If you're happy with what you're on i'd just stick with it. Switching a lot can be hard on your body and skin. As for aleese, I have not heard about those things at all.

How long have you been on your current pill? If just a few months the breakthrough bleeding should stop. If not, maybe you should try something else - and a lower dose might actually make the spotting worse.

The reason I was wanting to switch to alesse was because I want to take continuous pills to stop my period, and I heard it's better to do that if you have a lower dosage because you are getting a week's worth of extra estrogen in your body. Alesse has the lowest dosage out of all birth control pills, it has .020 mg of estrogen and ortho cyclen has .035 mg, and they're both monophasic. I did a lot of research into this. I have been on ortho cyclen for three months now, but I have only skipped the sugar pills once and went straight to the active pills. During the middle of my active pills, I not only started my period, but it was heavier than usual. I am supposed to go back to the clinic to get a 3 month refill this week, so I will ask if I can try alesse. Do you have any other recommendations on other brands? I would like to try yasmin, but planned parenthood doesn't offer that for free. Oh yeah, and I read that alesse has an androgen excess because it has such a low dosage of estrogen and more progestin so it can cause hair growth.
should I just disregard that? Thanks so much for your help and advice!

Hmmmm...I was going to suggest yasmin, but if you can't get it for free then I don't know. Is it cheap enough for you though? Yasmin would be an excellent choice. Necon might also be a good choice, see if they offer that one.

I tried to use that link to read about aleese b/c I really hadn't heard that, but there was an error and it said the link had been broken. What ever that means?! You could certainly try aleese and if you find that you're not having the results that you wanted try something else. I can't really say one way or the other with that one b/c i've never been on it.

I am taking alesse now and it has never done any of that to me! And def. Not acne. I have never heard of it giving you acne...

I have been on alesse for about 1 year 1/2 now but am switching due to weight gain and not being able to burn it off....Since alesse is the lowest estrogen pill out there.....

But good luck. Aleese is a really good pill!

I have been on Aleese for about 6 months now. As far as my periods go, everything is great. They come on time, cramping is minimal and there isnt very much bloating. But, I have gained weight (not sure of how much but it feels like a lot) and I got horrible acne! I have been seeing a dermatologist because of it. And because I am still taking it, yes the medicine I was given for my acne is working but not 100 % because I think of the pill. I am actually switching my pills AGAIN here in about 2 weeks so I can try to drop some of the weight and see how my skin does. I am not sure when you posted this question on here but I would suggest you dont use Aleese. I have had friends on it and they had issues with it to.

i am on alesse, it has been great i havent gained any weight and i cures minor acne i would deffff. recomend this pill its the best one i've been on.

(please note that this pill doesnt help for everyone because everyone is different)

I used Alesse for two years without facial hair and bad acne.

It's always better for women to use lower hormone dosage BC pills, especially for women over 40. For me, I stopped using any BC pills at all last year due to hypertension problem.

Like me. It happened when I went OFF Alesse, not while I was on it. Granted, my experience was about 7 years ago and I don't know if the drug has been improved since then.

I started on Ortho Tri-Cyclen to improve heavy, painful periods and moderate acne. It turned me into a a rabid beast: my mood swings shifted between severe depression and severe anger. I either wanted to kill myself or everyone else. Also, I bled for three weeks straight. I stayed on that pill for two months because I was told to give my body time to adjust. When the side effects didn't abate I asked the doctor if I should switch to a lower dose pill. She recommended Alesse. While on it for a year, it worked great. My acne cleared up well, not completely, but it looked much better. I didn't really gain much weight, maybe between a pound and 5. My periods were regular, shorter, and much less painful. I was quite pleased.

Then I went off it, for several reasons, and it was about a few weeks later I noticed the hairs on my chin, stomach and (dare I say it) bottom were becoming darker. A few girlfriends even noticed it. I'm not talking a few stray hairs. I'm talking a lumberjack chin beard. My acne returned even worse. I'm now 29 years old and still suffer these symptoms because laser hair removal costs a lot of $$ and waxing irritates my skin. Shaving is the only thing that works for me. I've been tested in the past 5 months for Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome and it came back negative. However, my testosterone levels are now in the normal-high range, indicating free androgens with no discernible source. There was not enough hormone fluctuation to indicate either an ovarian or adrenal problem. Fabulous. My own research has found that certain BC pills have a greater propensity to show these side effects than others. When I find it in my pile of folders I'll pass it along!

Ironically, I was just talking about this with a group of my girlfriends last Saturday, and one friend experienced the exact same symptoms after going off Alesse. She doesn't have PCOS either. My friends who DO have PCOS mostly take Yaz because of its spironolactone base, which helps inhibit hair growth. There isn't another BC pill on the market using spironolactone.

My present OBG recommended I take Yaz to clear up my symptoms, but I'm wary to put another BC band-aid on a problem without knowing the cause. Most doctors say if you go off a BC pill and these severe side effects manifest, it means you had the problem from the very beginning and the BC didn't cause it, it just covered it up. Without the BC pill in your system, the symptoms return. I'm not entirely happy with that answer because my facial hair and acne was not nearly as bad before I stopped using Alesse.

Anyway, Alesse obviously does not screw everyone up, but when it does, it DOES. If you can, I'd get your hormone's tested before you go on Alesse to see if you have any abnormal hormone imbalances. Perhaps that can help you make a better decision which BC pill is right for you.

My story is EXACTLY THE SAME as phantomspots'--took ortho tri. to lessen heavy periods, got crazy crazy mood swings, moved to ortho low then Alesse. Now, even 4 years after stopping BC entirely, I have the same "lumberjack chin" and also have worse back acne than I ever had before. I have never been tested for PCOS but do not have any of the other symptoms, besides the facial hair & acne. Thank you, phantoms., for the loose androgen info, makes a lot of sense. If I were to do it all over again, I would have never gone on BC in the first place. I quit 4 years ago after reading the book, "Taking Charge of Your Fertility." I felt like a pawn in a misogynistic capitalistic system, and quit the pill immediately. 4 years of happy, pregnancy-free sex make me wish I had never put those damn hormones into my system and looked more closely into natural therapies for my cramps/acne. Now I have a beard and bacne to show for it!