User Reviews for norethindrone (contraceptive) oral

My gyno doesn’t want me to be on an estrogen pill because of high cortisol levels so she put me on this. The first few months were fine but then I started getting a lot of irregular bleeding frequently, migraines, intense nausea, and lightheadedness. Nothing about it seems helpful and I am getting off it because I feel so gross every day.

I have had suicidal thoughts in fact an absolute LONGING for death, increase of pain in my normal injuries, aches, headaches, nausea, feelings of being out of control, wooziness, inability to focus my eyes properly, extreme pain in my flesh when touched with something cold - rather like with a bad virus or infection, and overwhelming fatigue no matter how much sleep I have. My advice is not to take this drug. If you have my experiences, there can be no benefit that would make taking this drug worth it.Read More Read Less

I am 46 and have Endometriosis and now Adenomyosis which I am waiting for a hysterectomy. I have had severe bleeding. After taking these pills it did initially stop the bleeding, however the side effects are awful. Everything hormonal is turned upside down from mentally to physically. My eyesight is blurred and an overall sick feeling daily. I don't recommend starting this medication. Find another alternative if you can!

I've been using this for 3 months and have had no problems so far! I took it as soon as I got it and didn't wait to sync it with my cycle- I think that caused me to have "two periods". I get some light spotting around the time of my old cycle, then a regular period that aligns with the birth control pill. I've had to cut the 3hr rule pretty close and I didn't have any pregnancies or side effects. Happy overall with this medication

I have a large fibroid and was experiencing frequent and heavy bleeding that caused anemia. I tried other birth control to regulate the cycles but they only worked a few months then bleeding returned. This med did stop the bleeding but caused weight gain. I eat lean and clean and work out 6 days a week, 3 of those days with a trainer, yet I gained 26 pounds in a year mostly in visceral fat! I had 5% visceral fat when I started the med, now have 12% a year later. Dr disregarded my concerns and thought I should continue the med another year. I stopped taking the med and dropped 4 pounds in the first week. Read More Read Less

Doctor had me take this as last resort to stop or help with heavy periods and chronic anemia I had developed - as I had 3 small fibroids. This pill caused me gain 30 pounds within 3 months and it also caused me to bleed for 164 days consecutively. I ended up in the ER twice for severe bleeding. Doctor told me to keep taking it until I had my inevitable hysterectomy. My mood swings on this pill were terrible and I bled - heavily- every single day while on it. Now- 8 months post hysterectomy, I’m working on losing the 30 pounds I immediately gained while on this pill. I also had black facial hair while on this pill. I wish I would have listened to my gut and never taken it - or not listened to the doctor and stopped taking it. It made the anemia even worse on top of all else. Read More Read Less

I’ve been on this medication for awhile now and all I can say is it’s a vast improvement over estrogen birth controls. My period is basically nonexistent, my face has completely cleared up, migraines are rare when they used to be a daily occurrence, and no more mood swings. Definitely much better than all of the estrogen birth controls I’ve tried over the last 15 years.

Had my daughter in November toke this birth control for 2 and half months , made my periods irregular , then had sudden cramping February first with some bleeding gotten worse in three days and went to the emergency room to find out i had an etopic pregnancy and my Fallopian tube ruptured and i lost my Fallopian tube. Now if my periods wasn’t irregular on this medication with bleeding in between i would have known something was wrong but i had mood swings and bleeding the same as when i was on the pill so i didn’t think anything of it and i toke the pill for the time period to be effective and was regularly taking it so i just feel like this birth control is so bad and i changed to trisprintec and it has worked for me before my daughter for years and working now . Read More Read Less

I know there are TONS of bad reviews but please remember everyone’s body is different! I have had no issues with this BC. Periods are shorter, no terrible mood swings. I switched from Sprintec because the hormones caused dark skin above my mouth and it looked like i had a MUSTACHE! ??

this medication makes me regret asking for any sort of help regulating my period. i have endometriosis and decided to try and go on medication to help with painful cramps and overall a hellish period. i was started on nortrel 0.35 with no improvement. i was then switched to norethindrone.. with an even worse experience. month long periods with no end in sight and if there’s any relief, i’ll be lucky to get two weeks of no bleeding. being someone who already struggles with severe anxiety and depression, i absolutely do not recommend this “medication.” bleeding for so long is definitely a triggering mental hardship. now im on a journey to reverse the effects this birth control has put on my body which, honestly, i’m struggling to see any permanent solution in sight. here’s to hoping!Read More Read Less

This birth control is awful! I had extremely heavy periods and terrible cramps for 8-10 days, ever since I was on it! I developed an oily face with acne and oily hair which became thinner. Ever since I stopped the birth control things got better! If you suffer from depression I would not recommend this medication, it could cause mood swings.

