Loestrin 24 Fe and cramps

My mom actually put me on Loestrin24 back when I was 17 because I had always had severe cramps that would keep me home from school 3 days in a row each month. (I loved it, she didn't.) They were horrible and my period lasted at least 7 days at a time. I had minor acne and break outs beforehand but noticed that once I got into the routine of taking Loestrin daily, my acne has fluctuated to absolutely unbearable and back to just fine in a matter of a few days. Also, I've been really "mean", apparently, since I started it (according to my fiance). I think my very worst complaint would have to be the vaginal dryness during sex and lack of sex drive. Before I was on the pill, I used to want to have sex every day! I don't know if those were teen-hormones playing their part, or what but since I've started taking Loestrin I've had zero sex drive and it really does feel like a chore. It has started to take its toll on my relationship. I cannot stay lubricated during sex at all and quite frankly, it's embarrassing as well as making me feel bad that my fiance thinks he cannot keep me excited. I am blaming Loestrin and am strongly considering telling my doctor to put me on something a little less harsh. I'm glad I'm not crazy and that a lot of other women are experiencing the same side effects as I am. (Oh, and on top of that, mind blowing migraines.)

I work for an OBGYN and I was getting samples of Ortho Tri Cyclene Lo, and had been on it for 2 years due to my cysts rupturing. Well Ortho went generic and we no longer carried it in the office and i was recommended to just try Loestrin before going to pay for an RX of my ortho. Well im in my 2nd week, and grant it i KNOW they say wait 3 months before you decide to switch but i CAN NOT take this any longer. Ortho gave me no problems, maybe cramps a few times out of the year, and with those, some heavy periods, which is normal for any pre-menopausal woman. Other than that it was great! No loestrin is almost giving me the same problems as Yaz did... yet Yaz was far worst, i am now experiencing moodiness, manic and depressive mood swings, uneasiness, nervousness, constipation, tiredness, and it really does not help that i am also in full time college while experiencing all of these side effects. I think the 35 dollars a month for ortho may just be well worth the price.

I began taking this pill in August 2009, to prevent pregnancy. I am nineteen years old. In the first month, my sex drive increased, I had no "breakthrough bleeding" or spotting, no mood swings that I could tell...everything seemed fine. My doctor put me on this pill because I told her I wanted a pill that wouldn't make me go crazy. This is the first bc pill I've ever been on, and hopefully the last. Let me put it this way: before I got on Loestrin 24 Fe, I actually WANTED to have sex. I had a sex drive. I have absolutely NO SEX DRIVE now. Sex is a chore. What's the point of taking a pill that enables you to have sex without the risk of being pregnant, if you completely lose interest in having sex anyway? I'm extremely frustrated. Over the past two months (I'm now on my fourth pack) I have been extremely fatigued, depressed, and especially anxious. I also have a blistering headache 90% of the time, I kid you not. Additionally, my blood pressure has gone way down, which makes no sense, as I am a very active and healthy person. This pill is literally deteriorating my mental and physical health. I refuse to put these pills, or any bc pills, in my body any more. I would much rather deal with the terrible cramps and heavy periods that I had before. And I still experienced bad cramps while on the pill anyway. I'm sticking with condoms.

wow, I feel a little better reading everyone elses comments. I've been kind of freeking out. I started Loestrin 24 Fe 3 weeks ago because my period was really irregular (I went as long as 8 mos without getting it). I've been getting side effects ever since starting the pill... for about a week my breasts were so tender I didn't know what to do, wearing a bra really hurt and not wearing hurt bc my nipples were really sensitive. Then I was really nauseous and started vomiting. I've been really moody and cry out of nowhere and have been spotting basically since i started the pill. NOW I've been bleeding heavily with very bad cramps for the past 6 days and it hasn't let up at all. I've basically been freaking out because my period wasn't supposed to start until a couple of days from now and I was starting to get worried it wouldn't stop. After reading everyones comments I'm going to call my doctor for other options bc this is ridiculous... I hate being irregular but i don't want to wind up having my period for practically the whole month along with all the other side effects that go along with it. Anyone looking to start this pill... DON'T, and those already on it, good luck.

I started taking Loestrin24 Fe in July...At this point I'm on my 4th package....The first 2 months, I missed my periods (even though I had some bleeding but not when I was taking the placebo pills). I would usually get some bleeding on the 2nd of week of active pills. My third month was normal, I was so happy. Unfortunately, now I am on my 4th pack and 15th day onto it, I have some really heavy bleeding with terrible cramps (cannot deal without taking pain killers). Today is my 3rd day of bleeding and really bad cramps which makes me really scared.....Don't know what to do...Any suggestions???

I'm 43 years old and had a baby 5 months ago. I decided to go back on the pill and have been doing a lot of research about the "right" pill. My gyno recommended Loestrin 24 FE because of the low hormones/less effects. I was scared to death to start this pill based on all of the horrible reviews I've been reading. So, I thought I'd report on my experience so far... It's been two weeks and so far so good. I haven't noticed anything dramatic so far. I will give it more time and see how it goes. Hopefully it continues working well. I have a feeling this pill is better for women in their 40's who are peri-menopausal. Maybe the estrogen is too low for the younger women, I don't know. I'll continue to post comments as I stay on the pill. I value these reviews, but remember, everyone's body is different. So far this is working for me but again, it's only 2 weeks. Hope you find thi helpful.

I am an active teenager and i got this birth control because i get really bad cramps and a steady boyfriend. I got my period as normal the first month then skipped four months without getting my period. i thought i was pregnant because my stomach feels totally weird almost like a little bulge where my bladder is located. Has anyone else's stomach felt weird, or different then normal? it's not that i look fatter just different. i took a pregnancy test and was not pregnant and i ended up up getting my period the 6th month of being on this. i am just wondering if this is normal?

