Ovulation After Coming Off Pill

[BrightLilacCat]

I’ve recently come off the combined pill and have started ovulation testing as I’m aware my cycles are likely to be all over the place. Negative ovulation tests so far.

For anyone who’s been on the combined pill:
How long did it take for you to ovulate?
How long did it take for you to get your first period?

Thanks! ☺️

Hey!! I came off the combined pill in mid July after 17 years of nonstop use and I had a withdrawal bleed in mid August and only just got my first period a few days ago, following a positive ovulation test two weeks before hand. I'm 35 so not sure if age has anything to do with it but hoping this cycle is a normal length. Hopefully yours will be a lot quicker!

When I came off the pill the first time, I had a withdrawal bleed, then about a month later I had an actual period and then I got pregnant.
I’ve recently just come off it again in September and I had my period a few days ago so I’m expecting to be ovulating end of this week.
You might be better off saving the ovulation tests for now, wait until you have a proper period (which hopefully will be soon!), and then start ovulation testing after that.

Thanks for your replies. It’s crazy that we all spend years making sure we take the pill every day as they warn missing a couple will result in pregnancy and then when you do want to get pregnant zero ovulation and periods! 🙄It seems like everyone has different experiences of ovulation and periods after stopping.

I’m 38 and so aware time isn’t on my side. Hoping my period hurries up and returns soon!

I came off the pill 9th October and had my withdrawal 14th October. I’ve decided to use Natural Cycles to try figure everything out 🤞 I’ve been using cheap ovulation tests off Amazon and I got a faint line yesterday so fingers crossed it progresses the next few days!

Everyone’s body reacts differently for sure. For me, I stopped the pill and had my withdrawal bleed as usual, and then I ovulated 2 weeks later. So my cycles resumed straight away it seems.

dont worry, give your body a bit of time to readjust x

Thank you for all the replies ladies. Hoping I ovulate and get my period soon so we can crack on with ttc. I don’t think I’ve ever been so keen to get my period! 😂

I’d been on the pill for at least 16 years before TTC, I had a withdrawal bleed straight after then first period was about 6 weeks later. Much shorter (3 days!) and lighter than they used to be which had me worried but obviously wasn’t an issue as DS was conceived around 4 months later. At the time this felt like forever, but looking back and reading other stories I appreciate it wasn’t that long at all.

I remember using cheap ovulation strips and getting excited that there was a faint line straight away, but the first month especially was weird with hormone levels regulating, the lines fade in and out a fair bit. I have strong memories of being where you are now and the frustration of how long it all seems to take waiting to get there - DS is almost 4 now and his sister has just turned 2…

Good luck!

Thank you. Really appreciate everyone’s input and it’s stopped me worrying quite so much.

I downloaded the premom app and have been using those ovulation tests. The highest result I’ve had so far is 0.05 so definitely no sign of ovulation yet.

I think I went through a whole box of ovulation tests getting 0.01/ 0.05 on premom so I feel your pain. Especially when you see everyone else's charts. It was only when I started to notice my boobs were getting sore and I felt a bit emotional I tested a higher number at 0.91. I'll be getting back on the ovulation tests next week and hoping my hormones have settled for a normal length cycle.

@CandH35 that’s me right now! I look at everyone else’s tests and their lows are still way higher than what I’m getting. It’s a bit disheartening. Can I ask have you recently come off contraception to be getting those low results? Yesterday I had a 0.02. Will test again this afternoon but I expect it’ll still be very low.

Yeah think I responded to your original post 🙂. I came off in July and then after my withdrawal bleed in mid August I started doing ovulation tests and went through a whole box of cheap ones and annoyingly wasted half a box of expensive clear blue 4 day strips. I then decided to give up as I didn't pick up anything until the first week of October! It will be interested to see what happens this cycle as this is my first after a natural period

Here are my low numbers for weeks!! I understand how frustrating and I was so impatient after waiting so long to start trying for my first!

Hey I used the Premom app last time as I had come off contraception and was still breastfeeding a bit, so wanted to check if I was ovulating. My numbers were always really low, but I could see myself that the lines were getting darker. They never got ‘ovulation’ dark, and my numbers were low, but I still got pregnant. All this to say, don’t worry tooooo much about the numbers. If you take pictures and can see a progression then that’s a good sign! The app can be affected by lighting etc so won’t be super accurate.
I’m using it again this time to see when I start ovulating as I came off the pill last month. But I’m not going to rely on it to tell me when I’m ovulating. It’ll be more of a vague guide I think.

I stopped the pill briefly not long ago and had the withdrawal bleed within a week or so and had clear ovulation symptoms within the month

@CandH35 ah yes you did reply to the original post! 🤦🏼‍♀️ Thanks for sharing your test results. Very similar to mine. I’ve got a 0.07 this afternoon which is still very low but possibly heading in the right direction. Good luck for this month!

Just to update that I think my body might actually be starting to realise ovulation is a good idea. My levels on the premom app have been consistently at or below 0.1 but today I’ve had 0.54. I’m assuming they’ll keep rising over the next few days and I’ll get a ‘peak’ reading. 🤞🏻

That's great news!!

@CandH35 thank you! How is it going for you this month?

I'm cycle day 13 and no sign of ovulation yet! Started opks this week and premom is predicting fertile window starting at the weekend so we'll see. If nothing is happening next week I might have to accept this is going to be another long cycle. 😫

@CandH35 I have everything crossed for you. ☺️

How are you both getting on? ☺️ I'm in the same boat. Came off the pill in mid-July. Decided to track my ovulation for the full month this month to check I'm ovulating but still very far off a positive even on day 27😢

Hi @maple1234 . The highest my Premom tests got to this month was 0.68 on CD15. It rose very quickly on that day and then just dropped right off again. Premom didn’t class that result as a high or peak. I ended up testing 3-4 times a day and I’d have definitely missed that 0.68 if I hadn’t been. AF has arrived and I had a 28 day cycle (following my withdrawal bleed) but it is the lightest period I’ve ever had! I have endometriosis and it’s usually very heavy so I’m assuming it’s just my cycles settling down. My only advice is to keep testing as it can take a while for cycles to settle down again. 😊

Hey!! I've not seen any peak this cycle. I did get a day with some EWCM which happened to be the day I forgot to test so maybe I missed it but my levels have been as low as yours if not lower. Last month I ovulated and got a high level on premom the day I got EWCM, that was last Monday which would make me 9dpo so we'll see if AF arrives soon if not I could be in for another long cycle.

.68 is a good reading! From what I've seen so far the Premom numbers can be inaccurate, you can manually alter them so it matches the line differences more accurately! I do want to test multiple times per day but I have no idea how long this cycle will be. Already gone though 18 daily tests this cycle- it gets expensive!! My first 2 periods were pretty normal but my most recent was only 2-3 days of light bleeding!

Ah definitely could have been that day! I'm just hoping to see some glimmer that my body is working and ovulating 🙏🏼