Post Pill Cycles

[Gym&Tonic]

I used to work with a girl who had the depo injection and she almost instantly ballooned in weight. She went from being very slight to piling weight onto her hips, bum and stomach. She also developed really bad acne. It put me right off it. Why are women expected to put up with this? Men aren’t expected to pump themselves full of hormones. It’s always on us isn’t it? The patriarchy in action.

 

[Ls2991]

How strange - I posted yesterday and my period came this morning. Clearly just needed to put it out there into the universe for it to come

 

[Pixipoppy]

Well well well period has finally come after 50 days of stopping the pill. At least now I feel like I can get some sort of pattern back in my cycle. Also omg the grease is out of control guys, well and truly kicked in this week I quite like how shiny my face looks I don’t have to bother with highlighter, and the spots give me a youthful look (have to think on the positive side right?!). My hair can go about 12 hours before it looks like I stuck my head in a chip pan....nice.

 

[Gym&Tonic]

I had heart palpitations as well and was on and off Prozac for as long as I was on the pill. I had crippling bouts of anxiety, despite having nothing to feel anxious about. In fact by the time I came off it I felt anxious pretty much constantly. It was horrendous and I only realise now how all consuming it was! I can’t believe I put up with it for as long as I did.

Another thing I’ve noticed is that I’ve suddenly started noticing good looking men when out and about! I never used to take much notice of people in the street, but now every time I go out I can’t help but notice! Presumably this is the return of my libido?

 

[JLXRD]

So a delightful new pms symptom (I’m assuming, or I’ve lost my mind) I’m having since being off the pill is that the past 2 days I am the most needy human alive.

If my husband doesn’t respond to my (very mundane) questions incredibly positively, I pretty much have an emotional meltdown and accuse him of no longer loving me. He’s having a great time

 

[grumpycat]

I’ve recently come off the pill in jan, and think I’ve had my first ‘period’ since my withdrawal bleed - if I can call it that!

So I thought I’d make a thread for us to share our experiences of coming off the pill. I know it can vary from person to person / how long you were on the pill. It’s not often something we want to talk about between friends esp if you’re coming off the pill to TTC!

I went back on the pill after having my son, so approx 2.5/3 years. Came off in feb, had a withdrawal bleed on 19th Feb. I’m on CD34 after a few days of spotting - so unsure if this is my period? It’s all very TMI - dark, brown and not enough for a pad. But I’m very confused if I should call this CD1 and go from there or wait it out...

 

[Dramabyname]

A great thread, thank you!

Also came off Lucette 3 weeks ago. I’ve been taking it for almost 2 years, before that hormone coil. I had a withdrawal bleed after 2 days and that only lasted 3 days. I came off due to TTC so I’m patiently waiting for my period to come. It’s interesting to read other people’s opinions as to when everything will return back to normal, my doctor and nurse said almost straight away, my sister says three months and others on here say up to 6 months. It’s just awful the level of miscommunication given to women about something they are told to take every day. Makes me wonder what I’ve been doing to my body

 

[Base2019]

Please give your body time to adjust to coming off the pill. Sometimes I feel like the pill can mask a lot of problems going on inside our bodies as women and we put it down to our own hormones when actually it’s the hormones we are putting into our bodies daily.

I understand there are some women that need to be on it, but for those that don’t, please embrace it and get to know the natural workings of your own body. It’s a lot easier then to feel when something is really not right because you know your own body... no one knows your body better than yourself

ETA: don’t want the above to sound preachy, I was on microgyon for 10 plus years

 

[Retsuko]

I came off the pill in December 2019 and fingers crossed my side effects have finally started to calm down. I was on the pill for about 7 years, from microgynon to whatever cheaper versions the doctor would give me back to microgynon.

I had awful acne, really painful under skin bumps that would take ages to come to a head then badly scar all up my jawline (even behind my ears) cheeks, chin and forehead. My skin and hair were so so greasy. I had clear skin as a teenager then throughout my time on the pill so this really knocked my confidence

My period cycle is becoming more regular. I waited around 8 weeks after my withdrawal bleed, this has slowly reduced now I'm around 35 days and due on any time now, I bloat SO much but this time I've only had 3 spots so I'm really praying the worst is over!!

Hang in there, it's been a long 18 months for me but I don't regret it. I originally came off as I started getting migraines during the pill break week but I'm so much happier, I was extremely moody beforehand and thought it was normal to have a meltdown and cry multiple times a week

 

[under the ivy]

I'm coming off my pill (Cilest) from today. I was due to start a new strip but I'm not taking it. Been on the pill since I was 16, so 12 years. Just feel my body needs a break!

