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 |
| 1 | Birth control | Extreme depression, crying, nausea, panic attacks, sleeplessness | If I had the money, I'd be launching a lawsuit. I am in good health, eat well, exercise and am (well, was) in a great relationship. But for about two months on this pill I was a raving maniac. From day one I was crying every single day (and I am not a cryer) and getting into fights with my boyfriend over nothing. I knew it was the pills, but everyone told me to wait it out three months and these bad symptoms would go away. (Also, in the accompanying literature, while side effects like limb numbness are cause for emergency, the only warning regarding depression is for people who were *already* depressed before taking the drug, and even then the side effect is 'minor'). After crying at work and a near suicide attempt, I went to the doc who told me to stop taking the pills. Immediately. And guess what? I immediately felt better. No depression, no crying, and I got my appetite back. The odd part is I felt like a failure, not being able to 'tough it out.' I thought the birth cont | F | 25 | 60 days | 4/20/2007 | 5 | | 4/8/2007 | 1 | Birth Control | ACNE ACNE ACNE. Didnt start until 8 months in. I had no idea that the pill could cause this so i continued the pill for another year. My skin was so bad and painful. I never had acne before at all and now my face is hideous and ugly and i can barely cover it up with makeup. 2 years later and its still a mess. The only time my face clears a little is when i have my period. Had to go on spiro to block the adrogens that my body is still producing because of this drug. im hoping it works. | Besides the acne also experienced severely reduced libido and mood swings/irratability/depression. Just use condoms... its so much better for your body! I used the generic of this pill called aviane. | F | 28 | 2 years | 4/7/2007 | 3 | Birth Control | anxiety, moodiness, decreased libido | I'd stick with Alesse but for these anxiety attacks that I keep having (and the super decreased libido). Never suffered anxiety attacks on the pill before, so am switching to Yasmin. | F | 38 | 3 months | 3/8/2007 | 2 | Birth Control | Hair loss, mood swings, loss of sex drive, some breakthrough bleeding | Wasn't the worse BC pill I've been on but still not great..I don't like losing my hair! | F | 25 | 1 years | 2/28/2007 | 2 | Significant weight gain, hair loss, loss of libido, moodiness, depression. | F | 23 | 1 years | 2/28/2007 | 1 | severe cramps and nausea | Abundant amount of discharge. Seem to be more hungry. | Horrible and disgsting yellow discharge - which I had tested - came back negative for infection. Did not help with nausea, headaches, or my severe cramps! All that it did was make it shorter I obviously need to switch! | F | 38 | 4 months | 2/26/2007 | 2 | acne | lots of breakthrough bleeding/increase in acne and facial oil/decreased premenstrual depression | seemed to not cause the hunger and mood swings other BCPs do | F | 24 | 2 months | 2/15/2007 | 3 | To avoid having a period | The major side effect I experienced was weight gain. I've gained 10 pounds in 6 months. My husband is happier because my periods don't last 2 weeks anymore. I have one every 3 months for about 5 days. | F | 39 | 6 months | 1/24/2007 | 5 | To cut down cramping | Some mood swings | All in all this was a drug that worked wonders for me. I do experience the occational PMS, (crying and getting angry) about once a month for about a week, sometimes a wee bit longer, but all in all it helped with everything. My sex drive increased, I lost weight, my period lasts for about 3 days, hardly no cramping, no nausea nothing. My only concern is the difficulty to find it now in drug stores. Seems like they are running out of supplies. | F | 21 | 3.5 years | 1/17/2007 | 5 | Birth Control | No side effects that I can tell at this point! | This is the first pill I have tried since getting married. It is very effective as a contraceptive, no real changes to my skin, no weight change whatsoever, no breakthrough bleeding, nothing. I have missed a pill and just doubled up the next day with slight nausea. I might be concerned about the long-term effects. Other than that, I love this. | F | 22 | 8 months | 1/4/2007 | 5 | Birth control | Nothing really except for vaginal discharge. | I experienced virtually no side effects