Light periods after stopping pill

@Maisy24 that's amazing news! Just in time for a bit of peace of mind over Christmas, so happy for you! ❤ And yes 18th Feb is really not far away now, though obviously keeping everything crossed you won't even need the appointment 🤞🤞🤞 Sorry you had to deal with an announcement too - they really are the hardest...

Enjoy the holidays, especially now knowing you have a plan - bring on 2020! Xxxxx

@Hope365 @JennaRMD good news both got my appointment 😁😁 it's 18th February. That's actually sooner than I thought. At least we have that to focus on now, still hoping we don't need it though! 😩xxxxx

@Hope365 fingers crossed , I suppose you never know! Let's keep positive. so sorry you had to deal with another announcement, they catch up so unexpected and I know that sinking feeling. Funnily enough I've had a family one. They have been together 5 minutes and they've announced last week. Got a message randomly saying "hello auntie maisy can't wait to meet you in August 2020". I just think them messages are so insensitive. At least you were at your parents and there's no one like your mum to cry to!

Enjoy the holidays everyone!! We all deserve it

Xxxxxx

@JennaRMD @Maisy24 Ahh we're all in the Christmas TWW together! 😊 Maisy I'm exactly the same - imagining that miracle new year BFP, then feeling stupid for even entertaining the idea...

On Thursday I received a really unexpected pregnancy announcement from one of my best friends, just as I was arriving at my parents' for the holidays. I was so determined not to let this stuff get in the way of my festive cheer, but I walked through the door crying 😔 It's so hard sometimes... I'm obviously happy for her but it still hurts.

Anyway, trying to relax and enjoy the quiet at my parents', and not let myself think about it all too much (ha!) Hope you are all enjoying the festivities ❤

@JennaRMD @Hope365 and I hope you are both enjoying Christmas countdown so far! Xxxxxx

@JennaRMD sounds like you have a different type test, I have the one with the flashing and then static. Very good you are getting EWCM sounds like you ovulate and at the normal time (14 day's)

@Hope365 I'm still waiting on the letter; not expecting anything until after Christmas now though, I'm just glad I have a plan in place now! I can't believe you ovulated on day 14 🤣 out of all the cycles! I'm sure our bodies know what we want and work against us, although that is brilliant news, maybe it's the vitamin E or maybe it's your body getting back to normal, I hope so! Haha laughing at the sniffling BDing, it's hilarious how we manage to do it no matter what hurdle comes up. So I ovulated on day 19/20 and currently 4dpo! So we are all similar, my lutual is around 14 days so due around the 30Th , the crazy part of me thinks how I could get a nice surprise for New Year's Eve , the rational part thinks who are you kidding!!! I'm also away for NYE flying out on the 28th so I won't be testing early.

Xxxxxxx

@hope365 I'm also 1DPO lol. Not due AF until the 4th tho so just going to try relax and enjoy the festivities with family ❤️

@JennaRMD sounds like we will be in the TWW together this month! I think I'm 1DPO, and AF should be due on New Year's eve, so at least I'll be able to drown my sorrows if she shows! Xxx

I'm pretty sure I'm ovulating as have gor EWCM this morning also so all seems to be pointing in the right direction. I'm also on day 13 of my cycle so about right. So confusing all this ifs and buts and maybes lol. Although feeling slightly more optimistic this cycle knowing that everything seems to working how it should.

@Hope365 glad your cycles seem to be regulating, that must be a little bit of a relief even if you have to wait a little longer ❤️

@Maisy24 thanks for the help with the OPKs and let us know how you get on once you get your referral letter xxx

@JennaRMD great that you got a smiley! I think they say 48h just to be safe, and because occasionally it might be a bit later, but really it's best to get that BD in within 24h... And there are 2 types of clearblue digital tests - some that just detect LH, the ones you've been using I think, and some that detect estrogen first (flashing smiley) then LH (solid smiley), these give you a bit more of a heads up that O is on its way! Up to you whether you still want to confirm O with bloods - I think they do say OPKs aren't 100% reliable and the blood test is the only sure way to confirm, but not sure how true that is.

@Maisy24 good that they confirmed the referral had gone through. Any news on the letter? I'm sorry you're having to wait like this, it's the worst 🙄

On my side, I also got a smiley, and on day 14 which has never happened so early in my cycle since I came off the pill... (first cycle on vitamin E, could that be it?) On the plus side, I guess earlier ovulation is more normal, so I'm hoping this means more normal hormones and who knows, maybe more normal periods (or why not dream big and say pregnancy??)! On the down side, this now means that I'll still be away when (if?) next CD1 hits, which means we will have to wait a whole other cycle to start the treatment 😫 Of all the months my body decides to ovulate at the normal time, this was not the right one! Plus I have an epic cold so my OH has had to endure some pretty unromantic sniffly BDing 😂 What wouldn't we do to see those two pink lines...

