ALESSE Reviews (ETHINYL ESTRADIOL; LEVONORGESTREL)Average Rating: 2.5 (179 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare ALESSE with similar:
Type: Brand name discontinued; available as generic
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Results are sorted by Date added. Key to Ratings: 1=LOW (I would not recommend taking this medicine.) |
More on ALESSE: Reviews Summary | Drug Safety Information
| RATING | REASON | SIDE EFFECTS FOR ALESSE | COMMENTS | SEX | AGE | DURATION/ DOSAGE | DATE ADDED |
| 3 | Releave heavy periods | in between period bleeding;weight gain;mood swings;no libido; yeast infection; fatigue; bloating; lighter periods; shorter periods; | I took bc to help with heavy long periods, which did help they are shorter and lighter but I gained at least 10 lbs. in 4 months. After the first round of pills I had in between bleeding which I bleed till my next period it was mostly spotting and light bleeding but still a whole month ! I got 2 mild yeast infections, When hubby was in the mood I was dry and never really in the mood, I felt tired all the time like I had no energy to do anything. I also woke up several nights with cramps in my calf. It felt like I had a charlie horse. I think I am going to stop taking them just because of all the side effects I have experienced and worried about some of the ones I could experience! | F | 35 | 4 months .02 1X day | 11/9/2011 | 1 | treatment of acne and long periods | HORRIBLE breakouts. I still have scars half a year later. | F | 17 | 3 months 1X day | 9/18/2011 | 1 | Birth control | mood swings, extreamly emotional, couldn't stop crying,anxiety, panic attacks, forgetful | I had a terrible time on this pill, saw my docter and went off it right away. Later tried Micronor a pedstrogen only pill but had tingling on whole left side of body and had to go off right away too | F | 20 | 2 weeks 1X day | 8/18/2011 | 1 | Contraception | Hair loss, some weight gain | This pill made so much of my hair fall out, I have about half as much as I did before I started it, and it's been a few years now and it's still as thin as it was! I would lose way more than usual when brushing and big clumps of it in the shower, it took me a few weeks to realize that it was probably the pill, it stopped getting worse when I went off it, but even now, I still lose a lot of hair. I've tried lots of things to make it grow back and nothing will. Don't take this if you don't have lots of hair to lose! I also gained about 15-20 lbs but barely noticed that because of how bad a problem the hair loss was! | F | 25 | 2 months 1X day | 4/18/2011 | 5 | birth control | Maybe breast tenderness | Took Tri-Sprintec and another BC and had a lot of anxiety/depression etc. I looked up online what changes in BC might help, and decided to ask for Alesse. From what I can tell, I have not had any more mood issues. I do have low libido, but this could be due to other things. Period isn't super heavy, it's on time, no pregnancy, no noticeable/shocking weight gain, and especially no mood changes = a winner for me! | F | 23 | 3 years 1X day | 3/1/2011 | 2 | lutera actually, birth control | extreme hair loss, mood swings | within the first two to three weeks I noticed I was losing more hair than I usually did each day. I thought perhaps it was due to something else, but it was not. I know they tell you to wait through a few cycles and I continued taking the generic Lutera for two months (generic because my pharmacy didn't carry Aless). I stopped taking it because I couldn't take the hair loss. I've always had really thick hair but now I have thin hair. I lost a weeks worth of hair in one day. It was coming out when I brushed and washed, as well as throughout the day. My hair is still thin however the amount I'm losing has decreased dramatically, it appears i'm back to normal and I have been off Lutera for one month. Also I noticed that I was having more trouble than usual controlling my mood swings, and I was a lot more irritable. I am already a moody person and I was worse for those two months. But my periods were really light and short. So since I've been off, I'm only shedding my usual amount of hair daily, and I my moods are more stable, well at least back to normal. | F | 27 | 2 months 1X day | 12/8/2010 | 5 | control menses | I started out taking brand name Alesse and then changed to generic Lutera for the past ~2 years - no side effects for the entire the time I've been on it, until just recently - I'm starting to get a little spotting now between periods and also PMS symptoms at unusual times, so I'm hunting for a new pill - I don't think there is a problem with the pill, but rather my body has changed - I've gone through this a few times with oral contraceptives over the years | I actually take Alesse/Lutera a little like an extended cycle pill, but I do mine for 6 weeks on, 1 week off - it's been great to have fewer cycles and I didn't have any problems with it until just recently (but like I said above, I think this is just because my body is changing) - my gyn offered to write the script this way for me when I was considering Seasonale several years ago - so I've taken Alesse as directed and 6 weeks on, 1 week off without incident, as well as generic Lutera 6 weeks on, 1 week off without side effects, but this golden age is coming to a close for me, and after many years of menstrual bliss (light flow, no cramps, perfect clockwork regularity), the hunt begins again to find another that will do this for me | F | 34 | 10 years 1X day | 9/7/2010 | 1 | Birth Control/Period Regulation | Extreme mood swings, Depression, PMDD, Severe cramps, vision problems, Numbness in legs, Breast Sensativity, No labido, No self-esteem, Paranoia, Anxiety, Should I go on? | When I started Alesse last summer I had little to no side effects and was generally happy with it. As the months went on however I pretty much started to slowly lose my mind. When it came time for my period to start I would have so many mood swings that I was pretty much a different person. I could probably write a book on the problems I had with it. I don't recommend this pill, but that's just me, it effects everyone differently. | F | 20 | 1 years 1X day | 8/11/2010 | 1 | birth control | severe cystic acne, rashes, period every two weeks, binge eating, severe depression. | I was told by my doctor that this pill had the least amount of side effects. If you want to feel and look like crap while on this medication, take it. You will feel so great about yourself once the medicaiton settles in. | F | 29 | 4 months 1X day | 7/15/2010 | 5 | Birth control | I did not experience any side effects. It was a good pill for me. | F | 30 | 2 days 1X day | 6/8/2010 | 2 | Birth Control | cramps, mood swings, break-outs, early period | after taking Yasmin for a year (and having no problem with it) my doctor wanted to switch me off because she was worried about its effects on my health later on in life. so she put me on alesse: the first two months in the middle of the pack i was having horrible cramps where i couldn't get out of bed. on the third month i skipped a pill and took it the next day (which i had done before on yasmin) and a few days later i got a heavier, longer period than i'd had in over a year while i was still taking the pink pills. i also had awful mood swings and flipped out at my boyfriend for no reason and cried a lot more. not for everyone i guess | F | 18 | 3 months 1X day | 5/11/2010 | 4 | birth control | Dryer eyes, rendering me unable within a month to wear contact lenses (even the dry eyes single use kind) | Altogether I had no big side effects. No weight gain whatsoever. This pill worked like a charm. The first month of taking it was punctuated by some light bleeding and nausea if I took the pill a few hours later than usual, but those went away after that first month. I'm very satisfied of this product, apart from being forced to wear glasses because of the extremely dry eyes (resembling that of the elderly according to my optometrist). | F | 23 | 4 years | 1/24/2010 | 4 | Birth Control/Regulate Periods | Mood swings | Best pill I've used. 3-4 days of semi-light, little cramping periods. Every period was right on schedule, unless I missed a pill. Had slight mood swings/feelings of hostility, but it was manageable. Was on it for 10+ years, never had problems. | F | 27 | 10 years | 1/15/2010 | 1 | Contraception | Moodiness, enxiety, anger, irrationability, breakthrough bleeding, acne | Alesse eventually made me crazy enough to go off it. Everything made me angry, I was screaming all the time. And I am a really easy going person. Then the acne, migraines and the breakthrough bleeding (after years on it) made me quit for good. Aviane (generic) was even worse even though they claim it's the