Bleeding 3 weeks on desogesterel

[Mushroom40]

I have been taking Desogesterel since March and at first it was fine, I still had a monthly bleed on it which was not painful. In July I discussed future conception with a GP who told me that i would be fine coming off the pill and ignored my endo diagnosis because i had it done privately.. I came off deso for 2 weeks before going back on it as all the endo symptoms returned. After this the monthly bleed extended to 2 weeks, this month its been 3 weeks. Any idea what is happening?

Another GP I have spoken to is waiting for an ultrasound but if that comes back clear they want me to double my desogestrel dose to see if that fixes it

[Endofitall]

I work in the field of contraception and sadly it is really common with the desogestrel pill to have prolonged and erratic bleeding, which can randomly start at any time. Good they are scanning you just in case. Have you had a recent smear?Probably a coincidence that the issue started following the break of 2 weeks. Is there a particular reason you need to be on this type of progesterone only pill and not on a combined pill? Combined pills are better about regulating bleeding.

Sadly the only thing you can do if wanting to conceive is stop all hormonal treatment/contraception. As someone who’s been off treatment for nearly 4 years and been through many rounds of unsuccessful IVF I can confirm it sucks big time! I just want to go back on but know I will regret it in a few years time if we are childless and I “gave up” but quality of life is awful right now. Hopefully that will not be your story and you conceive quickly off the pill 🤞🏼

[Mushroom40 in reply to Endofitall]

Thank you for your reply. I had my smear 3 years ago and due the next one next year. The combined pill gave me migraines so my doctor told me to come off them. I did have a better time on them :/

[Endofitall in reply to Mushroom40]

Were you taking the combined pill with a break or without a break? And do you remember when your headaches happen? If the headaches mainly happen when you stop or just restart the pill (ie sudden hormone changes), and if you don’t have aura then it can be worth discussing with your dr to take it back to back without a break. I also found taking a newer (third generation) combined pill generally made me feel better and less PMSish on it. But sadly yes if you had bad migraines during the actual pill taking and any auras do mean you can’t have that. Are you still thinking of TTC soon or would trying alternative like Depot or Mirena be an option?

[Mushroom40 in reply to Endofitall]

With a break, and I'm pretty sure the headaches were around my break but can't fully remember. There was definitely no aura and they passed within an hour with ibuprofen

I'm not TTC yet and won't for a couple years, I have considered mirena but I do have quite bad medical anxiety and the procedure terrifies me

[Endofitall]

If you don’t currently have a gynae, see if you can get an appointment with a GP who has a special interest in women’s health/does contraception work, or with a consultant in a contraception and sexual health service as they’ll be more experienced in prescribing the combined pill in more complex cases. Good luck x

[Avourneen]

The other GP is right. This is a really common problem with desostrogel, I was like this then my gynaecologist told me to double the dose and 4 years later I have had no periods at all. Combined pills are not recommended for patients with endo as the oestrogen feeds the endo and makes it worse that's why medical professionals generally prescribe progesterone only if you have endo. Anything with the combined pill will worsen endo.Progesterone comabts the excess of oestrogen and is supposed to slow the growth of endo. If you can stop the bleeding with the deostrogel you will feel much better then you can get a good scan and see how bad the endo is and whether it could be complicating your efforts to conceive.

It is unacceptable that your GP has ignored your endo diagnosis because it was done privately, that makes no sense at all. What stage is your endo ? You may need to have excision if your endo is bad and that could really help with your pain and with conceiving.You need a refferel to agynae for proper advice. Good Luck xxx