Mono-Linyah and Anxiety: What Users Say

• Aly...
• November 17, 2020

For Birth Control "If I could give this medication a lower rating than 1/10, I would. I was told 'Mono-Linyah' is a generic form of Sprintec. This can't be any more different in the effect it is having on me. I have been on Mono-Linyah for approximately 9 months. I don't know how I stayed on it for this long. I trusted my doctor when she told me it was a generic form of Sprintec. I gained about 15 pounds in the 9 months I've been on this pill. My acne has been awful while on this pill. The biggest and most drastic change in myself, other than the weight gain, was my mood changes. My anxiety was already pretty bad, but while on Mono-Linyah, it made me feel I couldn't manage it. I started to have mood swings, dark thoughts, anxiety attacks, and would cry all the time. I regret not realizing this medication was the reason for all of my symptoms earlier on."

• Aly...
• November 17, 2020

For Birth Control "If I could give this medication a lower rating than 1/10, I would. I was told 'Mono-Linyah' is a generic form of Sprintec. This can't be any more different in the effect it is having on me. I have been on Mono-Linyah for approximately 9 months. I don't know how I stayed on it for this long. I trusted my doctor when she told me it was a generic form of Sprintec. I gained about 15 pounds in the 9 months I've been on this pill. My acne has been awful while on this pill. The biggest and most drastic change in myself, other than the weight gain, was my mood changes. My anxiety was already pretty bad, but while on Mono-Linyah, it made me feel I couldn't manage it. I started to have mood swings, dark thoughts, anxiety attacks, and would cry all the time. I regret not realizing this medication was the reason for all of my symptoms earlier on."

• Anonymous
• April 5, 2020

For Birth Control "I was originally on a different pill, but my insurance wouldn’t cover the name brand, so I was switched to Mono-Linyah. The first month I took this, I suffered from painful cramps and mood swings. I attributed these to switching birth control, and after the first month, they went away. I continued using this pill for a year with little side effects and a lighter, shorter period, yay! But after a year, all the benefits stopped. My acne has exploded! My hair is thinning and falling out. I bleed randomly between periods, and during my regular period, I experience horrible cramps and really heavy bleeding. I started experiencing abnormal levels of anxiety and panic attacks, and I slipped into a really dark depressive state for 2-3 months. The only reason I’m still taking this pill is because it does its job in the sense that it prevents pregnancy. I will be seeing a doctor soon to switch."

• Ash...
• June 22, 2021

For Birth Control "I started my first packet of Mono-Linyah and almost finished it. Week one and two were fine, just a little anxious. Not that bad, right? So I'm down to my final blue pills for week three, I start to experience some symptoms, like I felt like my throat would close or get tight. Then it would get filled with mucus, which would make me gag. The color in my face was getting extremely white and sickly-like. I also would randomly get burning hot, like I had a bad fever. Often very tired and weak. My symptoms are a lot like pregnancy symptoms, so if you also experienced this, most likely it is just the pill making you sick."

• Ano...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• December 19, 2020

For Birth Control "I've been taking Mono-Linyah for 5 months now, and I am so disappointed and unhappy with it. I get frequent headaches, they last all day. Sometimes they last for 2-3 days at a time. They're almost unbearable. My periods have gotten even heavier than they were before I started taking this, and they last for about 6 or 7 days. I just got off my period 5 days ago, and I'm back on it again right now. I have had a period literally every other week since I started taking Mono-Linyah. Most people notice weight gain while taking most birth controls, but I've been losing weight. I was 120 lbs when I started it 5 months ago, and now I'm only 104 lbs. I feel like I'm in such an irritable mood all the time. I'm always so tired and have no energy, but I also can't sleep at night, and my anxiety has been terrible. I would not recommend this birth control to anyone. Hopefully, my doctor will change it when I see her next month. I really don't want to keep taking this rubbish."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• December 10, 2019

For Birth Control "I have hardly anything negative to say. It stopped my period (which has been a blessing). It's been an overall pleasant experience. The only downside for me has been the anxiety. But overall, definitely not a bad pill."