 

[Gym&Tonic]

I’m so glad someone has started this thread! I started taking the pill eleven years ago because I used to get a spotty chin in the week before my period, which when I look back wasn’t that bad, but at the time I thought it was awful and it could also feel painful and so when all else failed my GP put me on the pill. To begin with I took Dianette, but as you can only take that for so long I then moved to Yasmin and then on to Lucette because Yasmin is more expensive. After much soul searching I finally stopped taking it at the beginning of February as I believed it had been negatively impacting my mental health as I can trace my medal health issues back to the time when I began taking it. I can honestly say within a week I felt a cloud lift from my mind, the constant low level anxiety has gone and I only now realise how bad it was. I had a bleed four weeks to the day after I took my last pill. It may have been a proper period as I felt teary and emotional in the lead up to it. I also had more cramping than during my pill withdrawl bleeds.

Right now I have very sore boobs and in fact they have felt sore since I stopped taking it. Skin is fine at the moment, but I’ve heard that acne doesn’t return for around six months post pill. Hair is a little bit greasier and my skin is oilier.

 

[Ninetiesbitxh]

Great thread idea! I stopped taking the pill around 4 weeks ago after taking microgynon, cilest and yasmin over the last 12 years. Mentally I feel much better in myself, I was really worried about stopping taking it as I have really painful periods but I think the impact that it’s had on my well-being outweighed the cons for me. Had my withdrawal bleed within about 10 days of stopping but no first period yet. Using Flo app to track which says I’m currently 4 days late.. hoping things will start to regulate soon . No real changes to my hair/skin, I’ve currently got one spot on my cheek but nothing out of the ordinary.

 

[Gym&Tonic]

Period started this morning!

 

[sarahboo]

Thank you Dak & Grumpycat I knew they'd take a while to go back to whatever my 'normal' will be now. I was on the pill for so long, I think I just worry about everything cycle related in case there's something wrong

 

[grumpycat]

I think The pill is often an easy option for a lot of GP’s. When I started to think about coming off it I did quite a lot of research and found that a lot of women went on it at about 14/15 because they were having heavy, painful or irregular periods. I think that’s awful because I know that my periods didn’t properly settle down and become regular (as in 28 day cycles) until I was in my 20’s! So there are women out there who dont really know what their natural cycle should be like because they were so young when they started taking it. I wonder if there’s an ulterior motive there because it reduces teen pregnancy rates?

Another thing I read is that in other parts of the world GP’s are reluctant to give women the pill, there was one story I read by an American woman who moved to Germany and her doctors wouldn’t prescribe it to her because it’s not seen favourably there. I believe its similar in Asia. Interestingly for contraceptive reasons the NHS now seems to prefer coils and depo injections. I wonder why that is?

I think I read that too - interestingly she worked for clue one of the fertility apps?!

I think the coil and depo have less hormone but I might be wrong. The injection put me off massively as I had friend who bled for weeks on end and there’s no way to stop it

I might consider the coil in the future but I certainly won’t return to the pill. It must be to do with teen pregnancy but I feel like there needs to be so Much more education on how it can effect you, I couldn’t believe really that until I was late twenties I had no idea what my cycles were like!

 

[Pixipoppy]

Got my second real period today, 28 day cycle since my last, 12 days since I felt random pain that could have been ovulation pain! I find it so interesting how it all links together. Just for update though I’m still greasy, moody and fat

 

[JLXRD]

I’ve started to notice I am feeling way less tired and a lot less moody I wasn’t expecting any changes like that really as I didn’t think my pill was affecting me. My husband also says he feels like I have seemed a lot happier.

It’s actually a bit upsetting to me to think I might have been adversely affected but not been aware. Some things are now falling into place for me too around when I started having certain problems (like being tired a lot, my doctor ran blood tests but couldn’t find anything) when actually looking back that was not long after my implant was removed and I started taking the pill...

 

[Gym&Tonic]

The greasy hair is definitely a thing I’ve noticed. I used to be able to get away with washing it once a week, but am now noticing it’s greasy after only two days.

 

[lexle]

I came off the pill in December, had a withdrawal period as normal about 4 days after but I’ve had absolutely nothing since! Has anyone else had this happen? I’m not sure if it’s too early to be contacting the doctors to see the nurse - NHS website seems to think it should take around 3 months and obviously it’s now been 4!

I came off the pill December 2019, had a withdrawal bleed and then didn’t get a period until July 2020. I contacted my GP after 3 months and they said as I’d had recent bloods done and they were fine, that they would wait another couple of months as that would be the first check they would do anyway. Covid hit and I never got round to booking another appointment but then obviously it did eventually come back. So I’d say definitely give them a call and see what they say

 

[Dak1988]

Guys, have any of you experienced really short periods after coming off the pill? I was really heavy day one, medium flow day two then none existent day three. Was the same last cycle (although I had a four day period last cycle which I know is normal). Before the pill I had 7 day periods.

Yes I have. Usually 2-4 days which isn’t long, but maybe that’s just how it would have been if I wasn’t on the pill all that time. I was on it for about 10 years and can’t remember my periods before then.
Yours will probably go back to your ‘normal’ after 3-6 months, they say it takes a while