I am on my 3rd pack, 2nd week. My doctor prescribed this when I complained of heavy and painful periods, and also bleeding in between periods. The first month I started taking this, I had "breakthrough bleeding" that was more like a light period, for 2 weeks BEFORE my actual period. Yes, I was bleeding for 3 weeks out of the month.

The second month, there was "breakthrough bleeding" again, this time 1 week before my actual period. So I was bleeding for a total of 2 weeks of the month. Now I'm on my third month (because they say to give your body 3 months to adjust). After my period this time, I had light spotting for 2 full weeks, whereas I didn't the prior 2 months. Then today I started bleeding again, only it was more than just bleeding: it feels like a real period with cramps. I wasn't prepared and basically had an accident. I only JUST had my real period 2 weeks ago.

I seem to be bleeding more often now than before I started on Loestrin, so now I'm wondering why I'm doing this to myself. Should I just suck it up and take Midol during my periods and forget about these bc pills altogether?

I've been on Loestrin for about 4 or 5 months. I didn't even have a period last month and haven't gotten one this month (I'm not pregnant). I had some breakthrough bleeding the first month and second months, but none anymore. I take Loestrin because of debilitating severe cramps and I haven't had any in months after starting this pill. The only problem I've been having is that I get extremely nauseous when I eat anything. The funny thing is that I get super hungry a little while later and the vicious cycle starts over. I don't know if it is because of this pill. I had extremely low blood pressure before taking it, so it could be because of that.

I am so happy I read all these posts! I have been on Loestrin 24 Fe for about 7 months now and I thought I was going crazy! After the first 3 months on it I was extremely depressed and usually I'm a very outgoing person. I called my doc and he said that usually after 3 months things will get better. So I waited and for a month things were find but then everything got so much worse then they were. I would get depressed about everything and think the craziest things which in turn made me think the craziest things. Also I always thought I was pregnant because I felt nauseous and lost my appetite and for a whole month 2 months ago my boobs were sore. This is my first bc and so I wasn't really sure what to expect. Well after reading all the posts I know I am not crazy! I am a very happy out going person but since using this pill i've been the complete opposite! As of today I am no longer using this pill! I'd rather have my horrible cramps and heavy periods then deal with feeling like I have been!

Thankyou for posting all these indepth reviews. I spent more than an hour going through each one of them, they gave me a much better insight into the drug that I am taking - Loestrin 24 Fe.
I have been put on these to correct my heavy periods, I have been taking these since about a month and a half. I have never been on a birth control pill before. I noticed that I had difficulty in wearing my contacts the first month and attributed this to the pills since its a major side effect listed with using the pill. I spoke to my Ob/Gyn about this but she asked me check with my eye doctor first. But it just so happened that I never got a chance to visit an eye doctor.The problem ceased to exist when I changed my contacts, so I am assuming that it had nothing to do with the BC pills. Other than that during the first month I had headaches, which went away on their own, guess my body got used to the pills. The third side effect that I noticed in the second month (now) is the spotting (never saw that the first time around). Its not that bad but its definitely annoying. Other than that I haven't really experienced any other side effects. I have never been sexually active so cannot really comment on the libido part. My bleeding has decreased to almost one-half of what it used to be and I don't get the bad cramps that I used to get before, so this pill definitely seems to be doing what my doctor said it would do. Other than the spotting, I don't have any complaints with the pill. I haven't monitored my weight so thats one thing I will have to take a look at. Hopefully I wont have any other side effects, if I do I will make sure that I post them.

Good luck to all the ladies in finding the right pill............

I'm 21 years old and I have had the WORST experiences with Loestrin24 Fe. DO NOT TAKE THIS SATANIC PILL. Seriously. This was the first birth control I was ever put on. My doctor put me on it because she said the low dose of estrogen would help my bad cramps (but I really think she was just trying to promote this new pill...because when I started it it was still pretty new). I started this pill before I turned 21, this past March, and for the first few months the only things I noticed were spotting when I didn't take it at the EXACT time everyday (which I soon set an alarm for and did take it at 9 am daily) and also, my breasts definitely got bigger and I didn't have as many breakouts as I used to. I also experienced being really depressed and upset for no reason or being really angry for no reason. After a few months, I started to get headaches a lot more often, have vivid weird dreams that I would remember the next day, I had trouble going to sleep at night (insomnia)...and I looked these up to see if they were symptoms of this pill...and they are. The worst was when I PASSED OUT the day I started my new pack of pills 2 months in a row! I just went to my doctor and had several tests done and they said that they were not positive, but it is a possibility that the passing out was related to my birth control. I passed out the day after the 4 placebo/iron pills (that I did not take, which could have also been a factor) which was the day I started my new pack...when your estrogen shoots up. I take my pills at 9 am and I passed out around noon in both cases. I switched to another birth control last month, but now I am completely off of birth control because the new pill made me lose my appetite and I just do not want to deal with putting these things into my body. I do NOT recommend this birth control to ANYONE. This pill should not be prescribed, especially after reading about how a large percentage of women have such awful experiences with this pill. I'm so excited to be DONE with Loestrin24 Fe and done with birth control in general. To me, birth control is not worth feeling awful all the time and having weird side effects when I could be living problem-free otherwise. I just wanted to share my thoughts and experiences and I hope that perhaps others will have better experiences with this pill than most of us seem to be having!

At 32 years old, this is my first experience with birth control and I have to say that I'm completely miserable. I'm eleven days into my first pack of pills, have been bleeding (like my regular period, maybe even worse!) since Tuesday, and decided this morning that i'm DONE. I'm taking this pill for contraceptive reasons only - and if I keep taking them, I won't need them anyway because my boyfriend will surely have dumped me. I'm moody, I'm tired, I have headaches, I can't sleep, my cramps are horrible today (and I've never had cramps in my life), and this out of control blood loss is a little concerning. I called my doc's office yesterday to see if I can stop abruptly, and they told me to finish the whole pack and THEN stop - but I cannot take one more day of this nonsense. My biggest concern with stopping midway through my pack is that I'll be really screwing up my cycle, but something is definitely already screwed up, so how much worse can if really get? Does anyone have any experience with just stopping birth control abruptly, and if so, what should I expect? THANKS!

