GP surgery refusing to prescribe dianette. Should I insist?

[Itsbeen84yearss]

I’ve been having a bit of nightmare with contraception since my last child. I initially wanted to try to come off the pill to give my body a break from all the hormones but my periods are totally unmanageable and painful so went back to my GP surgery and asked for a pill. I was prescribed cerazette but broke out in huge cystic spots all over my face, neck and behind my ears. I also had 2 months of constant cold sores. Went back to GP surgery and requested my old pill, dianette, which I was on for years with no problems. In the past I’d had long term antibiotics for acne but the dianette seemed to balance me out and I was able to stop antibiotics. Nurse won’t prescribe the dianette long term and had now given me Gaderel. I haven’t started it yet but feel annoyed that I can’t just have the pill that I was happy on. Am I being fobbed off here? Presumably because it’s a cheaper pill? I don’t think the risk factors on dianette are any different to gaderal. Any experiences?

I think with Dianette there is an increased risk of blood clots. Also a risk of osteoporosis with long term use. They normally restrict it to six months. But there are other anti-androgenic pills they can offer you which may work almost as well. I was refused it too and was on it for years when I was younger, before the risks were fully known.

It's no longer allowed as a free contraceptive, so I don't think insisting would get year.

I was also on it for far too many years. It's not worth the risk and they won't prescribe it LT.

Ah thanks for responses. @CherryAndAlmond do you know the names of any of those pills?

I took
Yasmin for a while. Stopped my
Spots and I
Lost weight.

I loved Dianette too but they rarely prescribe it now and I think it’s actually black listed in a number of EU countries (not that that helps you I know)! Gaderel is the one closest to it.

I went on to Yasmin and found that pretty good. In the end though I went with Cezarette and stuck with it despite the awful skin initially because I was worried about the blood clot risk on the combined pill and I didn’t want periods anymore - initially I had 3 months of bleeding on Cezarette and then nothing at all; ever. Been on it 8 years now.

@Itsbeen84yearss I suffer with nasty acne and have been on Dianette for years. Well actually I'm on Co-Cyprindol now which is generic brand for Dianette. The doc is really uneasy about it. I'm almost 40 too which puts me in higher risk too.
I changed to antibiotics (Oxytetracycline) for a few years and it was very effective (for the acne) and now that husband is neutered, I'll hopefully be going back on.
Give the Galeral a try and if you don't get on with it, you could always request Co-Cyprindol as I know for a fact that's still around even if Dianette is not.

They won't prescribe Dianette but you need Yasmin or Lucette which are similar.

Acne treatments work for hormone driven acne. I’ve had a lot of acne and been on dianette.

It gave me migraines so I’m contraindicated for life now. I’d avoid progesterone based pills as they increased oil production and I developed cystic acne after 6 months on the implant.

Thanks for all the advice. Feel less badly done to now lol. I will give this one a whirl and see how I get on.

@Itsbeen84yearss

Ah thanks for responses. *@CherryAndAlmond* do you know the names of any of those pills?

As others have said Yasmin is one. The key thing is to get one with a progestin that has a 'low androgen index'. These are progestins called drospirenone, norgestimate or norethindrone. And there are others. Avoid levonogestrel.

Has anyone actively tried to determine why your periods are so unmanageable and painful?. Have you ever seen a gynae and or an endocrinologist?. It appears not.

I must say I thought of PCOS when I read about the adult onset acne; PCOS can be the underlying cause of this. Dianette is no longer readily prescribed due to how it can affect the liver. You need something that has high anti androgenic qualities.

Spironolactone had been used combined with the pill to mimic dianette. There's an RCT out there somewhere. I showed it to my GP and she was convinced enough to prescribe it to me.

I could be wrong but I think I was told it can cause liver damage if used for too long
It was brilliant for skin too but I was only allowed to take it a short while

@AttilaTheMeerkat they did a scan, swabs and blood panel but found nothing out of the ordinary. They thought endometriosis but scan was clear. I’ve started to think I’m just very sensitive to hormones. Both my labours were very rapid ( under two hours and under an hour) and I was very ill afterwards. Both times I got infections and was very agitated to the point I had to have sleeping pills on day 7 in hospital because I hadn’t slept at all for a week.

Endometriosis is not readily picked up by any of those methods described (and I have had more internal ultrasounds than I care to mention, none of those saw the endometriosis in my uterine cavity). It is usually diagnosed via a keyhole surgery op called a laparoscopy.

If your periods remain painful I would insist to the GP you are referred to a gynae. Painful periods are something that no woman should have to put up with.

It was only prescribed for a maximum of 2 years even back in the 90's.

@AttilaTheMeerkat oh really? I didn’t know that. I felt as if I was moaning for nothing when it came back clear on the scan.