Slynd for Hormonal Imbalance: Side Effects, Results, and Honest Review

My Supplements

Magnesium - https://amzn.to/423o36R

Fish Oil: https://amzn.to/4tZgWIp - Do not take if you have high cholesterol

B-Complex: https://amzn.to/4vEb4pF

Vitamin D3: https://amzn.to/4mFjCZi

Any decision to take supplements should be reviewed with a primary care professional. I am sharing my own personal experience in this episode, the information shared should not replace guidance from a medical professional. 

 The week before my period used to feel unbearable—like a switch flipped and everything changed. This wasn’t just PMS. It was intense mood swings, exhaustion, anxiety, and crying spells that showed up like clockwork.

In this episode, I share my real experience navigating perimenopause symptoms, hormonal imbalance, and the frustration of being told I was “too young” or that this was just something to live with.

We get into:

•  The difference between PMS and perimenopause mood swings
•  Why so many women are dismissed when they bring up hormonal mental health symptoms
•  My journey trying different birth control options and looking for real solutions 

I also walk through my experience with Slynd (drospirenone), a progesterone-only birth control pill, including:

•  The early side effects: headaches, heavier bleeding, and frustration
•  What made me stick with it despite a rough start 
•  The moment I realized my perimenopause anxiety and depression symptoms improved
•  Why this option can be life-changing for some women—but not all 

Beyond medication, I share what’s helping me feel more balanced day-to-day:

•  Supplements like magnesium, vitamin D, iron, fish oil, and B complex
•  Nutrition habits like adding berries for fiber and antioxidants
•  Returning to weight training for hormone and mental health support

We also talk about how to advocate for yourself:

•  How to communicate effectively with your OB-GYN or healthcare provider
•  Why tracking symptoms is critical for diagnosis and treatment 
•  What to do when your first treatment plan doesn’t work 

If you’re struggling with perimenopause, PMS, hormonal mood swings, anxiety, or depression, this episode is a reminder that you don’t have to accept feeling bad half the month.

