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Hi,
Just wanted to know how long between stopping the pill should you try to start to conceive?
Hubby believes you have to wait 3 months from stopping the pill til you can try to start to have a baby as you need to rid your body of the chemicals from the pill.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
Laura
Everybody is different. Many women fall pregnant by just missing one day while taking the pill. I fell pregnant the first cycle after stopping the pill. It may also depend on the time you've been on the pill, have you been on it long.
Talia is 31/2 and I didn't go back on the pill til she stopped breastfeeding when she was 20 months old. So probably about a year and a half to 2 years. I conceived really quickly with her. Just wanted to know really if there is any medically reason to not start trying as soon as your off the pill. Do the drugs build up in your system? Do they affect bubs development if they are not all out of your system when you conceive?
I dont think theres any minimum time you *have* to wait after stopping the pill.
Dont they just say 3 months so your body gets the chance to have a proper period and ovulate?
Hey Laura, :)
The chemicals used in the pill stay in your body for a very short period of time. That is why you only get 7 days of the sugar tablets, as any longer than this and the pill actually leaves your system. That is why most women who only miss one pill get pregnant, as it usually the first pill after the withdrawal bleed, so by only missing one pill, you have actually had 8 days of no pill.
Anyway, the pill pretty much sends your ovaries to sleep so they don't ovulate. Once the pill has left your system, it may take a while for your body to "wake up" again. However, many studies have shown no harmful effects of the pill to the baby, as lots of women have kept taking the pill before they realise they are pregnant.
The only legitimate concern with the pill is that it is difficult to determine the length of cycles, and therefore when you get pregnant it may be hard to work out when conception occured. However, the choice is yours as to whether you risk this or not (I have), because by charting etc, you can see when you ovulated anyway.
Hope you have a great New Year!
Thanks for that dragonbub. We will have to see how we go now. Fingers crossed!
Hi Laura, I don't believe there is any reason why you should wait (unless of course you don't want to get pregnant!!). I only had one cycle before falling pregnant and the EDD was worked out via U/S anyway. (touch wood) but so far there have been no problems and we have a healthy little baby cooking away with only 9 more weeks to go! Good luck with your TTC efforts (and have fun too!).
I started TTC as soon as I stopped the pill. It only took us just over 3 months to conceive :)
Hi Laura,
I was on the pill for 10 years before starting ttc. My first cycle was 65 days long, second one only 38 days and I'm now on CD13 of my third cycle and hoping I ovulate soon. I was told the same thing as dragonbub said that the only problem is that it might be hard to predict conception dates but if you're charting and monitoring ovulation you should be fine.
My first 65 day cycle was really agonising because I didn't know if I was ovulating and thought I was pregnant for quite a while as well. I went through some crazy mood swings and pms in the middle of the cycle so keep in mind your body might do some strange things as it's trying to "wake up" again and hormones your natural hormones will be raging through your body!
The thing that has helped the most for me is tracking my "normal" pms symptoms so I know what my body should be doing before AF arrives.
It's been an interesting few months and now hoping we are able to catch that egg!
Good luck and feel free to share any strange things going on. I'm sure there are a few of us who have experienced it!
Hi Doza,
I hope all goes well for you. I've been so tired since I come off the pill. Don't know if thats a side effect or not. Only been off it 2 weeks I think. Have to go have a look. But just really tired so my brain is like mush! Haven't done any of the charting and monitoring of ovulation as that confuses me a bit and I suppose I will have to wait to start doing that when everything is "normal".
HI Laura
I have also just come off the BCP, i was on it for closde to 15yrs. My DR said "just go for it", and also said I should temp and chart to help determine what my body was doing.
If you are having trouble with the charting, there is a great website called fertility firend, and once you join they send out emails for two weeks, with instructions... very helpful.
Anyway, GOOD LUCK!!!!:)
Hi there, I too was on the pill for 10 years and stopped just under 6 months ago. In this time I have had a 65 day, 87 day and now a 90 day with no signs cycle so my instance here is one where the body takes a while to "wake up" or sort itself out.
