Femcon FE and femcon

I was on a birth control pill for four months when I experienced a 28-day period, so I immediately wanted to switch pills. I was put on FemCon, which I loved at first because it made my periods lighter, no cramps, and I was 100% regular with my period. HOWEVER, over the past year being on FemCon I noticed some horrible changes in my body that I had attributed to age and moving across the country. However, two days ago my husband found my FemCon package in our bedroom and started reading the side effects--for fun, I guess. He freaked out, because basically my life has been negatively affected by things that are listed as possible side effects of the drug:

-Significant weight gain (about 20 pounds)
-Extreme moodiness
-Depression
-Difficulty wearing contacts
-Vaginal infections

I can't say that these things are directly caused by the drug since lots of different changes have happened in my life over the past year; however, I do know that I've been wondering what the heck is wrong with me lately, and I'm definitely thinking that it's the FemCon. I feel fat as a heifer no matter how much I exercise; I snap at minor irritations and feel like I want to jump off of a cliff; after wearing contacts for 6 years I all of a sudden couldn't wear them any longer; and I get a vagainal infection every 6-8 weeks. I stopped taking FemCon the day my husband read the fine print. At this rate, I'd rather be pregnant!

I've been on Femcon for about 6 months and next month I will finally be off it. The first 2 months, I was constantly lethargic, depressed, nauseous, but I gave it a go since my doctor told me it would take a couple of months before the medication can do its thing. Around the 3-4 month period I thought I started getting used to it, but I couldn't lose weight even though I go to the gym 5 days a week. Then around the 5-6 month period, I started breaking out badly around my chin & cheek area. I've never had breakouts this bad. I thought it was because of my dog since he slept on my bed, but even after removing him from the sleeping area into another room, the breakouts continued and eventually got worse. I use topical acne medication that help but cannot stop the breakouts. It has been very frustrating. I've also experienced in between bleeding if I do not take the pill at the same exact time everyday, which never happened when I was on Ortho TriCyclen. I cannot wait to get off this medication!

I have had problems with regulating my period since I was 15. When I was 17 I was on Depo (2 years) and it really screwed me up, I gained 40 lbs. and became lactose intolerant (don't ask me how that happened, i have no clue). I still have not been able to loose the weight. I then tried the OrthoEvra patch and I loved it. I went off bc because my insurance doesn't cover it anymore and i could no longer afford it. About a year and a half ago I was diagnosed with PCOS and my fiance and I decided that it didn't really matter if I was on bc, if I was able to get pregnant we would consider it a miracle. Over the last 6 months my mood swings and periods were so severe and painful that I have had to go to the ER 2x so we decided to try bc again, I was prescribed Femcon about a month ago. My first round of pills left me sick to my stomach every day and having migraines every couple of days. I started my second round yesterday and I have been so violently sick since swallowing the pill last night that I haven't slept and had to call out of work. I spent 6 hours in my bathroom last night and by the time i passed out I had thrown up blood twice. Ive never been this sick in my life and I'm waiting to hear back from my doctor to tell her I refuse to take this pill one more day.

I was put on Femcon in November of last year. I told my doctor that i did not like it because my cramps were actually worse and bleeding was heavier. They told me to let it regulate in my system. Well It's now almost a year later so it should be regulated right? Well for the past 2 months i have been having my period every other week with heavy bleeding. This isn't just 3 or 4 days its 7 days of full out bleeding and 3 of light spotting. I have been feeling very dizzy and light headed and i actually passed out at work. I just stopped taking it a week ago and already feel somewhat better. I hate this pill.

I'm 29 yrs old and I was on Femcon about a year ago and everything went fine, so I thought. I was having a lot of symptoms after my pregnancy and I kept thinking it was because of my pregnancy that messed my body up. I quit taking the pill because I had no need to take it because I was separated. Within a few months of being off Femcon I was feeling "normal" again. I quit having the continual cold shakes at night and stomach cramps and nausea. At one point while taking Femcon I started wondering if something wasn't majorly wrong with me and I was dying and nobody cared. I would go to the doctor all the time and obviously I was just a hypercondriac who needed anxiety meds. I hate that stupid comment. I would tell them I am not that kind of person. I had never had a problem with anxiety or imagining things. I love life and people always saw that in me. Anyways, when I quit taking the Femcon I started living again. Well, recently I have started getting acne and I was told that a birth control pill would help with acne so I went to my OBGYN and she suggested that I try Femcon again. Well, at this time I still hadn't really put two and two together and didn't really know for sure that all my previous side affects was because of the Femcon so I decided to try it again. The first week I felt a little nauseous, no big deal so I kept taking it. The second week is when it all started again. I started having all my old symptoms of cold shakes, which are so uncontrollable and my whole body would have like convulsions. I was sick feeling all the time, my stomach was cramping up again. Oh, not to mention I was bleeding constantly. I stopped taking it immediately and it still took my body about a month to get over the symptoms but it is. I do not recommend anyone to take this pill. When I was younger I took many different kinds of pills and never had any symptoms like this. Now that I've been off of it for a little over a month my boobs still feel so sore, and no I'm not pregnant! I know every pill effects everyone differently but I feel like I lost a few years of my life going through all that I did because of some stupid birth control pill, Femcon.

