The pill discontinued

[Fooofs91]

Loestrin ??? Discontinued what do I take for my endo , I have tried so many pills and nothing works unless it contains norethesterone as the synthetic progesterone and as far as I am aware and every pharmacy in London it’s discontinued I need advice on what I can take a pill that works

[regina79]

Hello.... I have the same exact problem. I'm bad with ALL pills except from LOESTRIN 20 which for a year saved my life, literally! Saved me from severe PMS, stopped my periods, no more crazy hormones, no side-effects! The best thing that could ever happen to me when I thought there was no solution.

Sadly it's been discontinued and I even emailed with the manufacturer they said they didn't think the same would come back as they are unable to produce it anymore. But they said that Galen will look into making a similar one....... but they can't predict WHEN!

In the meantime I asked my mum to check in Italy too and nothing! But the pharmacist there advised to try 'Qlaira' as the Gynecologists suggest this one and another one in particular for Endo. And after having tried 'Femodette' for a week which was HELL!!!!!! (palpitations, nausea, nearly heart attack - I feared for my life), I decided to call a couple of pharmacies here in London to check if they stocked Qlaira and they did!

So I went to the GP and asked for it. I gave it a go as it's supposed to be really good for Endometriosis and it makes your periods very light or nonexistent. I thought I'd take it back to back, so I will leave out the last 2 placebo pills, which are inactive, and start with the new pack straight. I'm now not finished yet with the first pack but so far so good... The first couple of days on Estrogen only were not great.... I experienced dizziness and faintness the whole time. Not pretty... But once the combined ones started it got so much better. And I have NO side-effects!

And also NO period..... only some very light spotting on the first few days.

Check it out. The NHS won't advertise this Pill as it's quite expensive.. and every time I went to the GP they showed me a very limited list of Pills they can prescribe: cheap ones I suppose. Qlaira seems the most expensive one, so they wouldn't have suggested it to patients as it's not in the NHS list, however, this Pill is sold and on prescription, so if a woman has issues with ALL Pills, they should offer to prescribe it to them! But all they prescribe is the COIL as the last resort if you don't agree with the Pill. I can't risk with the Coil as I'm not good with Progesterone only pills. And I did try that too yes........

Qlaira is a very different Pill from other combined ones. It contains different hormones and doses in 28 pills. Well the last 2 pills contains nothing. Also this Pill contains a low dose 'estradiol' (a body identical and natural estrogen) which is a better form compared to the synthetic 'ethynil estradiol'. And the progesterone Dienogest is meant to suppress endometriosis more effectively than other progesterones. For all these reasons it's more expensive I guess..

Go to your nurse and give it a go! Tell her that you are aware that this Pill is sold in the UK pharmacies and that is on prescription. And also that you want to try it cos of your Endometriosis and cos you don't agree with anything else.... Maybe call your nearer pharmacies to check that they have it in stock. Good Luck!!

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi...

mims.co.uk/new-endometriosi...

[Fooofs91 in reply to regina79]

Thank you so so much for this I am going to ask for this form my gp I literally lost all hope without loestrin it’s so hard no one understand how bad the pill and endo can be together xxxxx

[regina79 in reply to Fooofs91]

No problem at all. I know what is like... been there and felt so LOST after they told me that Loestrin was out. Let me know how it goes for you - I really hope it works!

xxx

[regina79 in reply to Fooofs91]

exactly.. not only we have Endo issues.. but also Pills issues. Nobody needs that..

[CC0507]

Hey I had this exact same problem up in Scotland! Had one packet and then when I went to get a repeat it was discontinued. Your GP or pharmacist should be able to recommend a suitable alternative that has similar hormone levels. I’m now on Gedarel 20/150 now instead of Loestrin 20 and I think it’s working just as well for me.

[Fooofs91 in reply to CC0507]

Thank you so so much for this I’m going to ask my gp for this Becuase they couldnt find an alternative for me xxx

[regina79 in reply to CC0507]

There are no similar alternatives, I mean with the same progesterone. And I tried changing the progesterone but it hasn't worked for me... glad it worked for you xx

[Christin_a]

What?! I'm on this too. It's it both loestrin 20 and 30 that's discontinued out just one of them? If it's just one you could try the other as it's the same ingredients just different levels.

[Fooofs91 in reply to Christin_a]

Yes both are discontinued everywhere

[regina79 in reply to Christin_a]

ALL Loestrin... when did you get your last prescription and what area do you live in? x

[Christin_a]

Hello

I found some on private prescription here, I've just ordered some as I'm due to get the coil in a couple of months so I only need enough to last until then.

ukmeds.co.uk/

I know its not a long term solution but could work for now whilst you make an appointment with the gp to find out the best alternatives etc?

[regina79 in reply to Christin_a]

OH! What private pharmacy was this? I should have thought about it too late now I guess.

[regina79 in reply to Christin_a]

It seems like it's now Out of Stock on here too......... x

[Fooofs91]

Thank you so much for this Christin I think I will order some for myself Becuase at the moment I am so familiar with taking this pill I will check out the link xxxx this is very kind of you