Switching From Loestrin 24 Fe To Minastrin 24 Fe (Page 2)
(Newest replies first)

Updated

Hey Guys!
So I went to the pharmacy to pick up my monthly pack of LoEstrin 24 Fe two weeks ago, only to find out that the makers of LoEstrin 24 Fe discontinued the pills and are replacing it with Minastrin 24 Fe. (I am VERY disappointed to report that I was NEVER notified of the discontinuation, as my reproductive health care is apparently not a priority of my pharmacy or my doctor). My pharmacist says it's the same pill as it is made by the same company and contains the same amount of hormones in it, the only difference is that this pill is chewable. The pharmacist then proceeded to tell me that she would be happy to fill in the prescription for me expect that since she could not get a hold of my doctor to approve the Minastrin, I could not purchase it which caused me to start my pack late. I was supposed start the new pack on a Sunday at 9pm but did not start it until Monday morning at 10:40am when the pharmacist finally got a hold of my doctor (this would put me at taking the pill roughly 13 hours late). I then proceeded to take my normal dosage for Monday night at 9pm. When my boyfriend and I are sexually active we always use condoms and pull out, in addition to taking the pills but since I started my pack late, I'm very worried that my birth control pills aren't effective. I haven't been sexually active at all this month because I'm too nervous about an unplanned pregnancy. The pharmacist told me that as long as I double up on taking two pills on Monday (which is what I did) I should be fine and no additional contraceptive is needed but the nurse at my gyno's office says that the pills won't be effective for two weeks and that during that time I need to use another form of contraception. I don't know who to believe! Does anyone have any insight on this, or has anyone been through something like this while making the switch from LoEstrin 24 Fe to Minastrin 24 Fe? Is there a high possiblity that a pregnancy could occur if I decide to become sexually active this month, as I started the new pill pack late? Thanks for your help!

289 Replies (15 Pages)

Page:First Page2Next PageLast Page
Earliest Newest Votes
269

I'll be done for the month in two days! I hate pills. I'm 40 and haven't taken a birth control pill since I was 28. Only on now because I'm so irregular. I've been bleeding for over 2 weeks and have never felt so sad, so tired and weird. Depressing is endless. I'm major workout girl. Finally forced myself to get on treadmill for an hour tonight. Just feel wrong.

Was this helpful? 2
268

Hello Ladies! I have been taken minastrin for 2months and the last 2 weeks of each cycle I start having a moderate amount of dark brown spotting, that lasts for forever it seems like. I even have to wear a tampon some days because it's quite a bit. But it's all dark brown. The last 2-3 days I have red blood which is heavy. Is this normal??? I'm trying to wait 3 months before I decide if I should stop taking them. But this brown spotting is really driving me crazy and messing up my sex life...lol.

Was this helpful? 3
267

There are two manufacturers making the generic for Loestrin 24 Fe now. Amneal with Lomedia and Mylan (not sure if they have a name or use the incredibly long chemical one). So if your insurance didn't cover it before because there was only one manufacturer, they should now! Don't let them get away with anything less than the $0 co-pay mandated by Obama-care.

Was this helpful? 1
266

I bleed one day, if that on minastrin! I was nervous at first because I thought I was pregnant because my period on any other pill started within two days of taking the sugar/blank pills. But I'm on month 3 now and this has been the trend. It took some getting used to but I love it. I have no acne, I lost 6-8 lb almost instantly , I switched from cryselle, I was fat bloated and insane on that and had acne! Chewing the pill was strange at first but I just drink a large glass of water after. I've missed pills once for 3 days in a row and caught them back up when I realized and had some cramping and stomach discomfort, never spotting, but I was abstinent to assure I wouldn't get pregnant during that massive slip up. Over all I love this pill coming from taking cryselle aka psychotic pill.

Was this helpful? 2
265

I got my discount card from my doctor. My insurance doesn't cover it and the pharmacist could only get it down to $41. I'm definitely switching.