The first few days were terrible for me, constant headaches and crazy mood swings. I'm on day 14 and things are starting to get better, except for the fact that i started bleeding yesterday (not spotting, period bleeding). My appetite is back to normal and my mood swings have calmed down quite a bit so I'm not as crazy (according to my boyfriend), but I do still have moments where I KNOW I overreact. I'm going to stick with Femcon and see how my body adjusts to it over time, hopefully the breakthrough bleeding will subside and I'll get back on track with my normal cycle. I'd say keep with it unless you're having unbearable side effects. Good luck to all of you! =)

okkk sooo ive been on femcon since September 2008... i have not been so happy with it and plan to change my pill in a week or two when i see my obgyn. the few months i took it i was ALWAYS tired..idk if i just got used to being always tired, but i would fall asleep if someone was talking to me tireddd...also i would also have joint pain the first couple of months.. not to mention i ate ate and ate uncontrollably... i am an active female and i found that this pill slowed me down. i have terrible mood swings stillll, and find that the week i am on the brown pills i have no appetite and loose weight. i find that on this pill im on a constant struggle to ignore my cravings i almost feel as if im pregnant with being hungry alll the time. i am a thin person but i feel like it is impossible if you are weight conscious to maintain your weight on this pill. i did not gain much weight maybe 5 pounds, but i usually fluctuate neways. when im taking the pill i feel like a puffy little balloon and my stomach is always bloated. OHH also i get my period on the second week of the pill every Tuesday like clock work...andddddd when taking the brown pills. the 2nd week is a very light period but still...i feel this is not normal....which is probably why im always tired.....i hope SOMEONE had a positive experience with femcon....

I had been taking Femcon since March 2008 when my doctor switched me because of my girly issues. I actually started taking BC about 8 years ago because of very very heavy painful periods that lasted 20 days and would make me bed rest for 2-3 days. (I took Yasmin for 6 years and looooved it until i got use to it and my periods started returning to their old self about 5 years in). Femcon seemed like a great thing to take and actually worked wonders until December 2008. At that point my doctor recommended me taking the pills nonstop to see if that would help control my bleeding and regulate my hormones. About January... lets say 12th, i started having SEVER diarrhea... im talking like 4-10 times a day. I became severely dehydrated and i, on a normal day drink at least 3 liters of water and no other fluids. This continued until about 2 weeks ago i stopped taking my pills and have now switched to the DEPO shot.. ALL DIARRHEA has stopped... the stomach cramps and everything... before i was living on Imodium when i had plans or was out of town and now... i have a huge bottle and have not used any in a while....

My doctor told me that the reason a period is so brown and you can spot when you are on the pill is because it creates a fake period. I had been on Yasmin for 2 years got off because i was broke then a year ago got back on to yaz. I just got a script for Femcon and im really worried about gaining weight. My doctor did say that it takes a few months for your body to get used to it though.

It is so crazy that I found this site today, and super glad that I did....I should have went with my gut 3 months ago when I wanted to stop taking this pill...but now for sure I will!!
I originally started taking a Triphasil pill when I was 14..then it changed to Trivora, and I never had any problems with those pills....then when I moved to California when I was 19 I got greedy and wanted no periods (or short ones at least) so I tried Loestrin...which by the way made me bleed for 58 days straight...I thought I was going to die! So my doc prescribed me Femcon...and I said I'd try anything to get me to stop....It was fine the first few years but I was diagnosed with the first stages of Hypertension 2 years ago (age 24) and I blamed all of my bc symptoms on that! I thought, ugh I hate getting older cause now I have side effects like crazy...well I don't think its my blood pressure, and I wouldn't doubt that FEMCON has helped cause my high BP!!! Always tired, fatigue, WEIGHT gain like crazy, moody, ZILCH sex drive (poor bf), jawline acne (always was blessed with nice skin!), depression (poor bf again, we broke up constantly) and just recently nausea...no food can satiate me...I thought I was going crazy....Im getting off this crazy pill and hopefully I will get back to being normal...I'm 26...I'm not old!! This definitely is birth control cause I don't have sex, and I feel like a total fat @ss all the time!! It sucks!! I sure do feel like it and I'm stopping this pill today! I hope this site helped you as much as it did me!!

