If you do want to switch to non-hormonal birth control, Alison Edelman, MD, an OB/GYN and Director of the , suggests a copper IUD. Its even better at preventing pregnancy than birth control pills, she says. But, some people do have pretty serious cramping and bleeding on their periods when they have a copper IUD, so that’s definitely something to consider.
No matter your reason for quitting hormonal birth control, there are a few things you might expect to happen. Just remember, everyone reacts differently, so you probably wont feel all of the symptoms experienced by the women below. Theres a chance you wont feel any of them at all. Either way, most of them are likely to pass once your body adjusts.
You might get some pimples
When you’re on the Pill, your testosterone levels dip, which can lead to less breakouts, says Alyssa Dweck, MD, OB/GYN and co-author of V Is for Vagina . But when you stop taking it, those levels go back up again, so your acne could get worse, she explains.
When Melissa F. from Louisiana lost her insurance and had to go off the Pill, she started seeing acne all over her body, she tells Womens Health. She had been on the Pill for three years.
But theres good news here: For most people, the breakouts wont last. Our bodies dont like change, Dr. Edelman says. For however many years you were taking the Pill, your body got used to a continuous hormone. Now, it has to readjust to the way things were before, and during the first few months your body might freak out a bit. Acne can be a part of that.
If you didnt have any problems with acne before you started taking the Pill, the extra bumps on your face (and anywhere else) will probably go away after those few months. But, some people originally start taking the Pill because it can help clear up acne. If thats you, then Dr. Edelman says youll probably start having the same skin troubles as you did before you started the Pill once you go off it.
Youll be more (or less) horny
According to a study published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, women taking hormonal birth control may experience a lower sex drive and more discomfort during sex, thanks to the dip in testosterone levels. As a result, some women report having a higher sex drive when they go off the pill.
Yet, some people report having a higher sex drive when they start taking birth control, Dr. Edelman says, because theyre no longer worried about getting pregnant. No matter how it affected you, you can expect your body to go back to baseline when you stop taking birth control, she says.
My sex drive kind of increased and decreased when it wanted to,” Melissa says about going off the pill. “It’s like it was all out of balance.
The lack of the Pill wont make any major changes to your natural sex driveit just might feel that way because: 1. Youve been on the Pill so long that you dont remember what your natural sex drive was like, and 2. Your sex drive isnt constant. It changes throughout our lives. So your baseline sex drive when you go off the Pill might be worlds different from what it was before you started it.
Your period will change
Not to state the obvious, but birth control pills have a big impact on your period. So quitting birth control does, too. I went off the Pill about six months ago, because my husband and I want to start a family, Kaely D. from California tells Womens Health. But I wish Id gone off years ago. I love how I feel. My periods are a little irregular and unpredictable, but thats not a deal breaker for me.
Irregular periods were a slightly bigger deal for Kathy H. from North Carolina, though. She took the Pill for nine years, but went off it when she wanted to start a family . Since the Pill regulates your hormones, your period will go back to the way it was once you stop taking it, says Mary Jane Minkin, MD, clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Yale School of Medicine. So if yours didn’t always come on time every month, you should expect to have that happen again.
And, again, itll take some time for your body to regulate, Dr. Edelman says. It can take months for your period to get back to what it was before you started the Pill. And it might never the samethough thats not the Pills fault. Many women forget that our periods change throughout our lives, she says. Just because your period was always regular before you started birth control doesnt mean itll be regular afterward. Periods sometimes naturally change, and your bodys normal period when you stop taking the Pill might be very different from what it was before you began taking it.
You might be moody
PMS is a pretty normal thing for women to feel during their periods, but for some it’s very intense. Connor D. from Virginia has a severe form of PMS called premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), a condition that causes depression, irritability and tension before menstruation. For five years, she took hormonal birth control pills to manage the symptoms, but then Connor decided to stop. I was in college and didnt trust myself to remember to take it every day when my life had little to no routine, she says. I also started to experience break-through bleeding in the middle of my cycle.
Unfortunately, quitting the Pill made her PMDD symptoms way worse. My PMDD came back full force: extreme emotional changes, unexplained sadness, anger,anxiety . I only had one good week per month.
Again, experts note that any period issues you had before you started the Pill can unfortunately come back full force once you’ve quit.
You might gain or lose weight
Not everyone loses weight when they stop taking the Pill. Some gain a few pounds. Research shows that a third of women who stop taking oral contraception lose weight, a third gain weight, and a third stay exactly the same, says Dweck. If the scale goes down, it’s most likely water weight, since being on the Pill can cause water retention. But remember: Losing water weight isnt the same as losing fat, so any lost pounds likely wont last.
You might get fewer headaches
Headaches arent super common on birth control, but because the Pill regulates your natural hormones and causes a steep drop in estrogen, some people do get headaches, especially those who are prone to migraines. For some migraine sufferers, oral contraceptives can be a trigger, according to the .
Kathy felt a change in the frequency of her headaches. I did notice that I mentally and physically felt better,” she says. “I didn’t feel as sluggish, and I had a lot less headaches than I did while taking the Pill.
You might lose some hairor get it back
Heres something you probably didnt know about your hair: every follicle is on its own little growth cycle, Dr. Edelman says. But, sometimes, when your hormones changebecause youre pregnant or because youre taking or quitting the consistent hormones in birth controlyour hair all connects to one cycle. And when that happens, large clumps can all fall out at once. Its nothing to worry about for your health, Dr. Edelman says. But it can be scary.
Luckily, its pretty rare, so most people dont have to worry about losing hair when they go off the Pill.
However, other people have a different kind of hair problem. Some women start taking birth control to help with unwanted hair growth on their chins and backs. Hair in these areas is called hirsutism, Dara Matseoane-Peterssen, MD, Chief of the Division of General Obstetrics and Gynecology at New York-Presbyterian/The Allen Hospital. The Pill can help slow the growth of this hair because it tampers natural testosterone levels.
If you had problems with unwanted hair before you started birth control, youll likely have unwanted hair again after stopping it.
You might not get pregnant right away
While plenty of people quit oral contraceptives without wanting to get pregnant, its no shock that most people who leave birth control behind do it because theyre trying to start a family. But if you dont quit the Pill and then immediately get pregnant, its no reason to freak out. Remember, it can take a few months for your cycle to get back on track, Dr. Edelman says. So it might take a few tries to get pregnant.
But thats not true for everyonesome people will get pregnant immediately. So make sure youre really ready to get pregnant when you go off of your pills. Theres a myth that once you stop taking the Pill, the hormones stick around in your body for awhile, Dr. Edelman says. Some people think their body needs to flush the contraceptive hormones out, and that they wont be able to get pregnant at first, but thats not true. You can get pregnant as soon as you stop taking your pills.
Sex might feel more pleasurable
For some people, taking birth control can make sex a bit uncomfortable. Some people report pain or discomfort during sex, and luckily this should go away once someone stops taking the Pill if it was truly the culprit, Dr. Noyes says.
Typically, the discomfort happens because hormonal birth control can cause vaginal dryness, Dr. Edelman says. While lube can help with that, its sometimes not enough. Connor, for one, was happy that she no longer needed to use lube during sex once she quit the Pill.
If you struggle with uncomfortable sex because of The Pill, you might want to explore other birth control options with your doc to make sex feel good again. Just remember to be prepared. Unless pregnancy is a goal, its important to talk to a doctor about other methods of birth control if you plan on going off, Dr. Noyes says.
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