Coming off the pill - regular periods?

[LittleOne76]

Hi. I took my last pill on 22 Nov 2009 and had the initial bleed a few days later. AF arrived 1 Jan 2010 (after about 40 days) and the next AF arrived 19 Feb 2010 (after about 50 days).

I know it can take a while for it to all settle down again but was wondering if the above sounded familiar to anyone? I'm not TTC right now but plan to start a bit later this year and have my fingers crossed that my cycle will regulate..!

Thanks all!

[AttilaTheMeerkat]

I would get this irregularity of cycle checked out sooner rather than later particularly if this keeps happening. Blood tests can be done to see what your hormone levels are like.

The pill leaves your system very quickly after taking the last tablet. The last two cycles you've had would be seen as irregular (and likely anovulatory) ones. A "normal" cycle is a cycle of between 21 and 35 days or with less than 4 days of variation from month to month.

If your menstrual cycle was irregular in nature prior to taking the pill then this could happen after stopping it. There is no evidence to suggest that the pill is responsible for failure to ovulate but what it can do is mask symptoms of an underlying hormonal imbalance. In this regard a condition called polycystic ovaries can be to blame, another possible cause is problems with the thyroid gland. Both of these should be tested for via blood tests, it may well be that either one of these is the underlying cause of the irregularity.

You need a diagnosis first and foremost and you will need to be persistant in order to get answers.

[SomethingSuitablyWitty]

Hi LO! Well, really Attila seems to me to be really quite an expert and she has also posted adviced on a thread I had about irregular cycles starting TTC - so I don't have an awful lot to add, but I do have recent experience of this.

I would simply say that while my period took a long time to come back (84 days I think it was) it was fairly regular for the following cycles (36-34 days). However, it is true that they have lengthened again since starting TTC . I will look into it if they don't settle soon.

Anwyay, my gynae told me not to worry for the first six months, but to relax and keep an eye and to get back to her after that time if things were not showing signs of settling down...
HTH!

[sonsmum]

I had irregular long cycles after coming off the pill. TTC with this irregularity is hard! Would suggest you tried charting your waking temperatures to firstly work out if you are ovulating. I did this and realised i ovulated and had a normal luteal phase....next step was to try to determine when i was ovulating. Bought ovulation testing strips and after 3 months attempts got pregnant with DS. Total length of TTC time was 7 months.
Interestingly once cycles returned after breastfeeding finished, they were regular as clockwork, which was soooo pleasing! Subsequently got preggers at 1st attempt with dc2.

[LittleOne76]

Thanks all. I think I will see how things go for the next month or two and start to chart and get a feel for when I might be ovulating (I just bought taking charge of your fertility so will do some reading up!). If the long cycles still continue then I'll check things out with the dr. I did have irregular periods before going on the pill and have been worried about what will happen when I come off. We're TTC from about Oct this year so I thought I would come off the pill "early" and give myself some time to sort things out. I'd love to TTC right now but we're getting married at the end of the year so it's a bit of a timing thing.

[Pidgin]

Hi LittleOne - just to say that I had similar long periods for the first couple of cycles after coming off the pill (which I'd been on ten years). I wasn't counting days but the first cycle was six weeks, the next one five and a bit - but shortly afterwards they settled into a (fairly) regular 28-31 days. So don't give up hope! From what I've heard this is pretty common after coming off the pill (and also pretty annoying). I also found temping v helpful in determining ovulation and helping me keep track of my cycles.

[AttilaTheMeerkat]

Littleone

I don' think this has anything to do with taking the pill; also the pill leaves your system very quickly after taking the last tablet. What the pill can do though is mask symptoms of any underlying hormonal problem that has always been there.

I note your periods were irregular prior to taking the pill so am not surprised to see they have reverted back to this irregularity.
This is usually the case in these situations,

I think it would do no harm to see the GP (and do so before October), think you are wise to consider this. BTW charting and such methods are of no real benefit at all if your cycles stay this long. You could actually end up with a chart that is very difficult to interpret and you could tie yourself up in knots through stressing about it all.