ive been on femcon for about 2 and 1/2 months. Im 18 and haven't had any major side effects..the first day i was on it i had nausea but after that i felt fine. ive noticed my cravings going up the wall and im trying to control them! As for acne, its horrible!! ive always struggled with acne but im getting painful cystic pimples all on my jawline and chin. and now its starting to spread to my cheeks. I hate it and i don't know what to do. I will continue the pill to see if my body adjusts. I went on this pill to clear up my skin and hopefully it works! anyone else with this issue and has it helped your skin?

My doctor put me on Femcon because I have the Mirena IUD and I keep getting cysts on my ovaries. She said the IUD might not be suppressing my ovaries enough and put me on Femcon. I have been on Femcon for almost 3 weeks and I have had nausea, vomiting, depressions, mood swings, headaches, increased appetite and fatigue. I am not taking this pill anymore! It has not helped with the cramping I have had from the cysts, instead it makes me feel worse. I called my doctor today and am waiting for a call back, I can't stand this anymore. Good Luck to everyone else.

This isn't a new side affect but I didn't have a good time with Femcon at all. I only took it for about 2 months and I bled for 2 almost 3 weeks. I was depressed and I know now that I gained 10 pounds while on it. I would never recommend anyone to take this. I am not taking anything now and I don't play on taking anything. I am going to talk to my Gyn. about pain management until I decide to get pregnant again. I just don't understand why doctors seem to think that birth control is a one size fits all drug and it isn't. But I don't know much about nothing so who knows.

I have been on FEMCON for 3 weeks and I have gained 10lbs since starting it. Now mind you I have weighed 125lbs since S. was a puppy so this extra weight has terrified me because it is all in my stomach area. Also I have had migraines like you wouldn't believe to the point where I have had to miss days from work. To top it off my insurance company says its non formulary and I have to pay 50% of the cost (bummer). I only plan to take it 2 more days that's when my doctor will be in her office and I am changing these crazy pills. Anyone have any suggestion for pills that work for heavy cycles?

I have been on Femcon since February. My doctor switched my pills from Loestrin to try and get a handle on my heavy bleeding during my cycles. I think that's finally under control, but I have gained about 8-10 pounds! I work out and eat sensibly so it didn't make sense why the scale was steadily climbing upward. I know that a lot of birth control pills mention weight gain as a common side effect, but after taking several different brands over the last 20 years, I have never experienced weight gain until now. My appetite has increased and I seem to never feel satisfied after eating. That has to end. It's mostly in my stomach and I just feel bloated! So needless to say, I am switching back to Loestrin as soon as this pack is over and hope for the best. Other side effects included nausea, but that happens the first couple of weeks with me with almost every brand of birth control.

I was prescribed FEMCON FE to control an unregulated, heavy and extremely painful cycle—and apparently, this is the only BC pill that can do so when one is ALSO prescribed anti-epileptic meds. I was bleeding (and cramping) uncontrollably for 3-4 weeks when put on FEMCON; I’ve been on it for 2 full months. Fortunately I didn’t do much research before beginning the pill—I didn’t really have a CHOICE of pills—these posts would have terrified me… Everyone’s systems are so different, and respond so crazily, especially when it comes to hormones. FEMCON, at least so far, has regulated mine beautifully, with minimal hitches (nothing unusual for BC pills). Some of the past positive postings are similar to what I would have to say—when I was on Yasmin, I still had long, painful, and heavy periods. On FEMCON, again so far, it’s been cut to 3-4 days of super light flow. LOVELY! I suffer from severe chronic migraines, and the halfway-mark seemed to cause me a particularly difficult time, but again, this is nothing FEMCON-specific. It just took me a bit aback. Good luck, all!

