Hi all, and welcome back!
I really enjoyed writing my last post, and I’m trying to
keep up with this blogging malarkey. However my life is not very interesting at
the moment, and I’m scrabbling for things to talk about! I’ve
recently come off the pill, and thought it would be good to document my
experience. In the weeks leading up to my decision to come off, I scoured the internet
for what to expect; would I be a hormonal monster, how would my body change, how
is it going to affect me? I was shocked at the absolute lack of conversation
about it, so I thought I’d pop my thoughts and feelings into a post in the hope
that it helps anyone! (Also full disclosure that this blog post will definitely
have moments of WAY too much information, but it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise
that a blog post about the pill involves talk about periods, contraception, and
an array of other female problems!)
Before we get any further, let me get one thing perfectly
straight – WE ARE NOT TRYING FOR A BABY. I will discuss my reasons for coming
off the pill later, but I already know that as soon as this is out there,
everyone is going to start preparing for the imminent pregnancy announcement –
keep waiting! It is not going to happen any time soon!
So now that we have addressed the elephant in the room, let’s
get into my experiences with the pill. Just want to add a little disclaimer –
this is all my personal experience, but if there is one thing I have learned
from my research, it’s that every single woman reacts to the pill differently! So,
what I am writing is not necessarily what other people experience, it’s just my
personal account. So without further ado, lets get to it!
I went on the pill when I was 17. Contraception was a part
of the decision, but not the sole reason. I was getting really heavy, really
painful periods, and mum suggested this would potentially help relieve them a
bit. I also had typical teenage skin – I wouldn’t say I ever had acne, but I definitely
went through a very spotty phase. I was also in a new relationship, which also
happened to be my first relationship (who would have guessed that my first
relationship would eventually become a marriage!). I think both myself and mum
knew that although it was very early days, I was 17, so we were going to have
to have that awkward safe sex conversation soon… thankfully it was very brief, and we decided that it would just be a good
idea for me to go on the pill as a precaution, despite the fact I wasn’t having
sex yet. And for a teenage prude who felt very embarrassed at the prospect of
telling a doctor that I wanted the pill for contraception, I was grateful that I
had heavy periods and bad skin to use as an excuse!
So that was that – I went to the doctors and got the pill. I’d
heard so many horror stories, about the awful weight gain, hideous mood swings,
sore boobs, migraines… it was pretty scary! However, either I was one of the
lucky ones or all those stories are just scaremongering. Don’t get me wrong, my
boobs got sore because they grew drastically, and mum can attest to the fact
that I was an absolute monster for a few weeks while my body adjusted to the
hormones, but I always got really bad PMS anyway so she was pretty used to it! Other
than that, I didn’t really get any long-term symptoms. I’m still not sure how
the pill affected my weight, as I was already losing weight anyway through a
very strict diet. I continued to lose weight the entire first year I was on the
pill – at my one-year check-up, I was 11lbs lighter which stunned me! But it
wasn’t accidental weight loss, so I don’t know how much impact the pill had on
my weight.
In terms of which pill I went on - I was initially on Mycrogynon,
but they switched that to Rigevidon after a couple of years because Mycrogynon
was apparently too expensive to prescribe. However, I didn’t get on with
Rigevidon (despite the fact that it’s basically the same!) so they then switched
me to Levest. I had no issues with that brand and stayed on it for the remaining
8 or so years! (Also, going to add a shout out to the NHS here – how amazing is
it that I have been taking a medication for 10 years, and have never had to pay
a penny for it! SO grateful for our amazing health service!)
I don’t have much to report for the duration I was on the
pill – I was really good at taking it, as it just became routine in that it was
the first thing I did in the morning; in the 10 years I was on it, I think I only
missed about 6 pills! My period was like clockwork – not only could I pinpoint the
day that I was going to start, but also the hour, which is just mad! I was also
very conscious of what could prevent the pill working i.e. vomiting, diarrhoea,
skipping pills, etc. so I always made sure we were still safe. I know it doesn’t
work for a lot of people, but it definitely worked for me, and not once did I have
a legitimate pregnancy scare (the “scares” I did have were just be being uber
paranoid about my period being one day late – ridiculous).