Transcript

Welcome And Weather Whiplash

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello everyone, this is Steel Versus Podcast. This podcast is created for women by women to elevate women's voices. I hope everyone is having a wonderful week. New Jersey is disappointing as usual because we were having really nice weather and now it's decided that it's winter again. So that's always fun. It's very frustrating, to be honest with you, because there's like a constant like push-pull. And it's just, you know, you want to be able to just enjoy the spring, enjoy the weather. And it's like a constant, constant back and forth. It's just, it's, it's just very, very, very frustrating with the weather. But nevertheless, grateful because at some point it will even out. We're looking forward to summer, spring, well, nice spring, cool opening, all the good things. Um, I wanted to do take a minute here and actually do a recap and then update episode on my experience with Flind. This episode actually can't coming in to be because I got an email from a listener. So I wanted to give a shout out to Molly Z. Thank you so much for reaching out to me directly. Really, really am excited that you did that. And this episode is for you. So I'm going to just recap quickly for the listeners who didn't hear the first episode. I want to say last September is when I started my journey. August September is when I started my journey on SLIN. Prior to that, I want to say starting in at about 39 or so, um I had started to really experience perimenopause symptoms. Now, at the time um I was working on a women's health account. I didn't really know I was experiencing experiencing perimenopause symptoms because the way that it presented was very much like depression and anxiety. Now, at the time, um I was also at an agency where I was deeply unhappy. Um, this is not my current job. It was the prior agency. So I was deeply unhappy at this prior agency and was getting incredible amounts of anxiety and depression. Now, at the time, I assumed it was just from the agency itself, right? So I'm like, okay, I'm probably just really depressed because of this, how my experience is going. And maybe if I leave or when I leave, then the situation will be rectified. So I did eventually end up leaving the agency, got to a new place, loved the new place a whole lot, but I was still experiencing bouts of fatigue. It was always, I think it was like the week before my cycle would start. The week before my cycle would start was the dark cloud week. So what had started to happen was the week prior, I was getting really emotional, very trigger, hair trigger feelings. I would have a tremendous amount of fatigue, which was incredibly frustrating for me because I always try to be, um, I have a lot of things that I'm consistently working on that I'm trying to get done. And it was just very frustrating for me because to have to have fatigue feels like there's sandbags weighing you down as you're trying to get things done. And now I was very much trying to honor the fact that my body needed to slow down. Um, I had interviewed some some women um that was focused on menopause. And so I already knew I had some sense that like things were happening in my body probably already. So I wasn't taking it with a grain of salt. I was leaning into it, saying, all right, if my body needs rest, I'm gonna give it rest. But again, it was frustrating because who wants to lose two to three hours of your weekend to just a nap? Like I sure as heck don't. So there was all these levels of frustration. So anyway, I start my new job, love the new job, but I'm still having these fatigue, hormonal mood swings, fatigue, just overall like not feeling well, just not happy with how things are going. And it started to click into place for me now. Like I've talked to you guys too quite a bit about how I try to, I try to make sure I stay on top of my health, but I'm not always good about it, right? So I was trying, I started thinking to myself, and I was just like, you know, Jenny, why are you accepting that you only feel good 60% of the month? You know, shouldn't you want to feel good the entire month? And then what really pushed me was when I started to think to myself, a man felt this poorly 60% of the month, excuse me, or 40, 30 or 40% of the month, wouldn't they do something about it? They wouldn't just sit around and be miserable and try to cope. They would freaking do something about it. And that's really what started to push me was like, why am I why am I okay with this? Why am I accepting the fact that this is how I'm feeling now? Well, I wasn't, right? So I go to the doctor, the initial visit, and I say, I think I'm I think I have perimenopause. No, you're too young. So I think at the time I was about 30, 30, you're too young. And I was like, no, I think I have it. These are my symptoms. This is how I feel. You're too young for that. Why don't we just try some birth control? Now, I didn't need birth control for not getting pregnant because my tubes are tied. So this was really truly a suggestion based off of the symptoms that I was telling the doctor about, right? So their initial reaction was, all right, well, why don't we try some birth control? So they give me this light birth control called um Yaz Y A Z. I haven't been on birth control in like 10 years. So I take the first pill and within hours, I'm not feeling well. I feel nauseous, I have a headache. I was like, no, I don't want to do this. I'm like, I actually my body just felt weird. So I immediately just stopped. I I literally only took one pill one day. It was like, no, no freaking way. That was like a year one because I didn't have time to go back to the doctor after the past. I know. Jenny, you mean in 12 months you didn't have time for yourself? No, I didn't. So that was year one. So I go back for the following year for my visit, still having problems, still just pushing through because in that year one, it wasn't always miserable. And year one, there was there was months where I was totally fine the entire month, but then there was months that I wasn't. So year two, I'm having more and more frequent situations where I'm struggling. I'm emotionally struggling, and my energy is low and I'm depressed, and it starts to happen more and more. And the fact that it was happening more and more, but it was also happening for longer bouts of