Matilda2

I just read a study where they divided PCOS women into 2 groups and put half on dianette and half on the patch, with a small amount of cyproterone acetate (like in dianette.) Each was on it for 3 weeks and a week off. The oral bcp group had some loss of insulin sensitivity, whereas the oestrogen patch group did not. On the other hand, with the patch you don't get the raised SHBG that you get with the pill, so you still have more free testosterone running around. This is one of the big plus points with taking the pill, in my opinion.
I wonder which is better? I've just seen someone post a 'I hate the patch' post so I guess it may not be for everyone. Does anyone know much about this, or have experiences with both? I'm wondering whether to look into it.

Chrissy

I tried the patch for 3 months hoping the symptoms would improve. They did not! I took ortho cyclen for years so was encouraged that it may be similar in formula. It was not. I have tried to get my hands on some information about its hormone concentrations since it works differently than the pill. I have not been able to find anything out except it has a fairlyl high estrogen effect but the progestin effect is not available yet.

My assumption is that it is definatley high in estrogen effect. I was very moody. I am a very stable person and this patch had me fuming much of the time! My period was heavier and my skin oilier. I had a lot of cramping and bloating on this pill and just felt crappy most of the time. I am on desogen now and am much happier. Ortho cyclen was also quite a good pill for me for years. I didn't care for the ortho tri cyclen as much because I spotted at times and felt nauseas the first week because of the imbalance of estrogen to progestin. Best of luck to you in your search.

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guineapig

Hmm, I thought you could find hormone info on the patch's website? But it has the same estrogen as most bc pills and the progestin is the same as (well, a metabolite) ortho-tri-cyclen progestin. That may be why the patch didn't work too well for ya. My doc wanted to put me on it but when I found it was basically ortho-tri with a sticker on the back, I balked. I did BADLY on the OrthoTri. Maybe the ring would be better--its ingredients are derivatives of desogen...just IMO

http://www.orthoevra.com/about_ortho_evra/full.html

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