• Anonymous
• Taken for less than 1 month
• September 8, 2020

For Birth Control "I had taken Xulane (patch) for a year and wanted to try something different, so my doctor prescribed me this pill. Everything was fine for the first 2 weeks, but at the start of the third week, I ended up passing out for the first time in my life. My anxiety before this pill was manageable, and I didn't need medication to function. At the third-week point, I started having anxiety every day that felt out of control, I couldn't get ahold of myself and had severe chills, tinnitus, headaches, numbness in my hands, and depressive thoughts. If you have any mental health issues, no matter how small, I would choose another pill. Please don't suffer the way I have."

• bad...
• January 9, 2020

For Ovarian Cysts "This stuff Mono-Linyah messed me up. I've been taking it for at least 5 months. I have PCOS. My periods were fine; light, regular, no cramping. It seemed to be helping my mood; then, out of nowhere, I started having panic attacks. I have been diagnosed with generalized anxiety in the past and have had anxiety attacks, but never pure panic that lasted an entire day, much less an entire month. I also have had some personal things that could warrant anxiety, but not to this extreme. The entire month of December was a nightmare. I couldn't take deep breaths, I couldn't eat, I was nauseated all the time, and felt like I was on a constant roller coaster. I thought it was just the holidays, and once they were over, I'd feel better, and I did start feeling better, but then one night, I had a huge panic attack again. What changed? I thought I was getting better. Then it hit me; I had just started the new month over. I quit the next day. It's taken 6 days to feel even sort of better."

• Anonymous
• Taken for less than 1 month
• November 10, 2020

For Birth Control "Y'all, this Mono-Linyah BC was terrible for me. I had run out of my regular Sprintec prescription and had to take this as a backup. This was one of the worst months of my life. I'm talking mood swings that made me actually feel like I was a crazy person. Extreme highs and lows. I've suffered from depression since age 15 (I'm 22 now) and anxiety for the past 3 years, and this made it so much worse for me. It got to the point where I was self-harming, which I've never done in the past. Also, I had acne from age 14-21, and when I got on Sprintec last year, it cleared it up completely! As soon as I started this BC, however, it started coming back :( I would avoid this BC at all costs! It is not worth the emotional damage to you and your loved ones as a result of the mood swings."

• hat...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• October 1, 2019

For Birth Control "I'm usually not one to write reviews like this, but this pill caused me so much grief I feel I need to. Anyone who has any form of mental illness, BEWARE of this pill. I had such terrible depression and anxiety while on this pill that I couldn't get out of bed for days on end. It also affected my thyroid so severely I lost almost 50 pounds in two months without doing anything to change my diet or activity level. I have never had this much acne on my face in my entire life, to the point I don't like to leave my house anymore. One thing I will say, it didn't affect the flow of my period very much, it stayed relatively consistent as if I wasn't on the pill. I don't recommend this pill to anyone, really. It caused a lot of hardship these past few weeks that I wouldn't wish on anybody."

• 199...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• September 21, 2019

For Birth Control "I was on this medication for almost a month, and I’ve never been more miserable! Constantly nauseated/vomiting, anxiety and nervousness were crazy! I’m also in nursing school, which made it difficult for me to study and stay focused with being so sick! I do not recommend this medication! Also, getting it out of my system took 3-4 days. Too much estrogen for me!"

• 199...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• September 21, 2019

For Birth Control "I was on this medication for almost a month, and I’ve never been more miserable! Constantly nauseated/vomiting, anxiety and nervousness were crazy! I’m also in nursing school, which made it difficult for me to study and stay focused with being so sick! I do not recommend this medication! Also, getting it out of my system took 3-4 days. Too much estrogen for me!"

• bal...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• February 18, 2019

For Birth Control "During the time I took this medication, I gained nearly 25 lbs with no change in my eating and exercising habits. Towards the end of my nearly 2-year experience, I began to get horrible migraines very frequently. They were unlike any I had ever had before, I wouldn’t be able to go on with my day if I started to develop one, and oftentimes sleeping them off did not work. I believe it changed my mood drastically and caused excess anxiety and waves of depression. And the worst part, my sex drive was absolutely 0. Now that I have stopped taking this pill, I have further realized how awful it made me feel! I just got Kyleena placed a few weeks ago, and I’m hoping that will help me continue my path to feeling my normal self after 2 years. I gave this a 4-star because I never got pregnant while taking this correctly, and it was easily accessible."

