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Visanne
May 13, 2012 22:41:47 GMT -5
Post by redwood on May 13, 2012 22:41:47 GMT -5
Hi geniej, the first month I was on Visanne, I had a very long period. It was light, but it lasted almost 12 days (the end of that was just spotting - the last 6 days), if I remember correctly. It seems a lot of people have longer periods their first month on progestin only pills, so I wouldn't worry about it unless it lasts longer than 2 weeks or if it's heavy bleeding. After that first month, I didn't get a period anymore at all. I've been taking it over 3 months now. So it's been a bit over 2 months since I haven't had a period.
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Visanne
May 15, 2012 18:25:28 GMT -5
Post by rachel2178 on May 15, 2012 18:25:28 GMT -5
I have had light spotting on and off with and without cramps since I started taking Visanne 2 months ago, but no period (since the first month) and no endo pain! The spotting is one of the side effects, but if you are concerned I would definitely talk to your doctor.
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Visanne
May 17, 2012 14:36:05 GMT -5
Post by geniej on May 17, 2012 14:36:05 GMT -5
I was just wondering if Visanne causes or contributes to sexual dysfunction?
Thank you
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Visanne
May 19, 2012 13:09:54 GMT -5
Post by latika on May 19, 2012 13:09:54 GMT -5
I completely lost interest in sex after about 2-3 months on Visanne. I'm now getting off and I hope things will get better in this department. I don't want to live like an 80-year old!
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ree
New Member
Posts: 8
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Visanne
May 29, 2012 8:51:31 GMT -5
Post by ree on May 29, 2012 8:51:31 GMT -5
Hello everyone! I'm currently on my first period since I started taking Visanne a week and a half ago. I know it's pretty early to start noticing any effects from it, but here's what I got so far... PROS - Slightly less painful period (i.e. cramps, back pain, bowel pain, all over muscle soreness all somewhat decreased) - Much less sweating during period. Woohoo! - Less brain fog? The jury is still out on that one... - No more migraines? Too early to tell, but I haven't had one since starting this medication, and I have them frequently. - Doesn't hurt to use Diva Cup anymore! At the worst parts of my period, I have to wear pads for a day, because I am far too sensitive and enflamed. I have no problems this time around! CONS - tiny pimples/blackheads en masse! Clustered around my hairline, my jawline/neck, and on one side of my nose. NEVER had this before, not even as a teenager. - more bleeding! Dark blood with small clots. This was a bad month in general for bleeding, what with my clotty ovulation, bleeding pap test, biopsy and a recovery from all three that seemed to take forever, so this looks like it'll lead to... - anemia's return! I am drained. Granted, I'm also narcoleptic, but this is more drained than usual. My muscles are exhausted. - less predictability! On my period, my body reacts kinda like I have the flu, minus the sneezing, coughing, etc. My muscle soreness and exhaustion was crazy last weekend, and with the spotting, I was convinced that I was on my period. Turns out I was terribly wrong, as my period started emphatically two days ago. Each morning I now wake up with no idea what to expect, and I am walking with my Diva Cup wherever I go. I'm waiting it out. I'm supposed to take Visanne for 3 months, after which, hopefully, it'll be easier to operate on whatever is growing in me. I love this forum! It's good to hear what others are going through for that "I'm not alone" factor! Ree.
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Post by redwood on Jun 1, 2012 0:21:15 GMT -5
Hi Ree, I hope Visanne will be work well for you and that the side effects taper off. My first period on it was light, but very long, but since then no period at all. I'm just about on my 4th month now. I haven't had a period or any bleeding since March 8, which was my last period. I have tiny mild pains once in a while in the usual spot on my side, but it seems only if I do a lot of ab exercises. Before it came cyclical with my period, but now it seems connected to whether I use my abs a lot. But it seems like it doesn't happen all the time either, so I don't know. It's so minor as to barely be worth mentioning, but it makes me think something is still there. Hopefully it's shrinking. It makes sense that ab exercise would affect it though as the growth is on my abdominal wall.
Strangely, today I feel like I'm ovulating. I have an ache in my left ovary. It's been pretty quiet there (in my pelvis) since I've been on the Visanne, so this is surprising. I hope it does not mean that I really am ovulating. If I ovulate, then I might have a period and I'd really rather not, assuming that some pain might come along with that. If I had been having regular periods every month, then this would have been my period time, so maybe it has something to do with that. Although this is definitely not period cramps. It's a one-sided ovulating feel.