This birth control pill is terrible! I would get extremely heavy periods for 7-8 days straight with awful cramps and felt nauseous constantly. It caused mood swings. My face was oily and filled with pimples and my hair was constantly greasy, my hair began to get real thin. Since being off this pill, my acne is gone, my period doesn't last as long, although it is still heavy (I thought this birth control pill would help, but it didn't with that matter at all.) My cramps aren't as bad compared to being on this medication! And I don't have anymore mood swings. Read More Read Less

I take the pill to prevent pregnancy before taking the pill I had very periods usually only lasting five days I bet on the pill now for about two months first month my period lasted for three weeks on and off heavy and light second month of being on the pill my period is extremely heavy for two weeks now and I have no signs of stopping I am ready to stop taking the pill and switch to a different brand or something I have never spotted between periods in my life this is the worst birth control I can ever recommend to anybody please do not take it Read More Read Less

I was on Mylan norethindrone 0.35mg for about one year. I decided to stop taking it last week. My whole time on the mini pill I would wake up with morning nausea and it was awful. I have IBS but can normally cope with it by watching what I eat but norethindrone also affected my bowels. Sometimes I would wake up constipated or gassy too (which makes sense bc I took my pill right before bed). I wasn’t sure it was the birth control but I hadn’t changed my diet and it was the only medication I was taking so I figured I should try and go off of it to see if it makes a difference. It took me a while to actually make that decision though, obviously I enjoyed and was used to the benefits of being on birth control (ex: not wearing condoms). However, while I had been thinking of stopping the medication I started to get uti like symptoms along w sharp pain in my right side so I went to a doctor. She didn’t really listen to all my symptoms and went ahead and prescribed me Macrobid, a typical antibiotic for utis. I took the full course and not only did it not help my symptoms at all, I also started bleeding (first time in 6 months, I didn’t normally get my period on norethindrone - I only bled twice for the whole year I was on it). I bled for 7-10 days with THE WORST cramps I’ve ever had - my sister was with me when I was experiencing some and she said it seemed like the type of cramping she had during her miscarriage. I went back to the doctor, gyn this time, and they checked for pregnancy, stds, vaginal bacteria, and again uti. My tests for all of the above were negative but during my pelvic floor exam I had a lot of pain on my right side, so she sent me to get an ultrasound. Turns out I had an ovarian cyst on my right ovary but that it seemed to be shrinking on its own so nothing else was necessary. Well I’m still experiencing the weird uti/urinary symptoms so I decided I’m just gonna stop the norethindrone. It’s the only thing I put into my body daily that’s not natural. I’m on Day 4 of not taking my pill and I haven’t noticed any crazy side effects, but I do get a few light headed/dizzy spells when I stand up or move quickly. Read More Read Less

I am posting this review nearly 9 months after my experience with this birth control. I had been on the pill for about ten years right before I decided to switch to the Mylan oral contraceptives which is progesterone only. This pill was supposed to be helpful for people experiencing bad migraines during their periods from a regular hormonal birth control. I was on Mylan for almost three months before one day I woke up with really bad cramps and just thought my period was starting and maybe my body was still regulating the new pill. After nearly half the day the pain kept getting worse, and worse and it got to a point where I couldn’t get up or walk the pain was so bad. That night I went to the ER, was throwing up and ended up fainting from the pain. I was so dehydrated they couldn’t even start an IV on me and I soon discovered that I had a huge ovarian cyst rupture and it was continuing to rupture throughout the day. When the did a scan my ovary was almost three times the size of what it was supposed to be and was covered in most cysts. After a horrible night in the ER I got sent hone and everyone was hoping that my ovary would just go back to normal after the cysts subsided and I was recommended strongly to stop taking my birth control immediately. After two weeks of recovery and still struggling with pain and walking I went to get another scan to see if it had healed itself. During the scan the Tech discovered that my ovary was twisting on itself and was potentially causing an ovarian torsion. The said I needed to immediately go to the ER again or I could loose my ovary. The ER visit was pointless because I still didn’t have health insurance so they basically told me I could have surgery right then to prevent it from twisting on itself and essentially killing it or I could go home and hope for the best. I ended up leaving the hospital extremely upset and feeling hopeless, praying that I wouldn’t loose my ovary because I am so young and don’t have any kids yet. Thankfully my ovaries healed themselves but now I am stuck with thousands of debt in hospital bills that I can’t pay and unable to take birth control pills anymore. I’m writing this review to educate other women about the dangers of progesterone only birth control. Please discuss everything with a doctor before changing any birth control and know all the negative effects of this pill before taking it and suffering any issues that I went threw. Read More Read Less

