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Visanne
Mar 20, 2012 10:54:51 GMT -5
Post by redwood on Mar 20, 2012 10:54:51 GMT -5
My spotting stopped yesterday, so finally I don't need to wear those panty liners anymore. So my period was 5 days (very light) plus another 7 days of spotting which progressively got lighter and lighter. So.... a 12 day period. This happened to me the first month I took Nore-be, a mini pill with progestin only back in 2007 and it stopped after that first month, so I'm not too alarmed. Although then I did have a mini-period every two weeks and hopefully that won't happen on this drug.
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Visanne
Apr 9, 2012 19:35:36 GMT -5
Post by rachel2178 on Apr 9, 2012 19:35:36 GMT -5
I've been on Visanne for 21 days now. I had been taking continuous birth control before it so of course had a period 7 days into taking it. The pain was still there but it was muted. It was a long period, it lasted about 9 days. Now I am experiencing some abdominal pain, but no other side effects so far. Fingers crossed the next period will be better!
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Visanne
Apr 17, 2012 9:12:26 GMT -5
Post by redwood on Apr 17, 2012 9:12:26 GMT -5
Well, I never got another period this month. No period and no pain. Works for me! I was on vacation for the last three weeks and was so OFF the endo diet. I was living off bread, cheese and chocolate, it seems and also stated drinking coffee again (it's so good in Europe). But I felt totally fine. I'll behave myself more though, now that I'm home again. Just because the Visanne got rid of the pain doesn't mean it can't come back and I'm concerned about diet affecting it later on.
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Visanne
Apr 17, 2012 11:33:54 GMT -5
Post by disturbedme on Apr 17, 2012 11:33:54 GMT -5
Hi, Redwood.
I am really interested in Visanne, but I am in the U.S. and don't know if it would be possible to even start taking it since it's only available in the UK and Canada. :-\
I am on Micronor right now, and though I don't hate it, I would love to have something that stops my ovulation completely for a while. I would love to go a year or so without a period. Not only that, but it would be good to have something to get rid of endometriomas!!!! I've read that combined BC is usually good at keeping endometriomas away, but I am not willing to do combined. I mean, if it got to that point and that was all that was available, I would do it, but I'd rather do something like Visanne first. I wonder if my doctor could prescribe it and the pharmacy could have it sent in from Canada or something? Though I doubt they do that. :-(
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Visanne
Apr 17, 2012 12:08:22 GMT -5
Post by redwood on Apr 17, 2012 12:08:22 GMT -5
I have a dr. appt. next week and I will ask my Dr. about cross border medication. I really doubt that your Dr. in the USA can prescribe it since it's not available there, but you might be able to get a Canadian dr. to prescribe it for you. It would be costly though as you would need to go to Canada to see the Dr. to prescribe it. So you could go somewhere in Ontario (would be the closest province to you) to see a GP (you don't need to see a gyn here, GP's can prescribe it and the appt. would be cheaper). I think they can only prescribe it for 3 months at a time, so you may need to go back every 3 months to get the prescription (and it's not common, so the pharmacy may need to order it). That is the only way I think it would work - traveling to Canada to see a dr. to get it prescribed and buy the drug in Canada (it's $200 for 3 months - not cheap).
There are lots of medical clinics here and you can see a Dr. even if you are not a resident (don't even need an appt.), so I assume it's the same in Ontario or other provinces. When I first moved up here, I was a visitor (I'm American, but now a Canadian resident) and I could see doctors and naturopaths and get prescriptions with no problems (although I also had a Canadian address too). It's not uncommon for Americans to order prescriptions from Canada (which are generally less expensive), but I'm just not sure how it would work for a drug that is not available in the USA. I'll ask my dr. about the possibility of what I just outlined above and see what she says. If an American traveled up here for an appt., would she prescribe Visanne for them to take back with them? Just to see if it might be possible if you want to go that route.
Hopefully it will also be available in the USA soon too.
If that is all too complicated and doesn't work, there are also provera tablets (as opposed to the provera shot) which I think are stronger than micronor. I know Helen took them for a while. That is a different type of progestin than Visanne though.
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Visanne
Apr 19, 2012 15:09:12 GMT -5
Post by redwood on Apr 19, 2012 15:09:12 GMT -5
ack. I feel a small twinging in my endo pain site today. Not always, but here and there. I wonder if that means my period will finally come. I'm now on day 43 of my cycle with no period in site. I had hoped it would stay away, but I'll be happy if the pain just stays away. Maybe vacation prevents endo pain but drugs don't? LOL I was hoping it was GONE. I guess I spoke too soon.
But then, maybe it'll be ok and there will be minimal pain with a period, which is what is was like last month. I just thought maybe I would be someone who didn't have periods on Visanne, which happens to some people.
