Desogen side effects

Since I've started taking Desogen the first day of my period, it hasn't stopped. I've had my period for 3 weeks now which is very unusual. My boyfriend and I never fight and since taking this pill I'm a total bitch. I'm moody, gaining weight, and cramping. Has any one else had a period for that long on this pill?

I'm 21 years old. I'm in my last year of college and student teaching. I've only been taking the pill for a week. I thought it was the stress of my last few classes of something for school that was making me this way. I originally was thinking the stress was changing my mood. My boyfriend and I have been arguing and tonight we realized we started all this bickering when I started the pill. I've been extremely moody. I've also been nauseous in the mornings, had high anxiety, been tired and lazy, and just overall "blah" feeling. I agree with someones post I read before about trying different pills to find what works for you. In high school I was on orthotricyclen-lo and I don't recall any of these effects. I took Loestrin for a month just a few months ago and stopped after the first pack because it made me feel the same way. I think I'm going to have to stop this one too because I can't stand feeling like this.

I was put on Desogen two months ago to get my cycle to match with an egg donor for a surrogacy. I had to go through many test and am a healthy person. From day one on the pill I have been so tired and unhappy. I sleep all night and could sleep all day to if I could. I feel so lazy and sad. I have no desire to do the things I always do. I also have headaches every day some real bad I have to stay in bed in the dark. My husband sees the change in me and is concerned. I go back to the doctor tomorrow and if I still need to be on the pill I am going to tell him I want something new. I am on no other medicine and I know all the bad changes have to be caused from this pill. If I would have put two and two together sooner I would have changed last month.

I was on desogen for four months and I got it from planned parenthood. I felt okay on the pill, except i always felt fat and the week before my period I was a total witch, and extremely irritable. So I decided to go off of it, Well now it is worse! This pill has messed me up so badly. I am having a lot of issues with my boyfriend who I have been with for 1 year. Prior to this pill I always knew I loved him, we always had fun and got along and everything with him was perfect. Now that im off it, I feel numb towards him I have tried breaking up with him 3 times, but can never go through with it because some rational part of my brain kicks in and my gut and heart tell me its not right. I don't want to do things I normally do. I don't want to shop, hang out with friends. Its also unfortunate I start college in less than one week, I have a lot of change coming at me and I cant handle it because Im not emotionally stable right now due to an extreme hormonal imbalance. I get really bad anxiety attacks, and panic attacks. I cant stand any change. I feel numb, and just lost. I feel like everyday I get up is just a horrible dream. I anticipate the worst for everything. I just feel so messed up and its all because of this damn pill. How do I know its the pill and Im not going insane? well its no coincidence this all started happening two days after I ended the pack. This pill has fucked with my life so bad and Im scared Im going to loose the love of my life because of it. Its a fight everyday just to feel normal lately. This has to stop. This pill makes you feel like shit on it and wven worse off of it.

After the birth of my second child my birth control was switched to Desogen. I have had terrible mood swings/depression, I am tired all the time and I just can't seem to lose weight. I exercised daily at high intensity and I stayed the same, so I just gave up. I am just not my energetic self any more. I have been on Desogen for 2 1/2 years now and I thought it was just me getting older. A friend mentioned that it could be my birth control pill and I started doing research. The more I read the more real it gets. I would like to thank all of you for your postings, it has helped me make sense of all my issues.

Help has anyone felt better after taking desogen? My daughter is a star athlete and has been taking desegen for minor acne. She is constantly complaining of being dizzy, light headache, having no energy and just simply off.

I have been on Desogen for about 2 months. Horrible nausea, cramps, and mood swings. I lost 6 pounds on the first month. I had terrible headaches. I started having breakout down the sides of my face and forehead. I wouldn't recommend this but to each is own.

I was on the Depo shot for a while then my hair started falling out! I switched to Desogen and now i have absolutely no sex drive what so ever. I mean when I say no sex drive I mean NONE. When me and my boyfriend so have sex it's like it hurts so bad. Then I have this constant discharge all the time. I Don't know what to do. I would love to come off of it and see a regular doctor but I don't have medical insurance. I hate all hormonal birth control methods..

