~If you get migraines with visual auras, you have a higher risk of stroke and blood clots on birth control containing estrogen. It is a significant enough risk that some doctors won't even prescribe you with a combined pill or patch if you have these migraines. I'd talk it over with your doctor. If a pill gives you worse or more frequent migraines, you should probably not be on it. For people who have this risk, progesterone-only pills or methods such as the mirena iud or depo are recommended, because they don't contain estrogen.

~Different pills will affect you in different ways, regardless of it they're higher or lower dose, and sometimes you will have to wait out the side effects for three months before you can decide if you're going to be miserable or not. You really just have to keep trying different things to find out what works.

~ There are always non hormonal options too. I hope you find what works best for you!

I have constant mild headaches on the pill. Like constant enough and mild enough that I dont realize Im having them except every once in a while. I really only noticed before when I went off the pill and it felt like a fog had cleared.

That's not good. You need to be talking to your doc about this.

I was on the patch for about a year, and i loved it. I no longer had the mood swings like i did on the pill, and i only had to worry about it once a week. When i developed several "life threatening" blood clots my doctor took me off of the patch and informed me that i can no longer take any form of birth control with estrogen/hormones in it. Before i was on the patch i tried everything. I found that my mood swings were worse on the low estrogen pills than they were on the regular.

So my suggestion to your question would be to try the ring instead. Everyones has a different reaction to different types of birth control and thats why you are feeling more side effects on the pill than on the patch ( I had the same problems you did) The patch is as bad as they say it is. Thats just my opinion, but i didn't believe that the patch could do anymore harm than the pill did until i had to stay in the hospital of 9 days.

So hope everything turns out ok for you!