I have been on Yasmin for 5 yrs now and was diagnosed with a heart condition at 16 yrs old and dealt with it for 2 years, I started have really bad cramps and going 2-3 months with no period and 2 months of straight bleeding! I came off of Yasmin (Yaz) 6 months ago and since then have come off my heart medication and have had no other problems with my heart. I changed from Yasmin to Ortho Tri Cyclin and have experienced severe cramping heavy bleeding and horrible low back pain! My dr just proscribed me Loestrin, I'm gonna try it at least anything can be better than having a period for 2 months straight and severe pain!! Anybody had problems like mine on OTC?

i went and got a 3 month supply of Loestrin 24 Fe from my doctor about a year ago and have attempted to take it twice before, but i would quit taking it before it had even been a month the first 2 times because i would get my period a couple weeks early and it would be super heavy and i would get horrible cramps, and my period is usually light and i NEVER get cramps and i just didn't want to deal with it! So I finally sucked it up and took it for the third time. i just completed the pack and today i took my first sugar pill, but no period yet... i'm a little worried, but i'm going to the gyno next week to ask her about it. but yeah, lots and LOTS of nausea for me. also my breasts got bigger. i wear a DD cup as it is, and even that's getting small on me now, and i don't know what to do about it = / but the main thing that has been affecting me is i have been just really lethargic since i have been taking it. i've just been really lazy and i've definitely gained weight. but that may be just from not going to the gym and opting to stay at home and eat instead. i'm not really sure? but yes, two biggest things have been nausea, and a slight depression/laziness. i'm hoping it will go away by 3 months, or maybe i will switch to something else before then. any suggestions of what to take would be great. and also does anyone know if you can have sex while on the brown pills, even if you don't get your period?

I wanted to make sure I updated my post as I had a very bad experience with this birth control pill. I posted very serious suicidal thoughts, severe anxiety, no sleep, etc and after 5 days I called my doctor. He ran a few tests and noticed that I had developed a rash that I had paid no attention to. I was sent over to another doctor who confirmed that I was allergic to an inactive ingredient in the pill. My "side effects" were getting worse simply because the more I took the more I was reacting. I was immediately admitted to the hospital and given IV fluids to flush my body and shots to counter effect the allergic reaction. I have not taken bcp in over 15 years and there was no way to know about this in advance. I feel 100% better now, not taking any bcp at the moment and was thankful for the cramps that I woke up with this morning! : ) I guess from my story is make sure you are informed, I didn't call my doc, wanted to see if it would pass and was not aware of the "severe" side effects. I would have been told after day 1 to stop taking them had I been more informed. My experience is very unique and was in no way a direct result of the birth control pill name, but only of one of the inactive ingredients. Best of luck to everyone!

I am 17 years old, about to be 18, my fiance is my first and only sexual partner, and I am beginning to HATE loestrin. I have been on the pills for approximately a month and a week. When I first started them I would get extremely hungry and the more I ate, the hungrier I got. It was like a bad case of the munchies, not that I've ever smoked pot. But I was seriously eating anything and everything, even foods I didn't like. My stomach felt a little weird for the first couple days, but nothing too bad. Then I started taking the brown pills, and all hell broke loose. There were the cramps. Horrible, HORRIBLE, cramps, which I am still having 3 days after going back on the active pills. Cramps all through my lower abdomen and stomach, and the feeling that at any given moment my right ovary might drop out (which might actually provide some relief) I actually doubled over crying with the pain in the shower yesterday, and would have fallen and surely hurt myself if my fiance had not been in the shower with me and caught me before I hit the ground. Intense hunger. Followed by bought of nausea, that make me want to puke, but I can't. I am very, very, sensitive to smells. Perfumes, food, cologne, things that I formally found the smell appealing, now disgust me. My lower back, is KILLING me! I get dizzy spells, and lightheadedness frequently, and feel like I may black out. Most of the time I can get myself to a spot where I can sit down and let my body sort things out before I actually black out, but I'm waiting for the day I can't. I have been getting terrible, awful headaches that stay with me through most of the day. Sleeplessness. I had my "period" 3-4 days early, if you can call it a period. It was nothing more than a day and a half of light pink spotting and brown discharge that only showed up when I wiped, I didn't even need a pad. Now, we did start having unprotected sex (with the exception of the bc) at 5 or 6 days instead of 7, and I forgot to take my pills until 9-12 hours after I was supposed to a couple of times. Couple that with the lack of a normal period and all the side effects that could also be the side effects of early pregnancy, and I'm pretty worried. I would love to be a parent, as would my fiance, but I would have liked to have graduated high school first. If these symptoms turn out to be just the pill *** with my body, I would rather just take my chances either with a condom or no protection at all. Sometime in the next week or two I will probably be taking a pregnancy test as I am afraid to wait for my next period and continue the pills because if I am pregnant I know that it can cause damage to the fetus. If anyone has wound up pregnant while on loestrin fe please email me and let me know how you found out, and how things turned out. My email address is ****** Thank you so much for any help you can give a scared teen.

Reading your comments has really put my mind at easy. I'm 23 and on day 4 of my third pack. My first month I got a regular period, but I didn't get a period during my second month on the pill (which means that I am a little over a week late right now). In the past I have been on Ortho Tri Cyclen and Ortho Tri Cyclen Lo, and my period has always been on time. And in the 10 years that I've been having a period, it occasionally been early, but never late, and I have never once missed a period.