Oh my gosh! I've been on this for almost a year and a half and after reading this it all makes sense! I recently started taking a medicine for mood swings but now I think it's the stupid desogen. I get it from planned parenthood at no cost and it's not worth it. I just went today to get more about a years worth and then i found this and i'm going to an actual doctor and get something that works. My periods have awful clotting and so heavy which they never used to be.I imagine my cramps to feel somewhat like contractions. I have to breathe heavily through them and midol doesn't do a damn thing to help. I'm bitchy and tired and I am so anxious i used to be a dare devil and now I won't even swim in a river. I will hear a song that nobody would think twice about and start bawling. I can't sleep and I'm gaining weight. I used to be an athlete and I should have a great body now i hate myself in a swim suit. My sex drive is nonexistent. I am too dry and when when I'm rarely able to lubricate it goes back to dry in a matter of minutes. I don't even want to have sex I feel bad for my boyfriend. Who has been with me for 2 years and said i'm a different person than when we started dating. Luckily he's stuck around long enough for me to realize the pill is screwing up my life and soon things will be back to normal. I'm not taking it another day. Ladies please get a prescription and don't think it's you if you've experienced anything that we're saying.

all i can say is THIS PILL SUCKS. i stupidly kept taking it for 6 months and since probably the 2nd month i have had horrible vaginal dryness, very bad mood swings, stomach pains, cramps when i get my period and depression. the only severe side effect is the dryness. when i want to have sex i cant because it hurts too much. my boyfriend and i have tried about 8 different kinds of lube and all different brands but nothing is working, we always have to re-apply which kills the mood quickly. spit is an excellent lube for a 5-minute quickie before work but other than that its useless and i don't want to only have quickies the rest of my life! i am only 20 and i am like a dried up old well! luckily i am going to the gyno Friday and telling her i want off this pill!!!!

Was fine for the first two months...a little spotting/some breakthrough bleeding, but nothing really awful. About three months in, I began experiencing terrible anxiety with such terrible panic attacks that I was pretty incapacitated as a mother (my poor little kids). My periods began starting the week before they "actually" started...you could call it "breakthrough" bleeding, but it was really a full-on bleed with lots of clotting, back pain, and cramps so bad I felt like I was having contractions. Most recently has been the nausea, I've actually lost weight because I've hardly been able to eat for weeks (thought it might be morning sickness---yikes!--but luckily my fun 2.5 week period began, painfully, yesterday so I'm in the clear). I didn't realize these things were all related to Desogen until I reread the package...it's pretty clear that the pills are the reason. I'll be switching pills next month at my annual appt.

I've been on Desogen for 9 months. Since then I've had so much stress and anxiety. I thought this was due to a major life change, but after reading this I'm sure it's from the Desogen. There's days I won't even get out of bed, and when I'll cry and scream over nothing. Yesterday I quit my job and drove home over 100 mph and ran almost every red light just because my boyfriend was going to the bar (for the first time in months) and I didn't want to be left home alone. I've also had terrible headaches, nausea, constipation, and gas. As soon as I finish this pack, I'm done for good.

I had posted this question a few days ago about Desogen.....or birth control pills in general. I wanted to know if there was some association with birth control pills and cholesterol. I reciently had a cholesterol test done and one done eight months ago and the results are quite different going from normal range to low high. I am forty, very healthy with diet and excersize, although I do have a father with high cholesterol who had a bipass at age 63, also extremely active and healthy with diet. My doctor is quick to put me on medication. Of all places, I opened up this months Glamour magazine and found a tiny little article about a study on the association with birth control and hightened cholestrol, just a theory possibly.

I HATE desogen. It's the pill sent directly from the devil himself. I have never felt so lazy, tired, sick, bloated, gassy, disgusting, in my entire life. I have only been on it for not even a full month yet, and I am ready to kill someone. I don't want to get out of bed in the morning, I hate my roommate, I cry when my boyfriend leaves the room, my co-workers drive me insane, and this all started the day I began this dreadful tablet of DOOM! I am always active, happy, spunky, and thin. This spawn of satan ruined me. Desogen gave me an awful itch and gross poop. I am switching to YAZ. Dont go to Planned Parenthood for a prescription-they automatically give you this one.

