"i was on loestrin/ lomedia for close to 10 years, never had an issue, never had bad periods with it (my periods before bc were debilitating, i would always get sick and have heavy long periods with death cramps). i had to switch to aubra because my hospital kept getting back ordered months on loestrin. aubra is supposed to be of similar formulation, the progesterone component is a different chemical than i&#039;m used to though, despite it being the same micrograms. i&#039;m on week 3 of active pills, and on a heavy period that started 4 days ago. have had painful cramps and back pain since i started it. still have the mild cramps, but bad back pain. hate these pills, miss my old ones. granted, i am getting older, maybe that has something to do with."