I started taking Femcon Fe at the beginning of March after I finished my last pack of Ortho Tri Cyclen Lo. According to my last 6 years on Ortho Tri Cylcen I should have started on Wednesday April 1st, because I always started on the Wednesday inactive pill. I got the usual crampiness and period feeling but I never started and still have not. Does anyone know if this is normal or if it has happened to them? I do not noticed any other side effects from the pill so far. It was my first month on Femcon so I am not sure if my body is just adjusting to the new pill. Any feedback would be appreciated! Thanks!

i just recently got on here and read these i was researching this pill bc i have been on it for 2 months and have not yet got my period. now i am awaiting a pregnancy test , which keeps saying negative. nothing more awful then not getting your period at all and thinking you may b pregnant each time. i have been so nauseated, and my vision has been so blurry. i hate this pill and after reading everyone else. i am going to stop taking it TODAY.

I've been on Femcon for about a month now, and so far so good. I started out on OrthoTriCyclen which made me vomit several times a week, so, strike one. Then went to Yasmin, which was okay, but decided to switch to Seasonique (sp?) for the convenience of a few periods a year, but it made the skin peel off my face at an alarming rate. I was then switched to Yaz, that was great except for one thing: It stole away any sex drive I may have had--no good. Because of this, my doctor switched me to Errin-a progesterone based mini pill-which did give me back my sex drive, but also made my acne horrific, the skin on my scalp peel off, and my breasts painful. Needless to say, it has been a long and difficult struggle with the world of oral contraceptives, so here's hoping that Femcon works out for me!

was put on this femcon after not getting regular periods with karvia/mircette. lasted 1 1/2 packs and have had enough. everything hurts as if i have the flu, in the morning i have such pain in my heels it hurts to stand and i didn't have it before starting the femcon. the headaches are constant all day long. starting taken then at night which made getting out of bed in the morning hard with all the pain throughout the entire body. last night i didn't take one, slept well and no headache until midday about an hour after taking the pill... i just got my old prescription refilled.

So my doctor put me on Femcon after I had been bleeding for almost 4 weeks straight. I started the pack on a Sunday like he had instructed and everything was working just fine.... about a week after I started the pill I began getting nauseous. I skipped a pill because it dropped down the drain the next day I started my period which didn't start light but instead started heavy from the start. The next day I was changing my pad every hour as I was soaked. I went to the emergency room and they told me to go to see my Dr. When I got home I went to use the restroom and had a blood clot plop out about the size of cell phone... it was huge. I went to see my doctor and he is putting me on a different heavier hormone pill to see if I can get my bleeding under control. I am still having very heavy bleeding however and it's so draining. Just thought I would share with everyone.

I just started my second pack of Femcon FE a couple days ago. I switched over from Yaz because my GYN said underweight girls need higher dosage pills because they lack estrogen producing pills. The yaz made me incredibly depressed and i started getting panic attacks so i decided to try it out. So far i have not had mood swings or panic attacks. YAY!! And i have been quite horny ^_^. Unfortunately i think i am starting to break-out. I have always had acne problems but when i first switched to Femcon FE my really large blemishes (cystic acne?) disappeared in a couple of days. Now i am getting a bunch of little tiny red bumps which i have never had before. Like i said it is my second month on femcon so i am not sure if that is what is causing it but i am going to keep an eye on it because i was given birth control to clear up acne, not make it worse. Also, i just washed my face with the same cleanser i always do and it is burning now...odd. Hopefully this clears up because i am definitely enjoying Femcon more than my previous pill.

The only side effect I had is a mild head ache from time to time. Femcon FE has worked wonderfully for me. I used to have cramps that were so severe I'd pass out while throwing up or I'd be miserable for an hour while throwing up. I feel bad that it didn't work as well for everyone like it did for me, though I'm noticing that the symptoms people are listing as side effects are natural ones from the hormone change during the menstrual cycle. Perhaps more women should be educated thoroughly about their bodies BEFORE they are given a pill.

This is just my 3rd week with Femcon and soon to be my last. I am turning into Nazi bitch from hell. At first, I thought it was just the stresses of life building up but then began feeling resentful toward my husband and like a postal worker with my coworkers. I had to get up and walk away. I felt like the kid from Jerry Maguire that says "You talk too much". I just don't care or want to hear about the drama! Feel me? To boot, I feel overwhelmed with housekeeping, taking care of my children, and life in general. I am a very mellow person but I honestly thought I was gonna have a breakdown. After a good cry, and finding this website and others with similar experiences, I don't feel crazy. Plus, today in the third week of my cycle, I started spotting. Not understanding what that's all about.

