Post Pill TTC Party

[TheDaydreamBelievers]

Come one, come all ! A thread for those TTC after coming off hormonal contraceptive pills.

Discussions typically include:

• Baffling temp charts
• Absent or oddly timed EWCM
• Whacky cycle lengths
• AF gone AWOL (current high score is 141 days post pill)

@lawandgin at least you are taking action and don't have long to wait until your appointment ☺️ Only reason I've had a 'normal' length cycle this time around is because I either haven't ovulated or had a super short luteal phase again. Think I would probably take the 50+ day cycle if I knew I was ovulating and actually had a shot at TTC 🤦🏻‍♀️ Suppose only silver lining is that we can try again for this next cycle, seeing as we messed up DTD every other day over the wedding weekend anyway. Praying for a nice normal ovulation 🤞🏼 Do you know how long you'll have to wait for your test results? Xx

@MintGreenLife no, no idea unfortunately. I'm not even sure if the GP is going to refer me, I bloody hope so! I'm so done with being polite and submissive to doctors, it always seems like she who shouts the loudest gets the results, so I'm trying that this time! I'll let you know how I get on. I wonder if I have low oestrogen (my hair has been falling out like crazy) or maybe a thyroid issue (my mum has an underactive thyroid) or maybe I'm being a complete overreacter and I just need to give it five minutes, but I am losing my pateience 😂

@lawandgin it's not a bad idea to get things checked out if you can ☺️ I think I'm going to call the GP when I'm back from honeymoon and see if they might advise anything or run some tests. To be honest I was getting hair loss for a few months after the pill, it only seems to have settled down the last few weeks really. It seems to be a common side effect due to a surge in androgens. Have you looked at DR. Jolene Brighten at all? I find her articles/social media to be helpful x

@lawandgin @MintGreenLife do either of you know at what point the GPs will do anything? I know they say if youve given it a year etc but some sites say post pill most people will ovulate in 3 months and if you haven't then to speak to a gp. I'm not sure I have the past 3 months and this month doesn't look promising 🙄 my patience is wearing off! Fed up of opks, although today showed 30% and its cd24

@MrsBtobe2020 I'm not too sure if I'm honest, but the NHS website says 'your normal cycle should resume within three months' or something similar, so I'm thinking as I'm 6 months in with still totally haywire cycles then surely they would consider doing some tests given that I've allowed double the time? I think it probably all depends on whether you manage to speak to a decent doctor or not 😕 I'll see if I can find the link the the NHS page I've read. Remind me how long off the pill you are now? X

@MrsBtobe2020 here's the link: www.nhs.uk/conditions/contraception/when-periods-after-stopping-pill/

At least this is something official to quote on the NHS website, in case they start saying 'allow a year' or 'it's quite normal' blah blah. My experience from speaking to others on here is that it doesn't seem all that normal. I swear it appears around 90% of women get back to normal fairly quickly, and I can't work out for the life of me why I'm having these issues six months on 🤦🏻‍♀️😢

@MrsBtobe2020 no, I don't know. I have a feeling if you are under 35 then they will probably say to give it a year, like they normally do for people TTC. But I don't have a year and don't want to wait a year! I am hoping as I am seeing a private GP, they might be a bit more proactive. My OPK is 0.28 today - CD 43. If my cycle is going to be 58 days again then I should see a peak in the next couple of days - if I am going to get one! I didn't get one last cycle, but I might have missed it...

@lawandgin I'm the same as you, I turn 32 in a few months and don't feel like I have forever to just wait around and see if this sorts itself or if there's an actual issue that needs addressing 🙄 I'm going to try my GP when I'm back from honeymoon. Thinking it might be better to suggest I'm concerned I have PCOS rather than saying it's because of TTC, as maybe they will take that more seriously, but am not sure hmm x

@MintGreenLife I know what you mean, I'm 33 in April and I feel like my body clock is turning 10x faster than a few years ago!

I think the PCOS thing is a good idea - I am going at it from a gynae angle as I won't be covered on my health insurance for fertility!

@lawandgin that makes sense ☺️ I may explain that we are TTC but try to make the focus my PCOS concern. I don't really have any of the typical symptoms, although my skin hasn't been great since coming off the pill and has gotten worse over the last month, plus I do seem to get darker likes on OPKs than others do and in the first cycle that I used them I had three peaks, so could be a case of 'post-pill PCOS'. Just think it's about time I at least make a call to the docs as have left it all this time hoping things would improve.