time. Previously, I was able to predict, oh, the two days tops. I can deal with two days tops of being sad. It will be fine. But then it started going longer. And the sadness wasn't just, oh, I feel like a cloud is hanging over me and I have to fake my way through it. The sadness was palpable. I was sobbing. Like I was at a point, I distinctly remember that I distinctly remember the week that I went back to the doctor because it was the week where I was ending my cycle. I think. I can't remember, but I remember I was I woke up on a Sunday and I was like, oh, today's the dark cloud day. And I was like, all right, it will be fine, it's gonna be gone tomorrow. And so I woke up on Monday and I still had it, and I was sobbing. I was hysterically crying. And my husband had no idea why I was crying. He thought I was just stressed out and overwhelmed from work because that also happens. And he was trying to give me advice, and I was like, that's not what this is, please, like just let it go, kind of thing. And that was the moment that I was like, I can't do this. I can't have my kids seeing me like this consistently and being like, Why is mommy crying? Because up to that point, I had already told my daughters and my son, like, hey, once a month this is gonna happen. Expect it. And so they started to anticipate, all right, mommy, you must have your period. And they would say to me, Oh, mommy, you have your period? No, I was like, no, it's just this, or no, it's just that, you know, like so they they were aware that because I was going, it was such a difficult time, and I didn't want them to know. The reason why I was so transparent with them was because I did not want them to think that that's the type of person that I am. And so it was really important to me to tell them and to be upfront with them. Now, I was all I said was specifically like more around hormones. I just explained it to them the best of my ability for their age ring, that they got it. So, anyway, I have these really horrible two days, and I was like, I'm not doing this. I would a man would never do this. Why am I doing this? It's odd that that was the catalyst, but that was the catalyst. So I get myself over to the doctor. Now, normally, right, you go to the doctor, I don't know about you guys, but my OB, every time I go, I have to fill out this paperwork. And in the beginning of it, it asked a lot of mental health questions. How are you feeling? This and that. I always would put fine across the board because generally I am fine. But on that particular day, I was like, you know what? I'm gonna put how horrible I've been feeling. So I really put some four marks for my mental health. And I get into the room with the doctor, excuse me, the NP. I actually like talking with the NP. Um, I get into the room with the NP and she's looking through and she goes, Oh wow, she's like, um, are you seeing anyone for your depression? I said, No, I'm not seeing anyone for depression. I don't have depression. I'm like, I have paromenopause. I need your help. And she said, Well, she's like, Oh, you're still so young. I think at this point, what, I'm 40 already, right? And she's still like, no, no, you're too young for that. No, I'm sorry. I look, it's it's it's like clockwork every month, right around my cycle, the week before. I have really horrible mood swings. I'm crying all the time. I feel like the whole world is on my shoulders. I feel like there's a dark cloud hanging over my head. Excuse me, it's just thinking about it. I get emotional because it's such a difficult thing to go through. And I said I was like, I feel like there's a dark cloud hanging over my head, and and then it dissipates as soon as my cycle shifts and my hormones go back into place. I was like, I need your help. Well, you know, maybe you just have to get out there, maybe you should just take a walk. Like the pushback was real. Like, I really I think there were three times that the nurse practitioner said, No, why don't you try this? And I kept coming back and saying, No, you need to give me something. I need something now. So she wouldn't give me HRT. So HRT is hormone replacement therapy. Let me tell you something. If you're going through menopause, like for real, for real, if you're having menopause and you're going through something, I mean, what I went through in from what I understand is light in comparison to what a lot of people go through for part of menopause and menopause. So mine was really light and I was miserable. I can't imagine somebody who's going through it heavy duty. And if you are experiencing symptoms, your options really are quite vast. You really should be looking up what your options are and figuring out what you feel comfortable with, what you feel comfortable with. So hormone replacement therapy is a big one. It's come a really, really long way. Right now, it's like a cream that you could rub on your face, from what I understand. And it works really well. I'm actually really looking excited to go. I'm very excited and looking forward to going on that um when I get a little bit older. So she wouldn't give it to me, nevertheless. The option that she presented to me was Splend. So Splend is F-L-Y-N-D. Um, it is a progesterone-only birth control. Let me look up this really quickly. So Splend is a progesterone-only birth control pill containing dross, guys, forgive me, drossperinone that prevents pregnancy primarily by suppressing ovulation. Unlike traditional birth control pills, it is highly effective at stopping ovulation and offers a 24-hour mist pill window. It also works by thickening cervical mucus, the block sperm, and thinning the uterine lining. Um, let me see here. Common side effects include irregular periods or spotting, headaches, acne, breast tenderness, and nausea. Um, it can have high potassium levels, so it should not be taken by individuals with kidney disease, kidney failure, or liver disease. It's crucial to take the tablet at the same time each day for maximum consistency by 24-hour flexibility. I'm not taking this to avoid pregnancy at all. So my nurse practitioner says to me, look, if you are really struggling here, a lot of patients have had success with splendid. So I take it because at this point I'm like, I'm gonna listen to what you're saying and I'm gonna try this out. So I um I go on Splend and day one, I take it. Day two, I wake up with a headache. I'm like, all