Was this helpful? 0
264

I too have been having issues since the switch. The worst one being terrible ACNE. It's absolutley horrible and my skin has never looked or felt this bad, ever. It's extremely painful. The only other side effect for me has been the mood swings. I cry over the stupidest things. I fully believe that this whole "chewable" aspect is to blame. All the artificial sweeteners used to make the pill palatable don't mix correctly with the hormones. Has anyone had success with a different birth control other than loestrin?

Was this helpful? 0
263

FWIW, my daughter has been trying Ortho Tri-Cyclen for a few months and has had no noticiable side effects. Still VERY upset that the pharmacuetical companies discontinued a drug that worked like Loestrin Fe

Was this helpful? 0
262

This is the second name change for loestrin it is the same pill and does the same thing weather chewed or not. I have been on this one for 6 months. It is exactly the same.

Was this helpful? 2
261

I'm on my 3rd pack of Minstring 24 FE. I'm emotional all the time. I cry a lot and my emotions are all over the place. I thought it was the start of me going through the change.

Was this helpful? 0
260

A quick update* after taking minastrin24fe for 4 consecutive months I stopped because of many issues, the most bothersome were irregular heartbeat, trouble breathing, and itching everywhere all the time. After 3 weeks of not being on it I can happily say all my symptoms are gone. Goodluck to you ladies!

Was this helpful? 0
259

I am experiencing all sorts of side effects I never had with Loestrin. I am very emotional, crying randomly, extreme breast tenderness, breasts have gotten significantly larger, 5-10lbs weight gain.

Was this helpful? 0
258

Wow, SO TIRED of hearing of this happening! Why isn't anyone listening? Don't they care? If we are all DEAD then how will that help anyone? All this over MONEY! Wow. These pharmacutical companies should be SUED for allowing this to happen to us!

Was this helpful? 0
257

I was on loestrin 4 years and didn't have any problems really except a few headaches. When I started lomedia January 2014 I had migraines daily. I was just going into my 4 th pack when I had a seizure in Walgreens. Now I'm no longer on any birth control. I don't know what to do. I never had periods on loestrin or lomedia

Was this helpful? 0
256

Giving an update on lomedia. Little history: was on loestrin 24 for 5 years with little problems (although after coming off bcp for a few months over the summer, I realized it was the cause of migraines I had been experiencing for all of 2013). Anyway, after loestrin, I was on minastrin for 6 months. At first it was great...I had less acne and hair loss. But around the 4th month, I started experiencing heart palpitations, shortness of breath. Came off bcp for a few months but the increase of acne and hair loss made me get back on it. I just finished my first pack of lomedia. It has been a month of hell with migraines every day. I'm about to start my period and have had heart palps for last 2 days. I thought all of my problems were related to minastrin but now I'm thinking that my hormones have just changed over past couple of years (I'm 34) and this ratio of estrogen/progestin no longer works for me. Thinking about switching to lo loestrin or alesse. Sigh. Hormones are a b!tch

Was this helpful? 0
255

Hi everyone! I just wanted to follow up my post from August 6th about my switch from Minastrin to LoMedia. So it's almost been a month and I can already report a MIRACULOUS turnaround. My skin has cleared up, my anxiety, mood wings and verge of depression, and bloating have all subsided and I am finally returning back to normal. I have almost finished the first pack and can say that I am so glad I made the switch. I feel as close to how I felt on Loestrin as possible. Thank the lord!!

Now unfortunately, everyone is different, so I am just happy to say that my individual results have been very positive and hope the very best for all of you on your switches. But I know I can say confidently, that Minastrin has been a lowest common denominator for all of us and deserves as much attention as possible.

I will be reporting this to the FDA as soon as possible to ensure that we get the justice we deserve. It is inexcusable (like most of the healthcare in this country) that we women should be the victims of patent aversion. Our health and well being will forever outweigh a pharmaceutical company's pay check.

Well that is my rant. Best of luck to all of you, and I will continue to report my results if anything changes. Love to you all! x

Was this helpful? 4
254

I'm reporting to the FDA right now.

Was this helpful? 0
253

OK! So everyone on here that has had these terrible problems, and also know anyone else who has, let's all tell them! They need to know! The sooner the better. All this h*ll just because a patent expired is B.S. People's lives and health are at risk!

