terrified to come off the bcp

jfer · 01-21-2005, 11:20 AM

i've been on the pill for nearly 15 years, with a break of about a year and half mid way between that (when pcos symptoms arrived and dx'd).

I am considering coming off the bcp. good reasons for it being ... i have skin discolouration on my face, apparently due to the bcp, and no sex drive which i also put down to bcp.

however, what about the irregular / non - existent / never - ending periods, weight gain, mood swings, hair growth, spotty face? this could all come back.

somehow though i think that the bcp might be a bad thing for me...
very confused and terrified of returning symptoms.
pros vs cons...

what are your experiences of this decision?

thanks in advance. x

Chrissy · 01-21-2005, 07:13 PM

I came off the pill and went on Avandia this last time. My symptoms were not as severe as when I went off without using another medication. I am unsure if this is because of the Avandia or that it has been years and I am pushing 40 now.

When I was 30 I quit it and my symptoms gradually worsened. I did however lose weight after coming off the pill. I am a thin cyster and the pill helped me hold a few extra pounds of fluid. I actually lost weight though and was at my all time slimmest that year and a half. My skin and excess hair gradually worsened to the point they had been when I was first diagnosed. They did not worsen past this but remained the same as before. The lack of AF and acne brought me back to the pill however.

I say see what happens. If you really want to quit the pill and see what your body does. You could always low/moderate carb and add chromium to see if any of it helps your cycle and symptoms. Then there is the option of met./gluc. or avandia. Good luck with your decision!

Boiler · 01-23-2005, 03:41 PM

Hello.

I had been on the Pill for 17 years when I finally decided to stop taking them a month ago. For the majority of those years (and prior to my PCOS diagnosis), I took a triphasic version. Once the PCOS was diagnosed, I was switched to Yasmin, and I also tried Mircette for a short period of time.

Although we may try to have a baby this year, I chose to go off the Pill for a variety of reasons:

1. I wanted to see if the Fortamet was actually working in this area. After all, I had gone on the Pill at age 19 because I wasn't ovulating. At that time, PCOS was not even mentioned, even though I had the symptoms even then.
2. I was retaining water like crazy.
3. I had absolutely NO sex drive. This has been an ongoing issue since switching to Yasmin/Mircette.
4. Yasmin initially helped w/the acne, but a few months ago, the acne was as bad as it ever had been.
5. I just felt as if my body was telling me that 17 years of BCP was enough.
6. Could the BCP be related to my inability to lose these last 20 lbs? The jury is still out on this one, although I suspect my IR is more to blame than the BCP.

Anyway, I last took BCP in December. In January, after 25 days, AF visited for the first time ON HER OWN in all of those years. I know it's too early to tell if this will continue, but the fact that it did happen reassured me that my decision to go off BCP was the right one. My acne is actually MUCH better, and overall, I just feel better. Time will tell!