Last day at work today before holiday time, whoop! Xxx

Ok ladies... So I got a smiley this morning... Does that mean I'm ovulating and therefore don't need to get bloods done 🙈 lol!? Also, it says you have 48 hours to DDT after you get a smiley but I thought you only ovulated for 12-24 hours after an LH surge is detected?

@Maisy24 I only have blank circle or solid smiley, there is no flashing smiley. Although I have read about some of them doing this so not sure if mine is the new version?

@mimmi91 sorry missed your last message, fantastic news you got a heavier bleed! Sounds like your body is getting back to normal. Hope you get your BFP soon! Zzzzz

Sorry everyone I've been having a few days off my phone enjoying Christmas and trying not to stress.

@Hope365 ah I see, well my periods have never been heavy on the pill, but definitely more than coming off it. I have no reason to think it could be scarring so hoping it isn't 🤞🏻, thanks for the info! Yes the cost is definitely worth it, and it's great they have booked ivf already for May I didn't think they would consider that yet! I chased my referral and they confirmed it had been sent, so it's just a case of waiting for a letter now 😒 hoping it won't be too long.

@JennaRMD i highly recommend the clear blue opks, I am on for my second cycle using them; and it really takes the stress out of it all for me, I just know to start trying when I get the flashing smiley, and you get them quite far in advance of ovulation so I feel like we can give it a good go.

@mimmi91 welcome, and sorry to hear you are worrying. I agree with @Hope365 you really shouldn't worry yet, lots of people get pregnant after coming off the pill without even having a bleed! It doesn't really mean much, I think our bodies just take different amounts of times to regulate after the pill, stress plays a huge part. Try and relax and just see what happens for now xxxx

So... my period literally just arrived last night. It's very light still, but definitely real blood. I feel like your comforting messages made me feel at ease and helped things along ?!
I wish the immense relief that comes along with it on you all very very soon !
I think it may have just been my time, but here's a list of the few things I've done in the past month to move things along : stop dieting and obsessing about my weight (I have a BMI of less than 20, so I finally realised I didn't really need to fuss), take daily 250mg magnesium, 16mg Vitamin B6, 22mg Zinc and 400mg folic acid.
Good luck to you all in your menstrual journeys, it is so frustrating being a woman sometimes!!!!!

@mimmi91 we haven't used any contraception for 7months now and have been actively trying for about 3 and still nothing. My friends all fell straight away so don't worry I know how you feel. Hopefully it's just taking some of us a bit longer with having been on the pill for so long. I've took a bit of a step back this month as I'm so busy at work and don't have time to stress about absolutely everything. I'm still tracking my ovulation but just trying to feel a bit more chiled about it for my own mental sake lol.

Thanks @jennarmd and @hope365 for your supportive messages, feels good to be able to talk about it without filters :) My husband thinks I'm being silly, and my friends never had this problem... But I know it's only been 3 months, so hopefully things will settle soon :)
How long have you been trying to TTC?

@mimmi91 it seems to have cut off the start of my message - was just saying sorry to hear about the stress, we can definitely empathize with you there!

Hi @mimmi91h you there! If you read back over our (many!) messages you'll see that quite a few of us are having similar problems, and are at various stages of TTC and testing for issues. The good news for you is that it really hasn't been very long since you came off the pill so there's a high chance that things will just regulate in time - it's pretty normal for things to be weird for at least 6 months post-pill, sometimes even a year! And even if your period remains light, it doesn't necessarily mean that anything is wrong. So like @jennaRMD said, try not to focus on it all too much for now and just give it a bit of time (easier said than done I know!). And there's a group of us here all dealing with the same stuff and here for you if you need 😊 xxx

@mimmi91 I know it is easier said than done but try not to stress about it too much as that can affect it even more. Just wait and see hot this one is like and then go from there. I had normal medium periods on microgynon for 10 years but had no AF at all the past 4 years while on Cerelle (which is normal for the mini pill) so it's a little different for me as my last "natural" period was when I was 14 lol. Not as easy to remember exactly how my body worked then x

@JennaRMD thanks for your answer! It's very comforting to hear that you're in the same situation!! I assume your periods were normal (flow-wise) before and during pill-taking...?
I hope that you're right, that considering how many of us have these kind of problems, there isn't anything wrong with us...
I am currently awaiting my period (I think I am on DPO11, and I am literally dreaming about having my normal red heavy period!!! And then I wake up and feel seriously disappointed... This is literally driving me mad...

