Generic Name: drospirenone-ethinyl estradiol
Brand Name: Ocella oral
Drug Reviews Drug and Medication User Reviews
Within the first week i became very depressed and irritable. Everyone noticed i was no longer myself whatsoever! I stopped taking it within that week thankfully, and im back to feeling like myself again!
ive been taking ocella for about 7 months and ive had an amazing experience with it! at first i was extremely moody and i experienced pms for the first time ever as i hadnt had my period for four months prior to starting this birth control. I always struggled with irregular periods and hormonal acne caused by me not having my period regularly so i tried ocella as my first choice and it did me wonders! i never experienced pms and emotions the way that i am now and it is really nice. but it has also cleared my acne tremendously! i struggled with nausea and mood swings but no headaches. i didnt experience any weight gain either, actually i lost weight in all the right places and gained weight in all the right places! i really recommend if you struggle with irregular periods and hormonal acne!
I had been on Ocella since I was 14. I recently stopped taking it because the side effects were too much with the stress of me in nursing school. Over the first year on Ocella, I had terrible uncontrollable cravings that led me to gain 30lbs. My weight fluctuates normally without the pill but this was the most weight Iâ??ve ever gained. Even when trying with diet and exercise, I cannot lose the weight, which is one reason I switched. Lately with my school, I noticed a change in my mood, having depressive thoughts that I have never had. It ultimately was affecting my thoughts and happiness. My boyfriend over the years (who has been with me the entire time Iâ??ve been on it) has noticed a change in my mood and well being. I had breakthrough bleeding every month on the second week of the pack. I also lost all my once high sex drive, to the point I have no desire to have sex or anything romantic. My thoughts, extreme weight gain, and lack of drive to do anything were unlike anything Iâ??ve ever experienced, which is why I switched after 6 years on it and started my new pill today. Goodbye Ocella!
Just finished my first pack of Ocella, and while I can't give a very in-depth review on it (because 1 month is too short) I will say that I am very pleased so far! This is the 3rd birth control pill I have tried, the first two were absolute nightmares. So bad that I quit the pill all-together for about 2 years but just decided to start back up again with Ocella. I was on Kariva and then switched to Minastrin. I had awful awful weight gain with both. I did not change my diet, it was all water weight that was lost within a week of stopping the pills. So far, on Ocella I have not gained any weight and I do not feel bloated or puffy. I am assuming that has to do with the fact that the progestin has a diuretic in it, which I am all for if it keeps bloating at bay! The first few days of taking this pill I had extreme nausea and upset stomach, but that luckily went away completely. I also had a few bad headaches, but I got that before taking Ocella so I cannot say for sure that it was caused by this pill. I know there are a lot of scary reviews on here, but that can be expected for every pill. I will say, though, that given my past experience with birth control I was terrified of taking this pill. So far, thankfully, it has been a breeze. I am hoping that it continues to be like this! Give it a shot and see how it works for you. Unfortunately, you won't know until you try it. But, if you have struggled with other pills in the past this may be the one for you (especially if weight gain was an issue)!
I've been on Ocella for 9 years, have tried others (even others that were supposed to be almost identical to Ocella) and quickly came back to this. I originally started taking it for my acne & couldn't have been happier. I never experienced weight gain, which was a concern for me, and I have yet to have a negative side effect. Obviously birth control is different for everyone, but I highly recommend this. Another benefit is the weeks I have my period (the placebo week), there's not a "high high or low low" emotionally speaking. I've always loved that I still feel like myself, with or without it.
I was on Levora before switching to Ocella. I've been on Ocella for about a year and it has made my skin so clear, and I have had no weight gain like previously, but it has also made me extremely moody. I cry at the littlest things and have a shorter patience than before. Headaches are also common but I have always been privy to them, so I'm not sure if its just me or the pill. I also have extreme nausea and throw up if I miss a pill, or sometimes when I start a new pack. I feel like the benefits out weigh the bad things so I am okay with it (also not pregnant!), but if you are sensitive to nausea/mood swings I wouldn't recommend going on this pill.
I have been on Ocella for almost two years now. I have experienced no weight gain, my face is constantly clear, no mood swings, and I have had a lot of "accidents" and this pill has never failed me! Also, I have wanted to skip my period a few times and did it on this medication with no break through bleeding
I took Ocella for almost a year and recently had to stop it because it made me CRAZY. I was always depressed, sad, withdrawn, I cried constantly for no reason and my emotions went from 0 to 100 in a matter of a second. I took it regularly while I was on it but still missed periods like crazy, even now being off of it for almost 2 months I have not had a period since. Within a matter of days after stopping it I felt way better and more like myself! I would not recommend this to anyone!
My doctor prescribed Ocella for me with the goal of curing my acne. My acne was maybe a 6.5/10. I took Ocella daily with the hope that my acne would die and be left with the clear skin I've always wanted. Sadly, my acne worsened terribly! It became a 11/10. Never had my acne been so aggravated. My cheeks became full of cysts. My chin
I have been on Ocella for about 3 months. It may have helped with my skin but not a noticeable change. I already had anxiety but it got 10xs worse taking this. I feel anxious 99% of the time. I have bad mood swings. One second I'm happy the other im upset. Other than making me a raging lunatic I haven't noticed any other side affects. I plan on getting off of this ASAP. This is just my opinion and birth control works differently on everybody. Just because it didn't work out for someone else doesn't mean it won't work for you.
I have been on Ocella for about two months. I had to switch from safryal because my insurance did not cover it anymore. At first I initially really liked this birth control. I had lost weight and for the most part was overal happy. As time went on I realized everyday I cried at least once. My mood would go from happy to sad in seconds and I could never renounce from that. I do not feel like myself and I am getting off this pill at the end of this month. Everyone is different but there have been way to many low satisfaction rates for this pill.