same formula. No pill works for everyone. | F | 30 | 2.5 years | 1/11/2010 | 1 | other birth control is too pricy | nose bleeds, nausea, weight gain, loss of appetite, no sexual desire at all! | OMG I HATE THIS PILL! I have been on this pill less than a week and I'm stopping it now. I started it on a Monday and today is Friday and in those few days i started getting severe nose bleeds, gained weight(significant) but at the same time I had no appetite. Every time I ate I felt like I was going to throw up and the worst part to me is I didn't want sex. That is weird to me because I ALWAYS want sex and now it is the last thing I want. I feel bad for my boyfriend:( I'm going back on my wallet-buster pill as of today. YAZ is amazing I was dumb to stop it. | F | 18 | 4 days | 10/2/2009 | 2 | Birth control | depressed, mood swings, loss of sex drive (terrible, to say the least), weight gain | I used to be on this pill about two years ago for 2 1/2 years straight and did not feel any side effect. I got off bc pills all together for a year and went back on it thinking it would be the same. Very wrong. I spoke with my dr. he said it all depends on your body, what might of worked for me then will not work for me now. I went now to Zovia and experiencing the low sex drive and weight gain, so I'm concidering stoping the pill. The only positive to bcp is increase in breast size, but still not happy with all other aspects of it. | F | 28 | 3 months | 5/8/2009 | 5 | birth control | Recently, breakthrough bleeding. Otherwise, only positive effects -- less acne, lighter/easier periods, very regular periods, stable mood. | I have LOVED this pill. I am very sensitive to hormonal contraceptives, and have tried a lot (including Depo), and when I found that Alesse worked for me many years ago, it was a life-saver. But now (at almost 30), I'm having breakthrough bleeding, which my doctor thinks is due to my body changing and needing a higher-estrogen pill. Fingers crossed the new pill works ok... | F | 29 | 8 years | 4/29/2009 | 2 | Pregnancy prevention, lighter perio | -Mood swings! (Angry) -Anxious -Acne where there was none before. | Things were fine while I was on the generic version of Alesse (Aviane) for 3 years. 2 weeks ago, my pharmacy offered brand name Alesse at the same price, so I got it. Since then my moods have been AWFUL! I am angry and anxious all the time, for no reason. I snap at every little thing. And my face is breaking out even worse. | F | 30 | 3 years | 3/24/2009 | 2 | cramping, irregual mestuarl cycle | Unpredictable periods, extreme mood swings, panic attacks, depressed, couldn’t lose weight, irritability. Always tired, no sex drive at all, bloating, Chewing (I know it sounds weird but I was constantly chewing the inside of my mouth) | I started this pill because I was having completely painful and irregular periods. I got to the point where I would have to call out of work the first day of my cycle because my cramping would be so bad and I was always in the bathroom. I found out that I had IBS and my DOC said that I should try BC for the period pain. My OBGYN told me to try Alesse and I did it for 9 months. I NEVER would get my period on time and my period would last anywhere from 10-12 days. My periods weren’t heavy, they were actually pretty decent, but it would so long. My cramping wasn’t as bad as before. I was finally able to go about my normal life during the first day of my cycle. Don’t get me wrong, I still had cramps, they were just more tolerable. I was ALWAYS moody, depressed and irritable. And worse of all, I would take it out on those closest to me. I started to get panic attacks during my 4th month on the pill for no reason. I just couldn’t take it anymore. I went back to my GYN | F | 22 | 9 months | 1/6/2009 | 1 | Birth Control | Significant weight gain, depression, complete loss of sex drive, moodiness, increase in breast size, rash when out in the sun, acne | The only positive side effect with Alesse is that it did regulate my periods. But it made everything else worse. I am in a committed relationship of almost 3 years, and ever since taking alesse my sex drive is non existent. I have also gained about 30 pounds at least. I made an appt with my dr. to change, and was prescribed yasmin. after reading horrible reviews about that i am deciding against taking either. im kind of at a loss. | F | 20 | 2 years | 11/21/2008 |