Yet another going off the pill question...for those who've done it multiple times

[miaclear]

I'd been on the pill for a few years in college and went off it, at that time my cycles went right back to normal no problems. I've been on the pill this time for just over five years and will be TTC next spring. I was thinking I'd go off the pill sometime in Feb or March but after reading a million posts I'm curious about getting screwy cycles.

For those of you who've gone off multiple times and had normal cycles...does it always seem to bounce right back? Or do you think I should go off in January to make sure it's all back to normal by Aprilish?

I'll be asking my Gyn this October at my annual...but thought I'd start here

[tlew12778]

I went off the BCP for 3 months back in college bc I was studying abroad and my mother forgot to send me my renewals . The reason I went off for 3 months was bc it took me 3 months to get a period. Once I got AF, I went back on.

Last time I went off the BCP (October 2004), I o'ed that same cycle and got AF 4 weeks after my last BCP.

The first time I was taking Triphasil-28. The second time I was taking a monophasic low-dose BCP called Minesse (nto available in the US I think). I think that made a difference.

[ktsb]

I was on an off for years. I tended to go off when I didn't need to when I was single For me I bounced back immediately every time.

I'm very very regular though.

So it wouldn't hurt for you to go off early just be prepared to use another form of contraception if you don't want to get pregnant then.

Happy TTC!!

[BTB]

I was always regular, and quit taking BCP for a while due to needing to avoid estrogen after a blood-clot, only to go on low-dose later and then quit to TTC. Both times AF started up again right away and was regular, the second time around I even know I ovulated that first cycle because I was charting.

Unfortunately, I hadn't counted on an immediate return to fertility, so even though I had 5 picture-perfect charts before we tried to conceive, I missed those opportunities because I'd gone off early to be on the safe side. Wouldn't you know the month we started is the month my periods became irregular, and then it took us 7 cycles to conceive. No way to know for sure what woud've happened "if" - but anecdotally some women are most fertile during the "bounce-back" time after the pill: just as some women are sluggish to ramp back up to ovulation, some women when off the ovulation suppression seem to "overshoot" normal before settling back down.

[Twylla]

It's a tough call. The first time I went off BCP, my cycles were "normal" right away. But this time, they've been a mess. I started out with really long cycles, had one shorter cycle, now I'm going back to long and my doctor is investigating. I went off early so that if there was a problem we could deal with it prior to TTC.

Do what you feel most comfortable with. I wish there was a magical right answer for all fo us though... Hopefully you'll be "normal" right away and concieve just when you want to.

Good luck!

[Wrighty26]

I first went off my BCP-- Ortho Tri-cyclen (that pill made me crazy!), my cycles returned back to normal right away (I took about a 4 month break). I then tried Estro-Step for a couple of months (also made me hormonal)-- and when I went off of it, once again back to normal. Then the Dr. put me on Loestrin-- which, worked great for my body. I was on it for about 3 years-- and then decided to go off of it-- and it was horrible. I didn't have a cycle for 9 months (I was going to the Dr. during that time too). I honestly don't know why my body reacted that way going off of Loestrin-- maybe it was low estrogen levels in the BCP??

As for going off the pill-- I would do whatever makes you comfortable!

[mel7dog]

Both time I went off the pill in college my cycles went back to normal right away. This is my first month off the pill for about 3 years and so far my chart is looking a little crazy to me.We are in no rush to get pg so it's not a big deal to me. If you are really set on TTC during a specific time, you may want to go off earlier just to be sure your cycles are back to normal.