"i took ortho tri-cyclen because this is what i received from the health department for free when i didn&#039;t have insurance and was a poor full time student. i was taking this for about 4 years. the best thing about it is that i never got pregnant. however, i had extremely heavy periods lasting 5-6 days until it was finished completely; painful cramps, spotting lightly at times, spotting heavily; mood swings; fatigue and recurrent yeast infections. i finally made it back to my regular obgyn after getting insurance again and she placed me on beyaz. so far so good."