I've been on Yaz for about 3 and a half years for PMDD, and due to switching insurance they are giving me the generic Gianvi now instead. I also have a couple months of Beyaz from insurance issues previously, so at the moment I have the choice of which to try. I am going on vacation this month so I hate that i have to do anything different but since beyaz is made by the same company as yaz i think i am going to use those up before i try the gianvi.

Just wondering if anyone has been on either of these two birth control pills and what were your experiences?

I am also considering trying to go off birth control but not sure yet. Does anyone have experience going off any of these pills and did you have any side effects?

I don't have experiences with any of those brands, but I recently had to switch from a brand-name to generic version of my pills and the things I looked at were the following:

1) Are the dosages of the estrogen analog (typically ethinyl estradiol, but I think Yaz may be something else) and progesterone analog the same?

2) Are the estrogen and progesterone analogs the same molecule? If the molecules are different, you will not be able to compare the dosages directly in #1 above (if you have an inclination for chemistry, you can look up the molecular weights-- easily available by google search-- and compare the number of moles of each).

If the molecules are different, it is preferable to match the estrogen analog rather than progesterone, if you have a choice. My fiance is an MD and said that for some reason side-effects are more often due to the estrogen analog than progesterone. So it is more important to match the molecule and dosage of estrogen than progesterone.

3) If the estrogen and progesterone analogs are the same, and are at the same dosages, then try to match the inactive ingredients. This is the only point at which the drug manufacturer might matter, since I'm guessing that a particular company my use the same inactive ingredients in all formulations. However, point 3 is a minor consideration compared to points 1 and 2, so I'd advise matching the types and dosages of the active ingredients first and foremost.

Since I switched from brand-name to generic of the same drug, the molecules and dosages were the same between them. I didn't look up the inactive ingredients, but had absolutely no problem switching.

I was on Beyaz for a year (before switching to Implanon). I really liked. Never had any problems with it. I think the main difference between Yaz and Beyaz is that Beyaz has folate

I took the offbrand of the original Yaz for a year or so and was recently switched to Gianvi. No difference to report for me.

Well, I decided to go ahead and use the Beyaz that I already had, and then happened to see my OBGYN for something else, so had her write for Beyaz. Problem solved! Thanks for your help!