lo loestrin fe 24 side effects?

**leahbia_83008** · 01-25-2012 08:54 PM

hello ladies, i haven't posted in a while so let me clear up a few things before i begin my rant... as some of you may know, i had the paragard iud inserted in may of 2011. after a long, painful 6 months i finally had it removed only to find out it was starting to attach itself to the inside of my uterus (ouch!). my doctor then prescribed me lo loestrin 24 fe for pregnancy prevention & to help regulate my cycles. i am now on week 2 and have been experiencing nothing but horrible cramping, headaches and nausea. i did miss one pill but took it as soon as i remembered... all the other pills have been taken on time. my boyfriend & i have been having unprotected sex but he has not been ejaculating in me, although he has came on my vulva (sorry if that's tmi but i think you deserve the whole story). also, a couple days ago upon using the restroom, i noticed some very light pink spotting on the toilet paper. i have been on LLE in the past but it made me bleed heavily and frequently throughout the month, this spotting lasted less than 12 hours, if that.

i had thought maybe the cramping was due to ovulation, but it is more of a generalized, menstrual cramping sensation rather than noticeably on one side or the other. i also suffer from stage I endometriosis so i do not know if the pills could be aggravating it, causing me pain. i do plan on switching pills since my insurance doesn't cover LLE ($56 a pack!) but i'm going to have to deal with it in the mean time. has anyone else been on LLE & had mild cramping and light spotting the first few weeks of use? i am not due for my period for another 2 weeks or so, so i'm trying to stay level headed but anything would help :) thanks!

**Beautiful Disaster** · 01-26-2012 08:20 AM

I hated LO FE 24. I practically needed a part time job to pay for all the pregnancy tests I bought while I was on it. It's well known for causing you to skip periods altogether, but doesn't take away the symptoms. So though I wasn't having periods, I was having cramping, sore boobs, SEVERE mood swings, that seemed to never relieve because I never started. I did a lot of spotting. I noticed on this pill my mood swings were different than usual. It was as if I had more testosterone. I would get ANGRY rather than my normal sad and pouty during pms. It was continual.

You should not be ovulating if you were instantly put on the pill after coming of paragard. You are most likely experiencing the negative effects of Lo Fe 24. Docs say "wait three months and see if you adjust". But what I found is that if I was MISERABLE on a pill for the first three months, it was not the pill for me. It's normal to have some spotting and cramping when you're adjusting to a pill, but if you're experiecing all kinds of bad side effects, you may want to consider switching.

I got off bc all together... and haven't regreted it for a moment.

**leahbia_83008** · 01-26-2012 01:21 PM

thanks BD for your reply. like i stated in my OP, i was on LO LE FE 24 prior to this and it REALLY did not agree with me... like you said, i was getting angry on the verge of violent during my cycle & spotted throughout the month. i'm assuming the pain is from the pills but i don't see how the two co-relate? i've never had a pill make me feel the way this one does. i think it's possible i'm ovulating because the paragard has no hormones & does not prevent your body from ovulating, it more so creates a hostile environment to kill sperm and keep any possible fertilized eggs from implanting in the uterus, so unless the pill has fully kicked into my system, i feel as of right now anything is possible. the only form of birth control i have ever been satisfied with was yaz but my doctor doesn't prescribe it to his patients anymore & after trial and error multiple times, i feel on the verge of giving up