I’ve been on normal combination birth control before. It helped my acne very much and when I wanted to get off of it, I felt dependent due to acne . I finally got off and 4 years later I’m needing to be on the pill again. I wanted to try this so it wouldn’t help my acne, hence my body dependent again. This pill has caused me terrible acne . Worse than ever. The spotting has been very bad. I got my period within two weeks of my last period.. never happened before. Headaches and depression. Terrible experience. I even got off cause I couldn’t take it and went back on thinking I needed to wait it out longer and I’ve seen no improvement Read More Read Less

I was prescribed norethindrone because my migraines were excruciating and I suffered with heavy bleeding that caused me to wear super tampons and a liner for 6 out of my 7 day cycle. I’ve been on the medication for 4 months now and the migraines have pretty much disappeared completely which is a blessing in itself. Also my cycle isn’t nearly as heavy as it used to be and it’s shorter days now but miss a pill and there’s guaranteed spotting in-between your cycle. I’ve also noticed weird mood swings which is nowhere near as bad as the heavy and swollen breasts!! I’m a 34C and when they’re swollen I can easily fit into a 34D but as soon as the bra comes off I almost drop to my knees in pain because they feel so sore and heavy! I will say it’s prevented pregnancy (long term relationship and condom rarely used) and I know for a fact that if I weren’t on birth control I’d be pregnant right now.lol. So in all it’s a hit or miss ordeal when it comes to norethindrone, it just depends on your body and how it reacts to the medication. I’m going to try it one more month just to be sure before looking for another low estrogen birth control method.Read More Read Less

I switched to these instead of taking 2 hormones to include estrogen. I can say they are more tolerable side effects, but still bad. At first I took the pill one hour late and got my period for a week. Since then, I take it at the exact same time every night which is not easy to do. I've noticed constipation, weight gain, cramps (maybe ovulation) and today I experienced a dizzy spell that scared me. The mood swings have gotten better and I did not experience acne like some other reviews stated. I am convinced there is no good birth control with hormones that we will ever be happy about. I've been on these pills 4 weeks and am not excited to switch again or continue taking. Good luck ladies. Read More Read Less

The need to take this off the market or do another study i started taking this medication because i have pmdd so the gyn prescribe them to me and let me say the side affects were the worst i was depressed i was in bed for 5 days panic attacks for 4 days straight had to call paramedics because the panic attacks were the worst ones yet i threw pills in trash and will never take again i rather deal with the PMDD symptoms then what i went through in the past week please if you suffer from any mental health please do your research before taking these pills and dont let no doctor dismiss your concerns My doctor dismiss my concerns and said that those symptoms are not side effects of the pill but as soon as I stop taking the pill the next day I woke up full of life and energy i was back to myself so The pharmaceutical company that makes these pills need to do another study and check for panic attacks and depression and anxiety attack as side effects of those pills in their patients Read More Read Less

I had been taking norethindrone with .35mg even before covid started. I am a little chubby girl for the past 2 years that's why I had a higher dosage. Overall it worked for me, I barely had any side effects except for the fact that it made me gain 30 pounds along with quarantine and it regulated my periods. Now I'm losing weight, matter of fact, a lot of weight and it made me have an extra period between my periods for 2 months. I had to get off the pill to another one, but all in all I had a decent experience, sometimes I would have moods all over the place, and rarely had major hair loss where I would pull out clumps of hair in the shower. Read More Read Less