@mimmi91 I came off my pill in mid may this year, periods are as regular as clockwork and get ovulation cramps and EWCM around ovulation time but only get 2-3 days of brown discharge every 28-30days. I'm booked in for bloods at the end of January just to make sure nothing is wrong. Your situation sounds very similar to mine. I do take some comfort in the fact that we can't all have something "wrong" with us but we all have similar symptoms. I think the pill must just work differently on everybody. If you read back over my previous posts you'll find more info on my situation. Don't worry, I'm an anxious mess also 😂. Xx

Hi all! First time posting on this forum... Found this thread and feel like I need support, as I'm getting very worried :(
My husband and I are planning to start TTC in January ; and I had the very good idea to go off my pill early (on the 15/09, at the end of my pack), to "clear the hormones from my system" (and while still using condoms until Jan).
I did have my withdrawal bleed as expected, however no period whatsoever in October. I did think this was quite normal, as I had read that it can take a bit of time for cycle to get back on track.
At the end of October, I'm fairly sure that I ovulated (as I had 2 days of very abundant egg-white CM). So then I thought my period would DEFINITIVELY come 2 weeks later. Unfortunately for me, instead of said period, I had 4 days of brown discharge (ie no red flow at all, and no need for a tampon). That made me worry, so I invested in a BBT thermometer to try and understand what was going on. After approx 3 weeks, I ovulated again (BBT temp rose, and CM was egg-white). Now, 10 days later, I find myself worrying sick over my next "period". Will it come?? Will it not be blood, but brown stuff again??
Even though I try to reason with myself that this may just be my body going back into "gear", I'm so worried that there may be an underlying problem that my pill was hiding all those years (my period was very normal and regular pre-pill). As I'm so eager to start TTC in January, I also am convinced that it's going to take forever to get pregnant...
So sorry for the long rant!! Does anyone have any experience of these kind of weird brown periods?

@JennaRMD the clearblue OPKs are expensive but great! I really struggle to read the other ones and find it just adds to the stress of it all - there's so much uncertainty with everything else in TTC that it's just nice to have a clear answer for at least one thing! And you're right that whatever the outcome then at least you have some information to take with you to your appointment xxx

@Maisy24 unfortunately I don't think the scarring can usually be picked up on ultrasound - it needs a slightly more invasive procedure called a hysteroscopy. But I think scarring is quite unusual unless you have previously had uterine surgery like an abortion or D&C (what they sometimes do after a miscarriage) or a really severe infection. Also were your periods more normal/heavier when you were on the pill? Because they told me that's a good indication that your lining has no structural damage and can physically grow given the right hormones... (if they were light then it doesn't necessarily mean scarring either)

I'm not sure how I will be taking the estrogen - I've heard of lots of different ways (tablets, patches, maybe even injections?), but they didn't say which I would be getting.

I know it's ridiculous they don't offer it on the NHS, so much cheaper than IVF! I'm not sure whether this is NHS-wide or clinic-dependent, but where I am they don't fund any other treatment than IVF... They do all the diagnostic tests for free, and then IVF (only 1 round for us), but nothing in between. Makes no sense! So we will be paying about £500 per medicated cycle we try 😬 That's a lot of money to prod myself in the belly every day, but if there's a baby at the end of it then it's worth it! And if it doesn't work then at least it'll help us feel proactive while we wait for IVF (booked in for May..!)

Good luck with the chasing for your referral! I'm rubbish at waiting around for these things - it drives me crazy! Totally worth pestering people though - I called the clinic every day to get that cancellation for yesterday's appointment, would still be waiting till Feb 18th if I hadn't! Hope you find out where your referral is at 😊 xxx

@Hope365 so glad you've managed to get an action plan sorted. At least you know there is something you can do about the situation and hopefully feel more in control again.
@Maisy24 I've bought clearblue digital opks for this month as I was finding it so hard to read the cheaper ones. At least that way I can see if I've ovulating or not. I just have a funny feeling that it's something up with my ovulation as my AF is practically non existent as I've said before but my body is doing all the other correct things. Will see how I get on with the smiley OPKs and if I don't get a positive this month then I'll know that I am not ovulating every single month but I have ovulated previously so at least it's some information to go in with when I get tests done x