Sorry to butt in, but just found this thread, and felt the need to say something pretty important to anyone on the pill or is thinking of taking it.
I don't want to scare anyone (but I probably will anyway...sorry!), but when I was taking the pill, it ended up giving me Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) so severely that I had to be rushed off to the emergency room. (DVT is blood clots in the major veins in your legs...Google it.) We discovered this was because I had a genetic blood disorder, called Factor V Leiden, which causes my blood to clot much more easily.
If you are taking the pill, regardless of whether you have this disorder, it increases your chances of developing DVT by about 10% I think - this goes up considerably if you have Factor V Leiden.
The thing is, I had no idea I had this disorder. And most people go through their entire lives not knowing about it. Which is why it's such a problem: no one knows if they have it until they get blood clots.
So, please, girls - I cannot stress this enough: make sure you check your family history to see if anyone has a history of any blood clots, DVT, even chronic leg ulcers can be a sign someone may be carrying the gene. If there is a chance someone might be carrying this gene, you can have a blood test to check for Factor V Leiden.
And if you're worried about one blood test, consider the treatment for DVT I had to go through:
-Injections into my tummy, daily, for a week - and they were quite painful too.
-Taking blood-thinning pills (Warfarin) for six months, meaning I had to be extra-careful about not getting bruises or cuts - plus, it made my periods SHOCKINGLY heavy
- If you're on Warfarin, you can't have Neurofen. Hello, crippling period pain. (The reason I was taking the pill in the first place!)
-I had to have a blood test every second day for about two weeks, then once a week for several months, then once a fortnight until my six months of treatment were over. Not fun. Especially since I had a phobia of needles before all this started. (Not any more though.)
-You have to wear special circulation stockings for six months. This was especially fun in summer, since I nearly boiled on hot days. It also made for some, uh, 'interesting' outfits.
-Oh, and of course: my leg hurt like hell.
Needless to say, I stopped taking the pill as soon as this happened.
Doctors never seem to stress this enough - that the pill increases your chances of getting blood clots, and that a lot of people don't know they have the Factor V Leiden disorder. (Google that, too.) So I'm telling you, please be careful and check your family history and/or get tested for the gene.
Alternatively, if you're on the pill and you get a feeling like a bad cramp in your leg that doesn't go away but gradually gets worse? Yeah, might want to go see a doctor and get a leg ultrasound. It could be DVT.
So yeah. That's my experience of being on the pill. Did wonders for my acne and my period pain, but put me through hell for six months.