I have an appointment at the end of July with an endo specialist. The first endo specialist I will see!
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Visanne
Jun 14, 2012 20:30:40 GMT -5
Post by redwood on Jun 14, 2012 20:30:40 GMT -5
well, two weeks after that ovulating pain I had, I now have cramps. I still don't have bleeding, but I haven't had cramping for months now, so this is new. They are kind of weird too, like really low, in my public bone area. I hope that this does not mean that the Visanne will stop working for me. It's only been 4 months. I was so happy with it. In the back of my mind, I was always wondering if the effect will last or if it would change like it did when I took the bio-identical progesterone. Maybe your body just gets used to this things and builds up a tolerance or something? I may be jumping the gun on worrying though. Maybe these cramps will go away tomorrow. I just don't want to end up with that pain in my side again. That part seems ok so far.
I'm also wondering if taking flax seed prompted me to ovulate. I'm not supposed to be ovulating on Visanne, so I wonder why that happened. I know that flax and raise your estrogen levels (or so I heard), but my NP had said it was the "good" estrogen and she recommended taking it. When I was in Eruope, I didn't take it at all and I ate like crap. Well, not really bad, but you know how it is when you travel and I was eating a pain au chocolate every day, lots of cheese and bread.....struggling to get my vegetables and I felt great! Or maybe that was just because I was on vacation! Since I've been back, I've been eating really well and on my "almost" endo diet (still eat goat yogurt and cheese). So I'm baffled.
I also just filled out and mailed a questionnaire to the endo specialist and saying how I had no pain and no periods. Well, I haven't gotten a period yet. I hope it doesn't come (along with the pain) as I have belly dance workshops I'm doing all weekend.
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Visanne
Jun 15, 2012 14:11:43 GMT -5
Post by latika on Jun 15, 2012 14:11:43 GMT -5
Anyone here who stopped taking Visanne? I got my first period on the 28th day after quitting Visanne and it was quite painful, but not too much. Was your cycle normal after stopping Visanne or did you have any problems?
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Visanne
Jun 15, 2012 18:00:58 GMT -5
Post by redwood on Jun 15, 2012 18:00:58 GMT -5
Hopefully some others who may have stopped will post again and can answer your question. Did you start the bio-identical progesterone yet? I was curious how you would do on that, so please update us when you do! I hope it will work well for you.
I'm still on the Visanne and plan to stay on it as long as it keeps working for me. My cramps from yesterday are gone and I don't have a period, so hopefully it'll stay that way. Not sure what the cramps were from. They weren't really bad or anything, but they just usually mean a period is coming, so I was concerned.
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Visanne
Jun 15, 2012 18:16:40 GMT -5
Post by redwood on Jun 15, 2012 18:16:40 GMT -5
Oh, I forgot to post this that I found yesterday: www.hc-sc.gc.ca/dhp-mps/prodpharma/sbd-smd/drug-med/sbd_smd_2012_visanne_132174-eng.phpGives some interesting details into the research done on this drug. I see that it says that Visanne, in addition to boosting progesterone levels (or 'fake' progesterone levels), it also slightly decreases estrogen. I'm not sure how it does that, but it does say it can cause some hot flashes in some people. However, it does not decrease estrogen so much that it causes bone loss. So my hot flashes could be from the Visanne, or could be a combination of that AND my age (almost 47). My Dr. did not test my estrogen, but did test the FSH and thyroid. I haven't gotten the results yet though as I haven't made the appt. to see her yet. Should be in a few weeks.
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Visanne
Jun 19, 2012 8:25:08 GMT -5
Post by indiana on Jun 19, 2012 8:25:08 GMT -5
Hi all, I'm new to this message board, new to endo, new to Visanne! Wanted to share some experiences on this drug since it's very new and it's hard to find info about it. I've only been on it 5 days. Came off 50 days on Seasonale, which was awful, and immed went on Visanne. I was on my 13th day of painfull blod clot ridden bleeding with Seasonale, and when I switched to Visanne, the taps stayed on. But it seems to be abating, I truly hope. I think I could now call this minor spotting on day 16 of a period. Cannot express how happy I am to stop having the period that will never end! (maybe saying that will jinx it!)