Oh yeah I'm totally with you on the body clock thing. Have you thought about how many you would like? We only want two, but I'm already worrying about fitting two in if the first is going to take some time! X

@MintGreenLife to be honest no! I've always assumed two, but twins run in my family! My mum wanted three but stopped at two in case she ended up with four! I do have a big family, so not sure I could stop at one, but now I'm worrying about fitting them in like you! My DH is a lot older than me too and I think he worries about how he/we will cope. He's had so many years of not having that responsibility, it will be a massive shock to the system, but that's the same for anyone. I do think if we have particular difficulties with pregnanxy/labour/adjusting, he would probably only want one 🙄

@lawandgin I guess it's just a case of wait and see, maybe we are getting ahead of ourselves trying to plan how many we want ha, but feel like it makes sense to think about it. I've known I've wanted children since I was a child myself, so I never saw myself being 40ish with a five year old etc, so I guess it's just getting used to the idea that every month that passes you're getting older. I totally get that so many women do it when they are older and are amazing mums, so that in the grand scheme of things it doesn't really matter, but I guess when you're clearly having issues post-pill and feeling like you have no chance at conceiving waiting another six months feels like a reallllly long time.

Hi,

My friend was having trouble conceiving post pill, she went to her GP after 6 months, they did do some tests which all came back ok and told her to come back in 6 months if she still hadn’t conceived, she did conceive in then end at the 12 month mark, She was 30 at the time. Sometimes you have to pretty pushy with GPS at times

@MrsBtobe2020 - my GP said gynaecology would see me at 6months +. Your GP may also agree to run basic bloods in the meantime?

@lawandgin - one thing I'd recommend is to take a glance at the NICE guidelines around PCOS etc and quote them if needed!

@TheDaydreamBelievers meant to ask you - you mentioned you found out your bloods weren't actually 'normal' afterall? What did you discover? Hope all is OK x

@MintGreenLife - just prolactin was way too high (in pregnancy range). It was probably what was stopping me ovulating so hopefully my probable ovulation this month means its coming down? It's a known effect of the pill

@TheDaydreamBelievers I've been wondering the same lately, as could be why I'm ovulating so late perhaps 🤔 Agnus Castus is meant to be effective when high prolactin is the cause, but I'm not sure I would want to try it without knowing what's going on with me. I'm fairly certain my last cycle was anovulatory, as if I did ovulate I've gone back to a very short luteal phase, which would be very strange after a normal luteal phase last cycle. What CD are you on now? Also meant to say, love that you listed me as the founder in your first post on the new thread ☺️😂 Been a bit off grid with the wedding and honeymoon, but was missing you all, so back now 😀

Hey everyone ☺️ been lurking and up to date with everyone. Just staying in touch, hoping everyones well and good to have you back @MintGreenLife 😀

@Juno231How was time away?

CD18 for me, 2DPO so fairly quiet my end! Xx

Hey @Flowerkm ☺️ How are you getting on? Where are you up to at the mo? I'm on CD3 after getting a surprise AF on my honeymoon 🤦🏻‍♀️ Still got AF but is light now s

@MintGreenLife Everything seems ok my end thank you, I got peaks on my CB and OPKs on CD15 but a stronger peak on CD16 on my femometer strips and I had the worst cramps for a few hours so i really think i ovulated then. We DTD CD13, 14 and 15, we decided to try this month so we shall see :) Trying not to think about it as i know how long this can take so just trying to go with the flow.

How was your honeymoon? Hope AF didn't get in the way to much :( that was a surprise. I really hope you get some answers from the drs, definitely no harm and phoning them to see what they can offer you xx

@Flowerkm yay! Congrats on starting officiall TTC, sounds like you've given it a good go this cycle!

It's been lovely thanks. I'm currently sipping on leftover wedding champagne 😂 I decided to just relax and enjoy nice food and drink for the last week. I've been so careful since I came off the pill, for all the good it's done, so figured a few more drinks/treats wouldn't hurt. I still have absolutely no idea why I got AF, but never mind, at least I'm onto a new cycle and new opportunities ☺️ Think I will call the GP and just see what they have to say x

@Sarahp2308 thanks for sharing your friends experience ☺️ I'm at the 6 month mark now, so think I'll call the GP and hopefully they might do some tests for me 🤞🏼 X

@MintGreenLife Aw thank you ☺️

Ahh that sounds lovely though, enjoy every sip and every treat, you deserve it. So much stress can go into TTC i think its so easy to forget we can still treat ourselves.

Totally, new cycle and on a positive you aren't onto a long cycle again. Its a new start and hopefully its a good cycle :) xx

@MintGreenLife - I'm currently CD38 and my app (Natural Cycles) thinks I ovulated CD 33. I also had one sided cramps (?! Ovulation pain?!) On CD 34 and a positive OPK on CD33 with highs either side of it on CD32 and CD34. So that's about as close as I can get to confirmed ovulation.

BD CD29, CD32 and CD34 so I think we gave it a good shot!

So I'm looking forward to CD46 to hopefully either an AF or BFP. I will be pissed off if its neither.

@TheDaydreamBelievers well that sounds really positive! It's funny isn't it when just ovulating no matter how late feels like a victory! But that's all you need to be within a shot ☺️ Not too long to wait now to see what the outcome is. Did your temp go up? X