I had a great experience with Ocella. I had been on a generic birth control since I was 16 (for about 10 years). Initially, my acne cleared up, but I was also using Proactive at the same time. I kept using the same BC when I quit proactive about 5 years ago. My acne came back furiously. It only just recently became worse, however. After documenting it for several months (pictures and steps) I asked my doc to switch my birth control after reading reviews. My friend, who had been on Yaz, cautioned against it because she had a terrible experience. But because I was initially on a generic drug, I didn't have ANY bad experiences and I'm on my fourth month. It would seem that the bad experiences come mostly from those who initially used Yaz. Thus, I believe Ocella is a good option for hormonal acne. I have continued to document my skin with pictures and I have seen an actual change from my time on Ocella. Also, please note I use very gentle face wash (CeraVe) with PanOxyl 3% benzoyl peroxide treatment which helps take care of spots. I hope this helps. If you are considering switching, it is important to discuss with your doctor and understand that people's bodies do react different to different medications.
This pill has worked fine for me. I had nausea at first, but after a few weeks it stopped. I did gain weight, but that is a minor issue if you just exercise.
So I just switched from beyaz to ocella less then a month ago and so far do not see any changes. However, I had a question in regards to the placebo pills. Beyaz had 4 of those pills and ocella has 7. Does this make a huge difference? and is my body reading this as "oh no, she is skipping pills" since it is so used to the beyaz cycle. Please let me know!
The only reason I didn't rate this pill a 1, is because it did clear up my skin, which is initially why I switched to Ocella. I was on BeYaz for 3 months and loved it, and when i learned my insurance did not cover it, I quickly had to switch to a similar generic birth control. Which I thought Ocella was always compared to BeYaz. So let me just say it did wonders for my skin. HOWEVER, within a week of taking the pill, I noticed a huge change in my mood. I was really sad all of the time, especially at work. It only went down from there. After 5 weeks on Ocella, I had an anxiety attack at my boyfriends house and the following week I experienced the heaviest depression I have ever felt in my life. I had horrible thoughts, felt hopeless and down for no reason at all. I couldn't sleep or eat and was unable to work because my emotions would get the best of me. I had never been so miserable in my life, and to think it was all coming from my birth control! I immediately stopped taking the pills and called my doctor. He wanted me to switch to a new pill, Microgestin, but after my experience with Ocella I am traumatized by what could happen on the pill. I am just here to explain my time on Ocella and of course, everyone will respond differently to certain medications, however, before taking Ocella I did read a lot of reviews about the depression and moodiness component to it and didn't think anything of it. I'm glad I stopped it when I did, no one should have to feel like they aren't themselves. Honestly no birth control is worth living like a zombie. It's almost been two weeks since I've been off it and I'm slowly starting to feel like me again. Good luck ladies, hope this helps.
I had to switch to Ocella from BeYaz since my insurance did not cover it anymore. I was pretty optimistic to try Ocella, though I read countless negative reviews, I never really experience bad symptoms with birth control. I was only on BeYaz for three months (Implanon before that) and now I'm about a month and a half into Ocella. And let me just say this, my skin is great. Which is initially why I wanted to take the pill again. However, I've been experiencing SEVERE anxiety and depression and I didn't want to blame it on the birth control. But now at this point I am so certain that this has caused my anxiety attacks and suicidal thoughts. I am constantly upset over everything and not even my wonderful boyfriend can cheer me up fully anymore. Absolutely switching to something with less estrogen. Great for skin and I'm still not pregnant, but it is not worth the heavy thoughts and unending sadness.
I just wanted to throw my two cents in here about my time on Ocella, since there's so many bad reviews. I happen to be someone who had a WONDERFUL experience with Ocella. I went on this pill when I was 18 and just starting birth control. It took a few tries to find the right one, and this was it for me. I had virtually no side effects (except for slightly more tender breasts ONLY during my period). Also, I had AMAZING skin. With the affordable health care changes, my insurance ended up no longer covering this pill... I was originally paying 10$/3 months. Now I can only do 1 month at time and there's a deductible I have to reach before my insurance will cover it for 8$/mo. Decently big spike from before. I have been on/off a few different pills since this happened last summer and none of them have worked as well as Ocella... so don't be scared of this pill, everyone reacts differently and people usually only review their bads experiences anyway!
Worst birth control ever. Literally made me have the worst cramps, acne, mood swings, depression and anger towards everybody. After taking this pill for one month I contemplated suicide every day and almost checked myself into a mental ward. Don't take this pill.
Ok well I will start off with the bright side, my boobs became fuller and weren't crazy sore like other pills made them. This pill honestly has a thousand downsides, I'll try and name all the side effects I had. I had severe bloating, increased food cravings (weight gain), horrible cramps, bled severely when menstruating, made mood swings 1000 times worse, made me have "dark" thoughts, made me heartless, made me crazy, made my period last a week or more, and also gave me terrible acne. I would never recommend this pill unless you want to lose all your friends and be sent to a mental institute.
DO NOT TAKE THIS! My insurance switched me from Zarah to Ocella, and it was hell. I was on my period the entire 2 and a half weeks I took them, which as you know isnt supposed to happen. I broke out SO bad. I had completely clear skin before them. I was so moody. I cried for no reason at all. I was depressed and I gained about 10 pounds. Needless to say, I got back on Zarah as soon as possible. If some one tells you zarah and ocella are interchangeable, smack them in the face. The only good thing about this drug is that I didn't get pregnant.This drug should be removed from the market.