Stopping BCP to TTC***Updates & Progress/Noted Changes Since Stopping BCP***24BFPs***

[twinkie2]

Hi all, I'm new to the forum and am looking forward to this journey along with everyone else! After lots of discussions, DH and I have just decided it's time to start TTC. I have been on low dose birth control pills for 11 years. I am currently mid-pack and want to finish the pack before quitting in hopes of not completely messing up my cycle. I have done a ton of looking online trying to find out what side effects I'll have when I stop taking the pills. I have unfortunately stumbled upon some horror scenarios where some women have had very irregular periods for several months, up to a year after quitting. I would like to start trying as soon as my next cycle is completed, but I'm worried about having very irregular periods. I'm looking for information on others experiences...how long until you got your first period after quitting, was it regular, irregular? and so on. Any insights would be greatly appreciated.

***For any newcomers, we've decided to continue this thread to post on how cycles are progressing, noted differences in flow, charting, symptom, spotting, you name it, we can talk about it. Please feel free to ask questions and hopefully someone will be able to pass it on. Also going to try to use this to help see how long it may take to get the Anyone that needs to be added, please let me know what cycle you were on when you got your BFP, your BCP if you know it and what your cycle ranges were (how many days each cycle was if you remembering or your shortest and longest cycle length). Thanks ladies and good luck to everyone!

BFPS:
Johnsa37-Cycle 1-
SoonToBePreg-Cycle 3 (BCP - Generic 28 day pill pack/CDs ranged from 30-41 days after stopping pills)
Wtbam: BCP-Dianette; 1st cycle TTC since quitting Dec '13 (CD100+, suspected hormonal imbalance due to PCOS, periods regular 30 day cycle before the pill), started progesterone, metformin, vitex and 3 weeks on GI diet and got on first O since quitting!!
Prachipie - BCP-ortho lo/reg ortho (and it's generics); 1st cycle TTC; took last BCP on 2/28/14; unsure about cycle length on 1st cycle trying!!
Lindsvancamp: on 6th cycle off bcp; taking bcomplex to lengthen LP
Wnt2beAMom- bcp: ortho tri-cyclen. quit bcp march 20th.
jessica176-was on microgynon 30 and first cycle off!!
Twinkie2: BCP-Kariva(generic of Mircette); TTC since quitting Dec. '13; avg cycle length 28 days 7th cycle!
mkerby16 yaz for 8 years, quit June 2014 in July!!
ms_lola: levlen 4-5years, quit May/June 2014, waiting to see what cycles will be like, July!
DentDoc16 quit bcp May/June 2014 July!
StephR-BCP - Leveln ED, stopped January 2014 after 9 years on it. in August!!
Mintastic- most recently on nuvaring for many years, patch before that, and nordette pill before that in August!! 3rd cycle off. Cycles ranged from 29-34 days and AF from 3-8days, late O and short lp.
curiousowl - BCP: Levora and Portia (generics of Nordette) - (TTC since Jan 2014) - 1st cycle anovulatory, 39 days, 2nd cycle was anovulatory, 70 days, ovulated on CD34 on cycle 3 cycle 5!
wantabean2- and expecting twins!
cdex67-on bcp for 6 years, several brands, most recently Orthotricyclen Lo on cycle 3!!!!!
Ms Elizabeth20 years on Orthocyclen (generic). Stopped 09/08/2014. October !!
MrsH-on Junel (with no period) for 7 years and stopped in September, 2nd cycle
LavenderLoveDepo Provera for 6 months, then went onto Nuvaring for almost 3 years. Got off it September, in December
Tui: femodene for 22 years! Stopped in Jan cycles became 24-28 days long, ovulated days 11-14. with a strong hb confirmed in December!!
Mamabunny 7th cycle
Charmed86 in February!
CrazyCharlie2 on cycle 16!
Danna D on fermara
TTC:
bblues9- BCP Gildess Fe 1/20 (generic for Loestrine Fe 24); 22nd Mar last day of BCP; CD1 25th Mar.
lauraloo-came off BCP on 12th September after 7 years on Ovranette, average cycle length 25/26 days-1st cycle ttc
Iamamermaid-Althea ocp for 1year and 4months, stopped after finishing the pack mid February this year; typical cycle length 28 days
Stellaluna431-on bcp for 9 years, waiting to ttc until August 2014, but quit bcp January 2014
patience: microgynon 2002-2006, had a break, Yasmin from 2009-2012, generic pill from 2012- august 2013, ttc since Aug 2013.
Turtle0630 Recently on the generic for Portia bc for about 3 years, came off in June 2014. Been on bcp for 15 years, with a 1 year break about 9 years ago
ellielouise stopped microgyn in July 2014 and hoping for a bfp after laparoscopy & hysteroscopy

 

[newlywed2013]

I went on to have completely regular cycles but the first month I had so many withdrawal symptoms that I swore I was pregnant! Definitely finish your pack! Good luck!

