Lara Briden's Forum

Hi Dr Briden & everyone,

I'm diagnosed with PCOS - no ovulation and menstruation, acne, fatigue, and hirsutism.
Found a lovely endo-specialised gynaecologist finally, who put me on micronised cyclical progesterone, which I stayed on for 9 months and had all the expected excellent results & felt great. Although acne sort of started coming back on month 8. After 9 months I went off to see whether my cycle has "fixed itself" and nope, no ovulation and menstruation in sight on the scan and I haven't bled.

The same doctor strongly recommended going on Belara - the modern contraceptive pill for PCOS women, as I am not TTC and primarily struggling with acne and hirsutism. Alternatively, I can just stay on cyclical progesterone indefinitely, she said.

What do we think of Belara? I have read your books and watched lots of content on hormonal contraceptives and the damage they can do, especially to us, PCOS women. Is Belara any different? Is it worth trying? I'm really sick of acne and facial hair and not having pregnancy scares would be great too.

I was on Yasmin pill 2.5 years ago and fell into a deep depression and Microginon when I was 16 and gained weight. Doctor said Belara is great for no weight gain and not as savage as Yasmin for coming off, if I come off with the cyclical progesterone method, especially.

Thank you!

I'm looking forward to Lara's answer. My gynecologist told me that Qlaira would be good. It has the antiandrogenic progestin dienogest, but bioidentical estrogen. It does not close the pituitary gland LH and FSH, but its strong progestin affects the uterus and prevents fertilization or ovulation. With that birth control, I got ovulation sensations in the middle of the cycle. If I were you, I would try Qlaira first if you want to try or use any pill.