• rac...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• September 11, 2020

For Birth Control "After starting this pill, I’ve been experiencing a lot of anxiety and dark thoughts, worse than I’ve experienced in years. It’s made me so moody, and I don’t feel like myself. After month 2, I started having constant brown spotting/discharge, which I’m hoping will go away when I change the prescription. I’ve also started getting hormonal acne, which I haven’t had in years. Overall, this pill did not work well for me at all, and I’ll be switching once I finish my third month."

• Mik...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• July 27, 2018

For Birth Control "Mono-Linyah was great at first, but then I started to notice a change in my mood. It literally made me super anxious and depressed! Like I couldn’t even step out of my house. It increased my appetite, but because I was so depressed, I lost weight. However, it did help my skin tremendously, so I have a love/hate relationship with it!"

• Sad...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• July 23, 2020

For Birth Control "I have been using this Mono-Linyah birth control pill for over a year after my pill (Prevefem) was discontinued by the manufacturer. I was reluctant to use this pill as I have had bad experiences taking different pills. Luckily, this pill has been great. No cramps, anxiety, or weight gain, and my period is very normal. The only negative is that I always spot on the second week for 2-3 days. After having horrible experiences with other brands, I can live with the spotting."

• She...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• February 12, 2021

For Birth Control "I’ve been on this birth control my entire teen years and now into adulthood. I struggle with both anxiety and depression, so it is very hard to see if this pill has contributed. As far as acne goes, it hasn’t helped at all, and I still have awful breakouts. Ironically, my skin is the clearest on placebo week, if that tells you anything. I only continue to take this because this helps tremendously with my awful bed-ridden cramps. I have not gained any weight with this pill, but I did go up two cup sizes back in high school when I first started taking it."

• Dis...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• June 10, 2022

For Birth Control "I took this for 5 months. I had severe cramps, nausea, heavy bleeding (with many blood clots). The symptoms got a little better in 3 months, so I kept taking it. Also, I noticed body hair decreased, so that was a plus. However, within the last week, I’ve experienced severe anxiety with racing thoughts to where I have discontinued this pill. My head is foggy, and I feel tense, with a general unwell feeling. Hoping this will ease now that my period is here. I let the nurse know, and she took me off of it. I know this will affect everyone differently, but if I can stop someone from experiencing this, then I’ll be happy. I do not recommend. I gave it a 2 because I did not get pregnant and the decrease in body hair growth."

• ann...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• September 2, 2020

For Abnormal Uterine Bleeding "I got on Mono-Linyah to regulate my periods when I was about 16. I took it for 5 years, and those years were the most miserable years of my life so far. I gained a significant amount of weight-nothing could help it, even if I exercised every day and ate right. I cramped 2.5 weeks out of the month. It caused bad mood swings, headaches, and extreme anxiety. It seems like I'm just naming every side effect in the book, but that's how bad this stuff is. I do not recommend this birth control to anyone. The only reason I gave above a 1 is because it regulated my period, but I had extreme consequences for that."

• Kb1...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• October 5, 2022

For Birth Control "This is the third pill I’ve been on, and it is definitely NOT my favorite. I will say it has made my face extremely clear, in the 6 months I’ve been on it, I’ve had maybe 5 or so pimples. I don’t have acne, but normally around my period I’d break out in a few spots, and I have not experienced that. Now, this pill has made me gradually gain weight, I’ve gained like 7 pounds, but it’s not even about the number on the scale, it’s that I feel bloated all the time. I feel like it makes me retain water so much, no matter what I eat. My eating habits have not changed, and I’m a pretty active person. Also, the biggest reason I’m getting off of this is because it has made me SO irritable and anxious about a week to week and a half before I started my period, and that isn’t normal for me."

• Wow...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• January 25, 2020

For Birth Control "I took this birth control to clear my acne. It worked wonders, in no time at all, I saw wonderful results! I was on it for about 2 years and only took it at night between 9-11 pm to cut down on the anxiety side effects. While using this pill, I gained about 25 lbs and got pregnant! I will never use this pill again!"