another contraceptive question - anyone stopped taking the pill?

[Sugarmag]

I've been on various contraceptive pills now for most of the last 12 years except when I was pregnant or trying to get pregnant. Oh, and except for a few months when I tried the mirena coil and then had it removed again. The thing is, although I've never had any huge, obvious side effects, there's lots of little things that I know are effected by hormones and I'd love to see how my body would respond to being totally hormone free for a few months. So I'm thinking of stopping my pill for at least 3 months. Will my skin clear up? Will I finally loose that half a stone I absolutely can not shift after DS was born? Will my sex drive rocket? Or is this all just wishful thinking and we'll be forced to "other" methods of contraceptiong for nothing? Has anyone else done this and if so what were your experiences?

When I came off the Pill I stopped being a shrieking, screaming, moody, banshee bitch from hell ... I'm only like that pre-menstrually now, not all the time. It didn't make my sex-drive rocket or clear up my skin, it didn't make me lose weight, but it gave me my sanity back (and gave dh a bit of peace again!).

if you're not having problems with it, i wouldn't stop taking it. i wish i could still take the combined pill - but i'm 35 w/a strong paternal history of heart attack and hypertension and my bp tends to run high - so it's a no go.

can't take the mini Pill b/c it left me with permanent acne scars on my chest - no more vnecks for me.

contraception's become a real PITA for us b/c i can't take the Pill now.

I was on Dianette for a number of years which was great for my skin but my GP made me come off it because it's supposed to increase risk of blood clots if you stay on it too long. So now I'm on Yasmin, my spots have come back, my weight seems to be creeping up (only ever so slightly but still) and I wake up in the mornings with swollen fingers. Sex drive was pretty low on Dianette as well, but I have no idea if that has anything to do with the pill. And yes, I do get moody, but again - who knows whether that's down to the pill, down to having 2 young children who drive me crazy or just because that's just who I am.

Ideally I would like to be done with the pill all together and convince DH to get the snip, but that's a whole other discussion. Then again, if I can demonstrate the benefits of me NOT being on the pill, then that just might be an incentive.

Sugarmag,

From my own experience I have found that the pill masks symptoms of any underlying hormonal imbalances rather than cause them.

Your body makes hormones anyway so stoppping the pill would not make this hormone free.
The first thing I thought of when I read your problem was a condition called polcystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). Its very common and can amongst other things cause skin problems. It can also be a factor in being unable to easily lose any excess weight. It is a very individualistic disorder though and can affect each woman with it very differently.

If you were to stop the pill you may well find that your skin problems would come back with a vengeance along with still being unable to lose any excess weight. BTW Dianette is sometimes also given to women who present with polycystic ovaries or its related syndrome.

The underlying cause of all this needs to be determined.

I read that the combined pill can alter libido permanently

Well it's another excuse to have in my armoury at least

Hi Attila, thanks for the info but I think it's pretty unlikely I have PCOS, although I was told I had a small cyst in one of my ovaries a couple of years ago. But I thought women with PCOS usually had excessive weight gain - I'm only talking about 1/2 a stone here. I don't have any excess hair on my face or anywhere else I shouldn't have hair. And I had no trouble getting pregnant - first try both times.

But you are right of course that even off the pill I won't be "hormone free". It may be that things will get worse.

Another side effect I forgot to mention was that on Yasmin I seem to get one really heavy day of my period - and by heavy i mean i go through 3 or 4 super tampons and pads in the space of about 2 hours with lots of thick clots (sorry if TMI!!!). This is something I've never experienced before and although I know a lot of women's periods change as they get older and especially after they have kids, again, I'd like to find out what my body's normal cycle is like.

Thanks WWB - anyone else tried going pill-free?

Also, WWB - what do you use for contraception now? Sorry, i know that's a whole other thread but it's become such an issue for me, I really don't know what to do.

Sugarmag, we use condoms - I don't like them all that much but I can't go back on the Pill (apart from it turning me into a shrieking, screaming, moody, banshee bitch from hell my GP won't prescribe it anymore because of my weight, and because there is a history of strokes in my family.

I have to say that while I feel much better in myself, I miss the sponteneity that we had with the Pill; I hate having to stop to faff around with condoms. Dh has talked about having a vasectomy, but he's been talking about it for 5 years now, so I can't see him doing anything about it in the near future. I thought about using something like the Persona, but as three of our NCT ante-natal classes were using it when they conceived, I'm a bit wary!

Well from experience, I concieve very easily so I would never trust something like persona. I think we'll go the condom route just for a few months and see how I feel. If it doesn't make that much difference then I'll back on it. If I find it does make a huge difference we might have to think about something more permanent.

I agree with you about the spontaneity of the pill, although in the last year the number of times I've forgotten to take it and then had to obstain for a couple of weeks kind of ruins that whole side of it.

yes I came off it for a while after I had ds. When ds was born I went back on the pill but like wwb it turned me into an emotional wreck so I hastily gave it up again. We used condoms for about a year and my sex drive was definitely increased. I didn't lose shedloads of weight though and I've always had clear skin so no issue with the spots. I went back on it again ds was about 22 months and didn't have any problems with it so am guessing that it was a hormone issue just after giving birth that caused me t have bad side effects from the pill. Have been off it again now for 13 months as ttc.