For five years, I did fine with Apri until drugstore.com stopped carrying it and started sending me Reclipsen (another generic Desogen). Now I'm getting nausea, PMS and hot flashes. At first I thought the change was because I'm getting closer to forty, but now I wonder if it's some change in the generic drug.

After reading all of these comments I no longer feel crazy. Since I've started Desogen in January, I've had mornings where I wanted to roll from my bed right through the window. I've felt suicidal for no real reason. I would wake up thinking, "I can't do today." I've been so depressed and moody, even more so than usual. I've always been a pretty emotional being, but I found myself on the phone at work crying hysterically to a cousin about something so ridiculous that I know I freaked her out. However, since being on Desogen, the only times I've been happy were the moments that I was right next to my boyfriend or on the phone with him. Even when he'd leave the room to go shower my mood would drop tremendously. My sex drive hasn't changed that much. I'm slightly dryer than usual. I feel sick everyday all day (everyone thought I was pregnant, which I'm not). My eating habits have changed. I've gone from eating about 4 meals a day to eating once, maybe twice. A few days I had gone without eating simply because I did not want to get out of the bed. My sleeping pattern is off. And I have no energy. I've stopped working out because after work all I want to do is climb in my bed. This is nothing like me. I'm usually really excited, always dancing, had a pretty good workout schedule going. Now I feel like an empty shell of myself. Should I lay off Desogen, or wait to see if things change?

I have been on Desogen now for about 8 months. At first I started noticing that I would get terrible PMS which I had never experienced before with any other pill and I have used Yasmin, Alesse, and Orthotrycyclene. My side effects seem to change each month. At first it was extreme PMS before each cycle and now I get no PMS before my cycle, but during my 7 days off I get very little bleeding and then when I start back on the pill I get cramping with spotting and the PMS symptoms start and have been getting longer and longer each month. I hate this feeling of being out of control of my emotions. This month I had weepiness that is very rare for me. Each month is a new symptom. I just want to know what to expect every month.

brown discharge, very moody, spotting,

I also am rare and love this form of birth control. It reduced my anxiety giving me a more stabilized feel, no depression, took away cramps and pms cravings and symptoms (which I had a spectrum of) all my acne is GONE, and I've gained maybe just a few pounds but all these benefits for me have been completely worth it. I have been very happy with it and will probably not go off of it until I want to have kids:) My sex drive has decreased only a little but it was high before so in a way it's kind of nice. I recommend this pil for anyone with an abundance of testosterone, like I had.

I thought desongen and apri were the same? I got switched from desongen to apri 3 weeks ago and I feel horrible

I just got switched from desongen which I had been on for over a year to Apri and was told they are the same that one is the generic of the other,. I had never had any noticeable effects from desogen, my sex drive was down but definitely existent. But I found that this month I've been really moody and anxious, has anyone had a similar experience or am I going crazy? Is it even possible if the pills are chemically identical?

I have been on Apri since July 07' and the first 2 months were terrible. I have never had such bad mood swings in my life, I would cry if someone looked at me wrong, and the urge to scream at people is crazy, I have a 7 year old daughter and a 10 year old step son and I have been unable to treat them with the quality that they need, I have been getting mad at them for the littlest things and they are things that they should not even be getting trouble for. My husband is going crazy because if he tries to talk to me about serious things I start crying. I get very gassy and bloated all the time, I have changed my diet and that has only made it worse. I have been on so many bcps because of serious side effects and I am starting to feel like a lab rat. I am just starting the new yaz that has came out, I am starting it today I really hope that I have better results. The only thing that I liked about the Apri was the fact that I didn't gain weight. One more thing the periods were so painful, I have never had this much pain with a period, and I have a past with ovarian cysts and I normally have really painful periods, but with this pill it was way worse. I hope this helps anyone that is deciding a bcp for themselves.

I started taking Apri in March of this year...at first everything was pretty much okay...this was the first pill i had been on so wasnt quite sure what to expect. Although, it was only a short while until i started having bad mood swings, i started feeling extremely anxious a lot of the time (i blamed it on school - im a pre-pharmacy major) but it just kept going throughout the summer even when i was out of school. I sometimes get random stomach cramps at any time of the month. This pill has made me so emotional, i just wanna be back to normal. I have 1 more week of this pack and im considering stopping but i really want to find a new pill! Does anyone have any suggestions. PLEASE?!

