Ethinyl estradiol / norgestimate
"I've tried ortho-cyclen and microgestin 1/20 and diane 35 before. OC made me gain weight like crazy and I couldn't deal with the bloating; I also lost a ton of muscle mass. I've been on OTC -lo for about a week but I feel such a big difference in the degree of my side effects. I'm asian, 5'2" and 118lbs for reference. I don't feel nauseous at all, very minimal bloating, my skin's a bit clearer, and my sex drive's the same! I'm nervous about the tri-phasic style of the pill as I'm very sensitive to hormone shifts, so I may update my review after a months. I think people just really need to find a pill that most closely mimics their natural hormone levels and go up or down in estrogen and progestin as they observe the changes in their body."