When should I stop taking my pill?

[Moi9]

My husband and I married at the end of last year and have booked our honeymoon for end of June this year. It is a holiday of a lifetime for us. We want to try for a baby ASAP as we have been waiting a long time (lots of life changes - uni/work/wedding). I've been on the pill for around 13 years, and have been thinking about stopping them at the end of this current packet. How long does it usually take for periods to return to normal? I've heard it could take a few months, so would hope that by the time we go on our honeymoon it would be back to normal. However if I fall pregnant before we go on honeymoon I would worry that I become ill with morning sickness etc. Do you think I would be safe enough stopping my pill now? This is all so new to me so I have no idea 🙈

There is no definitive answer to this op. Every woman is different.
I had been on the pill for over 15 years. I was pregnant within 2 months off stopping.
However it takes some women a lot longer.
No one knows how long it will take you to get pregnant once you stop the pill.
I would say that if you definitely don’t want to be pregnant on your honeymoon then the only option is to continue with the pill.

We are in the same position, even down to the June holiday. I’m planning to stop taking it once I return - I figured that for the sake of a couple of months, I’d rather enjoy my holiday.

Thank you, think I will play it safe and keep taking it, at least for another month.

YahBasic oh that's funny! 🙊 yeah I want to be able to enjoy my holiday as we have paid a lot of money for it. I would just be so upset if it takes us a long time to conceive after putting it off for so long!

I stopped my pill 1 month before TTC and had varying cycle lengths of 27-35 days for the next 4 cycles. I did wish that I had stopped it around 3 months before TTC and my cycles may have been a bit more regular.

Whatever you decide I would recommend using ovulation tests once you come off it because I ovulated at different times each month so could never get it right 🙄

Currently 34 weeks and got pregnant on the 3rd cycle of trying using Clearblue digital OPKs.

Best of luck with your wedding and future plans!

What were your periods like before you were on the pill? Mine were very heavy and coming off the pill they were worse, I'd enjoy the honeymoon first.

I've been on the pill since I was young due to severe acne, so I can't really remember what my periods were like before and had no awareness of cycles etc when I was that age (must have been about 14). However I did take a short break from my pills a few years ago as I was worried because I was getting no periods at all, and during that time my periods returned straight away (but again, wasn't focusing much on the length of the cycle as was not TTC, I was only worried about getting my period). I'm struggling to decide what to do! I may just carry on with another packet and then stop, which would take me to the end of April, and by then it will be 2 months to get a track of my cycles before we go on our honeymoon.

I’m getting married this year and we’re TTC straight away. Last year I had my Mirena coil taken out (I’d had 15 years of pill then coil) and switched to Natural Cycles as prep and go get to know my cycle - having used hormonal contraception since age 14 I had literally no idea what my bodies natural state was! It’s been great getting to know my cycle, which is way more regular than I’d thought! I feel really prepared to TTC now, much more than if I’d gone straight from hormones to TTC, but has meant we can continue to prevent pregnancy until the right time. Could this be an option for you?

Name change fail OP?

Oh I also stopped having periods on the pill which came back straight away, but period coming back doesn’t really tell you much about your body’s preparedness for pregnancy or when your ovulating etc

My DH went on tour from Dec 17 - June 18. I came off the pill when he was away and started tracking my periods using the Clue app. We had our belated honeymoon booked for Oct 18 and so we used condoms until then. That meant when we actually started TTC I had a good idea about my cycles and we knew when my fertile period was.

We conceived in Oct 18 which was the first month we actively tried, but it ended in an early mc. I then conceived again in Dec 18 which is when my cycle seems to have returned to "normal". We have been very lucky (touch wood) but I think understanding my cycles definitely helped things along.

It's a bit of a lottery. I stopped taking microgynon just after we returned from honeymoon and conceived two weeks later, before I'd even had a period. Then I stopped taking cerazette when we were ready to try for DC2 and it took 6 months for my periods to return, and they were anything from 27-36 days so trying to time ovulation was a nightmare.
Could you stop now but use condoms until you get back from your honeymoon? I definitely don't recommend doing a holiday of a lifetime whilst in the early stages of pregnancy, I'm 10 weeks now and the nausea, exhaustion, bloating, lack of appetite, not being able to have a glass of wine/caffeine etc would probably dim your enjoyment of your trip a bit!

BuffaloCauliflower no no not a fail, I'm new to this site, just created an account today and changed my mind about my username after I had already started the thread 🙈 thank you everyone for your input, it's interesting to see how different it is for everyone!

TillyTheTiger that's a good idea actually! We're so used to not using condoms that I completely forgot about using that as an option 😂

When I went off the pill after taking it for about 15 years (Cilest) it took about a year for my periods to come back which was really disappointing as we wanted to TTC. After finally conceiving and having my first DC I decided not to start taking any kind of pill again as I'm worried about it messing up my cycles when I'm ready to try for DC2.

@Kam610 ah fair just means your posts aren’t showing as coloured as the original poster now

While it may take time for period to return to normal it can also give a boost to fertility when you first come off. I'd been on pill 14 years when I came off to ttc conceived pregnancy no 2 (no 1 was while on pill not ttc) within 3 months back on pill again after that mc and came off again and conceived in less than 2 months.

I've known people conceive before they've even been off it a month.

I wouldn't come off it till after honeymoon, you're only waiting a few more months.

Hey OP 👋🏻

I stopped taking my pill I think it was microgynon in April, around 29th as that was my husbands birthday and by May 15th I was pregnant. I thought it would take ages after being on the pill for 10yrs but no it didn’t.
I would wait until after your honeymoon, you will want a glass of wine whilst you are away!!

@bassakwards oh really? That's the same pill I've been On! Not been on cilest for the whole time, but been on it for a few years, that's quite worrying 🙁 although as others have said it might not be dependant on specific pills but to each person. I really hope it doesn't take as long as a year!

@BuffaloCauliflower ah I get it now, I did wonder why my posts were in red rather than green! 🙈 can you tell I'm a newbie? 😂

I'd spent the last 7 years with the implant, and then the cerelle pill (no gap in between the two). I stopped taking the pill at the end of November, thinking that it would take months and months for my cycles to regulate but I conceived in January.
I appreciate I was very lucky, but I expected it to take ages!