|
Visanne
Nov 3, 2011 13:43:42 GMT -5
Post by brussie on Nov 3, 2011 13:43:42 GMT -5
Hi all, I know we have some ladies from the UK (and maybe other parts of Europe and Australia) where Visanne is approved for long-term treatment of endo. (see visanne.com) From what I understand, it will also be available in Canada very soon. Has anyone tried it? I'm very intrigued by it; I think I would give it a try if it were available in the States. It's a progestin (synthetic progesterone) called dienogest, but it doesn't have any nasty androgenic side-effects like the other progestins do (acne, anger, all those testosterone-y things). Studies have found that it not only reduces lesion size, but it reduces the production of estrogen via aromatization which in turn reduces inflammation. (If you're a medical nerd, you'll enjoy this in depth report by the Australian government about it: www.tga.gov.au/pdf/auspar/auspar-visanne.pdf). There are bc pills available in the US that contain 2mg of dienogest (same dose as Visanne) but they also, of course, contain estrogen. Estrogen is the portion of the bc pill that my body just cannot handle, so I haven't been willing to try the dienogest bc pills. But maybe Visanne will be available in the States soon. I wonder what the hold up is; they've been using it in Europe since 2009...
|
|
|
Visanne
Nov 4, 2011 11:09:36 GMT -5
Post by hellsbells on Nov 4, 2011 11:09:36 GMT -5
Never heard of it, but I'm going to look into it!
|
|
|
Visanne
Nov 7, 2011 12:18:09 GMT -5
Post by brussie on Nov 7, 2011 12:18:09 GMT -5
Cool! Please let me know what you find out. I would love to hear about how they are using it in Europe, UK, Australia, etc., success rates, side effects, etc. If it looks good, I might just have to make a trip up north to Canada next month! I used to live there; wonder if my name is still in the system... While I would prefer a treatment that didn't stop ovulation, I've come to terms with the fact that a brief (6-12 month) cessation of ovulation might be the only way to break the cycle of inflammation and endometriomas that cause more inflammation and on and on. I'm really reluctant to try combined bc pills due to bad experiences with them in the past and I'm reluctant to try Mirena due to past experience with the Paragard IUD (also, Mirena doesn't stop ovulation in all women, so I don't see how it could be as effective in stopping the endo cycle). The mini-pill is a possibility, but I don't like the sound of some of the androgenic side effects. So a non-androgenic progestin like dienogest is very interesting to me.
|
|
|
Visanne
Nov 7, 2011 19:20:21 GMT -5
Post by Karen on Nov 7, 2011 19:20:21 GMT -5
Consider bio-identical progesterone. If dosed properly, it won't suppress ovulation and won't give you all the nasty side effects of a progestin-only pill (which typically have higher side effect issues since estrogen helps balance out some of the side effects).
|
|
|
Visanne
Nov 8, 2011 14:33:12 GMT -5
Post by brussie on Nov 8, 2011 14:33:12 GMT -5
Hi Karen,
I really like the idea of bio-identical progesterone. I'm actually using it right now but in a very small dose. It has already alleviated my pre-menstrual breast pain!
I would love a treatment that didn't suppress ovulation. Unfortunately, both my OBGYN and holistic MD agree that in order to break the cycle of endometriomas and inflammation I need to suppress ovulation at least for a little while (6-9 months or so). My holistic MD does want me to continue to use the bio-identical progesterone during and after treatment. So I'm trying to decide what my best ovulation suppression option is. Dienogest appeals to me more than combined bc pills, but it's not yet available in the States.
|
|
|
Visanne
Nov 29, 2011 16:57:46 GMT -5
Post by brussie on Nov 29, 2011 16:57:46 GMT -5
|
|
|
Visanne
Nov 29, 2011 18:42:38 GMT -5
Post by Karen on Nov 29, 2011 18:42:38 GMT -5
I'd be interested to hear people's experiences with it!
|
|
|
Post by redwood on Dec 6, 2011 0:30:06 GMT -5
Hmm, does this mean it's available in Canada right now? I'd consider it if switching to the progesterone cream doesn't work for me. I can't take the troches anymore as I'm having some reaction to them now (the tissues in my mouth). Or I could try the oral progesterone route. But it seems I need to do something different than what I've been doing. If I do start taking this, I'll post my experience here.
|
|
|
Visanne
Feb 3, 2012 18:06:27 GMT -5
Post by redwood on Feb 3, 2012 18:06:27 GMT -5
Well, ladies, looks like I may be the first guinea pig on here to try Visanne. I just got a prescription for it today from my Dr. It's been available in Canada for two months now and she said she has gotten good feedback on it already. I won't start it yet though as I'm in the middle of my cycle (day 11), so she said to finish out this cycle with my progesterone troches that I'm taking and then start the Visanne the next cycle. I'll probably end troches on day 26 and then start on day 1 with visanne. I'll let you all know how it goes. I feel happy about trying something new. I had good results for a few months this year, plus last december on the bio-identical progesterone, but recently it wasn't as good, and it was awful on the cream. I'm not sure why, but I always felt that I should be taking it every day and not breaking from it (as to simulate the high progesterone state of pregnancy). My NP wanted to balance my hormones and even though the ONLY month I had NO PAIN at all was when I took a high dose all month, she didn't want me to do that. Well, after a year of this, I think it's time to try something else.