I've spend the last couple days terrified that I was pregnant (even though I have consistently been taking my pill at the same time every day), but this forum makes me feel a lot better. I think that I will still go out and take a home pregnancy test to be on the safe side, but hopefully my missed period is just my body's reaction to Loestrin.

I will give my body a couple more months to adjust to the pill, but if irregular, late or missed periods continue I am definitely going to switch birth control pills. It is not worth the anxiety of thinking I might be pregnant.

On the bright side, I haven't experienced any of the other side effects that you guys are mentioning. This pill has helped with my cramps, and I haven't experienced any change at all in my moodiness, energy level, acne, or weight.

I've been on Loestrin for four months now. Previously, I had a hormonal IUD, which was in for 2 months and I had it taken out because I had HORRIBLE HORRIBLE side effects. Cystic acne, had my period the whole time it was in, it stabbed my boyfriend when we had sex, made me incredibly depressed, I sobbed myself to sleep every night, and then the icing on the cake was when it started to slip out, but then got embedded in my cervix halfway through and caused me intense pain that wasn't helped at all by any pain medication, over the counter or under the table ;)

So then I switched to NuvaRing. I had that for two months. First it gave me a yeast infection. It also caused intercourse to be very painful, my boyfriend could feel it when we had sex, and I could feel it at all times. It also made me INSANE. I didn't trust anyone, was a total paranoid freak, and at one point I locked myself in the bathroom screaming and crying because I thought my boyfriend was trying to kill me. I was pretty close to actually hallucinating. I would describe my side effects with NuvaRing as similar to paranoid schizophrenia.

Then I was on Ortho Tri-Cyclen, which gave me a migraine every single day which once again was incurable by any drug. So I was only on that for a few days.

Since then I've been on Loestrin. I am not completely happy with it, but I've stuck it out because compared to side effects of other hormonal birth control, they've been relatively mild. If I miss a single pill, I'll get my period, but true to form, they only last three or four days at the most. Before I started birth control, I hardly ever got cramps, but on Loestrin I get pretty bad ones. The worst thing is my skin. When I wasn't on birth control, I had beautiful skin. Maybe the week before my period I'd get one pimple that cleared up quickly with spot treatment, but now I have between 10 and 20 big, red, angry pimples on my face at all times. I've spent literally hundreds of dollars on Proactive, Neutrogena SkinID, Mario Badescu, UV acne "zappers," and many many other face washes, lotions, masks, scrubs, etc, but NOTHING helps. The weird part is that for the first 2 months I was on Loestrin my skin was fine. It wasn't until the past month and this month that it's been a problem.

I'm going to wait it out for at least another 2 months to see if my body gets used to it and my skin calms down, but if these flare ups last longer than that I'm going to have to try something else. I don't want to unnecessarily switch pills because I've had such horrible results in the past that I'd kind of rather stick to the devil I know.

I would also estimate that once or twice a month, I get a killer migraine. I assume it's related to the Loestrin because I used to get them only once or twice a year. The only thing that helps with them is going to sleep, usually with the help of a couple Tylenol PM or 5 or 6 Benadryl or Dramamine. To give you an idea, the first month on Loestrin when I got a migraine, I took 2 Excedrin Migraine, 2 Excedrin Tension Headache, 2 aspirin, 4 Motrin, 2 Tylenol, 1 Aleve, AND 1 Percocet over the course of 6 hours, and it did not help ONE BIT. I hope that this will also improve over time.

Well I have been taking this pill for about a year and for the last months the side effects have gotten worse. At first I ignored them because I didn't realize they were indeed side effects. I am experiencing shortness of breath, numbness in my arms, mood swings, depression, hair loss, and this awful dark brown "stuff" instead of blood when my period is supposed to be on. I also now suffer from cramps and severe back pain that I never had before. I started taking the pills to prevent pregnancy and for lighter periods. But I would now have to agree it is hardly worth it!

Hi Everyone! I was the most terrified to take this. Once I started, I felt that my life was upside down. I would my sister weeping at 3am, swearing that I couldn't take it anymore- the depression, the cramps, the aches. I was either sad or angry all the time. I couldn't trust myself! I felt like my body was turning on me. I started reading this board and decided that if my side effects lasted longer than a month and I stayed as miserable as they were for the first 2 weeks, then I would quit. Well, now I'm on the 3rd week of the 2nd pack and I'm ok! A few days ago, I did have some light- REALLY light-spotting. When I first saw it, I thought I was going to have my period for a whole month, like I did when I started. But its already gone! When I started the brown pills last time, (technically when my "real" period was supposed to start) I had some cramping and fatigue, but nothing like what I had been feeling before I started. Sometimes, I still question my mood. My dreams are strange and vivid too. And I have had a little weight gain, but can't tell if its just me or the pills yet. Next week is when my 2nd period on the Pill is supposed to start. I'm anticipating it lasting only 4 days, and not being too heavy or painful. But, these could be pipe dreams.
I guess my advice would be to try to stick it out for the whole 3 months. I think my body's not quite as angry with me anymore, and I'm not quite as angry with everyone else! So, hopefully, it will stay this way...I'll keep you posted!

I have been on Loestrin for almost 2 weeks now. i am 23 and have two young children. This is the first bcp I've tried and so far it's been terrible!! I had a 10 day full blown period that just stopped yesterday with intense cramps. Today I'm feeling like I have the flu woth severe body aches/weakness and I am so light-headed that every time I stand up I almost black out. I have also had severe nausea, headaches, depression, thoughts of suicide, mood swings, insomnia and anxiety. I don't know if I'm going to be able to stick this out to see if it gets better.. I can hardly take care of my children! I'm starting to wonder if maybe I'm having some sort of allergic reaction. I'd think at this point I'd rather have my extremely painful 2 week periods back!!!