I stuck with FemCon for about six months...and I am stopping after this pill pak. My doctor raved about this pill, telling me there are fewer side effects than any other pill on the market. For me, this was the wrong pill. My headaches have become so frequent that I actually had to go to a neurologist who told me that this could be a trigger (as could many birth control pills). I have also gained weight, which never happened with any other pill, and my sex drive is down to zero. I have been on birth control for years and I am going to take a break per the doctor's orders. Good luck everyone :)

I have been on Femcon for around 4 years. My sex drive was very intense before taking this pill. I have had no sex drive since starting the pill. We have struggled to figure out what the problem is to no avail. I just decided to look up side effects of Femcon, and noticed all the symptoms are the same. I saw only a few with diminished sex drives. Is everybody experience diminished sex drive as a result??

This pill was prescribe to me to reduce the bleeding and pain cause by fabriods. This is my 2nd package and I am stopping this pills. I have no sex drive at all. I feel like dead in the sex department. My stomach it gotten so big that I can't wear my pants. I have gain about 6 pounds in the pass 2 months. I work out 5-6 days a week and eat healthy. I will find other alternatives to deal with the fibroid pain, but I won't use this pill any longer.

I've been on Femcon for almost a year and let me tell you it has been an absolute emotional rollercoaster for me! The first few months I experienced, headaches and nausea. Then I started experiencing severe mood swings, severe bloating, gas, followed by a very low sex drive. This is tearing up my relationship with my boyfriend and it is affecting everything else!! I'm going to speak with my doc to switch.

I have been on multiple birth control pills. I started off with Yaz a year ago. After three months, I started getting horrendous headaches. They eventually got so bad I had to go to the hospital for throwing up so much due to the headaches. They found the problem to be Yaz. I changed to Loestrin, and I never felt better. Yaz also gave me severe mood swings and such. On Loestrin, I felt great, I didn't gain too much, and I was in control of my periods. Around five months, however, I started bleeding constantly. It turns out I needed a higher dosage, so my obgyn wanted to put me on femcon to see how I would do. I'm two months in now, and I am losing my mind. The mood swings are INSANE! My poor boyfriend, he has to put up with it all. I've gained ten pounds, I'm always hungry and I'm angry or depressed all the time.. I can't wait to schedule an appt to go back to loestrin (I'll just get it in a higher dosage). Reading this article helped me 'cause now I know I'm not going crazy XD

And since taking Femcon FE it seems like my hair is falling out by the hand fulls but only in the shower is any one having this problem too?But i have been very stressed lately i don't know if stress makes your hair fall out or not?can someone please help with that?

I am nineteen years old and I have been on Femcon for about a year and think it's pretty great, actually. I honestly think that bad reactions to birth control happen on an individual basis. The medication will do different things to different people. I wanted to gain some weight (especially in my chest), which influenced my decision to go on birth control, but femcon did not make me gain any weight at all. So, my boobs aren't any bigger, but at least I'm not going to get pregnant!

I've always had fairly clear skin, so I couldn't say if that has been affected.

The only difference that I've noticed is that my sex drive is lower. I went off of femcon for a month to see what would happen to my body and my sex drive went through the roof. My mind was on sex all of the time; every guy was attractive. I'm not flat lined sexually when on the pill by any means, it's just under more control---I suppose this could be a good or bad thing depending on how you look at it.

I think that in a few months I am going to switch to a different pill because while femcon was convenient when I couldn't swallow pills last year, now I can swallow pills and the mint taste of femcon makes me nauseous sometimes to the point of not wanting to take it at the right time.

I hope this helps!

been on the femcon for 2 months and seems like i start my cycle about a wk-wk 1/2 after the last cycle. is this normal
please help!!

well i started taking femcon after i had a horrible experience on an emergency morning after pill. a week after i had taken plan B, i had horrible abdominal pain and blood clots for two weeks where i was in constant pain everyday. i went to a gynecologist and she put me on Femcon which i started taking that same day. for two weeks i had no side effects but on the third week i started feeling uncomfortable. its been a week and the same thing has started to happen. horrible lower abdominal pain, blood clots. i had already gone to my regular doctor who did some tests and told me i was anemic from bleeding so much before. i decided to stop taking the pill but the pain is still there and so is the bleeding... i don't know what to do. im pretty much desperate and i don't know if i should just go to an emergency room or what should i do, all i want is for this nightmare to be over :-(