Other friends I have fell pregnant missing a couple of pills, so everyone is totally different.
I reckon go for it!
I was also on the pill for about 10 years and as soon as I stopped I had pretty regular cycles - within 5 days of each other. Good luck with TTC
Hi Laura,
Yes, I was also extremely tired! Everything your body is going through sounds really normal. It just takes some time.
And for me, not being a very patient person, it's extremely agonizing!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
I have a good feeling it will be a lucky one for us!
Oh good! I thought I was having some weird side effect that no one else had had. Most of my friends use other means of contraception so I thought I was either going loopy or getting sick - which I never get sick:P And I hope you're right and we both do have a good year!!!!:D
I did a lot of reading online during my first month off the pill and found so many women all over the world who were going through the same thing! It's really nice to know and definitely helped me go with the flow and let my body just be "normal".
I'm using OPK's again this month. I didn't get a +ive until CD23 last month and I've started them again (I'm on CD14) and hope it's not as long this time! It can get quite expensive trying to figure out what's going on!:confused:
Hi Doza,
Well I am still so tired and to top it off not sleeping real well either. What other side effects/ withdrawal symptoms have you had coming off the pill. Maybe then I can feel better prepared. I must be having some mood swings too cos I can't seem to handle my three year old as well as I normally do. Get irritated at the slightest thing. AHH well the joys of hormones huh!
Well, I went through about a week or so of exhaustion, then depression, then felt quite good, then back to being exhausted again. I also had bad pains about the time I should have ovulated but didn't (I guess they were trying but couldn't quite do it on their own yet!). My face broke out!! Lost a bit of weight, then gained it back again. Couldn't exercise like I normally do for a while. Then, for about 2 weeks after I thought I had ovulated, had pregnancy symptoms (sore boobs, cramps, pulling/twinges in ovaries, nausea, exhaustion), and took about 10 tests before getting a bt from the doctor.
I guess I haven't painted a very pretty picture for you! And, everyone is different so hopefully it's a lot easier for you.
But, once you get through it, you'll feel SO great for being all natural again and I've vowed never to take them again unless I'm 100% sure I don't want any more kids. Not sure what we'd do for birth control but I guess tackle that hurdle when we get there.
I'm just hoping to ttc #1 this cycle!! One step at a time, I guess :D
Well last night I had huge cramps in my abdomen that last for about 20 minutes. Almost had me doubled over and I was pale and sweaty. Today my abdomen feels sore, tender and heavy. I shouldn't be due for AF but maybe my body has other ideas. Ah well so long as it gets itself sorted out alls good.:D
Hope everything sorts itself out for you soon, Laura!
I am one of those ppl who must have taken a pill out of sync or something, 'cause I fell pg while on the pill. And I've been taking it for years. I did have a break from it for about six months before going back on, so maybe the break gave my body a chance to return to normal though.
Hope to hear you've got a BFP soon!
I had some really bad cramps as well on about Day 18 after stopping the pill. I thought I was ovulating but AF never came so it might be your body trying to get back to doing things but not quite getting there yet. I also got some really weird AF cramps midway through and nothing happened. I just kept track of everything that was going on, then when AF finally arrived, I could count back 14 days and see what the "normal" ovulation symptoms might have been.
I got my positive OPK today on CD17 of this cycle (my third since the pill), so it's starting to get back to normal finally now, so it will happen!
I was also the same after coming off the pill, 1st cycle was exactly 28 days and then the next was 40! I have been doing OPK's since CD12 this month, and nothing yet, even though I am pretty sure something was happening last Friday. Can the OPK's have false negative readings?
On my blood test results the normal range for the LH surge is anywhere from 9-74 IU/L, so if the test only picks up 20 IU/L's and you have a lower range surge, then it might not give you a positive reading.
My sister got pregnant when she BD'd the day of her "negative" test. She had been getting no lines all cycle, and just a faint line on the day of her surge. Her doctor told her to take that as a positive.
