After the pill... what happens next? Anovulatory cycles?

[nicoleE]

I went off the pill on the 9th March and like clockwork 4 days later got my 'withdrawl' AF which lasted a few days and was not abnormal... that was over 50 days ago and I have NOT had any kind of bleeding/spotting since....

I was on the pill for about 14 years, I am 28 now and have an excellent diet and excersize plan (not too much excersize though). Fot the past (around) 5 weeks I have been taking Premular, a strong chasteberry extract recommended by my natropath/nutritionist. (I have also been taking for the past 2 months Omega 3 Marine Oil capsules (i am a vegetarian) and a pregnancy multivitamin)

I have been temping and checking CM and think, by looking at my chart (link below) my body has attempted to ovulate twice but obviously didnt get to the needed levels for egg release... I believe this is called an 'anovulatory' cycle... however I thought that you still bleed afterwards either about 2 weeks from the 'attempt' to ovulate OR when your uterus lining gets so thick it sheds.....???

If this is the case shouldnt I have bled by now? :confused:
I know it is common to not get a regular cycle back for sometimes quite a while after stopping the pill, but is it common to not bleed at all?

I have been reading up allot and am getting a little confused... perhaps it is information overload!!

I am not sure what I should be hoping for next... signs of ovulation or a bleed so i can 'start again from scratch' next cycle...? :confused:

Has anyone had a similar experiance or have any advice to offer?? Please.. :fingerscrossed:

Thank you :hugs:

[baby dancer]

Hey there,
I came off the pill in Jan after being on it for about 4 -5 years. AF didn't arrive for 7.5 weeks after that, next cycle was 5 weeks then cycle just gone was another 7 weeks.
Judging by my CM I only O'd for the first time last month. I am now on CD3 and am taking vitex to help my cycle along.
So I have had had some strange cycles too. Probably doesn't answer your question but just wanted to let you know you're not alone :hugs:

[little_fish]

How frustrating for you! :mad: Sorry no experience here, I got my first AF 35 days after stopping the pill, but the stuff I read in that first month said I should expect the first cycle to be long (I seems to remember 6 weeks was mentioned) I am sure that means there are some people who have shorter first cycles and some with longer first cycles. It could be that your body just hasn't quite sorted itself out yet. Your AF should return to what it was like before the pill if you remember what that was like, did you have long cycles then? Have you checked to make sure you aren't pg? That's one thing that can stop AF from coming ;)

[melbryan]

I had a similiar thing happen to me and I am your age too. I went off the pill for about 2 years to give my body a break. I have done this previously for a few months and nothing would happen, never fell pregnant then one day I felt sick thought I had a bug and I had a really big bug I was 3 months pregnant, the naturpoath told me I may have infertility problems because it ran in my family. I too went to a naturopath and she put me on a potion which regulated my cycle. It did this perfectly but for whole year and a bit nothing happened. I was constantly testing my self and trying to work out when I was ovulating in the end I went off everything and tried to not focus on it as much and guess what, I fell pregnant, November last year a year and half after my first son.
My advice relax, lay on your back straight after it amd put your legs up I did this only once and I was pregnant. Or maybe it's just a fluke.

[nicoleE]

I cant actually remember what it was like, i think i first got AF at 14 and went on the pill at 15. ;) :laughing:

I just wish i knew how long it could take to get a regular cycle back as I would have gone off the pill ages ago! And I thought I had done allot of research back then! Little did I know..... :rolleyes:


I have taken 2 HPTs as we did BD twice when I thought I was ovulating, however my temps didnt stay up at all and the tests came out negative, which I expected.

[melbryan]

I will never go on the pill again I feel really stuffed up from it and know it is the cause of my anguish after the past short while. We don't know what it is doing to our insides and that is where my problems begand as a fifteen year old taking it for my skin.

[nicoleE]

sorry melbryan, I must have been posing while you were to so I didnt see your post!

I have been trying to relax, apparently I constantly stress and have an overactive adrenal gland... although I dont FEEL stressed.. i am an organised person and do get uptight over little things like traffic and time management to some extent but I dont think it is affecting my health. nevertheless my natropath has me concentrating on that!

Both my older sisters have PCOS and although I have had an ultrasound (when i was on the pill) which didnt show anything there still could be a possibility of that but my natropath doesnt think so.