I have been taking Femcon for two months now. I did not experience any nausea, emotional outbursts or any other crazy side effects. I have been a many other pills before, and I always tolerate it all them well. I did notice that I gained about 7 lbs in the last two months or so. After reading the posts on this website I automatically attributed the weight gain to the bill. I have numerous friends who are either physicians and/or residents so I decided to inquire about this. My friends and MY DOCTOR assured me that the weight gain is not caused by bc. I also did some online research and found the same thing. You need to control ur appetite instead of taking the easy way out and blame the pill. I do, however have spotting with this pill that I never experienced before. My doctor told me that I need to give it at least 4 months to see how my body will tolerate any bc. I will wait and see.

i'm still only on my first week of femcon and am hoping it stays as wonderful as it is now. I have not had any of these side effects, funny thing is..I had all those side effects prior to taking this..but not this week. Less anxiousness, i used to have lumps in my breasts all month..now they're soft like they should be, my skin seems the same..only thing i noticed is I did get a little red bump on my forearm that hurt but went away and then i noticed another on my breast..painful to touch but not raised at all. but they are both almost gone. the only thing i am concerned about is two time now in 3 days when i used the bathroom this clump of mucus with blood in it poured out of me..it was the most disgusting thing ever. I don't know what it is..I figure I'll wait it out a little while longer. otherwise, excellent birth control.

I have been on Femcon for 2 months now, I take it as directed. I am so disappointed. I continue to bleed, but dark brown every week. Is this normal, it is however annoying. I should not be getting my periods for another 2 weeks, has anyone experienced this with Femcon. Other than that i could never find a perfect time a day to take them, i am always sick to my stomach after this pill

I have just finished my first pack of Femcon. After reading the postings on this forum, I was terrified to try it at first! I have always taken Yasmin, ever since it came on the market, and I was very satisfied with it. My GYN however thought I should be having lighter periods with less cramping, so he put me on Femcon (samples) to give it a try and if I don't like it I can go back to Yasmin.
I have not become a mutant like most people here are posting. I have not had crazy side effects or anything scary. I did notice more water retention and sore breasts with Femcon, especially during the third week, but not much more. I get really bloated with Yasmin too, but it's different and doesn't affect my breasts. Headaches are normal for me, nothing out of the ordinary.
So far my period has been lighter (but I am only on day 2 so I will report back) but the cramping has been very bad. Worse I think than with Yasmin. Most importantly, I AM NOT PREGNANT!!!
I will give Femcon another month, as I still have another sample package, and then make my final decision. But I would suggest people try it and see, everyone reacts differently to hormones. So far I am just fine!

Hi,
I started taking Fem Con about four months ago. I had terrible headaches at first, but they went away. One thing that is a little scary is that my eye feels almost blurry. I have asked my doctor about this, been sent for MRIs and CAT scans--the works, and thank goodness they are all fine. But I found it a little odd that the eye blurriness started at the same time I started taking synthroid and FemCon. Anyone else experience this?

I am menopausal. I am 52 years old and was experiencing bleeding every day, thinking my period must be ending soon.. But to my surprise, it didn't. My doctor ruled out endometriosis and cancer, etc. through testing. So she prescribed Femcon. Femcon stopped the bleeding almost immediately. I have been on Femcon for about 8 months. I experience excruciating headaches. Normally, I do not have headaches. Also dizziness and palpitations. Also unexplained weight gain and depression. My skin became sensitive to the sun and I began to experience little dry itchy patches on my back that have not healed. As well, I cannot wear necklaces around my neck as I develop a scratchy rash. I started to rationalize what is better, bleeding or all these side effects. So last Sunday, I finished my pack and I took the last pill. I was wondering if anyone has experienced side effects from the withdrawal of Femcon? I have had a headache most of this week and last night it kicked into high gear and I still have it. I started bleeding slightly again. Just curious if anyone has dealt with side effects after stopping taking it and what the side effects were and for how long did they last?