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Visanne
Apr 22, 2012 17:58:12 GMT -5
Post by redwood on Apr 22, 2012 17:58:12 GMT -5
Well, that pain only lasted that day, and nothing since then. Didn't get my period either. So all is well, except for not getting a period is not normal, but that CAN be one of the side effects ,and it's not a bad one, if you ask me. But then, of course, a period might show up any old time. I have my 3 month Dr. appt. tomorrow.
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Visanne
Apr 22, 2012 22:26:54 GMT -5
Post by disturbedme on Apr 22, 2012 22:26:54 GMT -5
Good luck with your Dr. appointment, Redwood.
Will you have an ultrasound? I am glad the Visanne is working so well for you. I thought not getting a period on Visanne was normal since it stops you from ovulating?
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Visanne
Apr 23, 2012 12:54:54 GMT -5
Post by latika on Apr 23, 2012 12:54:54 GMT -5
Hi. I'm new here and I just thought I could tell you about my experiences with Visanne. I live in Slovenia (EU) and here we've had Visanne for about a year, but there aren't so many of us taking it. I'm on it since November, so this is my 6th month. I started with Visanne after laparoscopy and have been taking it continuously since then. I haven't had a period in this time, but I've been told that this is normal. At the beginning, I noticed spotting, but after the first two months it went away. As far as the pain is concerned - it did exist at first, but it wasn't so noticable and I think it was just a consequence of the laparoscopy. About side effects: there are not many, but unfortunately they aren't non-existing. At first, I took the pill in the morning and I was sick a lot. After time I started taking it in the evening, because I am a teacher and I cannot afford being sick in the classroom. I wasn't sick anymore, but I couldn't sleep. Now, I take it at 6 pm and I sleep fine, I still feel sick sometimes, but rarely and I can't say for sure that this is Visanne's fault. The worst side effect, however, is my libido. It is virtually non-existent and as a young woman (27) I can't accept it. I don't want to. Visanne seems fine when dealing with endometriosis for me, but so were the usual birth control pills. I'm taking it quite well and I don't feel any pain which is great. But due to the fact that I cannot have a normal sex life, I will try bioidentical progesterone. I have to get my blood checked and I've already found a gynaecologist who says that bioidentical progesterone is a safe replacement for Visanne. Visanne is made of 2mg dienogest which is synthetic progesterone. So I figure the natural progesterone will have the same effect. Also, the natural progesterone has a protective function (breast cancer) whereas the synthetical one doesn't. Also, Visanne isn't approved to be taken for a period longer than 14 months - there hasn't been any research done over this period, so after this time, you have to stop it. I will be happy to hear your comments or answer any questions
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Visanne
Apr 23, 2012 15:38:13 GMT -5
Post by redwood on Apr 23, 2012 15:38:13 GMT -5
Hi Latika, welcome to the board! You are the one on the this board that has taken Visanne the longest. I took bio-identical progesterone for 1.5 years before starting on Visanne and it worked, but not as well as the Visanne for me (but for you it may be different). I've only been on the Visanne for almost 3 months but it virtually eliminated my endo pain (and quite quickly), which had gotten quite bad the few months before I started it. With bio-identical, it took a few months for the pain to decrease (it actually increased in the beginning) and I had to keep increasing the dosage and then it was pretty good for about a year and then the pain started increasing again and I also had to stop taking the troche form of progesterone and switched to cream and that was a disaster for me and I had a lot more pain and then I switched to Visanne in February. I don't have a libido either, but I didn't really on bio-identical progesterone either. It would depend on whether I ovulated or not. If I did ovulate, then I had a libido (and usually more pain, it seems) and if I didn't ovulate, then I didn't have a libido. So the bio-identical progesterone didn't prevent ovulation always for me, but I think I only ovulated sometimes because of the fact that I'm 46 years old now, so I'm in periomenopause.
So I had my Dr. appt. today and I'm still on the Visanne for another 3 months. I don't have side effects from it (well, unless my hot flashes are side effects - see below) I take it at night before bed, but I switched to taking it in the morning when I was in Europe for vacation (because of the time switch) and that was fine too.
I also finally figured out what my heart rate increases were from. I actually had one in my Dr.'s office right in front of her. They are hot flashes. My heart rate increases AND I start feeling really hot too. I didn't realize this at first (feeling hot part) as it happened while I was taking a shower the first two times, but then it happened in a book store in London, and I realized that I was also hot while it happened and wanting to remove all my layers of clothes (LOL). Today it was the same thing. I had ridden my bike to the appointment and when I went into the office it was really quite warm in there and then it started shortly after I waiting for her in her office. As soon as I started feeling cooler, my heart rate decreased. Considering I'll soon be turning 47, my Dr. thinks it's due to my age and not an effect from the Visanne (which apparently doesn't decrease your estrogen - or shouldn't rather). But she ordered a blood test for my FSH and thyroid just to check. She said in order to get an accurate reading for my FSH, I would need to go off the Visanne for a month, but I wasn't willing to do that right now (it's so nice to have no pain!), so she said I could wait a few more months. She also said that bio-identical progesterone is prescribed to prevent hot flashes, so my hot flashes could be from going off that. I did have them a bit here and there two years ago BEFORE I was on the BI progesterone. I did read (and this was clarified by Jenaya in an earlier post) that natural progesterone can be transformed into estrogen by your body if you are low in estrogen. When I had my hormones tested before I took the bio-identical progesterone, my estrogen was on the low end (although I still had endo symptoms) and when I had it tested a year later it was in the more mid range and high in estrone. So maybe this didn't work as well for me because of my age and the fact that I'm not that far from menopause with lower estrogen (but then why did I still have endo symptoms??). I did notice it worked best when I took it every day (like the Visanne) rather than breaking for my period, which is what my naturopath liked to do.