Was this helpful? 0
252

You can report adverse events and side effects to the FDA or to the manufacturer. They have the report them to the FDA. If you don't report it, they'll never know!

Was this helpful? 0
251

OMG! That is terrible!
Why doesn't someone DO something about all this? Is one of us supposed to die over this before anyone NOTICES? EVERYTHING is wrong with this scenario! Who should we be calling? Food and Drug admin? Who? This is absurd!

Was this helpful? 0
250

Hi Ladies! I was just as shocked as all of you were when I found out that Loestrin was discontinued and that my doctor failed to notify me. I had been on Loestrin for about 3 or so years before they discontinued it and was just sort of dropped off at the Minastrin doorstep without given any type of information on it. I was disgusted at the idea of chewing, so I just preferred to swallow it because what goes down from chewing also goes down by swallowing ;)! I was very annoyed by my doctor not informing me about the switch that I ended up changing doctors.

Now a little background on me: I am 22 (almost 23) year old, relatively healthy in all respects. I'm overweight, but always "working on it". I have parents with cardiac conditions (father) and thyroid condition (mother) as well as histories of cancer on both sides. I only drink socially and have experimented with smoking cigarettes in my younger years but no longer use them.

Anyway, I was experiencing chest pain for about 3 days this past week but chalked it up to sleeping wrong or pulling a muscle doing some household chores. I had had this pain before, but figured it was just a rough sleeper and didn't pay much attention to it. Finally on Thursday (8/14) I realized that the pain was just getting worse and nothing I did seemed to alleviate it so my boyfriend brought me to the ER. Of course as soon as I mentioned chest pains and being 22, I was given an EKG which returned that I was in fact not having a heart attack (thank god!) but during my CT scan it turned up that I had a bilateral pulmonary embolism, presumably stemming from my birth control.

I am since on blood thinners and have been released from the hospital but there are still many questions I have yet to find the answers to. An ultrasound of my legs showed no other lingering blood clots in my legs (where most originate) and I still plan to have my heart checked by a cardiologist but I wish I had asked so many more questions about Minastrin before just taking it. I just wanted to share my story to you ladies in hopes of helping, or educating some of you!

Was this helpful? 0
Page:First Page2Next PageLast Page

More Discussions:

switching from loestrin 24 fe to minastrin

I am 39 and Have been on loEstrin 24 Fe for many years to now find out that it's no longer being made and was being ...

4 REPLIES
Switching from loestrin 24 fe to lomedia

I am one of the customers unhappy with the discontinuation of Loestrin 24 Fe. I saw so many negative reviews with those ...

63 REPLIES
Switching to minastrin 24 fe

I have been on loestrin 24fe for about 8 years now. I loved it. No period and no problems with weight gain. Now that I h...

1 REPLY
Switching from minastrin to mibelas

I've been taking minastrin for about four years now. I was forced to switch over to the generic brand, mibelas. I ha...

37 REPLIES
Lo loestrin fe missed period after switching brands

I have been on the birth control aubra for 5 months and usually bled during my 7 day placebo week. However I recently ch...

1 REPLY
switching from effexor to Prozac

My doctor has me switching from effexor to prozac which I am in total agreement with but the symptoms I am having are ho...

2 REPLIES
Switching from Brentillix to Effexor (generic)

I've been on brentillix for about 3 weeks. It HSS been a God send, up until about a week ago. I woke up with s sever...

1 REPLY
switching from butrans patch to fentanyl

I have been on the butrans 20 mcg patch for 3 months and am getting ready to switch to the fentanyl 25 mcg patch. Will I...

2 REPLIES
Switching from Lexapro to Trintellix and feeling agitated

Hello. I have been on Lexapro 20mg since July. At my last check up my blood pressure was extremely high and I had gained...

1 REPLY
would switching from fenofibrate to atorvastatin produce the same effect on my cholestorol

I am currently taking fenofibrate. I just switched jobs and my prescription coverage won't take effect for another m...

1 REPLY