 

[twinkie2]

I went on to have completely regular cycles but the first month I had so many withdrawal symptoms that I swore I was pregnant! Definitely finish your pack! Good luck!

Were you very regular before? How long were you on BC?

 

[newlywed2013]

Yes I was regular on the pill and I was on it for 7 years

 

[RachelLynda]

I was on the bcp for 4 years and I finished my pack and had my period as normal and then my cycles were pretty regular (between 28-31 days) x

 

[twinkie2]

Thanks gals, this gives me hope! I called my twin sister (identical) to discuss with her as well. All our lives we have been very similar to one another, likes/dislikes, as well as how our bodies work and I thought I should utilize her knowledge as well. She said her cycle ended up a bit longer, around 32 days, for a few months, but still relatively normal. This has put me at ease a bit, but I'd still love to hear about others experiences.

BTW-as a result of calling her despite not wanting any of my family to know we are ttc (I am the last of four girls in the family to start having kids and have a bit of a fear that they could all do it, but I won't be able to), I found out that her and her husband are also ttc, for about 2 months now!!! So excited for them, I hope things happen quickly for us both

 

[newlywed2013]

Oh that would be so fun!

 

[Wnt2beAMom]

Stalking. I'm on bcp now and would like to see how it works out for you!

 

[twinkie2]

Stalking. I'm on bcp now and would like to see how it works out for you!

Hey Wnt2beAMom- Stalk away! I'll keep you posted as I go. After some additional discussions with my sister who had little problems and a consult, we've decided to quit BCP now rather than finish the back as I had very recently had to increase the dosage due to breakthrough bleeding (TMI, but this was what started all the "are we ready" talk) Anyways, the decision was made to quit now so as not to let my body get used to the slightly higher dosage as I had just completed my first month on it, also in hopes than any issues from stopping will be more minimized. Both the prior pill and new one were low dosage, but the newer one had a mildly higher does of estrogen.

 

[patienceiav]

Heya! Thought I'd share my experience so far I've been off bcp for 3 cycles and been ttc for 3 also. So far I've O'ed between cd17-22 and my lp has been 10 days, my af has been weird also. it's not great but people have had it far worse :/

It bothers me a lot so I just bought something called fertilitea which is meant to be good for regulating cycles and help getting pregnant. I'm taking maca which is meant to balance hormones and vit b6 to try and lengthen my lp, along with a ton of vitamins+folic. I never imagined I'd have problems but I also never had any idea how my cycles were before bcp.

I don't want to sound like a crybaby next to people who didn't have a period for 6 months but there's plenty of kinds of irregularities, hope things go smoothly for you

 

[Lkg]

Hi, I stopped birth control at the end of the pack in the middle of October. I have just come on my period now and took exactly 7 weeks. However, everyone is different. I spoke to a doctor and they said sometimes people wait months. I also got signs of pregnancy such as very sore breasts. Hopefully it doesn't take you long to regulate, and you never know it may happen straight away

 

[patienceiav]

Oh yeah definitely worth noting I felt every pregnancy symptom under the sun the first month off, I was utterly convinced!

 

[twinkie2]

Oh yeah definitely worth noting I felt every pregnancy symptom under the sun the first month off, I was utterly convinced!

Great, nothing like thinking 'wow! so fast' for nothing, but I've been warned! lol. Thanks all for input

Loving this forum so far, everyone is so kind and willing to help out!! I can say I feel different already with only two days of bcp. As I mentioned I've been on this for 11+ years, and I'm 28 now, I can't hardly remember what a "normal" period is like and it's amazing how quickly it really does leave your system. I can honestly say I am so happy to be done with it (for a couple of reasons obviously).

 

[BeachyFeelin]

I stopped my bc in November and am currently experiencing my first period off bc in about 15 years. For a minute I thought I could be pregnant because I just had a tiny bit of spotting on Monday (my expected start date) and then nothing for the rest of the day. But then Tuesday i had a small flow, nothing major. But yesterday the flood gates were released. I had HORRIBLE cramps off and on all day...so bad I just couldn't move. I even went to be last night with a heating pad. But...they are gone today and the flow seems normal.