My Dr. today said I could stay on the Visanne for 4-5 more years, until menopause (assuming no side effects from it). I know the testing went up through 18 months only, but by the time 18 more months go by, then they would have tested people being on it longer. She didn't say anything about that to me, but she seemed to think it could be for longer term. I'll see her again in 2 months. She didn't say anything about doing another ultrasound on that thing in my side. Maybe after 6 months on it would make sense - to see if it shrank. Also, I found out that it's quite normal not to have your period any more.
And one last thing in this long post, directed to disturbedme. I asked my Dr. about an American being able to get a prescription for Visanne. She said you'd have to visit a Dr. in Canada and it can't just be a GP, but a GP specialist in women's health (which is what she is) OR a GYN (which is very expensive). You would have to just pay for it, but it seems any Dr.'s here will also see foreign patients. You could then get a prescription (probably good to bring your medical history with you) and would have to fill it at a Canadian pharmacy. She said they'd probably not write the prescription for a year though, that they'd want to check on you, so you'd have to go back in a few months to make sure everything is ok. So it is possible, but rather inconvenient depending on where you live (how far from the border) and definitely on the expensive side since you need to pay for the Dr. visit, travel and also the prescription (3 months for $200). But if it works for you, then it's worth it, I would think. Only thing is that you might end up with side effects and not want to continue. But that's the info that any of you in America need if you want to cross the border to try out Visanne. My Dr. is good and she will see foreign patients, but she's in Vancouver, so that might not be convenient for a lot of people.
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Visanne
Apr 24, 2012 4:18:54 GMT -5
Post by latika on Apr 24, 2012 4:18:54 GMT -5
redwood, you said that natural progesterone didn't work so good for you... Who prescribed you the creme and did they examine your blood before taking it? Also, I have never heard about progesterone replacing the lack of estrogen as you mentioned in your post. As far as I know, endometriosis is a result of high estrogen - I am not sure if a woman with endo is estrogen deficient. But then again, everything is possible. I hope we will find the right treatment for us!
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Visanne
Apr 24, 2012 11:46:02 GMT -5
Post by redwood on Apr 24, 2012 11:46:02 GMT -5
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Visanne
May 11, 2012 10:03:26 GMT -5
Post by latika on May 11, 2012 10:03:26 GMT -5
Last week was terrible. I was feeling sick in my stomach for 4 straight days. One day I threw up a couple times, on other days I felt sick and dizzy and I don't know if this is Visanne's fault, but it has never happened to me before. I seem okay now, still get sick now and then. I have an appointment at a new gyn next week and I hope I will get rid of Visanne, because I can't stand it anymore.
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Visanne
May 11, 2012 10:26:02 GMT -5
Post by redwood on May 11, 2012 10:26:02 GMT -5
I'm sorry to hear you were feeling sick. I also wonder if it was the Visanne or just an illness. But it sounded like you had felt sick before from taking it, so maybe it affects you that way. Did you take other medications during that time? Maybe it reacted to them.
As for me, I'm doing well on the Visanne and haven't had any more of those hot flashes with fast heart rate again. I think maybe the Dr. was right and it was a reaction to stopping the bio-identical progesterone without weaning off it slowly. If that is true, then it is interesting that apparently the synthetic progesterone reacts differently in the body. Well, it seems different progestins act different amongst themselves too.
I still have no period, and basically no pain, although the week that I should have had a period, I noticed a tiny bit of soreness in the area where I have my endo. Barely enough to notice, but still there and just came and went over a few days, then it was gone. But it's different then before - no twinging pain - almost just felt like a sore muscle. So, it seems the endo is still there, but barely making its presence known. Maybe after 6 months, I can get the dr. to do an ultrasound to see if it has shrunk since the last ultrasound in january.
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Visanne
May 13, 2012 16:03:53 GMT -5
Post by geniej on May 13, 2012 16:03:53 GMT -5
I've been taking visanne for 1 month and 4 days and 10 days ago i started lightly bleeding. From day 1 through day 5 i was having moderately painful cramps so i took something for the pain. But my question is the pain has subsided but i'm continuing to bleed. When should i consult my doctor regarding this?
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