Ovulation after stopping desogestrel

[HPrior]

Currently TTC for baby number 2. For my first baby I was on the combined pill and had been for about 8 years. When I came off it everything went back to normal straight away and I was very lucky to conceive the first month.

I now want to try for baby number 2 and stopped taking the progesterone only pill (desogestrel) at the end of December (I changed from the combined pill because I was worried about the combined pill affecting my breast milk supply with my first baby). My period came back towards the end of December but was very light (spotting) for 3 days. It then stopped and started again a week later and was very heavy for 3 days. I used the 4 fertile days ovulation tests (which I also used the first time I was TTC) which detect both the oestrogen surge and then the LH surge. I was surprised to get a "high fertility" oestrogen positive result the second day I tested (I expected it to be a few days before this happened). So DTD for the next 2 days and I continued testing but the "peak fertility" (meaning LH surge and ovulation) never registered on the ovulation test. About a week later I thought I was pregnant - loads of symptoms similar to first pregnancy but tested negative. Then got my period quite late in the month and again it was not right - very light for a few days, then very heavy, then very light and the whole thing lasted over a week which isn't normal for me. Have again started the ovulation tests this month and again got the "high fertility"/ oestrogen virtually as soon as I started testing which seems too early.

I'm worried that my oestrogen is going up and down but I'm not actually ovulating.

I feel like the progesterone only pill has messed up my cycle when I've never had problems before (even after I gave birth and was breastfeeding periods and ovulation returned regularly after 6 weeks).

Has anyone had similar issues with desogestrel? How long did it take to regulate? I'm now so cross with myself that I didn't come off it earlier. I just assumed I'd go back to normal as I always did with the combined pill.

I'm still waiting to ovulate. Stopped on 26th December and nothing at all....

Do you have any symptoms after coming off the pill? I had pregnancy like symptoms. Looking at some other threads on this topic, it seems that is common.

Had some very mild cramping, but has stopped since I stopped pregnacare (I've read that it can disrupt cycles and cause symptoms like that).

Bumping this @Frelltastic has your cycle settled down now? I am now detecting an LH surge around days 13-15 of my cycle and my cycles have regulated but they are shorter than they used to be (25-27 days as opposed to 30 days) and I am still getting the spotting for up to 7 days before my period and sometimes a few days after my period too.

Hey @HPrior - yes! It settled by late March. Cycles shorter than before the pill but ovulation occurred day 10 or so since. Currently 8 weeks pregnant!

Congratulations! That's great news. Very interesting to hear that your cycles are also shorter. It has to be the effect of desogestrel on hormone regulation. Thanks for sharing your experience and good luck with the pregnancy.

Hi guys

I stopped taking desogestrel (progestogen only pill) on 30th December 2024. I’ve had mild cramps in the days since stopping the pill but no bleeding/spotting as of yet.

I am trying to work out what’s now going to happen with my cycles and mixed with the excitement of trying to conceive, I’ve been taking ovulation strip tests since 2nd January. The tests seem to be very up and down since starting testing, some days darker than others, then back to faint again.

Is it common to have LH surges after coming off the pill and these tests are just showing my body regulating its hormones, or do you think these tests combined with mild cramps are my body starting to try and ovulate?

I’m very impatient if you cant already tell😂 and new to all of this so any advice is welcome!

Hi @Honey2025

None of those tests look like a positive LH surge to me. The test line should be as dark or darker than the control line. In my experience, the test line also goes dark almost immediately on the day I have my LH surge so I know straight away.

Some things to bare in mind:

• You came off the pill very recently and it often takes a few months for cycles to regulate so you may not ovulate for a month or two or may ovulate at unexpected times (ie late or early).
• Some people have very short LH surges and have to test more than once a day to catch them (I typically do first morning urine but some people say it is better to test around mid morning. In any case, don't drink too much in the hours before you test.)
• These tests simply don't work very well for some people - I have friends who have got pregnant more than once but never got positive results on these tests. So don't panic if they are never positive.

I hope that helps! Good luck!