"i took this medicine for about 9 months for perimenopausal symptoms and birth control since i am still fertile in late 40s.  this took about 3 months to acclimate to.... had the mood swings and nausea and headaches in the first couple of months. then it worked quite well and actually improved my sleep which wasn&#039;t doing so well pre birth control.  however the biggest factor making me discontinue use of this drug was a big raise in my blood pressure!  i am a non smoker and a bit overweight but have always had very low blood pressure.  after 8-9 months on this my blood pressure was high. i&#039;ve been off this a few weeks and top reading on my blood pressure has dropped into 140s from the 160s i was peaking at. still, i&#039;ve always had 110 or so before taking loestrin 24."