Generic Name: Desogestrel and Ethinyl Estradiol and Ethinyl Estradiol
Brand Name: Kariva
Kariva Drug and Medication User Reviews
Pros: skin looks amazing! It was good for the first 3 months Cons: Weight gain (10-15lbs of water weight and I am an ultrarunner / triathlete who has maintained their weight for 10+ years), no sex drive, vaginal dryness, constant fatigue, anxiety, nonstop spotting for months in a row. I stopped taking Kariva about 4 days ago and already lost 5lbs and have no fatigue
I have never had such horrible side effects from BC in my entire life. I experience intense mood swings that made me go through waves of depression, horrible hot flashes, 10-15 pound weight gain (mostly in my breasts) even though I workout 6 days a week and eat healthy, bloating, and internal pain during intercourse. I would never go on this medication again. The only reason I rated the effectiveness 'good' is because I did not get pregnant.
I've been on Kariva for 8 months and love it. I am also on Accutane and needed to get on BC, but I haven't experienced any bad side effects. I take the pill at the same time everyday and it works great. My period comes at the same time every month and only lasts around 4 days. I think it also helped with lightening my flow. I plan to stay on the drug even after I am off of Accutane.
First 3 months were ok, but after that I got migraines, horrible sleep, tons of breast cysts. The cysts got so bad that I'm not running between doctors trying to figure out if any of them are cancerous lumps. This medicine has ruined my summer and my life in general. CVS switched me to this after I was on Azurette without issues for 2 years. I've completely stopped taking it and I'm already seeing improvement.
I went on the pill for my irregular periods and acne, but it just made my acne worse and gave me severe anxiety and paranoia. It has hurt my relationship and my self esteem. I donâ??t feel like myself anymore and I will be going if this birth control as soon as possible.
Used it for 20 years then got pregnant the month after I stopped using it. Never noticed any side effects.
I love this pill! My skin cleared up 100% (besides the scars I still have). I experienced no side effects at all. Im actually upset because my pharmacy just switched me to the generic brand, Pimtrea. I wish I could stay with this pill.
I had been on Kariva for 9 years (!!!) It is 100% effective as far as I am concerned. I actually rarely took it at the same time every day until I had a boyfriend who noticed, then I began taking
I am incredibly sensitive to artificial hormones. I tried several others, all of which caused me to experience severe depression, before switching to a new doctor who realized that it was not the estrogen that was causing my problems but the progestin. She had me try Kariva since it is low-progestin. It made a world of difference. Sure, it's not as convenient as Nuvaring, but I was human again! About a year after starting on Kariva, my pharmacy switched to Viorele on me, assuring me it was the exact same thing. I know chemically that's supposed to be true... but my body could tell it wasn't Kariva. I sunk into an awful depression again until I called around and found a pharmacy that still carried actual, honest-to-goodness Kariva. I know Kariva will cause depression or mood swings in others, but all I can tell you is that if you try different types of birth control, you'll find a winner. I was about to swear off hormonal contraceptives completely, but I assure you, there's a combination of hormones out there for you. This is mine.
My grand daughter used this for about one year and developed five deep vein thrombosis in her leg and pulmonary embolism. It was life threatening. The doctors ruled out any other cause.
Beware this drug! I experienced the most horrendous mood swings and EXTREME anxiety while on this drug. The side effects took a while to develop but once they did it was truly unbearable. I had no idea why my personality was changing so drastically. It was truly terrifying. I wasn't making the connection between this drug and my highly elevated emotions. I told my Dr. on a whim about my terrible anxiety/mood swings and he took me off of kariva. Within a week I was feeling back to my normal self. It has now been 4 months off of Kariva and I have not had one mood swing or case of anxiety. I would never recommend this drug to anyone. As far as I'm concerned, it should be taken off the market permanently.
