Zovia 1/35E for Birth Control User Reviews

• Aug...
• October 10, 2016

"I do not recommend this birth control if you are prone to depression or anxiety. It's absolutely terrible. I was prescribed it to stop my heavy bleeding and painful cramps during my period. It has done nothing to lighten the flow, the cramps are just as bad, if not worse, and I've had complete anxiety, despite my treatment and medication for it. Please be cautious. I wish I'd never taken it."

• gym...
• Taken for 10 years or more
• August 2, 2012

"I would recommend this to anyone. I started using Zovia 1/35 in college 20 years ago for heavy periods, and this fixed it! They were light, predictable, and only lasted 3 or 4 days, so great. I had virtually no side effects, just the breasts went from a B to a C. I'm now 43 years old, and my body is changing, so this prescription is not working as well for me. I may need to switch, but it's just due to age at this point."

• Ale...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• May 29, 2019

"I've been on Zovia for almost a year now and love it. My periods only last 2-3 days and after day one are so light I hardly bleed. However, for my first month of taking it, I had horrible pregnancy-like symptoms, I had morning sickness and a super strong aversion to cooking meat. After that first month, though, I acclimated and have had no issues since."

• Anonymous
• February 28, 2010

"I've been on Zovia for 5 years and haven't noticed any side effects. No weight gain, in my breasts or elsewhere. Before birth control, I had a very light 4-5 day period, on Zovia, it's nearly nonexistent, a pantyliner is all I need. I haven't needed a tampon in 5 years. I take Zovia almost religiously on time every day, and 5 years and counting, no pregnancies! Other birth controls that I tried really messed with my emotions, and I spent a lot of time crying for no reason, so I'm very, very happy with Zovia for not messing up my hormones to the extent that I experience mood swings."

• Anonymous
• October 12, 2011

"I started taking Zovia about 5 months ago, and I could immediately tell the difference after the 1st month. I started gaining weight, my breasts got even bigger than they already were, and they were constantly tender. My periods went from 3-4 days to 7-9 days with horrible cramps. My face became very oily, and I started breaking out. I have never had a lot of acne or breakouts, but after starting this birth control, it got bad. I have been an emotional wreck and cry all of the time, and I'm normally not like that. I think I had every bad side effect a birth control can have, so needless to say, my OB has called in a different birth control! Hopefully, if you decide to use this birth control, you don't have any of the side effects like I have."

• Hea...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• February 7, 2019

"I'm so thankful for Zovia! I’ve had awful experiences with past birth control pills (Lutera, Aviane, & Yaz) and prefer to take the natural route for health and have been very anti-pill for a long time. While off the pill, I have struggled with PMDD that kept getting longer and cramps that caused me to miss work. I had insomnia, irritability, crazy itching on my stomach and legs, depression, crying spells, fatigue, muscle pain, flare-ups in digestive and reproductive pain, and zero sex drive. I was a mess and tried every natural treatment in the book for years with no luck, and in fact, was getting worse. I had no quality of life and agreed to take Zovia. Since starting, I sleep like a baby, the itching has stopped, I’m calmer, happier, more “sane,” and at peace with life. My sex drive is back better than ever, and I feel healthy again! Cramps are really light. I can function again! The only side effects I’ve had are mid-cycle spotting and water retention, but having my life back makes those symptoms seem like nothing compared to before."

• Kel...
• August 21, 2013

"Zovia cleared my acne and helped regulate my period with no pregnancies. However, it caused huge mood swings around my period. I was very irritable and sometimes depressed. Also, if I didn't take the pill at the exact same time (or within an hour), I spotted."

• GI ...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• December 19, 2018

"I started taking Zovia back in 2011 because I was getting two periods in one month after getting back from deployment, but I've taken it ever since with no problems at all. I actually skip my periods each month and still have no issues. I think since I've started taking the pill, I probably average one period a year due to forgetting to take the pill in the mornings. I started this pill in my 20s and now I'm in my 30s with no changes, other than if I accidentally miss a day, my period will start faster than it did years before. Now it takes a day and a half to start after missing one pill, and it used to start after two days in my 20s. But not a big deal. Everyone is different, and you don't have to take it from me, but it worked for me. Give it a shot and change it up if you feel differences right away. It can be scary, I know I was when I first started, but it worked out for the best."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• June 16, 2012

"I have been on Zovia for 4 months. I quickly gained 10 pounds, even though I work out 4 to 5 times a week and watch what I eat. I have gone from a B cup to a C cup, and I have developed horrible mood swings. I also experience bad acne about 4 days before and after my period."

• nee...
• Taken for 10 years or more
• June 26, 2012

"I've been on Zovia almost 10 years now. It's cheap and worked for the reason I was taking it, which was to prevent pregnancy. I can't say whether it made me gain weight because I figure after ten years it's bound to normalize. I can say I get pretty bad PMS, but I'm not sure this pill was ever advertised to treat PMS symptoms. I experienced depression, bloat, irritability, anxiety, and lethargy the week before every period. I attribute some to my family history of anxiety and depression, though, and it was never something I brought up with my doctor. Never thought there was any reason to change it until now. Recently, I did find a side effect to be too much to bear: low libido. I don't even want a man to look at me, let alone touch me; it's so terrible."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• March 30, 2013

"I'm 18, and I've been on Zovia for about a year. No weight gain, acne completely cleared up, and I never got pregnant even if I did miss a couple! However, very bad PMS and irritability. My boyfriend of 2 years finds it very frustrating around the time of my period because I turn moody. Love it though."

