Post Punk Kitchen Forum

I've been on it for so many years I don't know what to expect. I have loved having such a regular (to the hour) cycle and very light periods, but I'm 41 now and my doc is talking me round to coming off it. My sister just did it and she said she felt lots better, her skin felt better and her weight didn't change. I hope to be as lucky, but what tales have you got?

The first time I went off it (at 38ish) it was super uneventful. I had a 58 day anovulatory cycle, then fell into a pretty regular cycle. My periods were heavier than pill periods but not bad. I really didn't notice any change to my skin or anything else. Then I went back on for a year and came off this fall (at 42.) My first cycle was 28 days, totally normal but now my period's been MIA for a four months. My mom and her mom didn't start menopause until 50ish and I'm not having any other symptoms so I don't know if it's to do with coming off the pill or not.

I've come off it a few times and its always been uneventful. You do become fertile quite soon after going off - I know people who got pregnant their first cycle off the pill!

Holy crepe.

Yep this happened to a friend of mine, she thought it couldn't possibly happen in less than a year.

I stopped taking the pill a few years ago & switched to a non-hormonal IUD but unless you're going for that option my experience probably isn't relevant!

Yes, definitely don't be lax about BC unless you're okay with a wee EFClass or EFClad :) Or both, supposedly you have a slightly higher chance of twins... ;)

I got pregnant two weeks after going off the pill last time - it took me weeks to take a pregnancy test because I wasnt keeping track and assumed my period might be late just because of the hormone adjustment. Before that I went off a couple times and my periods immediately went back to what they were like when I went on the pill the first time. So I probably shouldve figured that would happen again!

Argh, now you're truly terrifying me.

I had a shorter, less crampy period on the pill. That's really the only difference I noticed!

The one memorable thing for me about coming off the pill (to get an IUD) was that all that libido that had tapered off came back very suddenly - a few years' worth of horniness condensed over a couple of days. I was taking a 4-hour exam when it hit me, I couldn't concentrate one bit and all I could think was "dick dick dick dick dick!" So, uh, that was unexpected.

I came off the pill just to get pregnant. After one month, I was pregnant but I miscarried early. Maybe two months after that I was pregnant again, with twins.
Glad to see we've scared the hell out of you!!!!

When i got off hormonal BC my skin got kind of bad, i started being more pms-y and my periods got a bit longer and hurt a lot more.
I really disliked being off the pill, so i got back on it a few years ago, after about 1,5 years off.

Oh yeah, how could I forget about my libido coming roaring back. And also, um, lubricating far more readily when gettin' into it; I've only needed to use lube while on the pill.

I just went off the pill a couple of months ago and still haven't gotten my period back. This happened to me last time I went off the pill as well and my doctor basically made me go back on it, so that I would start menstruating again (this was after nearly a year and a half of no period). But I'm also a lot younger than you (22) and I think my experience has been different than most.

That's actually my main reason for wanting to come off it. My doc has been suggesting it for ages and I've fought it, but my libido has been so low that Im prepared to put up with the other stuff to get it back. Except the babies.

I started taking it very young, and nothing to do with sex- it was prescribed mostly to do with acne. I took it for about 10 years and when I stopped I had zero problems with periods- 28 day cycle on the regular ever since. And insane libido that never was. Whether or not that was a coincidental age thing tho, I couldnae tell ye'...

I got messier periods - painful, less regular, and longer. And then I noticed I'm very interested in sex when I'm ovulating, which is nice. The rest of the time there is no difference.

I went off hormonal birth control (the patch) five years ago. Nothing crazy happened, but my acne eventually came back. Pre-birth control I had really painful periods and those came back but only just now (five years later!) which I find kind of crazy and disturbing (were those hormones still kicking around five years later or something?).

To soothe your fears: we have sex regularly, and I didn't get pregnant. We use condoms and spermicide and follow the directions carefully.

i went off the pill back in march. i was on it for about 12+ years and my spouse decided to just go ahead and get a vasectomy. it was pretty damn awesome of him. my libido was ridiculously low. i didn't have much interest in sex, but once coming off the pill it bounced back and it's so awesome! i was afraid of gaining weight but i've actually lost 10 pounds and my periods are lighter and less crampy. had i known all this was going to happen i would have asked him to consider a vasectomy years ago.

I'm actually considering taking a month off the pill to see if it helps with my libido. it just went almost completely missing a few months back (but i've been on the pill for years, so i have no idea if it will work). Will a month be enough time to see if the pill is messing with my libido?

The first time I went off the pill (I had been on it for about 3 years) I lost about half of my hair :(

I started using the pill at 13 because of really painful, long, irregular periods and acne. A couple of years ago I switched from the pill to the Nuvaring. Noticed no difference. Last year around this time I stopped using the Nuvaring. The weird thing is that people are so excited about it because 'it only doses hormones where you need them and not in your bloodstream' and... my acne started slowly creeping back up? But my periods now are very regular, not painful anymore and not long (give or take 5 days). Also, yeah, I basically had no libido anymore. And now I do! And I seem to have lost some weight without trying.

A lot of people seem to think that, and I did too when I used it, but it's not true! It inhibits ovulation, so it would have to be in your ovaries to be a true local application. It's absorbed into the blood, and of course all the blood from your vagina doesn't go straight to your ovaries. The dose is lower than with the pill, but I don't know how much lower.

That'll teach me for not reading the booklet!

day 3 off the pill. should be getting my period today. haven't had one in months (i never take breaks), but i hope i don't get all crampy.. i am studying for exams all weeks.