I know that how much I drink and how long I hold my pee really makes a difference to the test as well.
I went off the pill in late May/early June after being on it for about 10 years. I charted my temps just so I could try and understand what my body was doing and to get an idea of when we should BD (we weren't expecting anything straight away) and we conceived on August 1st. :)
During the short time between going off the pill and conceiving my body was a mess! I was getting all sorts of bloating, pain, mood swings, headaches, nausea - EVERYTHING! It was awful. Then when af arrived it was SO painful. I was so grateful to fall pg, and most of that was due to AF being just awful. I originally went on the pill for painful periods but had forgotten just how terrible they could be. I don't know if this can help you to be prepared for future pill-withdrawl symptoms because it felt like anything could have happened!
I came off the pill in early November after being on it 18 months or so. I agree with what Disgirl has said, these 2 months have been awful. I have had heaps of spots on my chin, headaches, mood swings, painful and heavy periods. Although I had been on the pill previously and then stopped, the symptoms have been worse this time.
I think part of my problem was I was 'bi-cycling' the Pill this time, taking 2 packs before having a bleed. The doctor recommended it because I was suffering from severe anaemia. I suppose that must have confused my body heaps!
Everyone is different but I still suffer pimples because of my hormone levels and I stopped taking it three years ago!
Lollylegs - I've been doing some work with a bunch of leading Australian fertility specialists and they happened to mention the other day that the first month is the best month after coming off the pill contrary to popular opinion. In otherwords there is no need to wait. This is something that they are trying to develop a community education campaign about along with a stack of other stuff.
Another myth they are trying to debunk is that you have to wait 12 months after you have a rubella vaccination. In fact it is only 3 months.
Hi Kar,
Wow did not know that. Is there any studies done or like real info I could show to hubby. Cos he still doesn't believe me. He is one of those people who research everything and take 6 months to make a decision so anything to back me up would be great.
Yes well I'm starting to agree with everyone that going off the pill just sucks!! So bloated and feel uggghh. Plus I've started permanent night shift working 23:15 til 7:15 so thats just going to add to my exhaustion. Its only 4 nights a fortnight but it certainly wipes you out for about 8 days a fortnight to try and catch up on some quality sleep.
DisGirl - I went on the pill when I was 16 for the same thing. Cos AF was making pass out from the pain. Not a good thing at school or when I started working. Passed out at home one day and knocked myself out when I was 15. Woke up to the ambulance guy staring at me and hearing him ask my parents if it was possible that I could be pregnant. Dad wanted to deck him but once they found out it was AF it was all alright.
LOL Lolleylegs! That's funny :) about your dad wanting to deck the ambo...
I had similar problems with AF, which is why I went on BCP when I was 15 too - throwing up all day and contraction-like period pain - I remember it even now, ooooh it hurt.
I have just come off BCP now and am so happy, it is great! Increased sex drive, lots of EWCM when time is right, first cycle was 30 days (but didn't "o" so maybe still on BCP timeline). No weight loss as yet :) but diet and exercise might be better for that one, and I have had a skin break-out which is driving me a bit nuts, but overall I feel really great!
I suggest definitely track your basal body temp and you will see when you "o". There is great info on Fertility Friend that will tell you more about BCP and there are some studies it refers to as well that indicate you are more fertile the month coming off the pill. And also that most women (90%) ovulate when first off the pill.
So good luck!
Ok I have another question.....hubby and I BD yesterday and a couple of hours later I went to the toilet and when I wiped there was mucus that was tinged pinky/red with blood. What on earth does that mean????
Thanks for the read girls,
I dug up the courage to post myself a new thread, as not to hijack, and to possibly pity myself a little more hah...
I do feel better reading this however fearing that I have gone just a *little* bit too long without AF after going off the pill.. :( I really hope I am just slow..
you can start trying straight away...... but oi may take a while for you to conceive as it can take 3-6months for your body to go back to normal after being on the pill but you can start anytime you want to as your body will conceive when it's ready So go for it