When to go off the pill?

theartistformerlyknownas

katiekessler123 said:

My sister, who was on the pill for many years, went off of it and was pregnant within one month. You potentially could get pregnant very quickly.  I'd consult with my OBGYN, but wait until after the wedding.  

But she was trying. Most people don't just magically get pregnant because they went off the pill. There's no reason to believe that with proper planning and condoms, anyone will get pregnant right away just because they're not on the pill.

KatWAG

@chloe97 I dont know where you are in Chicago. But if you are in the city and have any interest in delivery at Prentice; I can recommend my OBGYN. She, and her whole office, are amazing.  

I was high risk and had complications and I dont have a single complaint.

PM me if you want her info.

melbenso

If you choose to go off the pill now and are concerned about pregnancy before the wedding, I'd suggest using more than just condoms.  Maybe a diaphragm or sponge too, just for the piece of mind?  And make sure the condoms have spermicide.  Good luck.  And congrats on the wedding and planning a pregnancy. 

artbyallie

Can anyone cite a source for BC taking months to 'get out of your system?' I'm reasonably positive that's not true, given that my pill pack says you can get pregnant if you miss 2 or more doses and that you need back-up for the first 7 days you resume taking them.

If you don't want to potentially get pregnant now, why bother going off and using a different form of protection? Just stop after the wedding (and after talking to your doc, obviously) or stop enough before that if you are pregnant, you won't possibly show by the wedding (so 2 months or so?)

I mean, they're just hormones. Unless you had major weight gain or other side effects when you started taking them, stopping shouldn't cause anything to happen except that you start ovulating. I kind of dread TTC and hope when we do it happens quickly because my periods just fucking suck without the pill. I had debilitating cramps before I went on it.

theartistformerlyknownas

artbyallie said:

Can anyone cite a source for BC taking months to 'get out of your system?' I'm reasonably positive that's not true, given that my pill pack says you can get pregnant if you miss 2 or more doses and that you need back-up for the first 7 days you resume taking them.

If you don't want to potentially get pregnant now, why bother going off and using a different form of protection? Just stop after the wedding (and after talking to your doc, obviously) or stop enough before that if you are pregnant, you won't possibly show by the wedding (so 2 months or so?)

I mean, they're just hormones. Unless you had major weight gain or other side effects when you started taking them, stopping shouldn't cause anything to happen except that you start ovulating. I kind of dread TTC and hope when we do it happens quickly because my periods just fucking suck without the pill. I had debilitating cramps before I went on it.

http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/birth-control/in-depth/birth-control-pill/art-20045136

The concern is mostly if your cycles weren't regular to begin with, or were possibly anovulatory, that it's helpful to figure out your non-pill normal before trying. Having one complete cycle before trying can also make dating your pregnancy easier since it's hard to pinpoint how soon you ovulated after stopping the pill.

FiancB

artbyallie said:

Can anyone cite a source for BC taking months to 'get out of your system?' I'm reasonably positive that's not true, given that my pill pack says you can get pregnant if you miss 2 or more doses and that you need back-up for the first 7 days you resume taking them.

If you don't want to potentially get pregnant now, why bother going off and using a different form of protection? Just stop after the wedding (and after talking to your doc, obviously) or stop enough before that if you are pregnant, you won't possibly show by the wedding (so 2 months or so?)

I mean, they're just hormones. Unless you had major weight gain or other side effects when you started taking them, stopping shouldn't cause anything to happen except that you start ovulating. I kind of dread TTC and hope when we do it happens quickly because my periods just fucking suck without the pill. I had debilitating cramps before I went on it.

It kinda depends on what your biggest concern is. If you're taking BC obviously you don't want to get pregnant, so it warns you that there is a possibility of getting pregnant if you miss doses. It's less likely than if you weren't taking anything, but certainly still possible. 

OTOH if you're TTC, your goal is to get pregnant, and you're a little more likely to have a hard time if you've been on the pill recently, so it's recommended you go off way ahead of time if you're on some sort of time crunch. 