I believe that the biggest key to success with loestrin 24 is to wait it out! you have to give it at the very least 3 months to get in your system and really regulate and for your body to adjust!! i say this only because i have been on it going on 9 months and i love it! the first 6 weeks were horrible! headaches, spotting, back aches, chest pains, swollen feet, acid reflex, my face broke out, dry skin, i even found more hair in the shower than normal for about the first 3 weeks, but you name it, and its a proven side effect, i had it! i have a fever for about 11 days of between 101-103!!! but my obygn just kept telling me this was the pill for me and i though the had lost his ****** mind!! but i did stick it out! all the side effects started to disappear around the beginning of the 3rd month. and so did all the spotting and my period completely!! wow! im 21 and no mood swings, no average side effects of a periods, nothing.. nadda!! its amazing! this is the only bcp i have been on! and i wouldn't change it for anything! but let me remind you, im not on the pill to prevent me from getting pregnant, i have endometriosis!! this is extremely common in white females!! my obgyn said i developed it between the age of 11-14 ( i started my periods when i was 10! and it went totally undetected for 11years! now, my mom always thought i was just a totally baby! but the pain and the blood clots i would pass when i was that young was so scary. but i never went to a obgyn til i was 20 and i had insurance, lived on my own and could afford to go. so now im so happy on the pill! there were times when i was younger that i would give anything to be punched in the lower back cause the pain was so bad! i couldn't stand, i would be walking and just fall to my knees cause the cramps would just take over. this happened at school a lot, but the day it happened at work i knew i had to do something! so they did a few months of blood test, 6 peps smears in about 2 months.. and a few other test and determined it had to be endometriosis!!! if you ever feel like your insides are tearing appart.. you need to ask your obgyn about testing you for endometriosis!!! *google it!!** anyways, back to the bcp, after the fifth month i was happy again, no pain, no more side effects, no moody-ness or random out breaks of tears!!! its amazing. i dating this one guy! and not having a cycle is sooooo wonderful. he loves that i don't have a cycle!! which means no "time of the month" crap to deal with!!! lol!!! i cant tell you how much i love being on this pill. OHHH i almost forget! you can now get your script with or with out insurance for just 24$ a month!!! no matter what! just to buy the pills like like 80 a month, with full coverage insurance ( which i have ) its still 60 a month. well i found this website and i called, answered a few questions and now i get it for just 24 a month!!! ask your obgyn for the info!!! amazing!!

I posted about 8 days ago singing the praises of this pill, and I kid you not, as of that day (the day after my nice light 3 day period ended) my period started again and it has NOT stopped. I have had lower back pain, dizzy spells, my skin is breaking out, bloating, cramps, CONSTANT hunger, and my moods have changed severely. I don't know if I am going to be able to stick it out for when things are supposed to get normal again.

I am 39 and started taking Loestrin because of a heavy period which I thought was a miscarriage. I have been taking it for 1 month now and woke up yesterday morning with severe back pain and cramps going down my thighs. I was unable to move all day and took more Ibuprofen than I should have. I have had cramps and bloating the whole month and have been taking the brown pills for 4 days now and just started bleeding today. I am unable to function normally with the back pain and my boyfriend wants to take me to the emergency room. Has anyone else had severe back pain? I have had 2 kids and it actually felt like I was having back labor pains. It was that bad. Please let me know.

I'm 27 years old and have been married for 2 years. In May I decided to get on female birth control for the first time in my life to regulate my 7 day period. The first month I felt like a mental patient, lol. I'm already an emotional person so when I started the pill I swore I would stop it. My nipples looked deformed because they were so swollen, I was depressed and nausea. I decided to stick it out because I wasn't taking it at the same time everyday. So I regulated myself with an alarm clock and the next month everything was wonderful. My period only last 4 days, and all of my symptoms were GONE!!! I'm now at the end of my fourth month and my period has come early which is freaking me out because I have never had an early period in my life. I've read about spotting on this product, but I haven't spotted EVER not even in the four months that I've been taking the pill. Other than my first month of horror and my recent early period everything else on loestrin has been wonderful.

My suggestion to women who are on their first pack is try to tough it out, you will feel horrible the first month but just apologize to whomever feels your rath and remember your body needs some time to adjust. I'm a victim of horrible menstruation, and so is my mom. Since I was 9 years old I used to get 14 days of cramps and 7 days of bleeding. I would pass out all the time on my period and my husband and family was very upset since he or others would find me blacked out at home, work, the salon, at the zoo, in the shower, and once my neighbor found me. Loestrin has DEFINITELY changed my life for the better, so stick out that first month ladies its worth it. I hope my experience helps other women who are scared and feel like the symptoms won't end.=)

I have been taking Loestrin 24 Fe for two weeks now. I hope that it gets better later. Since day one of the pill I have had cramps like I am in labor. It seems as soon as that pill hits my mouth and I swallow I get cramps. I used to go the gym daily. I don't go to the gym and I eat everything I see. I am now lazy and always tired. Please tell me this will go away.

I'm 18 and this is the first time I've ever taken birth control. I started taking the pill the day my period started. On that day I got extremely dizzy and completely passed out while I was on vacation. After I regained consciousness I was having horrible cramps, the worst I'd EVER had. I was in unbearable pain. I wasn't sure if that was caused by the pill so I decided to continue taking it. My period lasted for 8 days, when my doctor told me that it should have stopped almost immediately after taking the pill. After my period "stopped" I continued to have light bleeding every day. I'm almost on my third week and I started my period again. I am VERY emotional and irritated and getting extremely angry over small things. The side effects of this pill are horrible. I'm pretty sure I'm NOT taking this pill anymore.

