Alysena (Alesse generic) works as a birth control pill and prevents pregnancy if you take is as prescribed, however, it caused all sorts of side-effects for me, which made the first 3 months a nightmare until I switched to Yasmin which stopped my issues immediately. First of all, Alysena caused a huge amount of painful acne in my face, which made me look like a teen. I had issues with acne before but not to this extent and hoped that the pill would cure it, however, after three months, there was no improvement with Alysena. In the first month of taking Alysena, I had horrible breakthrough bleeding; my body simply could not adapt to the cycle of the pills. These unpredictable bleedings would not stop until the third month or pack; it was hard to tell if the bleeding was breakthrough bleeding or an actual period at times since it was very heavy and accompanied by typical menstrual pain and cravings; at times, I also thought the irregular spotting was implantation bleeding and I went through three pregnancy tests at my doctor to be sure the birth control is actually working. In the third month/pack, the acne was unchanged, the bleeding got less, but suddenly, a new side-effect appeared, my stomach got very upset that whenever I was eating something, I almost had to vomit, which, again, made me believe I was pregnant and I went for another pregnancy test. Depression is another issue provoked by Alysena. Eventually, I switched to Yasmin and had no side-effects since starting the first pack. I had no irregular bleeding since Yasmin, no pain, less mood swings, unless they were PMS-related. My acne has gotten a slightly better, but it's far from perfect, yet, but I hope, it's only a matter of time with Yasmin, which is also prescribed as a regular acne treatment. Read More Read Less