Thinking of coming off the Pill

Date: 3/15/2008 5:48:36 PM
Author: mercoledi
Sha, I don't have any kids. Nebe just got one too. The mirena is easier to insert if you have had kids, and your uterus has to be over a certain minimum size. My doc gave me pills to halp soften my cervix the night before, and while it wasn't pleasant, it certainly wasn't all that painful either.



If you want to change BC you should talk to your gyn about your options. There's also a new version of Norplant that's effective, reversible, etc. Good luck, and kudos to you for being proactive about family planning and your reproductive health!

Date: 3/15/2008 6:52:54 PM
Author: Pandora II
I had to come off the Pill because of my migraines. I had been on Yasmin and loved it - no weight gain, perfect skin etc, so my GP put me on Cerazette - progesterone only Pill that has a 12 hr window like the combined Pill rather than the usual 3 hr window for most mini-pills.


I felt like hell - greasy hair, such bad acne I had to go and get treatment for it and mad mood swings. The only up was no periods at all. My GP kept saying to give it a few more months to allow my body to get used to it. After 9 months I chucked them away. My skin, hair and mood were back to usual within 3 weeks.


I've now been off BCP for nearly 2 years - apart from a bit of PMT I haven't really noticed any difference. It's a bit of a bore that you can't skip or shift your cycle around the way you can with the Pill, but that's about it.


Since we are going to TTC this autumn - and ideally in 3 month time frame - it's nice to be able to track my cycle now and not have to worry about coming off the Pill at the right time.


Because I haven't be bothered if I get PG since I came off 2 years ago (although would be a bugger to have to get the dress altered!) it's been less stressful using barrier methods of BC. If I definitely didn't want to conceive I'd probably be looking for something more secure.

Date: 3/16/2008 2:40:05 PM
Author: Jas12
Sha, most of my friends are/were on the pill but many are having kids now so i hear about the side effects of coming off of it from them. The most common thing i hear is some weight loss, mood swings for a while and skin changes.


I've never been on the pill b/c, like others, i just think putting drugs into the body each day can't really be a good thing--DH was in whole-hearted agreement and we used condoms for nearly 11 years until we decided to try for kids. I have to admit, he luved TTC b/c I guess he didn't know what he was missing, but now that we have to go back to using BC in a couple of months it'll be a bit of an adjustment. I think if you've always used them it's no big deal at all, but to switch to them may be a lot harder. I am interested to hear what others on here are using.

Date: 3/16/2008 12:39:55 PM
Author: Sha
Tacori, I'm glad to hear you had a good experience on the Pill. It seems to affect each woman so differently. Some women have horrible side effects, yet some women have no side effects, or even positive ones - like suddenly clear skin etc. It's weird.


Robbie, how long you were on the Pill? I think I remember reading somewhere that a possible permanent loss of sex drive impacts long-term users of the Pill - I believe they classified long-term as being over 5 years.? But I can't remember where I read that, so I may be misquoting. It would be great if any doctors on here would clear that up. I know that the large-scale study they did, though, showed that women who had stopped the pill continued to show elevated levels of the testosterone binding ingredient, up to a year after stopping. And for some women, it never went back to normal. I hope that's not the case for you....or me! I've been on it for about 5 years now so I think now's a good time to stop.


By the way, Haven and Robbie , may I ask what of BC do you use? I'm searching for options still.

Date: 3/16/2008 9:22:29 PM
Author: Tacori E-ring
If you are not TTC I would NOT suggest you use charting as a form of BC (unless you wouldn't mind a surprise pregnancy).


My neighbor just got a IUD. She said it was painful and she had cramping after (she also just had twins 7 weeks ago). IUD scare me more than the pill for some reason. Maybe the thought of a foreign object in my body Also I am not sure if they are suggested if you haven't had children yet. I might be wrong though.

Date: 3/17/2008 4:33:31 PM
Author: MoonWater
I've always been very scared of BC because anything that stops your body from doing something it's suppose to do naturally freaks me out. However, I developed an allergy to condoms and after talking it over we switched (this was about 4 years ago). I started with Alesse which was fine. It was my first time so what did I know. I am 5'4' and for most of my life have always been 110lbs. It's underweight but my metabolism is insane and I could eat whatever and not gain a pound. Well, after being that size for well over a decade, I started using Alesse and started gaining weight. I got up to 137lbs so I have no idea why doctors keep trying to tell us that it does not make you gain weight. I was on it for about 2 years.

Well, suddenly my doctor stopped carrying Alesse and I had to switch to Mircette. Since I had no choice, I just went with it. Well, not long after I started losing weight! But the problem was that my periods started to remind me of myself pre-pill (painful and heavy). Nowadays it seems to be one nice month, one bad month, etc. But essentially I felt more normal. I'm now down to 123lbs and I have no idea if I'm still dropping or not. So there is something to be said about the brand and how it effects your body. They kept trying to get me to use the generic brand and I refused. These pills are tricky little suckers. Perhaps if you switched to another brand you'd find one more suitable.

Of course, this thread makes me freak out at the idea that I use BC at all. I really wish there was some other, more reliable, way to prevent pregnancy without drugs.

Date: 3/17/2008 3:43:54 PM
Author: Sha
I talked to DH about coming off... He understands - the permanent sex drive loss part really shook him up! H says if he has to use condoms then that's what he'll have to do. We'll see how it works.... in practice it might be a bit difficult a first, I believe.


By the way, anybody have any experience with the mini-pill or sponge?

Date: 3/17/2008 3:43:54 PM
Author: Sha
I talked to DH about coming off... He understands - the permanent sex drive loss part really shook him up! H says if he has to use condoms then that's what he'll have to do. We'll see how it works.... in practice it might be a bit difficult a first, I believe.

By the way, anybody have any experience with the mini-pill or sponge?