Hi, My first form of birth control was Depo Provera, aka Depo Pure Evil. I was on it for a year and a half after a couple people raved about not getting a period. Not only did I still spot the whole time I was on it, I was depressed, had rage problems, gained weight, had a horrible complexion and was miserable! I then switched to Ortho Evra (the patch). It has been working fine for me but my GP suggested I switch to a pill form since there are recent cases of increased risk of blood clots with the Patch.
I am now researching Ortho-Tricyclen, Yasmine, and Alesse. I have been skimming through archives on healthboards.com and have found good and and bad things about all of these. How do I decide which is best for me and my body??
Please help! Having a male doctor is not always the best thing when it comes to women's health. Most people are telling me it is a personal choice but I dont really know where to start?

Thoughts? Comments? Advice?

I appreciate your input! thanks!

Well, it IS about personal choice! At least sort of. Is your dr an obgyn, or just your gp? If he's not an ob, go see one, and if he is, then he should be on top of women's issues - if not find one that is! Different people react differently to a medication, bcps included. So it might just take a little trial and error. I was using NuvaRing for a long time and I loved it, but slowly my body wasn't reacting as well to the progestin that's in it. I was bummed about that, but its just the way my body wants to behave! I have now been on Yasmin for well over a year and I really like it. I did not like the two triphasic pills I tried, but personally have been happier with monophasic pills (and the added benefit of being able to adjust when I have my period!). So, I would say pick one and try it for three months. Ask your obgyn what he likes and what other patients really like and go from there.

I was on OTC for a while and I was misserable in every way. I asked my GYN to give me the lowest dose of estrogen possible, and she gave me Aviane. I am happy with it.
I think you have to try and see what is good for me. Going through my symptoms and how I was reacing I knew that I needed low estrogen.

If you'd like to know which pills are most commonly complained about, on this and other health-type boards, (and therefore the ones you probably don't want to try), they are OTC, OTC lo, Yaz, Yasmin, Seasonale and Seasonique. A lot of women also complain about Loestrin 24 FE because they don't like getting a period (which is totally weird because I don't understand the problem with not having a period!). I've read less negative things about Alesse, but there are still complaints.

Why don't you try regular Ortho Cyclen? I haven't seen a single negative thing posted about it on any of the boards where I post. I also haven't seen anything bad about Trinorinyl or Norinyl, either. It seems like Demulen and Desogen are not as oftenly complained about, although I have seen some mention of it occaisionally.