To ask about coming off the pill

[nerdgirl47]

For anyone who has come off the pill...

How and when did you do it? Is it best to finish a full pack and have your bleed or does it not matter if you stop mid packet?

How long did it take before your periods came back into a regular cycle?

At the minute dp and I are considering not actively trying but not not trying if that makes sense.

It doesn't matter when you stop. You don't have to finish a pack.

I hope you're ready for all the people who will now tell you how stupid and selfish you are to even consider getting pregnant during coronavirus.

I’ve been wondering too. My dh has had a vasectomy so I don’t need to take it but a bit scared to come off it.

@peperethecat I've been thinking about it for a while but I suppose the timing could be better. I don't think anything would happen imminently anyway! But I'm braced 

@OneForMeToo yeah it gives you the routine of knowing when you're going to come on and the option to stop a period for a holiday or whatever and I will miss those aspects of it if and when I do come off it.

Doesnt matter. Your cycle wont go back to normal for a while though.

I came off last june and have only had 4 or 5 periods since then. Not that I'm complaining xD

It doesn’t matter when you stop . It can take a few months for your cycle to get back to normal though, and it’s recommended you wait until you’ve had a normal period before you start trying. Although I think that’s just to make dating any pregnancy easier.

It’s definitley trying if you come off the pill though OP!

Hey, you do what you want. I don't think there will ever be a good time to conceive. One of my friends didn't get her periods back for months after she stopped the pill and another was looking at a positive pregnancy test four weeks later so it could go either way.

Without going into major detail dp and I very rarely dtd. Maybe once a month if that. Obviously i realise it only takes the once! But I don't think our current frequency warrants me being on the pill which has its uses but ultimately messes with my hormones and body.

I used natural family planning with success in the past - I.e. never got pregnant! And my cycle before the pill was super regular so I think I could keep track of it that way and plan our very infrequent encounters to avoid ovulation.

Lots to think about! Not going to rush into anything.

I've come off the pill 4 times.

Once came off mid pack - had a period when I would have had one, fell pregnant before the next time

Second time came off end of the pack, had bleed as expected - fell pregnant before the next one (but I think it would have been a little later as ovulated about 3weeks after the pill stopped going by the due date with my daughter and when she actually arrived)

Third time came off end of the pill, thought no way would I conceive straight away again - yet again conceived first cycle.

Fourth time - stopped it because I was already pregnant

I don't get the whole trying but not trying thing - if you are having unprotected sex and thinking that you'd quite like to have a baby then you are trying - you may not be obsessively charting timing intercourse

I stopped, I just didn't start a new packet. I had the withdrawal bleed but that was it. Took over a year and me going private due to no periods to learn I actually have PCOS and some other issues that was all hidden by the pill.

Three months after I came off the pill I fell pregnant, each time!

@iolaus you must be very fertile! I guess what I'm saying is that if we fell pregnant it wouldn't be a disaster, not at all. We can afford it and I already have 2 dc from a previous relationship although they are both junior age now so there would be an age gap.

When I say not trying I mean not dtd around ovulation. I know that's not fool proof but it can drastically reduce the likelihood of falling pregnant. And because we very rarely dtd anyway it would also reduce chances.

If you've been on it for a while you might be surprised when the natural hormone cycles come back - I found that the pill kept me very 'even' and without it I was a bloody nightmare. Horrific mood swings where everything anyone said or did irritated me. Days of ridiculous sex drive where I would find myself unable to function because of ridiculous sexual daydreams. Oh and my skin becoming ten times oilier and getting spots for the first time in a decade.

I finished the pack, had my withdrawal bleed as usual. Then I had my first proper period about a month later (so when my withdrawal bleed would have been).

And I got pregnant 4th cycle