Hi Everyone, I am so happy i found this site. I feel just a little better that maybe this Femcon Fe is prob working the right way. Doctor had told me I has polycystic cysts on my left and right ovary so he put me on Femcon Fe. I am 30 years old and I was never on any type of birth control pill in my life (this would be the first time). I have been on this pill for almost a month now. A month ago when i went tomy GYN he had said that the pill would help stop the bleeding (prior to this I had been bleeding for maybe a month). A few days later I did stop bleeding but a few days before dec 26 I had been spotting (on and off). On Dec 27th I started bleeding (my period i guess), its Jan 5th now and I am still bleeding...and cramping (been cramping everyday). I feel as if I am bleeding a lot, been changing my pad a lot. I don't know if this is because I just started this pill and it may change later or what? I panic so much about things like this...is anyone having these same effects or had?

I have been on Femcon for three months now, and I am ready to call it quits. I thought the minty freshness would help me remember to take it-- which it did. Yet, that's been its only positive attribute. I have had yeast infection after infection, sore breasts, and vaginal dryness. I also cramp for about 4 days before I start the brown pills, and start spotting about two days befrore. Emotionally, I feel numb-- except for when I start to cry for no reason. I have to struggle to get myself to do anything. It's awful. I have one white pill left. After that, I'm calling it quits.

I have been on FemCon for almost a month now. I was on Othro Tryclene before, but due to have Polycystic Ovaries, the doctor changed my pill. He told me that it would help shrink the cysts and help with the pain. This it did do, so far, however I am so agitated all the time, I want to scream. For Thanksgiving I snapped at my best friend, who now won't talk to me. My mom called last night and I felt like I wanted to rip her head off, but did not know why. My boyfriend is always on edge. My son doesn't want to be in the same room with me half the time. I do not like this feeling. I started having a thick white discharge yesterday, at first thinking that starting a new pill and having my hormones changing caused a yeast infection, but there is no itching or burning. I have suffered with a migraine for the past week and every night get a headache after taking the pill. I get so thirsty before bed I feel like I could drink a gallon of water, I thought it was just me, but I read other people had that problem. I am dizzy most of the day and feel like I am coming down with the flu or morning sickness. I have had problems with nausea and diarrhea from the cyst and since taking this pill, it has gotten worse. This pill was supposed to help, but seems as though things are worse. I plan on calling my doctor Monday morning because I cannot live this way.

After suffering from severe cramps and heavy bleeding for several years I decided to go to the doctor to see if I might possibly have endometriosis. He put me on Femcon in hopes of getting the pain and bleeding under control. I immediately noticed side effects from this medication. Much of what many of you are posting. I had constant tenderness and discomfort in my breasts, vivid/realistic nightmares, weight gain and most of all severe moodiness and irritability. I felt angry and hostile three weeks out of every month. Not a pleasant situation for me or the people around me. After two months of this, I called my doctor to possibly switch to something else. His response: exercise, high protein diet and Prozac as needed. I have been on a high protein diet for the better part of 20 years and have been exercising regularly all my life. As I am already on Paxil, albeit an extremely low dose (6.25mg-half of a 12.5), I found the Prozac part of his solution to be questionable. Number one, I don't believe in over medicating. Number two, it is my understanding that with antidepressants like Prozac, you have to take them consistently to achieve the desired effects. Having been on Prozac in the past, I was not willing to go back on it for any reason. I continued to take the Femcon for two more months with no relief of the side effects. Two days ago I went to a different doctor who put me on the generic version of Ortho Tri-Cyclen. It's been almost two weeks that I have been off the Femcon and I literally feel like a new person. The Femcon did great with controlling the pain and bleeding. However, that was no longer worth the negative side effects I had been experiencing on a daily basis for the last four months. I agree with many of you. The negative and/or positive effects will be individual. This is just my experience with it.

I have been on Femcon for about a month. I didn't get my period last month and this month (I just started my 2nd pack of pills Sunday) my nipples hurt. I guess that is normal with this pill. My face has seemed to clear up and my sex drive seems to be getting stronger but who knows what that is due to. I started taking this pill because of PCOS due to an IUD I think. Not sure if this pill is working yet but so far I don't have anything really bad to say about it! HJ.

I have been on Femcon FE for over a year now. First of all EVERYONE reacts different to ALL medications! Second, you need to know your body and its problems before you start a new medication. Third, it takes a while for your body to adjust to a new medication....give it time. Femcon has treated me just fine. I've never had any "side effects". I am emotional.........but that's just me and how I am built..........not the pills. My hair is falling out but it is due to a hormonal imbalance from Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. I have heart palapations but I was diagnosed with Mitral Valve Prolapse four years ago. I have gained weight but I've also lost, gained and lost again within the past year. All of that being said.....I absolutely love Femcon!!!

