Ortho Tri-Cylcen Lo Side Effects

Disclaimer: This article is strictly about my personal experience with Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo, and if you are planning on switching, you should talk extensively with your doctor about your choices. What I have experienced is not necessarily what you will experience. But these are the things I wish someone would've told me, so I want to share them with you. That way, if you have these experiences, you won't be completely surprised. I know the idea of birth control is meant to be a private matter, but everyone's been keeping it private for so long, that women no longer know what to expect. That should change.

When starting any new medication, you can expect to encounter some side effects. This is especially true when it comes to birth control, which will affect your hormones. I was prescribed Ortho because I have frequent ovarian cysts. This is a very common ailment in women, and part of the reason why I want to write about it is to let women know that it's something that can be dealt with. For some reason, women's health in this specific area still seems to be in the dark ages.

You don't have to live with the pain of cysts, and you don't have to live in fear of them either. You can keep trying to find something that will help you until you find a treatment or treatments that work for you. I was skeptical about this medicine working for me, but three months into taking Ortho Tri Cyclen Lo, I can definitely say that it is actively helping. I underwent a recent ultrasound, and I am currently cyst-free for the first time in a long time. So there's hope for you if you're feeling depressed or confused about what is happening to you.

However, there were many side effects during the adjustment period that I wasn't prepared for. I think this is because every woman's body is so vastly different, that the results are incredibly hard to predict. So I want to tell any women who are out there what could possibly happen to them as they are adjusting to Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo.

One of the first things that I noticed was that I was incredibly tired, more tired than I've ever been in my entire life. This was especially true in the afternoon. For a few weeks during my first month of Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo, I took a two hour nap in the middle of the late afternoon. Halfway through my second month, this extreme fatigue started to disappear, I'm guessing as my body adjusted to the hormonal changes. But I am still more tired than usual. I've adjusted well, but there is still a difference in my energy levels. What I've done is started to exercise more often to manufacture more energy for myself to adjust more permanently. If this happens to you, you could do the same. By paying more attention to my health, I've been able to adjust very well.

I also noticed that I was having a tough time thinking clearly. I had focus issues, my short term memory suffered severely and I experienced major bouts of crankiness. I was also far more hungry than usual. This part may sound extremely weird, but I also noticed that I was extra aware of my mouth. I had a hard time forming words; it was as though I was so exhausted that I couldn't even talk at times. I now use memory tricks to handle this, though this symptom is all but gone. Either that, or I've adjusted so much that it no longer affects me the same way.

I'm no physician, but I wonder if this was my body adjusting to the trick of thinking it was already pregnant. From what I understand, this is essentially what the pill does, it tricks your body into thinking you are already pregnant. As I browsed chat rooms and message boards on the subject, I found that many women experienced similar side effects at varying intensities. Some women, like me, noticed that they began to fade away over the first few months. Others stated that they seemed to get worse with time, even prompting some to stop taking the pill altogether.

The moral of the story? To be familiar with your own body and to learn as much as you can about how any birth control works, especially when hormones are involved. You have to be your own advocate for reproductive health, because sadly, it seems to be an area that is sorely lacking in personal attention for women everywhere. So pay close attention to how Ortho makes you feel, as well as any other oral contraceptive. There is a lot to expect when you're not expecting, and attempting to keep it that way with medication. The more you know about yourself and the medications you are trying, the better prepared you will be. This isn't an area that should make you feel shame or fear; it's just another part of life that we, as women, have to deal with.