Opinions on Ortho Tri Cyclen Lo

has anyone had experiences on this bc pill good or bad. just starting on it and wopndering what is up? thanks! :)

i gained 50 pounds in like less than a year on it, but i also knew nothing about nutriton or calories and overate on it all the time.

the problem my gyno said about it was the instead of trying to make all your hormone levels regular they try to simulate the way 'normal' peoples bodies hormones go, which is not regular, so its harder on your body. Ex: if i missed a pill, my emotions changed drastically.

I personally think it's a good pill for me.  I've been on it for a couple years now, I believe 3 years?  It hasn''t caused me to gain weight even before when I wasn't counting calories.  Any of my weight gain would have been because of my own doing~ just don't forget to take it or you'll randomly spot.

Thanks you guys that helps. also, weird question, did you notice that your bo*** got bigger? sorry if that is weird, but that was listed as a major side effect as well as weight gain, moodiness/depression, clear skin, and loss of sexual appetitie. so if you have any info about that stuff it would be great. thanks!

I was on this pill for 3-4 years and I experienced no side effects with it!

I was on this pill for a year and spotted nearly constantly, so I switched to a different one. I think this is one of those things that varies so much from person to person, just be sure to call your doctor back if you're still spotting mid-cycle after a couple of months, don't wait a year like I did! It may mean that it's not giving you adequate protection against pregnancy.

About the boobage thing.... Mine were the same size but they got a little tender and perhaps a little swollen near the time of my upcoming period. But thats pretty much normal anyway. The reason why I noticed was because I was on Depo for about a year and hadn't experienced that in a while.

My skin cleared up so that's a good thing but I do seem to have more headaches than usual but that happened on Depo too so it might be leftover or caused from something else.

If you have one of those daily planners, I would suggest you write down how you felt that day so you could evaluate things later and you'll have a record if you need to go to your dr.

I just switched from the non-low version to the lo version.

I used Lessina for 5 years, then switched to Ortho Lo (because of no insurance and got it from planned parenthood).  I, like another poster, spotted every cycle (which means no protection!)  Went back to Lessina after two months (even though I had to pay a lot for it.)

I was on it for almost 4 years and I never noticed any weight gain and didn't have a lot of spotting, but my period was always 7-9 days long.  I was a junior in high school and my boobs were small then, now they're a D, but I don't know if the BC had anything to do with it or if it was just my body growing.  I'm on Loestrin now and I like that a lot, my periods are only 3-4 days long.  But if it works for you, great! :)  Hope this helps.

Original Post by delaney86:

I was on it for almost 4 years and I never noticed any weight gain and didn't have a lot of spotting, but my period was always 7-9 days long.  I was a junior in high school and my boobs were small then, now they're a D, but I don't know if the BC had anything to do with it or if it was just my body growing.  I'm on Loestrin now and I like that a lot, my periods are only 3-4 days long.  But if it works for you, great! :)  Hope this helps.

 Thanks. so no REAL weight gain from anyone then?

I was on the normal ortho and was completely fine on it, except for the fact that it was too strong for me. I have an appt this saturday to switch and I was going to switch to lo after being of lutera (I kept spotting alot and getting my period a week early and it killed my sex drive).  My question for everyone that is on it, has it killed your sex drive?

Original Post by delaney86:

I was on it for almost 4 years and I never noticed any weight gain and didn't have a lot of spotting, but my period was always 7-9 days long.  I was a junior in high school and my boobs were small then, now they're a D, but I don't know if the BC had anything to do with it or if it was just my body growing.  I'm on Loestrin now and I like that a lot, my periods are only 3-4 days long.  But if it works for you, great! :)  Hope this helps.

delaney - i'm on ortho tri cylcen lo and have about a 6-7 day period, although i didn't think much of it because i had a bit longer period in high school and continued to have it with the other brands of birth control pills i've taken. i'm interested to know your experience before you went on any bc pills at all? i would looove to shorten my period altogether! i may have to try Loestrin. did you experience any other changes besides a shorter period when you switched? thanks :)

blondi92 - no real weight gain here!

gem86 - sex drive still up and running!

Ya know I was on ortho cyclen for the first brand of pills they ended up being too strong so my doc put me on lutera which was fine but I felt like a zombie on them after the first yr.  I am happy to say that my libido is slowly regaining concious. aha I have been off of the lutera for a month and 3 weeks and Ive been on Ortho Lo for 3 weeks.