The biggest side effect for me so far seems to be a feeling of being drugged and very sleepy for hours after I take it. Overall I'm pretty exhausted but that might be a combo of low iron from all the blood loss and endo itself. I've been taking Visanne in the am, so going to try a pm dose instead when it doesn't matter if I'm half awake. No headaches so far.
I'm feeling some relief from the pain, but it's very early days to know whether that is real or will last. I think you need to be on a drug like this for 1-3 months to really know how it will affect you.
I'm the only person in my OBGYN's practice who is on this drug. Somewhat worried me at first being a guinea pig, but getting drugs approved in Canada is a big deal. They have to pass so many trials to get to market. So trying to have faith that I won't grow horns on it. My OBGYN wanted me on this drug because I developed the symptoms of endometriosis at 50 yrs old. She wants to medically manage me into menopause when the endo will go as my estrogen supply goes. It's either use drugs or a hysterectomy because my endo is on my bowel as well as on both ovaries and the tubes. Since she described the surgery as difficult and compared it to cancer surgery, I'm truly putting my hopes on Visanne. Will post again at 30 days and update on the impact it's having.
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Visanne
Jun 19, 2012 12:05:42 GMT -5
Post by redwood on Jun 19, 2012 12:05:42 GMT -5
Hi Indiana - welcome to the board! I hope that Visanne will help you. I had a bit of a drugged feeling the first week or so, but that went away pretty fast. I do always take it before I go to sleep also. But after about a month or so of taking it, I had to switch to morning since I went to Europe for 3 weeks and by then, luckily it was fine and I had no sleepy feeling. It basically took a month to kick in for me. I had one period the first month that was basically pain free but was longer than usual. It lasted 10 days or so, but the last 5 or 6 days were only spotting (and it was a light period too). After that, no more period. It seems like most people don't have a period at all after the first month on Visanne. But everyone's different. Hopefully some of the others will post here again when they have been on it longer. I've been on it now 4 months. I had some small cramping recently, but no period still. I'm not sure what the cramping came from. But it was minor, just something I noticed as I hadn't been getting anything like that in the past months.
Could I ask how old you are now? Are you over 50? I'm soon to be 47 next month and was wondering when my menopause might hit. For my mother it was 53 when her periods stopped. Although I have a friend whose periods stopped at age 46 and then they came back 5 months later, so it varies.
I wonder though, if I stay on Visanne for years, how will I ever know if I have menopause if I don't ever have a period?! LOL I mean, that is the main sign. I do get mini hot flashes here and there. Esp. when I get up in the morning (exactly when I wake up and am still in bed). But it's not really something that is super bothersome anyway, and if it's from the Visanne, it's better than endo pain anyway!
Good luck!
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Visanne
Jun 19, 2012 17:16:12 GMT -5
Post by Karen on Jun 19, 2012 17:16:12 GMT -5
(Welcome to the board, Indiana! We'd love to learn more about you so feel free to pop over to the intro board to post a proper introduction!)
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Visanne
Jun 20, 2012 19:02:56 GMT -5
Post by radical on Jun 20, 2012 19:02:56 GMT -5
HI-new to endo new to visanne, 6 wks into my first 3 month treatment. still have pain, had my 2nd period which was just light spotting. i am just not sure why the pain continues. it comes and goes and it it quite confusing. anyone else with similar experience? i have not have any lap surgery yet, so no firm diagnosis of endo yet, my on/gyn is trying visanne first. not sure if i should be pushing for the surgery, seeking 2nd opinion? confused and tired of this any advise??
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Visanne
Jun 20, 2012 19:10:04 GMT -5
Post by Karen on Jun 20, 2012 19:10:04 GMT -5
Welcome to the board! I'd encourage you to pop on over to the intro board and post a proper intro thread!
I haven't been on visanne but in general, I'm not a fan of 'trying' something to see if it works prior to knowing what you're dealing with. Some endo symptoms mimic other things and I'd hate for anyone to be passed off as having endo, unconfirmed, and it turn out to be something else later on that went untreated. My two cents, but food for thought.
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