Dear reader I write this as a warning and as a way to seek help. I was put on Desogen when I was 23 years old. I was on this drug to control my periods. I suffered all of the side-effects. During my first year on this pill I fractured my foot.

Why mention my foot, because hormones effect our bones as well as everything else. During my second year I lose the hair on the right side on my head. Told this to my Gyn doctor and I was enored. All the while I suffering depression, insomnia, mood swings, weight gaine, and scalp hair loss.

Buy the fourth year on Desogen I changed my doctor. Who later put me on Loestrin. This wasn't any better I was now suffering night sweats along with everything else. While on all these hormones I was also taking high blood pressure medications which only made matters worse.

All in told I have been on hormones for six years. How I stopped was by accident. Meantime I was also taking pain killers for my foot which now had been broken for five years.

After coming off all these hormones my body when though an over haul. First thing was the lost off sexual function, then there was the loss of pubic hair, the shrinkage of my right breast and right buttocks, I had surgary on my left breast to remove a precanerous lump, and now just recently I have notice the shrinkage of my righ arm.

There's alot more to tell. If any doctor comes accross this article please reply. I need all the help I can get.

I have previously been taking Desogne since 1991. It was a mracle worker for me. I suffer from endometriosis, and it took a while to find Desogen. I had no weight gain on Desogen, my cystic acne evened out and so did my anxiety attacks and mood swings in general. No cramps. I took it everyday - no breaks for periods for 11 years; stopped to conceive (preggo in 3 months, with one remaining ovary); and went back on after finished nursing. I'm going to try loestral now that I'm peri-menopausal - hoping the lower progestin will help.

I just missed two days of apri due to some prescription issues, but when I went on it again I woke up the next day with nausea and dizziness. Could this be a related side effect?

I went on Apri almost a year ago and had no weight gain, no breakthrough bleeding, virtually no side effects until this summer. I started having anxiety and panic attacks during my spring semester (I'm now a senior in college) and although I usually deal with stress pretty well, I thought that it was just because I was having a rough semester.

But in the past two months I've had a consistent nervous stomach and I've lost almost 15lbs from not being able to eat as much (not a good thing, I'm already a little underweight for my height). I started to have mood swings and that led straight into depression, so bad that even on vacation in Aruba I cried almost every day and night. I felt pathetic and anti-social and angry and basically scared that I'd never come out of this "phase." I called a therapist but couldn't even follow through with that. Then last week I went to the emergency room for severe stomach pain and they did some bloodwork and sent me home because "nothing was wrong." I'm also breaking out, which hasn't happened since I was like 15. Finally I went to a gyno who said this could all be side effects from the pill. If that's true than this all could have been prevented, and that upsets me greatly, but I also feel relieved that this might be over soon.

Everyone is different but if anyone is feeling things like this on Apri, see a doctor because it might be as simple as changing the pill or going off of it completely, which I plan on doing asap. Sorry but using condoms is better than being physically and mentally unstable.

I have been on Desogen for 6 years, within the past 4 months i was switched to Apri. I just now realized that maybe all of these emotional problems i have been having are from this pill. i was somewhat depressed in highschool when i started taking it. so i have figured that this whole time i am just a depressed person. i went off antidepressants cuz i didn't like how i felt and now that i am 22 and i still have this crying all the time crap (that i thought i had mostly just inherited from my mother even tho my sister doesn't have it) i get some days even weeks were i am sad depressed. i always over analyze things which i have heard could be a symptom. So now i am doing all this reseach and i found that in the Side effects of desogen that it says "stop taking this medicine and consult a doctor if you experience any signs of depression (sleep problems, mood changes, etc..) WTF!! can i say that seriously i can't believe it.. and now i am just waiting for my doc to call me back. i dont know if i should quit completely or switch. in a way i would like to quit because i want to know who i am.. what i am normally like! its been 6 years!!! o my goodness phamecuticals are evil!

i have been apri for 2 months and i hated. i have mood swings. my periods 10 times worse. i feel lazy since i have been on the pill. i have gained like 7 pounds in 2 months that really suck. i am more hungry. i feel so depressed all the time.

