Hello (:
I wasn't sure if I should write this as it's a bit TMI, but I think contraception has been on and off a hot topic. So I'm throwing my two pence in about my experience.
I started taking Rigevidon when I was twenty. I'd originally taken Microgynon for the first three months. When I went to the university doctors to inform them that I was fine on that particular pill, I was told Rigevidon was the same thing and that Microgynon wasn't available anymore.
So, off I went, taking these tiny white pills once a day for three weeks out of each month. I noticed when I first started taking the pill that my moods were all over the place. I was very teary, things upset me more, and I was very anxious. At the time, I didn't put any of this down to actually taking the pill. I was in my last year at university, so I thought a lot of my moods and issues were down to that.
That was in 2012. It took the majority of that year for things to start balancing out. I had a lot of personal problems going on in that year. I was dealing with leaving university and my friends behind, feeling very lonely and isolated, coping with being unemployed for a time and starting a job I despised from the start. I never thought any of my moods or the way I coped with these situations was down to taking the pill. I just took it without even thinking about it.
At the beginning of 2013 things felt more balanced and everything in my life was getting better. I made lots of new friends at work and gained a much more active social life. I was doing things without thinking about it and having a lot of fun.
In the middle of last year I started to notice my moods dipping. During the week break in my pill strip, I'd feel really low and hopeless. I never felt like hurting myself, or anyone else. I just felt down and like there was no way out of these feelings. No matter what I did or didn't do, nothing seemed to help.
I started to wonder if it was me. I was worried that I was depressed and that I needed to go to the doctors.
The longer I left it, the more I noticed a pattern. From September to December I noted that I only ever felt that way when I wasn't taking the pill, so during the week break. So, I booked a doctors appointment in December with the intent to get myself put on a different type of pill.
Before the appointment, I had a look at the leaflet you get in boxes of any and all medication. I don't usually look at these, unless it's something that I've never taken before. The leaflet said common side effects of taking Rigevidon were depression and anxiety.
Everything clicked into place then, why I'd been feeling so low. I felt a bit annoyed about it. Why had I been told it was exactly the same as Microgynon? Each check up I'd been to, if it was a male doctor they'd simply write a new prescription, female doctors would try and push other forms of contraception on me, despite the fact I'd always make it clear I'm too squeamish for an injection or an implant.
I also did the one thing you're not supposed to do, I Googled. I found a student forum where other girls my age were discussing their experiences with the jump from Microgynon to Rigevidon and they all had one thing in common: they'd all suffered the same or similar side effects.
The doctor suggested I stop taking the pill altogether and a month later I feel so much better for it. I definitely react to things in a much more rational way - no more crying in the stock room at work for me! - and I feel much more positive about things. Of course, there's the odd day here and there where I feel fed up, sad or down I'm only human after all.
Have you had any negative experiences with taking the pill?
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