[leilani07]

Hi NicoleE :wave:
I don't have a lot of information for you - but I have had a similar experience to you. I can't really remember what AF was like when I was a teenager, so when I stopped taking the pill in order to TTC I didn't know what to expect. I was delighted to find that AF was (sort of) regular for about 3 cycles after stopping the pill...but each cycle became longer and longer and after the 3rd AF never came back!
I think I waited too long to find out what was happening because once I was diagnosed with PCOS I then went to a Naturopath for 4 months and when that didn't work I went back to my GP and got a referral to a fertility specialist, and now it is about 12 months since I was diagnosed and I am only on my second month of medication.
I really think that if you are concerned about anything or even if you want clarification about anovulatory cycles, go straight to your doctor. They will give you all the information you need, they will know if something needs to be taken further. There are a lot of different conditions out there and really, the female cycle really is like a dominoe effect....one thing being not quite right will send everything out of kilter! :rolleyes: I felt such relief when I knew exactly what was going on and what I could do about it.
Good luck :fingerscrossed:

[melbryan]

Hey you sound like you're out of the same mould I am. The naturopath told me to meditate, I said when have I got time for this?????? She said you're doing too much. I am a person who needs to stay occupied or else I get bored.
I get annoyed when things are messy and dis organised I feel it has got worse since my son has come along. I try and relax but when I see dishes at the sink or clothes on the floor I just can't rest.
Easy to say hard to see, hope all is fine and the moment you are least expecting it you will fall pregnant. I think the older you are 29 is not old but the harder it is. My friedns who are 23 fall pregnant just by looking at their hubby it's not fair. I cried lots because I thought there was something wrong with me. Both times I lost 15 kg and fell very quickly after this.:fingerscrossed:

[nicoleE]

Melbryan that does sound allot like me, i just cant do 'nothing'. I work full time and go to the gym about 4 times during the week and hubby has a second job on weekends and has to train for it (physical training) during the week also so we both live busy lives and have the usual house work etc to get done on weekends. I do 6 loads of washing for just the two of us on weekends because of all our work, casual and training clothes! lol Even when I get to sit down at night to watch tv i always have to be reading, thinking or organising something!
I am going to a stress management through yoga workshop this weekend so hope that will help a bit.

[EJ177]

I went off the pill on the 9th March and like clockwork 4 days later got my 'withdrawl' AF which lasted a few days and was not abnormal... that was over 50 days ago and I have NOT had any kind of bleeding/spotting since....

I was on the pill for about 14 years, I am 28 now and have an excellent diet and excersize plan (not too much excersize though). Fot the past (around) 5 weeks I have been taking Premular, a strong chasteberry extract recommended by my natropath/nutritionist. (I have also been taking for the past 2 months Omega 3 Marine Oil capsules (i am a vegetarian) and a pregnancy multivitamin)

I have been temping and checking CM and think, by looking at my chart (link below) my body has attempted to ovulate twice but obviously didnt get to the needed levels for egg release... I believe this is called an 'anovulatory' cycle... however I thought that you still bleed afterwards either about 2 weeks from the 'attempt' to ovulate OR when your uterus lining gets so thick it sheds.....???

If this is the case shouldnt I have bled by now? :confused:
I know it is common to not get a regular cycle back for sometimes quite a while after stopping the pill, but is it common to not bleed at all?

I have been reading up allot and am getting a little confused... perhaps it is information overload!!

I am not sure what I should be hoping for next... signs of ovulation or a bleed so i can 'start again from scratch' next cycle...? :confused:

Has anyone had a similar experiance or have any advice to offer?? Please.. :fingerscrossed:

Thank you :hugs:
Nicole hubby and I are TTC and similar to you (at the time of this old post), I just turned 30, was on the pill for 15 yrs, am a vegetarian, keep an excellent diet/moderate exercise routine, and while I like things organized I don't feel stressed. Went off pill 10 mos ago and have had no regular cycle - everything from light spotting to 20 days of heavy bleeding but nothing consistent... suspecting I have PCOS and wondering what treatment / other advice you'd recommend?? Thx - EJ

[Nettle]

Hi NicoleE,

I was on the pill for seven years. I had one period after coming off at the usual time and then it disappeared for ~80 days. The next cycle was ~60 days and in the end it was 12 months before a regular cycle was established.

I am young and was heavily into fitness as well as working full time shift work. Not really sure how much of an impact that had on it.

Somewhere in my second long cycle I got seen to and told for some women it is normal to take up to 12 months for things to get back on track.