right, I already know that that's one of the symptoms. Headaches was one of the symptoms. There, I already looked that up. I understand that. So I take some pylonol along my splendid. Okay. Day two, not only do I have a headache, but now I have a period. Now I'm kind of pissed off, right? Because prior to Splend, my period was lasting maybe two days or so, right? So I get my period, I'm like, all right, fine, whatever. I have my period, it'll be gone tomorrow. Day three, splint, headache is worse. I take some Tylenol because I'm starting to get irritated. Period is heavier. I'm like, what the hell is this? So I get to take four, and now I'm really irritated because period is still real heavy, and I have freaking migraine. I'm just upset. I'm just miserable at this point. I call the doctor, I'm like, look, this is ridiculous. I've had my period for like three days now, it's really heavy. I I wasn't having this before. Please tell me like what to do here. I'm I'm getting frustrated. She said, Jenny, please gut it out. Please take it out. If you get to day eight and you still have your period, let's talk. But if you get to day eight and it's over, you're gonna you're gonna get through this period that's tough, but it's gonna get better from here. So I said, All right, I I I've done I've done other things that were much worse to deal with. I can handle this. So I gut it out. I get to day eight, day nine, period's gone. Okay. Headaches headache subsides. All right. I'm feeling good. And I'm holding my breath because I'm waiting for the next month to come. So here's the thing, right? I've only been on it for a couple of days at this point, like two weeks. I'm like, all right, I can deal with this. So I take it for the full first month, I get to the second month, get a period again, which is kind of annoying. But I'm like, you know what? She told me that the nurse practitioner did tell me that your period might, it might, you might get spotting, but you might get a full period. In the beginning, on any medication, there's always a window where your body needs to adjust to the medication. It's always gonna suck because you're introducing a chemical into your body. You're introducing something into your body that naturally is not occurring. So your body is either going to accept it and then settle in with the side effects, or it's going to get worse, right? So this is why you actually do have to be mindful here. Don't just take it and not say anything to your doctor. Consistently check in. So that's one of the most important factors here. Consistently checking in with your doctor when you're taking a new medication, because then you're telling them and keeping them in the loop. If you don't keep your doctor in the loop with how you're feeling on things, there is no way for them to know and to track and to make sure you're okay. It's impossible. How will they be able to do this? They're doctors. They see God knows how many patients a day in a week, in a month. They're honestly, I'm sorry to say, they're not gonna remember you specifically. They don't remember me specifically. Because and it's not for anything offensive. It's not because they treat us like, you know, dollar signs instead of people. It's truly because of the volume that they're required to say. So please, like, take it, take it how you want to take it, but make sure you're communicating to your doctor. Let them know what your symptoms are, let them know how you're feeling about stuff, right? So I get to month two, month three, I'm feeling good. I go for my three-month check-in. I said to the nurse practitioner, you essentially saved my life. My mood swings completely went away. My period was still there, which was annoying, but my mood swings were gone. And to be perfectly honest with you, if I had to have a period every single day, I would do it if it meant that I was never gonna have a mood swing again. Those mood swings were so horrible. I can't even tell you how much I would to avoid that. It's just a tremendous thing. And I hope you're understanding and hearing the urgency in my voice with that. That the mood swings, I mean, the rate of suicide in women going through menopause is so freaking high because of the depression and anxiety that we feel that goes untreated and unrecognized. This pill literally felt like it saved my life. So it was a huge success for me. Now, that was back in the fall last year that I started taking it. I take it every single day with my vitamins. Now, beyond SLIND, I also do take supplements. So, to help with perimenopause, there was some other supplements that I researched that are really significant that will help. Now, besides the perimenopause, I'm also anemic. So I have to be mindful of that too. So diet is important. What I'm consuming is important. So beyond um beyond splin, I also take fish oil. So I use um a particular fish oil that I found that uh my cousin actually recommended to me, Nordic Naturals. Excellent brand. I take magnesium every single day as well. That's had a massive impact on um my uterine pain from the endometriosis. So that's been a huge bonus for me. I take vitamin D. I take an iron supplement. I was gonna take allergy pills because it is what it is. And the combination of those vitamins has really been a huge, huge help. I also recently I refilled our stock on um B complex, because B Complex is a great vitamin to take if you're feeling low. That one really has a great impact. Now, beyond all these vitamins, you know how I feel about natural foods for fighting diseases and ailments. I've actually started to eat berries every single day. Fresh blueberries, black blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries are a huge, huge benefit to women who are in their 40s and 50s. Hold on. Benefits of blueberries and raspberries. Let's see here. Nutrient-dense, low calorie, rich, boost heart health, improve digestion, and combat inflammation. Women in 40s. Supports cardiovascular health, weight management, age-related changes. Let me see here. Brain health and anti-aging, huge benefits. Blueberries are specifically known for boosting memory and generating new nerve cells, while antioxidants protect against skin, hair, and cell damage, slowing the effects of aging. Managing perimenopause and inflammation, polyphenols in these berries act as anti-inflammatories. Additionally, dark berries like blackberries