I just went on the pill and I started my 3rd week a day early because I lost a pill. So far I have noticed that I want food more, I feel bloated, and I have to keep running to the bathroom. It feels like I am always full with liquid. I am scared after reading this that I am going to gain a lot of weight, and I already had to change my diet because I have high cholesterol. Also When I first started the pill when I went to the bathroom it felt like my urin was on fire. It is really getting to me, and I heard that a lot of people became depressed and moody. I was already liked that. Before starting the pill I took Medroxyprogesterone because I was not getting my period, and then the doctor put me on this to help regulate it. I hope my sex drive doesnt start going down, but I do not see my boyfriend too often. What I did notice was the last time I seen him I started to cry, but this was before I started the pills. My doctor said that the other pills had the same medicine in it as the birth control that I am on now. I will be seeing my boyfriend for the first time since I started these pills in about a day and a half, and I have been getting some pains. I started this pill as soon as I got my period and I had some major stomach problems, so I took midol, and they go on and off. I hope the two medicines wont do any harm. But if I see any signs like everybody else had I will sure take myself off it. The doctor from my college put me on it, and now college is over and I am transfering, so I will not see this doctor anymore. I think I started at a bad time and have no idea what to do if something bad does happen like that.

I just started on Desogen about 2 weeks ago. I already lost 1 pill but I am keeping on taking it. I noticed that I am eating a more, or it seems like it because I am eating 3 times a day instead of 2. My pains feel increased in some places of my body, and I I feel like I am gaining weight. I am on the pill because I had problems with my period, but I am kind of thinking that it is not really a good idea to be on the pill. I will keep taking the pill though for awhile and see if there are any other changes. I already have high cholesterol so my diet has changed, so my whole body is kind of yelling at me right now. As far as sex drive it did not dissapear yet, but after reading this I have a feeling it will. Im wondering how long I will have to stay on this pill because I am not seeing the doctor anymore who put me on it.

I have had many symptons lateley I can't explain so I have begun to start research on the internet. It appears after reading the many posts that it is DESOGEN, I will be exploring different options. I now now why my HAIR IS FALLING OUT, NO SEX DRIVE, MOOD SWINGS especially the week before my period, and TIREDNESS.

Reading through these postings, I am surprised that so many women out there have had negative experiences with Desogen. I have had an extremely positive experience with Solia (the generic). It got rid of my preexisting, extremely painful premenstrual cramps, lightened my flow, didn't cause weight gain or bloating, cleared up my skin tone, and the melasma that is known to occur with high dosage pills didn't even happen to me. Conversely, I tried Yasmin about a year ago for about 5 months and it drove me bloody mad - intense food cravings, cramps came back, increased irritability - you name it, I had it. My advice to all the women out there is you really just have to try various pills until you find one that works for you. It's unfortunate and inconvenient, but if the side effects are significant enough to motivate you to research them online, then you owe it to yourself to switch pills.

It was fine for first 4-5 months. Then the sex drive went downhill until there was nothing left. I stopped the pill for last two months and the sex drive hasent returned.

I have been on Desogen/Apri for years and have had zero problems with it and appreciate the short, light periods. But lately I have wondered if my sex drive (or lack thereof) could be a side effect of the pill. Found this site and am relieved to see it could be related to it. I hesitate to switch pills as I've had so much success on this one, but my husband would enjoy having me in the bedroom again. That's the only side effect I've experienced.

I have been taking Desogen for about 2 months now and I know there has got to be an easier way for my body to ajust to a pill. I am constantly hungry (even after I had just stuffed my face), tired, spotting, acne, bitchy, & I have constant headache's. I feel as if I am pregnant. But I know I am not. This is a horrible Pill and as of today I am no longer taking it. So I recomend if you are on it and are looking up on it end it as soon as possible.<3

I took Desogen for two months, and my cramps during my period were worse than they ever were without the pill. I was doubled over in pain quite a few times. Also, I ended up being on my period for almost the entire two months I was on it. So, I had to deal with horrible cramps for two months straight... I've taken a couple other kinds of birth control, and my period NEVER lasted that long on either of them.

Also increased yeast infections every time I take an antibiotic even if I eat yogurt and take extra acidophilus.

