Seasonale

[janelane1110.livejournal.com]

I was wondering if anyone here has info or experience with seasonale. I just started this eight weeks ago. For the last four years I've been on Orthotricyclen, but was beginning to have side-effects that were unpleasant. So I switched to Seasonale (tempted by fewer periods) and it was great to start with. No real side effects at the beginning. But at the beginning of week 7 I started spotting. It's been 12 days now and I'm still spotting/bleeding. It's not really heavy, but I have started getting cramps about 5 days ago. I read on the packaging that 65% of women had more than 7 days of spotting during the first cycle. Only 35% had more than 20 days. And after a year they reported no difference in spotting than women on the 28 day pills. So here's the question: do I stick it out for a few cycles and hope it starts to work? And how long can I continue this spotting without it being detrimental to my health? Any advice? Thanks.

Comments

[sohma-kodora.livejournal.com]

According to their commercials, spotting can occur more often during the first year.

[skez.livejournal.com]

I'm not on Seasonale, but if I were you, I'd stick it out! That's gotta suck (spotting/bleeding all the freakin time), but if I were paying $300 for something, I'd keep going, lol.

As far as the spotting health issue, I doubt it would do much harm - but I would douche regularly anyway, just in case. Flush things out, reduce the risk of infection. And of course, visit the gyno!

Actually...

[janelane1110.livejournal.com]

I'm not paying for this at all (yet). I got the first pack as a trial from the gyno to try it out and see how it works. After that, the price here is $140 per 13 week package (before insurance coverage, which I'm not sure about yet). So it's more expensive than the previous pill but IF it works like it's supposed to, I'll deal with the extra cost.
But I'm now on day 13 of the spotting. But the cramps seem to have let up, so it's bearable. I just wish that I knew someone who was also on the pill and had encouraging words about this working out right. Thanks for the advice, though!

[skeptictank.livejournal.com]

As far as I know, you can spot until the cows come home and it'll never really be a danger to your health. If the info says that spotting is normal, then you really just have to decide if that is ok with you (keeping in mind that spotting is pretty normal for the first couple months on ANY hormonal b/c) and ride it out. Any time you switch to another form of bc you run the risk of spotting AGAIN so switching right now won't necessarily make the problem stop immediately.

Anyhow, I don't agree with the poster above. I would most certainly not douche, especially not regularly. You aren't really all that likely to get an infection from spotting. The whole idea of spotting/bleeding is that your vagina is cleaning itself out naturally, so all a douche is going to do is get rid of the healthy bacteria in there. That can be pretty dangerous.