I have been on Kariva for about four years now, and it has been great. One time I was switched to Viorelle which was probably the worst thing that I ever was switched to for three months, so I went back to Kariva. With the Kariva, I've had no weight gain, it cleared up my acne, my cramps are so much less, and my periods are much lighter than they were when I wasn't on the pill. They used to be 7-8 days of primarily heavy bleeding, whereas now they're five days, with only one day of semi-moderate bleeding. The rest are very light. There are no more huge clots, no heavy bleeding, it's great. The only huge negative about this that makes me give this three stars, is that it is caused my sex drive to become hardly existent. Sex can often be painful as well, which doesn't help my sex drive when trying to get into the mood. It's like my body has learned to associate pain with sex. I was considering switching, but I had such a horrible time when my pill was switched once before, I'm terrified to try something else. Last time I switched, I gained 15-20 pounds within about six to eight weeks, I was depressed, angry, irritable, had mood swings from hell, it was TERRIBLE. But when I switched back to Kariva, all of that went away, and I slowly lost about 90% of the weight. If sex weren't painful, this would definitely get five stars.
I began taking Kariva because of how bad my cramps were. I was on Kariva for about two and a half months and I stopped taking it because I got very bad acne. I started breaking out so bad on my forehead and I have never had acne there before. I also broke out really bad on my cheeks. I also gained about 7-8 pounds in just two months! I haven't switched my eating habits at all and I've managed to gain weight still. Also, I've become very depressed lately. I thought that it was just a phase and it was because of what I'm dealing with right now, but now I'm starting to think it was because of the pills. And the birth control pill didn't even help with my cramps at all. I actually started to get cramps when I wasn't even on my period! Overall, I would not recommend this birth control pill to anyone. I'm going to talk to my doctor and get switched to a different one as soon as possible.
Works great for me! I've been on it for over a year, with no bad side effects. I also am pretty bad at taking it at the exact same time every day (sometimes it varies as much as 5 hours) and I've had no problems!
I started taking Kariva about two months ago with no issues. Just recently (a week and a half ago), I actually started experiencing severe bloating, I've gained weight and severe mood swings. I weighed 93 lbs before taking this with never any issues of gaining weight, I have a fast metabolism but after taking this I experienced intense hunger. I used to eat half a meal and be full, now I finish a meal and I'm still hungry. I immediately stopped taking the pill as soon as I kept experiencing hot flashes and vertigo. I've never had this bad of an experience with a birth control and I've been on more than 10 different kinds. Might work for some, but I will definitely never try again.
I was switched to Kariva because my doctor no longer wanted to prescribe Beyaz d/t the increased risk of blood clots (which i never had, and I don't smoke). I took it for 3 months and experienced decreased libido, BAD acne, headaches and constant hunger - causing me to gain more weight. I am changing to another pill, this one just isn't the one for me. With Beyaz I only experienced mood swings...I wish they would've just left me on that!!
Been taking Kariva for 1 1/2 years. I was bloated within the first two months but it went away after. No mood swings, im sexually active and never lost libidio. However, i did notice a spider vein thats more prominent that it used to be. I feel like it may be clotting my vein. i am 23 years old and shouldnt be having any spider veins since i am generally active and go on hikes and bike rides.
I've tried many birth control pills over the years, this one is THE WORST. some have made me crazy, this one makes me an emotionless robot. I feel like I'm not myself, like I am going through the motions. It makes me SICK, like morning sickness, nausea every day sick. It also makes me dizzy and queasy. Since taking it I've gained 10 pounds, but you'd think more bc of how constantly bloated I am. I originally switched from my old bc due to yeast infections, but now I have one worse. Not to mention (but this does go along with me being a robot) I have NO SEX DRIVE WHATSOEVER. I can't even force myself to try to have one, it's ruining my relationship. OVERALL, I'm switching back.
Started using because of painful periods with increased bouts of nausea and migraines during my periods. (at 13.) I'm 23 now and my nausea and migraines have stopped during my cycles. Started having sex 4 years ago, and never had a scare or slip up (knock on wood) I only say that you have to take it correctly, at the same time each day and be aware when you have missed a pill and if you are on antibiotics or other medications be aware and see if your physician says it might interfere. Just have to be responsible and compliant with the medication's requirements.
Every month my period would come 7-10 days later but last 3-4 days which is normal for me. It decreased my sex drive completely. I got the dizziness, loss of balance, weight gain, bloating, headaches, mood swings, muscle spasms/cramps, fatigue, shortness of breath, blurred vision, basically everything that can make simple chores extremely difficult.