and blueberries can help manage heavy bleeding by strengthening uterine blood vessels during perimenopause. Raspberry is high in fiber content, providing roughly eight grams per cup. Blackberries is high in potassium, and blueberries are packed with otocyanins, which are crucial for lowering blood pressure and improving brain health. So there's a combination of things that I do to make sure that I'm doing what I can for my body so that way it can continue to do what I need it to do and be like well adjusted. Now, beyond the supplements, beyond the splend, beyond the berries, which again, berries every single day. And before I actually move on to the next little item here, I really picky about berries. Like ridiculously so. So when I buy them, I do have a vegetable wash that I use. But when I purchase them, I actually put them in small containers and I freeze them immediately. Frozen berries is like the greatest thing that I stumbled upon this year. I don't even remember why I did it the first time, but my goodness, what a delicious snack. Now, I like to put a little bit of honey on mine to make them like a little bit sticky and sweet. Occasionally I'll put like if I have um whipped cream or cold or something in the house, I'll put a little dollop of that on there. It is like the most delicious thing I've ever eaten in my life, and it's packed with nutrients that are just complete benefits to my health. And it's one of the greatest like luxuries that I've had my had for myself recently. Now, it might seem silly to call it a luxury because it's like Jenny's just berries, like you can find them anywhere. Yes, but I'm gonna ask all the moms here on the line Am I the only one who buys berries and then just feeds them to my kids, but I don't actually eat any of the healthy food myself because I'm prioritizing them. I know I'm not the only one out there. Send me a message if you also do the same thing. So beyond all that, beyond the supplements, beyond the splend, um, beyond the berries, I've also, and I think I talked about this a little bit, has gone back to weight training with my husband. This weekend was a little tough because we had my my grandson's um birthday party um on Saturday. My daughters, we celebrated their birthday on Sunday, so it was kind of an out weekend for that. So I'll have to pick it back up on Monday. I mean, it it really truly was like one of those things where all the combination of factors is what's gonna get you to your next level, right? So it there is no just one size fits all. There is no just like, oh, you know, Splend is the miracle pill. For me, by the way, I do want to add in here for me, Splend worked fantastically. Like I said, I felt like it saved my life. That is not the case for everybody. So that's the other flip of this, and that's the other part of this, is that you can try something, keep your doctor in the loop. It may not work for you. It may not be the answer that it was for me, but it doesn't mean that there's not an answer out there. So it's important to continue to bang on that door. I know it's hard and I know it's frustrating, but that's significant too. Make sure you're speaking up at your doctor's appointments. Go in with a list. I know I get nervous when I go to the doctor, not because of my nerves, but I just like, I don't know why, but I always almost always forget everything I wanted to say to the doctor as soon as I walk in the door. Make a little list, jot it down. There are countless um websites out there that actually have checklists that you could use to help prep yourself for doctor's appointments. Like, this is all really crucial things. Now, I've I did check out because of the email from Molly. Um, I wanted to make sure I gave some good information in this episode as well. So I also looked at message boards to see what other people's experience was on SLIN. There was maybe a 60-40 split from what I saw for women that said it benefited them. My nurse practitioner said everybody that she's put on it loves it. The chat pages and everything that I was looking at didn't stay the same. A lot of women struggled with it. Some women continue to have their period the entire time that they've been on it, but it did help with their food swings. So, again, like your body is gonna react to it, how your body reacts to it, and then you have to just decide: is this the right thing for me? So it is not a one-size-fits-all scenario. You might be at a point where you can press your doctor to give you HRT, hormone replacement therapy. Sometimes they do both. Sometimes they give you SLID and HRT. Again, it's finding that sweet spot that's specific to your body. It will take time, but once you find it, you will be so grateful to yourself for pushing. To make sure you got there because who the hell wants to feel crappy, you know, 40% of the month? Even 10% of the month, nobody wants to feel crappy that long. Please, like, you know, address it and stay on top of it. If you would like to reach out to me, you can always do so on social media. However, a very quick way to also reach out to me is via email. Um, the email address is steelrospodcast at gmail.com. Um, let me just double check because I don't usually say it out loud. Yeah, steelrosespodcast at gmail.com. You can reach out to me there if you liked a prior episode and you want, even if you want a guest to come back, I've stopped doing guest episodes, but I would be more than open to having someone come back and do a refresh if you guys want it. Just let me know what you think. Shoot me an email, shoot me a message. I'm here for you. I really am, and I'm very, very excited that we're on this journey together. I hope you found this episode informative. If you have any questions, if there's anything you want to message to me directly, I greatly appreciate hearing from you. And I'm very interested in hearing if you have episode recommendations or anything you'd like me to talk about. Even if there's research that you find that you're like, hey, can you look into this further? Give it to me, pass it over. I'm happy to dig into things for you and talk about them on the podcast. And special shout out again, thank you to Molly for reaching out to ask about the experience with Split. So, everyone out there, thank you so much for being here with me today. I'm greatly appreciative of all of you, and I will catch you on the next takeout.