Will I am 28 yrs old and was prescribed loestrin 24fe two months ago. I'm on my second pack as as we speak things are not good. Previously, I took orthotricyclen low for a few years with no problems. About a year ago I changed doctors and was them prescribed femcon; only took that for 2 months so. My doctor now decided to prescribe me loestrin 24 and every experience has been horrible. I've read the post as well as spoken with several friends that was taking the bcp but stopped because of the mood swings and spotting in between periods. During the first month I experience severe mood swings and was spotting after the second week of the pills; this has never happened with any other bcp in the past. My cycle actually lasted more than 3 days and was still on when I started the second pack. I'm currently on the second row and started spotting and clotting 3 days ago. I'm also experiencing bad cramping. I'm trying to wait it out and see if the third month would be better but I might just have to stop. My next visit with my doctor is in October and I'm going to ask for something else.

loestrin 24 made me gain 8 pounds in two weeks. it made my hunger uncontrollable, and my cramps have never been worse. It made me on my period for 9 days straight, and i bled through super tampons. I do not recommend it for anyone.

I've been taking Loestrin 24 FE for 2 days now and I've been so nauseous that I feel like I'm going to throw up, but I don't. This happens especially after I eat. I'm 41 years old and I've been concerned about taking a birth control pill in the first place. I have endometriosis which causes severe cramps during my period to the point that I'm sick in bed for two days. My doctor told me that this pill should help with this, but after reading these posts I'm not so sure. Is it worth sticking it out or stopping now and trying something else?

I have been on Loestrin for about a month and a half...my side effects have been everything under the sun....like, to the point that i thought I was pregnant..Getting Nauseous after eating..food doesn't sound good at ALL..don't want alcohol or cigarettes (which im very thankful for..the only good side effect )...my chest is CONSTANTLY sore..to the touch..I have cramps and no bleeding..back aches and head aches...and about half the time i have terrible mood swings..i definitely would not recommend this pill to anyone!!!!

-T.

I just finished my first month on Loestrin 24 fe. I have to admit, after reading online I was scared to start taking these pills after seeing some side effects. However, you have to keep in mind everyone is different and will react differently. So I prepared myself for any kind of weird things and side effects I may have. However, I have LOVED this pill so far. The only side effect I have had is my boobs have grown (which isn't so bad- ha ha). I think I have actually felt better on this pill as far as moods has gone. I used to have TERRIBLE cramps along with vomiting and backache. I would spend at least a few days a month in bed. Not to mention the week of hell before my period with PMS. But this first month on the pill I experienced none of what I normally would. My period came on the second day of the brown pills and lasted three days--very light too! I had no cramps and no PMS! I LOVE IT!!!

hey am 19 years old i been on this pill 3 years at first it done good took my periods from heavy to light and down to 3 days now. for the last 7 months they have been heavy again and this month i been on my period 2 times the first period lasted 6 days and now am on it again and its already been six days and doesn't seem like it wants to stop any time soon . and oh i been having the worst cramps ever! worse then when i first got on them and ALSO.! MY period comes after the brown pills. it starts on the last brown pill and goes on the white pills has anyone ever had that ?

i have read a lot of these posts 7 its kinda freaked me out b/c im currently taking loestrin & i jus finished my 1st pack. i have light to heavy spotting everyday. i know most females wil began 2 spot 1st when they are taking a birth control that can decrease your period. i also feel moody & sort of depressed but i feel other things in my life are causing that. my cramps aren't as ad as when im not on bc. my breast are tender to but no acne, acne has never been a problem for me, thank god!lol. ut the only think that really bothers me is the constant spotting! i was on the shot, depo-provera for 2 yrs. straight. u get the shot once every 3 months. i spotted at first for like a month & then it began 2 decrease & my period stopped all together but still had increase breast size, extreme weight gain, cramps(not unbearable ones), & the worst migraines. these are jus typical side effects of birth control. i liked the depo shot cuz i didn't have a period or had 2 remember 2 take a pill everyday but the side effects are probably not worth that bargain. the any birth control especially the shot that stops your period & you take it for years straight can make you sterile i have a cousin who had a few miscarriages b/c of it b/c the shot might not ware of from a month to a year causing sterility. the shot also can cause bone density. im just so fed up w/ irth control b/c they all have a bad side effect. i hope they can invent something w/ way less side effects because the negative out ways the positives with most if not all birth controls but i guess im gonna try loestrin for a while before i give up on it.

This is my second pack of Loestrin 24, and I am not sure if I like it..Last month was very light spotting, but not a TRUE period, and this month I didn't even get my period. I was on ortho low before, and my period was light as it is. My gyno recommended that I be put on Loestrin, as I was having a lot of stomach problems. NOW, I'm not even getting my period. Should I be worried? Reading everyones posts makes me feel a little better that we are sharing similar symptoms. I am cramping, and I feel like my period should be here, but it's not!

I know this is long, but I could really use your help, so I would appreciate you taking the time to read through to the end. (thanks :-) )

First, I want to thank everyone posting. I needed to read this stuff because I'm absolutely terrified of what's happening to me. I'm on the second week of my very first pack of Loestrin- my very first birth control pill EVER. I didn't want to start, but my OBGYN encouraged me to, once I told her I had 8 day long episodes of clots, cramping, vomiting and just sheer misery once a month. She said this would help if I'm sure to take it as recommended.

So I took the first one the Sunday after my period started, at 8:45am and have taken it religiously since. I have not changed my diet or routine. I exercise and eat fairly well. And there are no particularly stressful factors in my life. I am also quitting smoking- just down to 2-3 a day instead of 10 or 15.

Now that I've been doing this for 2 weeks, I think I would rather suffer what I had before. At least it was predictable! I have been bleeding for 5 days now. And this is NOT my time to be on my period. I'm sad and tired. I have back pain and on-and-off cramps. I have nearly no sex-drive. My boyfriend and I had sex at least 4 times a week and I masturbated on the nights we didn't. And although he is INCREDIBLY supportive, I can tell he feels lost and helpless around me. I don't want him to touch me, hold me, or even breathe on me! Normally, we are very affectionate and I am active and fun. Now, I just want to be left alone. I feel fat, unwanted, dirty, depressed...the list goes on.

