Teenager on Gedarel

[Bugsy73]

Hi, my 16yr old has just started taking Gedarel in an attempt to get a little more control of her periods. Hers are generally fairly random, usually heavy and painful.
She has taken the first packet, started on the first day of her period as advised and has subsequently had spotting for the last few weeks. Now on her weeks break and her period is heavy and painful. She's feeling a bit disheartened.
I've advised her to carry on for the next 2 months (she was given a 3 month prescription) and hopefully it will settle down.
Has anyone any experience of this pill? Its the lower dose one. Is she better to take them back to back or to have a break? Is it just an adjustment or would she be better trying a different one? She really wants to get it sorted before the summer as she has holidays arranged.
Thank you

My DD (18) is on the low dose Gedarel pill (started on it at I think 14) due to heavy periods, pain, fainting and really not functioning well, lots of missed school. Prior to this GP had prescribed Mefenamic acid (NSAID) for pain relief and Tranexamic (?) acid for heavy blood loss but they didn't really help enough.

DD's periods have been lighter on Gedarel with fewer clots. Unlike your DD she didn't experience spotting between bleeds but like your DD her periods were still painful. After a few months she started to get really faint again towards the end of her period (GP thought due to hormone levels dipping).

GP then suggested taking 3 packs/9 weeks back-to-back which was brilliant for DD however her body has now started to fight back and she's had some shorter cycles due to breakthrough bleeding.

Went back to GP a few months ago and she wasn't keen to prescribe a "stronger" pill to try and manage this and encouraged us to try and "reset" DD's cycle and build up to a longer number of weeks.

I believe the GP also said the pill-free period could be as short as 4 days although we've not tried it but please don't take my word for this!

I would suggest that if things don't settle you go back to your GP and discuss. My DD still has Mefenamic Acid on prescription for pain relieve and it does seem to provide better pain relief than Ibuprofen. I can't remember if the GP can prescribe Tranexamic acid to reduce bleeding while on the pill - might be worth asking? The 9 week cycle has been a Godsend so I would definitely read up on and speak to GP about that as an option.

Thank you so much for your response. DD is now on her 2nd packet and fingers crossed, no spotting as yet. I will definitely suggest the 9 weeks though, will see what the next period is like. Is there a reason for your GP not wanting to prescribe a higher dose pill?

@Bugsy73 I can't remember I'm afraid, not sure if I even asked directly! I assumed that she would suggest a change of pill and was a bit thrown when that didn't happen.

I'm guessing that since Gedarel has worked really well for DD up until recently and the only issue she has has been her period making it's appearance earlier than planned a few times,she felt the best plan was to try and reset by having a couple of normal 3 week cycles then building up from there.

I assume they prefer patients to be on the lowest effective dose which makes sense. She said DD's body was doing what it needed to do. I'm sure she said to go back if things didn't settle down.

Note: DD has ASD and anxiety in case anyone thinks it strange that I accompany an 18 year old to GP appointments.

Glad things seem to be settling down for your daughter.

Thank you 😊

My DD was on the lower dose one after Microgynon 30 made her nauseous. Only she got a lot of spotting (running 3 packs together) including 2 weeks of daily dark blood. We had been warned the lower dose estrogen might lead to this.

DD didn't like it as the reason for going on the pill was to manage longer between periods and less painful, so we changed to Gedarel 30 and no more spotting. She's 15 and autistic, so the uncertainty of the spotting caused so much anxiety.

Bugsy

Would your DD want to start keeping a daily pain and or symptom diary if she does not already do this?. I suggest doing this as this can help both the GP and a gynaecologist.

In your DDs case she should use the pills for the three months and then review. Spotting can also be caused by a lack of progesterone.

I sincerely hope endometriosis is not the root cause of her other symptoms like heaviness and pain. The cause here will need to be properly determined by a gynae particularly if this continues (which it could well do). In many cases these pills mask the symptoms of underlying problems so the cause needs to be addressed also.

Thanks all. A diary is a really good idea. We shall see how she gets on. Good to know its not just DD though!