So why have I come off if we’re not trying for a baby? There
are a few reasons, but predominantly, it was because I’d been on it for so
long. Although my nurse wasn’t concerned and was willing to prescribe me
another year’s worth of the pill, I was conscious that 10 years is a long time!
And we all know that despite the fact we’re not trying now, and I’m perfectly
happy with our family being just the two of us at the moment, I definitely want
to be a mum in the future. So I decided that it was time to let my body get
back to normal. I always used to hear that “for every year you’re on the pill,
it can take a month coming off before you’re fertile”. I have no idea how much truth
is in that – I know people who have fallen pregnant straight after coming off,
and some people who have struggled for years! But I thought it was sensible to
take it as a rough rule of thumb, and though we’re not trying now, I don’t want
us to decide we’re ready and then have to wait 10 months for my body to become
fertile.
My experience coming off the pill was surprisingly positive.
I mentioned earlier that when I went on the pill, my hormones went WILD and I
was extremely moody and snappy for weeks. So I had forewarned Anthony that he
may need to go and live somewhere else while I adjusted! However, moodwise, I don’t
think anything really changed, which was a very pleasant surprise!
I mentioned earlier that I wasn’t sure if going on the pill
made me gain or lose weight, because I was actively trying to lose weight anyway…
well I’m still not really sure, but I think perhaps it did predispose me to gaining
weight. I haven’t lost weight coming off it, in fact I have gained! But coming
off the pill also coincided with me getting an ankle injury which put me out of
action for 2 weeks (and I normally work out 6 times a week, for a minimum of an
hour). My diet remained the same most days, but there were also definitely more
binge days than normal because I was feeling sorry for myself. I’ve been
pleasantly surprised that although I have gained weight, it isn’t nearly as
drastic as I expected it would be. Is it because of the pill? Who knows, but it’s
one of the only factors that changed within that time!
I was also shocked at how quickly my body adjusted back into
a normal cycle. For anyone who isn’t aware (I wasn’t, even when I was on the pill!),
the combined pill works in three ways; by preventing ovulation, by thickening
your mucus in the neck of the womb (gross I know) and by thinning your uterine
lining. You technically don’t have periods, you have “withdrawal bleeds”. When I
discovered that, it only increased my panic about when I would be fertile again
– if I hadn’t ovulated for 10 years, then how would my body ever remember what
to do?! However, I was STUNNED that I ovulated pretty much bang on schedule (based
on the dates of my last “period”), and my first actual period in 10 years was
only 2 days late (based on my ovulation date). Not sure if that is a fluke, as
this month I was due to ovulate yesterday and haven’t yet, but my body is still
adjusting, so I’m not at all concerned.
Small note in here to explain why I am tracking ovulation –
we are partly doing it as a form of contraception, so that we know to take
other precautions when I’m more fertile. But predominantly, it is for my peace
of mind – although we aren’t trying for a baby now (going to need to start a
swear jar for that sentence…), it is really reassuring for me to know whether
my body is working as it should or not. It just means that when we do decide to
try, I can either relax in the knowledge that my body works as it should, or I know
that we may need to speak to a doctor about any issues with my cycle.
So far so good, right? Unsurprisingly, I did experience some negative symptoms. My period lulled me into a false sense of security by being really light for the first 3 days, but was then very heavy – it’s the first time in 10 years that I’ve had to get up in the night because otherwise I would have leaked. My boobs also deflated, and what I would consider the worst symptom (which absolutely no articles mentioned!) is what I am calling “fire nips”. I won’t go into too much detail, but from about day 5 after coming off, through until the end of my period, if anything brushed against my nipples, it honestly felt like a bolt of lightning through my body. Even my own arm brushing against them in the night, or in the shower, or literally any time; it honestly felt like they were on fire! They were so sensitive; it was unlike anything I have ever experienced. It’s possibly the only time in my life that I enjoyed wearing a bra!
Thankfully, all symptoms (not that I had many!) have now
settled, and I don’t actually feel any different than I did when I was on the
pill. I’m really glad that I chose to come off when I did, as actually it felt
like a very smooth transition, and it felt like the right stage in my life. Being
in this weird “lockdown but not locked down” situation also gave me more flexibility
than perhaps I might have had, which I am grateful for.
That is all for now, I hope I didn’t gross you out too much!
Hopefully, I’ll post another blog in a couple of weeks. Any requested topics,
let me know.
Much love!
X