I feel as though there is something seriously wrong with my body, because I shouldn't look or the feel the way I do or bleed like I am. I called the doctor and she said that I should give it till the end of the month. But 1 month is a long time to live with a depressed quality of life. 1 month is a long time to cry yourself to sleep with alcohol and Motrin.

I feel angry that the best the medical society can do is give us something that is trial and error, fully aware that it may hurt us, though temporarily, and make the lives of the people around us miserable. I am concerned the even my doc is in the pocket of some pharmaceutical company to give me a drug that she said would help and has only hurt.

Or maybe I'm just paranoid...

Anyone have any encouraging reasons why I should continue this? My sister, who was on Ortho for a while and DIDN'T like it, suggests that I stick out a little longer and I trust her opinion, but would like more. I'm open to suggestions or comments. (Especially if you know a way to stop my period so I spend less days of the month on it than I am on...)
Thanks :-)

I'm glad I found this site. I started taking these pills last month (June 09). I began experiencing spotting the second week of taking this pill and it never went away. I've had several of the other issues including unusual abdominal and leg pains and a fast heartbeat. I thought I was going to have to quit taking them. Now I'm thinking I should hang on a little longer. I just started pack two and this is day four. My period seems to still be on or maybe it's the spotting again though it seems heavier than last month. I was prescribed these pills to control heavy bleeding but I'm sure I've bled more in this last month than before. I also had the worst cramps I've ever experienced when I had three white pills left in the first pack. The next day my period started and then stopped going back to the spotting. So far, my period has been on for six days--the second and third days were very heavy and the rest relatively light. I think I'm going to stick it out for a couple more months just to see if my everything levels out.These pills are definitely "off the chain".

I just started my second pack of pill yesterday and I don't know if I like these pills. I am taking zoloft also for anxiety and my side effects are horrilble. I have had a hard time falling asleep (I literally have to lay in bed with my eyes closed for hours before falling asleep), I have terrible nigh sweats and wake up drenched in sweat, I sleep all day long, I have horrific nightmares which I never had before, and massive headaches.
I am not sure if I want to stay on the pill, I know it is only my second month and it takes a couple months to regulate but the side effects are ruining my social life. I feel like a zombie.
About the third week in my first pack i started spotting (or what I thought was spotting). It lasted 8 days, and my normal period was only 6 days. I bled just as much as on my normal period and has severe cramps as well. The only reason I got my 'period' was because I was about an hour off on taking my pill the previous day. It is pathetic.
Has anyone else had these symptoms? Or have any suggestions on better birth control pills.?
Oh and I am 18 years old.

I have been taking Loestrin 24 for almost a year and a half now. At first the pill seemed like a godsend because it offered me shorter periods and more time in between period. However, I have recently become sexually active with my boyfriend and the pill seems to have turned on me completely. In May, I experienced an alarmingly light period with barely any bleeding and almost non-existent cramps. I attributed it to stress at first, but took a home pregnancy test just to be certain. Thankfully, the test came back negative so I put it out of my mine for awhile.

The following month I yet again experience a period that was barely the equivalent of spotting. Alarmed, I went to see my gyno. She told me that barely to no bleeding is completely normal with Loestrin 24, which is something that she failed to tell me of before I began it.

Tonight is my second night of iron pills in my pack and I have yet to bleed at all. On top of that, this entire month I have been experiencing night sweats, headaches, abnormal weight gain, and extreme irritability towards my loved ones. I can barely even stand to talk to my boyfriend on the phone regardless of the fact that I know I love him very much.

Should I stop taking them? Is there any suggestions for better pills?

Okay. I have been on Yaz for the last year. I have been having horrible migraines. I have been told to switch from Yaz to something else. The doctor prescribed me Loestrin 24. Now, ever statement I read someone says they have had a lot of spotting. Is there anyone taking Loestrin and is not spotting? I am not sure if I should take this pill now?????? I also need to loose about 10 pounds from taking the Yaz. I am afraid that taking the Loestrin I will gain more........ I just don't know what to do.

I have been taking Loestrin 24 Fe for about 2 in a half months. I had started a period in the middle of my first set and they said that it would just take time..well i haven't had a period since. I have had UTI and pregnancy test and they were both negative. The doctors thought i was crazy and I felt helpless and thought it was because i hadn't taken them regularly enough. My symps were nausea/vomiting, yeast infection,sore/tender boobs, dry skin, cold sores, chapped lips, excess sweating (so much to where id wake up with wet hair), dizziness, rash,hair loss, depression, joint pain, horrible abdominal pain(like bad cramps),back pain, no appetite which i lost about 10 pounds in 2 weeks, headaches, and i hadn't had a period in two months. All these symptoms happened in about a two week span. I was freaking out about it because the doctors told me it was just stress but i was sure that something was wrong..i was talking to my mom because i was really scared and upset & she asked what birth control i was on and i told her. She looked at the package and saw it was Loestrin -->FE<--(iron)..no one in my family can take iron and it makes them very very sick. Im going to the doctor tom again to tell them that and im almost positive that this is the reason. I will let you know when i find out.

I am 20 years old and I was on Loestrin 2 years ago. It was my first time being on birth control and I was loving it. Shorter, lighter periods and no cramps. Then I hit the 3 month mark and I started becoming overly emotional at the slightest mis-hap. I became depressed and it got so bad that I was borderline suicidal and my parents considered taking me to the emergency room. I stopped taking the pill and after starting Zoloft I was finally back to feeling myself. It was such an awful experience that I haven't tried birth control pills ever since, even though I would like to. Anyone who has had a similar experience with Loestrin and depression find a new pill that worked out??

