Yaz vs Beyaz: what's different and what to bring up at your appointment

Yaz and Beyaz share the same core formula:

• Same hormones: drospirenone 3 mg and ethinylestradiol 20 mcg [1] [5].
• Same schedule: 24 active days followed by 4 placebo days [1] [5].
• Same shortened placebo window, instead of the older 7-day gap, which keeps hormone levels steadier across the month and is part of why this formula was studied for premenstrual symptoms in the first place [3].
• One difference: Beyaz's 28 tablets, active and placebo alike, all contain levomefolate calcium, a form of folate, while Yaz's placebo pills contain nothing active [1].

Beyaz is Yaz plus folate, not a different hormone formula. Folate doesn't change how either pill affects PMS or PMDD symptoms. It raises your folate stores, which matters if you could become pregnant while taking it or soon after stopping [1].

Drospirenone itself is unusual among progestins used in birth control pills, with both antimineralocorticoid and antiandrogenic activity. That's part of why researchers chose it to study for premenstrual symptoms rather than older progestins [5].

For the basics on the shared formulation, Yaz: what it is and whether it helps PMS covers it in more detail.

Yaz has the stronger paper trail. Two randomized trials tested drospirenone 3 mg plus ethinylestradiol 20 mcg in the 24/4 regimen specifically for PMDD. They found it eased mood, physical and behavioral symptoms, including ones tied to food cravings, water retention and friction with people close to her [4].

That evidence is part of why the FDA approved this exact formula for PMDD [4], moderate acne and contraception [1].

	Yaz	Beyaz
PMDD trials	Two randomized trials testing this regimen specifically [4]	None found testing Beyaz on its own [1]
FDA-approved uses	Contraception, PMDD, moderate acne [1] [4]	Same three uses, inherited from the parent formula [1]

Beyaz carries the same three approvals as its parent formula [1]. No study in the research reviewed here tested Beyaz against a placebo for premenstrual symptoms on its own.

The clinical evidence for premenstrual relief belongs to Yaz's trials; Beyaz is expected to work the same way because the hormones are identical [1] [4].

Neither pill is a cure. Research comparing quality of life across PMS, PMDD and the general population found both conditions meaningfully lower day-to-day functioning, especially around emotional roles at work and home, which is the gap this kind of pill is trying to close [2].

See Yaz for PMDD: does it work? and Yaz for PMS: does it work? for what those trials actually measured.

Because the hormone dose is identical, Yaz and Beyaz should carry the same side-effect profile. Drospirenone's antimineralocorticoid and antiandrogenic activity, the reason it tends to cause less bloating than older progestins, works the same way in both pills [3] [5].

Folate, the one ingredient unique to Beyaz, is well established as safe at the doses used in pregnancy and the months before it. It isn't linked to the hormonal side effects people usually ask about, like headache, breast tenderness or mood changes [1].

None of the research reviewed here breaks out a separate side-effect list for Beyaz. The closest evidence comes from Yaz's drospirenone/EE trials, where this regimen's shortened hormone-free interval reduced, rather than worsened, headache, breast tenderness, mood swings and pelvic pain compared with older 21/7 pills [3].

Because drospirenone has mild antimineralocorticoid activity, doctors sometimes check potassium levels in people also taking other medications that raise potassium, and that caution applies equally to Yaz and Beyaz [5].

If a side effect shows up, it's almost certainly from the drospirenone and estrogen, not the folate. For the fuller list and timing, see Yaz side effects, including mood.

Switching between Yaz and Beyaz isn't a hormone change, since both use the same drospirenone and ethinylestradiol dose in the same 24/4 pattern [1]. In practice, most people move between them the way they'd continue any pack.

1. Finish your current pack as prescribed, including the placebo days.
2. Start the new pack the next day, with no extra hormone-free gap.
3. Tell your doctor or pharmacist about the switch so your prescription and any folate needs are tracked correctly.
4. Mention it at your next visit if you're also trying to conceive, since Beyaz's folate benefit depends on sustained use, not a quick swap [1].

This applies whether you're switching for cost, availability or a preference around folate, not because one works better than the other for premenstrual symptoms [1].

If you're deciding whether either pill is worth it for your premenstrual symptoms, Birth control for PMDD: does it work? lays out how this class fits alongside SSRIs and therapy.

Start from what you actually need this year. If pregnancy is possible, folate matters, and Beyaz builds it in automatically with every pill [1]. If pregnancy isn't on the table right now, Yaz and Beyaz work the same way for PMS and PMDD, and Yaz is the one with published PMDD trials behind it [4] [1].

Questions worth bringing to the appointment:

• Which formula fits my plans around pregnancy this year?
• Have I tried an SSRI or other option, and how did that compare?
• How many cycles should we track before judging whether this is working?
• What symptoms would mean we should stop or switch?

Niyora is a PMS and PMDD support app. While you're deciding, Niyora's Moon lets you write down a hard moment as it happens, see it from another angle and draft a reply you can hold for 20 minutes, so you have something more than a blurry memory of the days before your period when you get to that appointment.

For what's actually proven to help beyond this one comparison, PMS treatment: what actually helps is a good place to start.