Stopping the pill ! But what about post-pill cycles?

[suzanna12]

Hi everyone !

This is my very first post here, my name is Suzie, I am 28 and today I am not going to start my pill again after the week off it ;)

I know that when stopping the pill, some women manage to get pregnant almost right away and some have very irregular cycles for a while, but I was wondering if a person's body's reaction is always the same after stopping the pill?

I had stopped the pill once before years ago when I thought I was going to be single forever and oh boy it was chaos !! My first cycle, I still remember, lasted 68 days and the second one almost the same (before being on the pill my cycles were like clockwork, to the day, all the time). I went back on the pill after 4-5 months or so (not single forever after all...), and in that time I had only gotten my period twice. So I am wondering if I can expect it to be that messy again or if there is a chance my body won't react the same way the second time around? Now that we have decided to try for a baby, I would hate to have to wait 6 months or more to even be able to try

So if anyone here has stopped the pill several times, did your body always react the same?

Thanks in advance, have a nice day everyone !

Hi Suzie,

Welcome, I am new too this week.

After consulting the baby books, my best friend and many many posts on here, I have come to the conclusion that everyone's body reacts differently to coming of the pill, and that it is totally unpredictable!

I'm 34, came off the pill after 8y at the end of May. My natural cycles were always very light, & longer than 28 days. Therefore when AF arrived on Monday, 28d after day 1 of last withdrawal bleed, I was totally unprepared! Fortunately found a tampon lurking at the bottom of my bag, but no tonic in the house to go with the gin I was now allowed! I was very ill and had to go home from work. I'm hoping it won't be like this every month...

I've read in several sources that some women have a 'fertility spike' straight after coming off the pill, otherwise it can take up to 6 months. It was disappointing not to be in that lucky group, especially as my mum fell pg the very first time! I'd had visions of a March birth, Xmas on 2nd trimester - I'd even chosen what tipple I was going to treat myself to on Xmas Day! Now I'm not sure what's going to happen. Life on hold really til if & when I can start 9 month countdown!

Still, you are in a good position as you are under 30 so you have a better chance of conceiving earlier. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you x

Hey !
Thanks for your reply ! It is indeed strange after the pill... especially if you used to have long cycles and now had one at 28d ... which would be the type of "perfect" cycles I used to have but definitely didn't get when I got off the pill lol. Nature really knows how to mess with us !

I guess for me it is just to wait and see, just a bit nervous since the last (and only) time I was off the pill, it was absolute chaos, on top of the 68 days cycle, I was nauseous with mood swings and even some dizziness...
So I am a bit concerned it will the same now, or if maybe my body will react differently than the last time... I also cannot even begin to imagine how much money I am going to spend on pregnancy tests if I end up with a 60+ days cycle at first hehe. That would be totally nerve wracking - am I late in a possibly good way or is my body completely lost again?

Keeping fingers crossed for you too ! And I'll have myself some gin&tonic too tonight to celebrate 1st day off the pill

Hi, how's the first week off the pill going?

I'm back on the waggon again at CD 8. Are you stopping drinking whilst you try? I've found it useful to get used to what you can and can't eat. Not being able to take hayfever tablets is a pain though.

Clear Blue do a 3 pack for £12.99, just try to resist temptation LOL. And keep a log of symptoms, especially those which can't be attributed to a period!

Are you going to try straight away or wait til your cycles have settled first? As we're in our 30s we just wanted to start straight away. We got married in April, but I didn't come off the pill til the end of May because I didn't want to risk having my first AF on our honeymoon in June, especially as I didn't know how long it would last or how ill I'd be.

Are you counting the first day of your withdrawal bleed as Day 1?

Hi everyone, I'm also a mumsnet newbie :)

I'm kind of in the same boat as you suzanna12...I came off the pill at the end of May (after being on it for a decade) as my husband and I decide we were ready for a baby. I had my usual pill period on the 1st June so it's now been about 33 days since then and I haven't had a normal period yet. I've read it can take months but I'm starting to worry due to the fact that I have endometriosis and I wanted to start trying after my operation to remove it at the end of the month.

I've just turned 31 so don't really want to delay, and am keen to get started! Last time I came off the pill I was about 20 and I can't really remember how long it took for my periods to come back as I suppose I didn't really care then. They were always irregular and heavy though, due to the endo I didn't know I had, so I'm hoping it won't be like that again :S

A couple of weeks ago I thought I had ovulation pain, so did a couple of tests but nothing. Then last week I had the same pains so am hoping that was actually ovulation and my period will come soon - I hate waiting at the best of times and I've never wanted my period to arrive so much in my life! I don't really feel that different off the pill as I did on it...

Hi !

IrisPurple: I have no clue if it's going good or not yet tbh, AF only stopped 2 days ago so I am on CD7 now, so way too early to tell, I will probably have to wait I get around CD 30 to know for sure if I'm in again for superlong cycles... I have bought a few ov tests that I will use around CD15 though, to give me an idea already if I am heading towards a normal cycle or not. We are going to TTC right away I think, but in a "relaxed" way if there is such a thing lol... We'll just have a little sexy time when we feel like it just like before, and if it happens it happens. Since I know there is pretty big chances I will have messy cycles at first (understatement...), I don't see the point in stressing about it right away. Or I will try at least...
As for the drinking, I don't think I will stop completely tbh ! Same reason as the "being relaxed" I guess. I will probably watch it after CD15 just in case, but not going to stress over a glass of wine at the weekends :)

And welcome then Mrsrose33 ! I wouldn't worry about being on CD33, it can really take a while to have the 1st "real" period, and even the 2nd and 3rd. In my experience at least it didn't matter that I had very regular cycles before the pill, they still got extremely messy when I stopped, it was quite the shock to have a 68 days cycle when I was used to clockwork-like 28 days before... so if you had irregular cycles before it's probably very normal it might take a little while longer. I would say as long as you get your first AF within 3 months, it's still normal. If you had an operation for your endometriosis, then there is no reason it should be a problem anymore hopefully :)