I am 20 years old i was on Loestrin 2 years ago. I was loving the shorter, lighter periods and my cramps were gone. When I got to the 3 month mark I started becoming over-emotional and crying uncontrollably at the slightest mis-hap. My extreme moods caused my boyfriend and I to break up and my depression got to the point where I was borderline suicidal and my parents almost took me to the hospital. I stopped taking the pill and had to start taking zoloft for anxiety/depression. It was an awful experience. Anyone who had a similar experience find a new pill that worked out? I am hesitant to try a new one because I am afraid the same thing will happen again.

I am 20 and I have been on Loestrin 24 Fe for almost 6 months now. Before that I was on Lybrel for almost a year. I started taking Lybrel because I had always had awful periods to the point where I would sometimes faint from the pain of the cramps and would pretty much couldn't function normally. Lybrel was fine for the first couple of months but I began to spot after 6 months and decided to try a different one. I was put on Loestrin and like other pills I have been on I had intense mood swings, felt more anxious, depressed, and had night sweats for the first 3 months. I had light periods, 2 or less days and then about 3 months ago, I stopped getting a period all together. I have had no spotting and recently I have started to have cramping around the time I should be getting my period, breast tenderness and bloating. These are all symptoms I have had on past BC too. I take my pill every day around the same time and have never missed a day. I like not getting my period but it does concern me a bit because my doctor didn't tell me that I would not get a period at all, he actually warned me that I probably have spotting for a while. Does anyone else not get their period on this pill?

I'm on my first pack, and last night i started using the first brown pill. I don't think this crap is working for me at all. From what Ive read almost every one is getting the same symptoms as me. I thought I got my period last Saturday, but its the next Sunday now. Ive had it non stop for 8 days. I don't know if this is my period of if im just spotting. On the first few days I had ridiculous cramps and i didn't feel like doing anything but lay around. The cramps have gone away but the bleeding is still occurring. Its getting old. I also developed a canker sore on my bottom lip about a week ago. I usually never get them except once or twice a year. and Ive been super tired at night and get barely any sleep at night and wake up the next day and be full of energy. But I really don't like bleeding this much. My friend who is on this also said she had her period for a month. Now that its summer i don't want to have to worry about it while im at the beach or in the pool. if this lasts much longer i think im going to quit.

I started this week the third pack of Loestrin24fe and NOW I am happy with it. I took it after nuvaring which I did not tolerate anymore at all. I took it after the birth of my daughter and the first time was good, I then had 6 month with no bc at all and went back on nuvaring. I had to stop after 3 month, I could not take the side effects anymore (terrible acne -worse than no bc, much worse, fatigue, etc).

The first month was pretty bad but better than nuvaring, so I sticked to it. My gyno told me it would take 3 month to see the effects of the pill on my acne and I could have spotting.
Here is the long list of side effects I had the first month (random order): bloating, mood swings, body aches, extreme fatigue, nighmares, weight gain (8 pounds at least) which I never had in the past with my previous bc, sensitive breast (gained a size as well, I don't really need it though), tummy irritation, nausea, painful sex and itch/pain (like I'm going to have a vaginal infection but I don't. I've had this on my other bc pill when I was younger) and finally the spotting (20-22 days on 28!! but no period that first month).

As soon as I started the second pack the spotting disappeared totally, my skin started to look a lot better (no more nasty painful spots). I had a 2 days period (I used to have a 5-7 days period), almost no cramps during my period, breast tenderness decreased, no more mood swings etc...
What is still here though: WEIGHT (I'm navigating between 8 pounds and 6 pounds weight gain since I started loestrin24fe), fatigue (less than first month), itch/pain like vaginal infection (even if the feeling of it is much less than the first month).
I like the 2 days period and no painful acne anymore. That is a real benefit for me after months of pain and treatments which brought no result. I think it might continue to get better month after month. As my gyno told me, I have to be patient to see the full result of the pill.

All in all, I'm more and more happy with this pill.

i've been on loestrin24fe for about 8 months now, and most of my periods have been annoyingly unique. the first period was normal, the next only lasted a day or two, the following lasted 5 or 6 days with bad cramps...the fourth month i bled about 19 days total, mostly breakthrough...the fifth and sixth months were pretty much norma, lasting about 4 days, but accompanied by horrible cramps. the seventh was several days late....now im in the second week of month 8's pack and am having heavy breakthrough bleeding and bad cramps...is this normal at all? i also get horrible body aches during my period.

should i switch to something different? i went on birth control mostly to regulate my period and ease up on the debilitating cramps, but it has only made both problems worse! please please give me adviceeeee! i used to take depot provera, and i didn't have a period or anything for almost 3 years...however, i got osteoporosis from the damn thing, so i don't think i should go back. advice?!!?

I've been taking Loestrin 24 fe for about 3 years now. It has reacted pretty well with me. I switched to this pill a while back because it has a lower dosage of estrogen than other bcp's (I don't like the idea of taking ANY hormones....but at least this one has one of the lowest dosages).

I used to have horrible cramps, but don't anymore. My periods are very light....barely there at all. The only bad thing is that I think it does lower sex drive. I haven't really noticed myself getting mood swings.

I don't really like the idea of taking a birth control pill in the first place...I don't like the fact that I'm taking hormones and messing with my body's chemistry and ovulation.....but since I don't want to get pregnant, this is the lesser evil. It has been good to me so far.

I am 21 and I was put on Loestrin 24 Fe for severe cramps and an irregular period. I was on it for a full year and had no major side effects... however I wasn't able to refill my prescription after the year was up until I went to see my gyno again... so I was off of it for two months. The doc put me back on loestrin as I requested since it helped A LOT with cramps and I had a very light period but since starting to retake it I haven't had a period since January of this year.. I am on my 5th pack for the year and called the gyno to make sure that everything was ok, and she said it was normal... I am not sexually active so I don't have to worry about being pregnant but not having a period when I had one every month for a year and then to not have any is just strange to me... so I am either lucky to not have one or hopefully it will figure things out sooner or later!

All in all its been a great bcp for me this is the only problem if it is even a problem I have had.