on the patches, because i keep forgetting to take the pill!! it took me 3 months to get used to them and get regular periods!

Either push them into giving you Jasmine or persevere with the marvelon.

[<3bis]

thank you all for all your great advice- much, much appreciated xxxxx

[nicola_red]

I also experienced the 'permanent PMS' feeling on Marvelon.  I stopped taking it after 3 weeks and now I'm not on any pill at all.  I think they just don't agree with some people.

[portocat]

hiya

I was on marvelon once a few years ago and it gave me terrible PMT, like i have never had before or since.  I went onto Cilest after that, and it was brilliant and seemed to suit me really well (no ill effects at all). 

[lanpingpug]

I was on Dianette for a while for my spots and they got MAJORLY WORSE. Some people do have reactions opposite to the usual ones, so don't think because one pill doesn't work or makes it worse that you're alone. I am now off Dianette and on Yasmin and my spots are very few and only when I'm stressed. I recommend a toner with alchohol in if you have greasy skin used 3 times a day.

[Aphrodite1]

Hi, I honestly would swear by Dianette, I think for acne sufferers it is brilliant. Unfortunately my doctor thought it was time for a change and put me on Yasmine...I've been on it for 2 months and my acne is getting worse again...I'm definitely switching back to Dianette as it's the only thing that's ever worked for me!!! The Yasmine pill packet doesn't even specify it has anything to do with acne, whereas Dianette does. As for the deformity question, it more to do with the fact that if you become pregnant with a girl, it would be very masculine.

Does anyone else think Yasmine is pretty rubbish?

[Pixie27]

I was on Dianette for about eight years and it was great (particularly after having a horrible experience on Microgynon). They then switched me to Marvelon and I became absolutely feral (for me - am not a naturally moody person so to be grouchy with everyone was pretty alien and unpleasant). I've now switched to Celeste but am not having a great time with that either - I ran the first pack of the pill straight on from the last of the marvelon, but a week in and I've now started bleeding (which is what happened with microgynon and it didn't stop for six weeks). I'm going back to my doctor to get Yasmine but after my last experience (interrogation and almost complete refusal to switch my pills - that new found grumpiness came in quite handy then) I'm dreading it. And now am nervous that Yasmine actually won't be any better but I can't get hold of the brilliant Dianette anymore. Any advice for similar pills to Dianette that I can ask for or are our options really limited now the guidelines for Dianette have changed?

[VixR]

Hi. I went on Dianette for really bad acne when I was 14. I was on it for 4 years, then all of a sudden I got a period which didn't stop for 4 MONTHS!!! It just got progressively heavier and I had to have a chemical D&C in the end. So I came off that and the consultant at the hospital put me on Marvelon, which I got along with fine for about 3 years, except for my skin getting bad again - although not as bad as it had been. So I went to my GP and he decided to put me back on Dianette. As soon as I started taking it the constant bleeding started again so I rushed straight back within the month. The doctor then put me on Yasmin and I took this for 2 months but the bleeding continued. It wasn't as heavy as it had been but it was constantly there. I went back AGAIN and made a real fuss because due to this my partner had ended our relationship because obviously I'd been bleeding for 3 months and he wasn't getting any!
So I'm back on Marvelon now - in my first packet. The bleeding has slowed down and may actually have stopped (for the last 2 days - touch wood!). But I think Dianette definitely had dodgy side effects for people that it doesn't suit - exercise extreme caution when using long term!

[laurenm82]

I was on dianette for 5 years due to my oily spotty skin!!! last week the FPA were totally horrified to find out i had been on this pill for so long!! but i myself did not have any problems at all on dianette. They have now put me on Brenivor, and after reading comments about people switching pills im really aprehensive about this pill. just hoping my spots and oily skin dont return!!! has anyone else ever been on brevinor?? any advice would be much appreciated cos i had never even heard of this pill before!