I actually feel happy and excited about starting Visanne. Perhaps that sounds silly, but for some reason I have high hopes for it (hope they aren't dashed), since it is specifically for endometriosis and not some birth control pill or other thing.
If it gets rid of the pain and doesn't make me feel bad in other ways (lots of side effects), then I'll be happy. So we shall see. I'll probably start it around feb. 21 or so and then will report here after one cycle goes by. She did say it may take a cycle or two to start working properly (like most things).
|
|
|
Visanne
Feb 3, 2012 18:50:06 GMT -5
Post by Karen on Feb 3, 2012 18:50:06 GMT -5
|
|
|
Visanne
Feb 4, 2012 17:06:34 GMT -5
Post by redwood on Feb 4, 2012 17:06:34 GMT -5
yeah, my dr. said that it was compared to lupron and that the results were basically the same, but without all the awful side effects of lupron (menopause symptoms plus bone loss). she agreed that with lupron that some people will feel better but then the symptoms come back after they've completed the 6 months. it would be interesting also to know what the side effects were for the visanne too. I'm sure some people had them. I hope I don't.
I hope I can make it to the end of my cycle with the troches, as they are irritating my gums again. She said I can start it any time, but also said that since I was taking the progesterone troches to finish them this cycle and start the next cycle with Visanne.
Also, I'm on another endo website now that is from Canada and a few people are starting Visanne there, so I'll report here if they say anything about their experience. It's a very small website compared to this one and not open to the public - you have to be added in by the administrator.
|
|
|
Visanne
Feb 13, 2012 16:19:34 GMT -5
Post by redwood on Feb 13, 2012 16:19:34 GMT -5
My period came early and it was the worst one I ever had. Strange how the troches now don't seem to work for me although they had worked for almost 1.5 years. Anyway, I'm starting the Visanne in two days. Took the prescription in on friday, but the pharmacy doesn't have it in stock and had to order it. I'll post here about any effects it has. Hopefully good ones! But I know from past experience that the first month is probably a bit weird with irregular bleeding, sore breasts, etc.
|
|
|
Visanne
Feb 17, 2012 16:08:06 GMT -5
Post by redwood on Feb 17, 2012 16:08:06 GMT -5
I started using the Visanne on wednesday (two days ago). I took it before going to bed and the first morning I felt kind of woozy, a bit drugged, when I woke up, although this morning, that didn't happen, so hopefully that is gone. I know that when I started new medications before (bio-identical progesterone and progestins) that this happened and then it went away after a bit when I got used to it. With the bio-identical, I always took 50mg during the day and it that "drunk" feeling after taking it actually lasted for at least a month. But slowly it went away so I didn't notice it at all, unless I started a higher dose. At 150mg at night, it was ok to make me woozy and sleepy! The progestin I took before did the same thing. Although I only took it one day as I kind of freaked out about the drunk feeling (this was a few days ago).
I guess I won't know how it affects the pain until my next period. I started on day 6 of my cycle after stopping the progesterone I was taking before on day 1, so that there was a 5 day break in between. I couldn't start it earlier as the pharmacy didn't have the med in stock.
I was rather shocked at how expensive it is - $75 for 28 pills! My insurance is not covering it either. Perhaps because it's new and hasn't been reviewed/added yet? I wonder how long that takes. It seems that if I order 3 months at a time, it's a bit less ($200 for 3 months), but I was afraid to do that as what if I didn't react well to it and wanted to stop? So I thought I'd just get it for the month for now and see how it goes. Assuming it's ok, I'll give it at least 3 months to see if it works well for me. I'm supposed to see my Dr. again when the 3 months has almost past to review how it's going and if well, then get a longer prescription.
At the moment I still have some pain, but the last two months, my pain lasted 10 days and it's been 8 days so far. So hopefully next month will be different. Before November, my pain was very minimal and was only a few days (4 at the most) and not as bad as it has been these past two months.
|
|
|
Visanne
Feb 17, 2012 16:25:10 GMT -5
Post by redwood on Feb 17, 2012 16:25:10 GMT -5
oh, one more thing. I am also now on a forum that is for endo sufferers in Canada and there is one other woman that is taking the Visanne and it's been a bit more than a month now for her. She said it did help with her pain the first month, but that she got some headaches and usually she doesn't have headaches. There was a second woman that was taking it too, but after a week she found out that it wasn't birth control (or wasn't tested as that), so she stopped it and went back to her usual combination pill. So it's just me now and that one other woman. Hopefully she posts her feedback again after her second cycle. It's good to hear it helped with her pain just after a month, so I have some hope for next cycle. although I wonder if she started on day 1, while I had to wait until day 6 since the med wasn't available right away (my period stared early so I didn't have time to order it ahead of time).
|
|
|
Visanne
Feb 17, 2012 20:55:35 GMT -5
Post by Karen on Feb 17, 2012 20:55:35 GMT -5
Fingers crossed!
|
|