• sar...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• October 20, 2012

"I have been on this pill for 3.5 years, and it is my favorite thing ever. My periods are extremely light, I almost never have cramps or mood swings, and the only weight gain I experienced was welcome and came in the form of a cup size. I haven't had any problems during that time of the month or otherwise, and overall, I think this is just a very nice, happy pill. I always use condoms because I'm paranoid, but I'm scare-free also!"

• Gir...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• July 7, 2019

"I’ve been on this medication for 5 years now and have honestly never had any issues. For the first few years, I’d take them and then take the placebos and get my period, and it made it so much more bearable. But recently, in the last year, I’ve decided to just skip the placebo pills completely in general. Never have had any spotting, it’s really amazing."

• C C...
• January 17, 2013

"I have been on it for 2 months and have not gotten my period at all! And no, I'm not pregnant! It may be good, but I do get the slight panic each month. As of now, I don't think I've had any other side effects. Also, it is very cheap!"

• Mar...
• March 26, 2015

"I've been on this birth control going on 8 years. Never any weight gain or physical issues, but the occasional mood swings and PMS. Can't say if I've had an increase in appetite. But totally worth it. Haven't gotten pregnant!"

• Cee...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• September 16, 2022

"As someone with endometriosis, Zovia was great for suppressing the pain. I am also someone who sweats a lot and has very oily skin, and this has helped so much. Even though this has had the best pros of any birth control I have taken, the depression and anxiety were too severe for me to stay on it. If you are already someone who deals with long-term depression, I do not recommend this."

• Anonymous
• September 27, 2011

"The good aspects of this pill for me were no weight gain, no loss of sex drive, and my breasts got a bit bigger. However, I could not continue into my 4th month on Zovia because I had such intense mood swings that I drove everyone around me crazy. I had to switch to a different pill because I was on a constant emotional roller coaster: crying, being angry, feeling depressed, hopeless, and paranoid that my boyfriend was cheating on me. I felt like I was losing my mind, and my boyfriend and I almost broke up over it. I became a completely different person, and it only became worse as I was on the pill for longer. Hoping another pill will work better!"

• Anonymous
• January 19, 2010

"I have been using Zovia for 3 months now to help regulate my period. So far, the side effects have been larger breasts and breast tenderness, slight bloating before and during my period, and immediately after starting it, I have been getting chest acne. I am not prone to body acne and have never gotten it before I started using the pill. Nothing would clear it up either (acne wash, spot cream). My doctor said it was probably because of the high estrogen. Besides the acne and bloating, I don't have any other problems with it. It has started to regulate my period slowly, but not completely."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• May 22, 2012

"I have been on Zovia for 11 months. The first 3 months I had a lot of mood swings from crying to anger, anger to crying, and happy to sad. It was the most difficult 3 months of my life. I still have mood swings but not as much as in the beginning. It did make me gain weight but prevented me from getting pregnant."

• Anonymous
• December 5, 2012

"I recently switched to Zovia from Ortho Tricyclen. It's definitely doing what it's supposed to. The side effects that I've experienced since switching are slight weight gain (even though I'm active), B to C cup size and some tenderness, nausea, and mood swings (and my boyfriend agrees with me -- this is the WORST side effect). What I do like about Zovia is that it cleared my face up and made my periods EXTREMELY light and short. I think I like Ortho Tricyclen better, but only because I didn't have any side effects with it."

• Hap...
• December 28, 2009

"I have been using Zovia for 2 months, and I have really off periods, so it's been able to keep my periods on track. Not too many side effects, maybe a little nausea, but other than that, I like it. As long as you take it on time, you are fine."

• Anonymous
• November 1, 2011

"So after reading the reviews, I feel a little bit better because after two weeks of taking this pill, I have gained 5 lbs, and my breasts went from a normal B cup to a large C cup. Usually that would be a great thing, but it's very uncomfortable, and the weight gain is upsetting because I work out 4-5 times a week and eat healthily. I used to be on the NuvaRing, but it is too expensive, so I tried a low dose birth control, but on this, I was spotting all the time and became very depressed."

• not...
• August 1, 2011

"I have been taking Zovia now for a little over a month. My doctor prescribed this because I was having extremely heavy periods with severe cramps, so he said this would help to regulate. But since I've been taking it, I haven't stopped bleeding at all. Thirty-three days of bleeding is the worst, and it hurts to wear a tampon, so I have to wear pads only. My husband, who is trying to be supportive, is starting to get frustrated because we can't even have sex because of all this bleeding. I think I may stop using it."

• Gir...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• January 7, 2017

"I have a love-hate relationship with the Zovia 1/35 birth control pill. Back when I was younger, in my teen years, even early 20s, it worked amazingly. No weight gain at all. I stopped taking it for a few years when I started my family, and now, 10 years later, I decided to get back on it. Let me just say, weight gain! I don't blame the pill 100%, but I feel like you have got to be prepared for how hungry this pill makes you! So you will be hungrier than usual and eat more, and hence, gain weight on it. It's getting out of control, I have decided to stop this month."

• Anonymous
• October 25, 2010

"I used to be on Yaz and really loved it, but I was worried about all its latest bad reviews. I just switched to Zovia and my breasts are so tender. I thought it would be great to go up a size (I heard this from a friend), but it is really painful. I'm also very bloated, which I'm not used to because you never get bloated or acne from Yaz. I get my period next week, so I'm still unsure if it will be as light as it was on Yaz."