I have been on Solia, a generic for Desogen for about a year and a half. I just finished up my last pack and am never taking it again. It is horrible. Weight gain, extremely moody, irritable, depression, nothing positive on this pill other than it kept me from getting pregnant. I had the Essure procedure and highly recommend it, if you do not want kids get it over with and get Essure, get off the pill, especially this one.

Previously on Desogen for 6 months. Good news and bad news. For 2 weeks out of a month I would be up and down with mood swings. Very terrible in which I would become irritable over the slightest things and have huge crying spells. No sex drive until after 4 months. Things got A LOT better after the 4 months, mood swings were gone and sex drive went up a lot!

But changed pharmacy, and they gave me Apri to try (generic form) Been taking it for a week and in the last 3 days it has been hell. I have not been like this for 3 months and the mood swings and crying spells are back in full force! I am going to the pharmacy tomorrow and demanding my desogen back! I went through a long time of bad symptoms to get my body used to it, I am not going off desogen again!

I am so glad I found this site. I just go finished crying about my lack of sex drive with my BF. He is very dissapointed and I tyring to ensure him that it is this darn Apri. I have been on the pill for a little less than a year. I have NO sexdrive what so ever and come to think of it, I really can sympathize with the mood swings. I just don't feel like myself. I need to get me a OB/GYN appt. pronto. I tried to stop taking the pill but my period was so heavy I had to get back on.

I was on Apri for 3 months. I suffered horrible mood swings, weight gain, and a total lack of sex drive. I thought I was going crazy until I stopped taking that pill and saw this website. I am now taking Jasmine. It is French, but there is an equivalent in the U.S., Yasmin. I highly recommend it. No mood swings or weight gain and the sex drive is definitely back.

I started Apri on the first day of my period. I had a regular 7 day period but am now starting my 3rd week and have been bleeding every single day. The nurse calls that breakthrough bleeding..an unfortunate side effect of starting the pill, huh? Everyday? I am not happy about this. My whole purpose in taking this is so that I won't be on my period at the end of next month while on my 20th anniversary in the Caribbean! Any ideas of what to do? I am starting right into the next pack without taking the placebos. Anyone know when the bleeding finally stops?????

I have decided to stop taking Desogen starting today because I am so sick of having absolutely no sex drive.. and now that I think about it, my appetite has definitely increased! That's not good for somebody who has had gastric bypass surgery 3 years ago!

I just got married a few weeks ago and I didn't want to have sex with my husband on our wedding night!! I did for him, but I had no interest whatsoever. I couldn't understand why until I came to this site. I came here because last night was the final straw. I thought that maybe my sex drive was gone because of something of him, so I decided to make myself ready for him. I couldn't even get me "ready". Dry as could be. For me, this med is a strain on my new marriage!

I have been on desogen for about 3 days now and the only side effect i have seen is the nausea and i am bleeding alot more.

I have been taking Apri (generic) for 2 months now. I will not be taking it anymore, as it has caused me to have trouble sleeping, anxiety, and severe mood changes. I have also noticed a lot of bloating around menstruation, enough that my clothes won't fit. My periods have been lighter than before, the only plus in my book. I also have decreased interest in sex.

I started my daughter on Apri in May of 2004 to help extreme period cramps & cysts building up and causing pain. During that time she developed severe headaches, gained 20-25 lbs weight, awful mood swings, depression. Hair loss, not much help with acne and also discoloration of skin. It is now August 2006 and she has been off for appx. 1 mo and it is an amazing difference. She said terrible food cravings that she was having for sweets have gotten way better - please think twice b/4 putting your kids on this - I am now looking at other healthier alternatives...

I have been taking Apri for 11 months. I have had so many side effects I thought there was something seriously wrong. My major concern was major hair loss, I felt like I have PMS all of the time, extreme bouts of anger, swollen hands, jittery eyes, skin breaking out and NO sex drive, I feel an actual repulsion to the thought. I finally realized all of my symptoms started at the time I started this pill. BAD PILL..GRRR

I'm so depressed on Desogen. Moody, angry, feelings of doom, and no energy. I also have weird freckling/darkening of my face, which I'm told is called "melasma". Fabulous, I not only feel bad; I look bad too. Can't wait to ditch this evil pill.