You say your body tried to ovulate a few times... Is this because you are monitoring CM or cervix or doing OPKs?? If that is the case I would be highly suspicious of PCOS as it is often characterized by sporadic fertile patches which don't result in ovulation.

[waitingmyturn]

I went off the pill on the 9th March and like clockwork 4 days later got my 'withdrawl' AF which lasted a few days and was not abnormal... that was over 50 days ago and I have NOT had any kind of bleeding/spotting since....

I was on the pill for about 14 years, I am 28 now and have an excellent diet and excersize plan (not too much excersize though). Fot the past (around) 5 weeks I have been taking Premular, a strong chasteberry extract recommended by my natropath/nutritionist. (I have also been taking for the past 2 months Omega 3 Marine Oil capsules (i am a vegetarian) and a pregnancy multivitamin)

I have been temping and checking CM and think, by looking at my chart (link below) my body has attempted to ovulate twice but obviously didnt get to the needed levels for egg release... I believe this is called an 'anovulatory' cycle... however I thought that you still bleed afterwards either about 2 weeks from the 'attempt' to ovulate OR when your uterus lining gets so thick it sheds.....???

If this is the case shouldnt I have bled by now? :confused:
I know it is common to not get a regular cycle back for sometimes quite a while after stopping the pill, but is it common to not bleed at all?

I have been reading up allot and am getting a little confused... perhaps it is information overload!!

I am not sure what I should be hoping for next... signs of ovulation or a bleed so i can 'start again from scratch' next cycle...? :confused:

Has anyone had a similar experience or have any advice to offer?? Please.. :fingerscrossed:

Thank you :hugs:
hey hun, yep i am having the experience now. Went off the pill in June an now in November still have not had an AF (not even a lining shed). My GP told me during my first visit a couple months ago that it can take anywhere from 1month to up to 12 months for ur cycle to regulate once u stop the BCP but once u get to 12 weeks without a proper AF to go and see a GP. They usually wont do anything about it but if u are TTC and get to 12 weeks without having an AF they will send u for tests to see what is going on. It's generally caused by something simple like a hormonal imbalance. HTH :)

[EJ177]

Thx for replies/reassurance, BCP really screws w/ hormones :hair: hoping after 15 yrs on it, my body's just still adjusting, so I'll keep waiting another few months for regular AF!

:fingerscrossed::fingerscrossed::fingerscrossed: for us!!

[Catkin]

I was on the pill (a very strong one, Marvelon) for 17 years - came off at the end of June this year as I was about to have my second op this year for CIN3. Withdrawal bleed as normal, op the next week then 31 days after my bleed came AF... 16 days after that I O'd and then I was pregnant!

When I was a teenager I had severe menoragghia - I'd be ill for about 6 weeks at a time and my cycles were anywhere between 6 and 12 weeks long - and between 3 and 6 weeks of that each time would be me bleeding like niagra falls which is why I got put on the pill (I finally talked to a Dr about it after 4 and a half years - I wish to God someone had told me that something could be done about it before that!!).

Anyway my first and only "natural" mp in half my life was as light as anything, and only 3 days long. I was a little unnerved. I'm now waiting to see what happens now, after a d&c... I ovulated on Sat so I should know in a couple of weeks!!

So... anovulatory cycles are definitely not always the case - even after 17 years on the pill and 2 or 3 operations in that area in one year... ;)

Question for you... I've been taking Elevit and extra B12 since May too - I won't take anything like Marine Oil or Fish Oil as I'm completely vegetarian. No fish, no animal, no by products no nothing. All the Marine Oils I've seen have had some fish or fish by products in them - if yours doesn't, could you let me know what it's called please?

(oh, and what I didn't mention... I felt like s**t for at least a week after I came off it. I was completely unco-ordinated, dropped stuff, felt sick and was totally up and down mood wise! DH said I wasn't safe to be around!!)

[EJ177]

I'm not taking any marine oil -- I think that was original poster Nicole E -- sorry can't help!! Good luck over next couple weeks!!

[Catkin]

LOL! Hadn't noticed the dates on the original posts!! Wow... Anyway hope my burble was of some use to someone - even if only to give hope that miracles can happen!

[EJ177]

No worries! Catkin, do you want to move our thoughts/Q's to a different thread topic? BTW/FYI I'm TTC #1, about to start Vitex to regulate cycles...