I am a 27 year old who has been on birth control for the past 11 years. I was on Ortho Tri Cyclen for the majority of that time until my sophomore year of college when the doctor suggested I switch to the "shot". Depo Provera caused me to bleed continuously for several months on end and I was then switched back to pills by my new gynecologist. He placed me on a generic form of the ortho which again worked wonders for several years. At 25, I started bleeding constantly from the generic and was switched to several Loestrin 24 which completely stopped the breakthrough bleeding... initially. After a year of it, we were back to constant bleeding. The ONLY side effect I have ever experienced from birth control is breakthrough bleeding. I moved cities and with a new town came a new doctor who thought Femcon might work. I was prescribed it in May and have been taking it for nearly 6 months. Over that time I have been so happy with it as there is no bleeding except when there should be. That is until I read today that my increased anxiety (I have a diagnosed anxiety disorder to begin with), vivid, realistic nightmares, and 15 lb weight gain could be caused by this pill. I am getting married in January and my dress barely fits at this point because of the weight gain. I go to the gym 5 days a week for cardio and weight training yet keep getting fatter... I thought I was stressed out by the wedding and that is what was causing my emotional imbalance... I really thought I was losing it. I just called my gyno and left a VM asking if this could be the reason... Don't quit taking a birth control based on other peoples reports, they are all going to react differently to different people and all meds come with an initial side effect that goes away once your body is accustomed to having that hormone or chemical in it. Initial nausea is common... I have always had it when I started a new medication, especially birth control. It goes away after a couple of weeks. Will keep you posted.

I posted other things about femcon before .I bin taking it for about a week and i hate it .Not only I had the side effect i metchion but i think im lousing weight and i cant sleep . and im break out on other places besides my face.

well i've been reading all the replies on FemconFE and to be honest i have a lot of these symptoms that i have never experienced before. well it started a weeks ago that i started noticing bad symptoms. i've been on femcon for a month and a week and i have mood swings,insomnia,hot flashes,dizziness, nausea, severe stomach pain, and worst of all...heart flutters. when i was born i was diagnosed with a heart murmur...well at 8 years old it was lessened to a heart flutter. i haven't had problems with my heart since i was 16. no even the birth of my daughter affected me. but since being on this i can't even drive, clean my house, let alone take care of my 14 weeks old daughter. i'm calling the doctor in a few hours when they open and hopefully he'll take me off of this

I never had normal periods my entire life. I didn't have my first one until I was 17 and then I only had one every 3 months or so. My first doctor put me on ortho lo and I was on that for 2 years. My periods were extremely heavy and would last up to 3 weeks sometimes but I had no other side effects. I stopped taking ortho and had one period 3 months later and then nothing. I was in college and working and basically put my health on hold. I got married and when we started talking about kids I wasn't even sure I could have any. I'm 25 and in the past 3 years I've had one period. I went to another doctor and she gave me a pill to start my period and then I was to start taking Femcon Fe.She said if I didn't have my periods now I would eventually lose the ability to carry a baby. So I've been on Femcon for the past three months now. I bled the entire first pack and 3 days into my second one. It varied daily as to how heavy the flow was. I called the doctor and she said to keep taking them and that if they were too heavy to take Advil and that would slow it down. My last period was good. Lasted 4 days and was normal. There are other side effects though. I'm more emotional now than I've ever been in my entire life. I'm usually a pretty happy, go with the flow kind of person but now I find myself wanting to snap at people, I get depressed and cry for no reason. I love to cook but now the smell of certain foods (especially meats cooking) makes me nauseous. I get sick just driving by fast food places. Needless to say I have a loss of appetite. I did notice that I had some acne but I started to use Pro Activ so thats not a issue now. I have another doctors appointment in a few weeks so I'll see how things are going there before I decide if I want to change pills or not.

I have been taking FEMCON for 8 months now...and for some reason I never put my weight gain of 8 pounds and the pill together. I noticed the gain after 3-4 month's and could do NOTHING to get it off. Its been to the point where I joined Jenny craig which works for everyone and work out, tried low carb......everything and never ever did a pound come off. I don't know what else to attribute it to . I had a blood test and it was normal......so no endocrine problems as a cause.
Anyway-- if anyone had this side effect as well, how long did it take when you go off of it to start losing some of the weight? I am at the end of my rope here with trying to even drop a single pound. It's impossible! I just stopped taking the pill 2 days ago, I am hoping I see some results!