from this pill EXCEPT I had a lot of discharge, which was attributed to the pill. I was on it for 3 years and as soon as I went off it, the discharge was gone. Other than that, I loved this one. | F | 28 | 3 years | 11/16/2006 | 3 | | 11/10/2006 | 1 | birth control & stop cramps | nauseau, MIGRAINES, oily skin, acne | started out with nauseau, then started getting migraines every single day for a year. as soon as i realized it may be due to the pill, i stopped taking it and the migraines went away. it did stop the bad cramps, but then again, other bcp or other lifestyle/diet changes can do the same. then after discontinuing the pill, i had terrible acne that lasted two years (only diet helped this). i am still dealing with side-effects: my period became lighter and lighter after stopping the pill and now i haven't had it for a year. this is a scary drug. i believe there are other low dose pills that have fewer side effects. | F | 25 | 1 years | 11/5/2006 | 1 | birth control | severe depression, anger, emotional numbness, low libido | It took me almost 8 months to go back to normal after taking this pill. I should have known something was wrong when 3 days into it I couldn't get out of bed because I felt completely emotionally numb. But since I had unsuccessfully tried 4 other pills previously, I gave it a shot. Although it did shorten and lighten my periods, it worsened my cramps, I had very low sex drive, I was crying all the time and I was constantly angry, depressed or emotionally shut down, and managed to ruin a 2 year relationship with my boyfriend who could only put up with my insanity for so long. I went into therapy thinking I needed an anti depressant but more than a year later I know it was the alesse causing my problems and I will never be taking it again. | F | 22 | 5 months | 9/30/2006 | 3 | birth control | MELASMA (DARK SPOTS ON MY FACE) | I USED ALESSE JUST FOR TWO WEEKS, I DIDN'T HAVE ANY OTHER SIDE EFFECT, MELASMA IS SOMETHING THAT JUST FEW WOMEN DEVELOP. | F | 26 | 2 weeks | 8/20/2006 | 5 | severe stomach cramps all the time | none, other that stomach cramps going away, breakouts werent as bad before periods, 5 days before my period after a year of taking them, I had one day of spotting which kinda freaked me out, I still dont know what it was from, if anyone has any ideas what it might be from, if you could e-mail me, that'd be appreciated | I started getting cramps in December and couldnt eat much other than raw veggies. After losing 40 pounds and becoming dangerously thin, and after seeing MANY specialists, I went and saw a gynacologist who thought it may have been endometriosis, but after doing some tests it wasn't that either, so he put me on the pill for a trial 3 months to see if that cleared up any of my problems. After the first month on the pill I was able to eat normally and returned to my normal weight, but I did gain alot of wheight in my thighs and hips | F | 17 | 1 years | 8/18/2006 | 4 | Birth Control | Lowered sex drive; otherwise this pill is great! | I'm actually taking Aviane, the generic version. As compared to Mircette, this pill is great - no mood swings, no weight gain, very light periods. However, sex has become rather unpleasant - dryness, loss of interest, etc. This kind of makes the whole thing pointless since I obviously don't need BC if I'm not having sex!! | F | 25 | 5 months | 7/12/2006 | 5 | brith control/regularity | Sometimes a period would take two days to kick into action and sometimes if I forgot to take a pill and took it a couple of hours late I would get my period early. This is a plus though, because I can control when I get my period. Possible increase in sex drive (definitly NOT decreased). No major changes in weight, skin condition, or mood. Have started to notice more cramping (not necessarily more flow) with periods. | I think this oral contraceptive is fatastic. I have been taking the active pills on a continual cycle for 2-3 packs so I'd only get my period once every 2-3 months. It regulates periods very well. I have also noticed that because a missed pill brings on a period so quickly, that I can easily "tell" my body when to have a period. "Tricking" my body into thinking that it's at the end of its cycle has been very effective and convenient! I love it! | F | 21 | 6 months | 5/22/2006 | 1 | Contraceptive | HORRIBLE ACNE AFTER 6 MONTHS OF USE. | F | 18 | 2 years | 5/10/2006 |