I am hoping that not every period off bc will be like this. I never had cramps when I was on bc. So this reminded me of my early high school days when I stayed home from school because my cramps were so bad. Guess I'm just better at handling them now. Still, not pleasant.

All in all though - for tracking purposes my period seems to be going back to normal 28-29 day cycles. So I am thankful for that. I hoped that I could have been pregnant because our timing was right (I could tell when I was going to O, which was new). But I didn't expect it so I wasn't really symptom spotting. Which is good, because I think I could have only had pregnancy symptoms if I made them up in my head

 

[twinkie2]

Thanks, I'm really hoping that's how it goes for me too. I had awful cramping when I was a teenager and have had little to no cramping on BC so I'm interested to see how that goes. Best of luck to you this month!!

 

[twinkie2]

Just wanted to give a quick update for those that might be following this. Had some light brown spotting today nothing significant, mostly just when I wipe. From everything I've learned, this is pretty common after quitting (since I took a coupled of the active pills before quitting). I had some really minor cramping, noticeable, but not painful.

If I assume a typical 28 day cycle from my last AF, I should have my next around Dec 22nd so hoping for ovulation in January!

 

[snuffleupagus]

Jumping in here, I'm in the same boat. I'm on my first cycle TTC after being on birth control for a little over 2 years. It's definitely frustrating because I feel like I'm starting from scratch. Have been experiencing some symptoms but it's almost impossible to tell what the cause is at this point. Guess I just have to be patient!!

 

[twinkie2]

Jumping in here, I'm in the same boat. I'm on my first cycle TTC after being on birth control for a little over 2 years. It's definitely frustrating because I feel like I'm starting from scratch. Have been experiencing some symptoms but it's almost impossible to tell what the cause is at this point. Guess I just have to be patient!!

Have you had your first AF since quitting bc? and if you did, how long was that cycle from quitting to the first AF?

 

[coach7712]

Not wanting to scare you but my experience was less than ideal.

Of course, I screwed up and took one pill in my new pack before deciding to stop. That screwed up my cycle and I ended up having two periods that month, one that was long and one that was shorter.

So far I haven't been very regular (cycle lengths since stopping: 15, 17, 28, 27, 28, 31, 30, 46, 32, 18, 32). There were about three months of regularity and then craziness. I attribute the 46 day cycle to stress (buying a home, living with in-laws, moving). However my cycles weren't regular before I went on the pill so I imagine this is normal for me.

I will say that my periods did not become much different than from when I was on the pill (a little more cramping and heavier flow, but same length and not horrendous). Please don't let my story scare you. I have weight issues and probably some hormone imbalance as well. Hope everything goes well for you!

 

[twinkie2]

Not wanting to scare you but my experience was less than ideal.

Of course, I screwed up and took one pill in my new pack before deciding to stop. That screwed up my cycle and I ended up having two periods that month, one that was long and one that was shorter.

So far I haven't been very regular (cycle lengths since stopping: 15, 17, 28, 27, 28, 31, 30, 46, 32, 18, 32). There were about three months of regularity and then craziness. I attribute the 46 day cycle to stress (buying a home, living with in-laws, moving). However my cycles weren't regular before I went on the pill so I imagine this is normal for me.

I will say that my periods did not become much different than from when I was on the pill (a little more cramping and heavier flow, but same length and not horrendous). Please don't let my story scare you. I have weight issues and probably some hormone imbalance as well. Hope everything goes well for you!

Thank you so much for posting! This is exactly the type of thing I want to know.

So I had only had minor spotting yesterday, but this morning it basically seemed like a full blown period. I'm wondering if this is my period for the month, or if I'll still get it again around the 22nd. (my last period was on Nov. 24, so I was almost to the half way point of my cycle when this bleeding started. You said you were only one day into your pill pack and I was only 3 or 4. I was hoping with only being a few in that it would only cause the spotting and still get my period later in the month. Now I feel like I'll have no idea when my O days are because I don't know if this is a period or not. I'm hoping I still getting it before christmas (for timing purposes of a small vacation the hubby and I have decided to take quickly before we have a baby-but if pregnant before leaving that's okay ) I guess I'll have to wait and see, but thank you thank you thank you for posting!!