By no means is it guaranteed that you can't get pregnant if you haven't been off the pill for months or that you will get pregnant if you miss doses. It just depends on what your goal is and doing everything you can to make sure that goal happens. If that makes sense. 

Can't think of any great sources off the top of my head but I've seen it in a lot of articles, including on the bump...

sarahufl

Everyone I know who went off the pill to regulate their cycles to start TTC "later" got pregnant immediately.

I haven't taken the pill in 7 years and have been sexually active most of that time - 4 years with H. I have never been pregnant or even remotely had a scare. We used condoms and were careful.

Condoms work just fine if you use them correctly.

bethsmiles

lolo883 said:

bethsmiles said:

chloe97 said:

Though it's not the ONLY reason I don't want to get pregnant before my wedding, the thought of paying for everyone else to drink and not be able to drink a cocktail myself is not appealing! Plus, assuming that it's the first trimester- the thought of having to hide it from all your guests and pretend to be drinking when you are not seems exhausting. 

No reason to hide it. Besides, people can do basic math, if you did get pregnant before the wedding people would figure it out once they count backwards from the due date. But really that doesn't matter because it's none of their business.

I think she only means if you weren't yet at the point where you would feel comfortable telling people (like most people in the first trimester), you would have to somewhat hide it. I don't think you'd need to pretend to be drinking; just say "I don't want to get drunk at my wedding."

Whoops, my mind jumped to a no one should know we have sex before we're married place not a there's a totally logical reason for not telling people place. My bad, OP!

badbnagdway

FiancB said:

artbyallie said:

Can anyone cite a source for BC taking months to 'get out of your system?' I'm reasonably positive that's not true, given that my pill pack says you can get pregnant if you miss 2 or more doses and that you need back-up for the first 7 days you resume taking them.

If you don't want to potentially get pregnant now, why bother going off and using a different form of protection? Just stop after the wedding (and after talking to your doc, obviously) or stop enough before that if you are pregnant, you won't possibly show by the wedding (so 2 months or so?)

I mean, they're just hormones. Unless you had major weight gain or other side effects when you started taking them, stopping shouldn't cause anything to happen except that you start ovulating. I kind of dread TTC and hope when we do it happens quickly because my periods just fucking suck without the pill. I had debilitating cramps before I went on it.

It kinda depends on what your biggest concern is. If you're taking BC obviously you don't want to get pregnant, so it warns you that there is a possibility of getting pregnant if you miss doses. It's less likely than if you weren't taking anything, but certainly still possible. 

OTOH if you're TTC, your goal is to get pregnant, and you're a little more likely to have a hard time if you've been on the pill recently, so it's recommended you go off way ahead of time if you're on some sort of time crunch. 

By no means is it guaranteed that you can't get pregnant if you haven't been off the pill for months or that you will get pregnant if you miss doses. It just depends on what your goal is and doing everything you can to make sure that goal happens. If that makes sense. 

Can't think of any great sources off the top of my head but I've seen it in a lot of articles, including on the bump...

Doctors also used to have concerns about higher rates of miscarriage associated with women just coming off the pill. They have found those concerns to be unfounded because the hormones leave your body pretty quickly when you stop taking them. There also don't seem to be any meaningful risks of birth defects associated with getting pregnant on the pill.  

I have an IUD, put in a little over a year ago, and one of the motivators for doing that was to be able to have it removed and not have any impediment to getting pregnant. I did find in the past when I went off the pill my body went haywire for a couple months. I have never tracked my ovulation or tried to get pregnant, but I did have irregular periods right after going off the pill. I was always very regular on my cycle before being on the pill, and once my hormones re-balanced I was regular again. 

artbyallie

Thanks for the link @lolo883. So it sounds like while it can take time for a woman's body to re-regulate itself, typically the hormones return to normal almost immediately. Everyone's mileage may vary.