Hi,
I am on Apri, before that Seasonal (terrible bacterial like acne, mood changes), the patch (mood changes, felt wEiRd) and something else.
On Apri, I have gained so much weight (20lbs almost in 5 months) I have no sex drive and feeling a little blue. I have decided to go without the pill for a while - has anyone else gone off the pill or found something they really liked?
I'd recommend searching this board, there's about five differnt posts listing all the things people have experienced after going off the pill. While im not one of those that have stopped (just started) those posts have alot of really good advice/warnings/etc. As for other pills people liked, im pretty good on Alesse (aviane, generic) for the moment. Slight spotting during the last week, but i didn't have a proper period prior to starting the pill, so i'll let you know if that goes away.
I was on Otho Tri cyclen for about 13 years and no problems with weight gain then I moved to Colorado two and 1/2 years ago and had to get another doctor and they made me switch to Apri. Over the past two years I went from 118 to 126-128. I didn't put two and two together until about a month ago. I stopped completely taking them about 3 weeks ago and I have already lost 2 lbs. I work out 5 days a week 1 hour cardio + resistance and stay around 1400 cal per week tons of water and no weight loss. So frustrated I though hmmm could the birth control pills be doing this?? so I found this board and all the posts confirmed my suspicions. The first two weeks off of them were hard, I felt really strange like I was detoxing. I felt like I was pmsing but now I seem to be fine. The acne is starting a little bit but I expected that. I would rather have a few zits than be 10 lbs over weight anyday. Good luck to you!!
I recently went off BC (in the last month). I took Loestrin 24 and I loved everything except the breakthrough bleeding I had. It got worse every month. When I went off, I finished the pack and had my withdrawal bleeding then about 10 days later the same as what I had experienced as breakthrough bleeding. It lasted about 5 days but was not at all like a period. I barely needed a pantiliner but it was still annoying. I did have some headaches but nothing I couldn't be okay with. I learned a secret for me anyways is if I take 800 mg motrin every 6 hrs while bleeding, I will bleed less time and of course with pain medicine, I will hurt less. Other forms of BC are really up to the individual. I personally don't want to do the pill route again. I don't have the worry of getting pregnant though so that's a difference. I don't know when my period will show back up but it hasn't yet. Good luck with your decision but just know that condoms aren't all that bad and there can be a little fun in them.
I am now 4 months off of birth control and feel better than I have in awhile! The acne got bad for awhile, but now is better (I've always struggled with acne though, well before I went on BC in the first place). One thing I finally noticed within the last month.. MY SEX DRIVE IS BACK!! YAY!! I'm still nervous about going off BC long term, and am thinking about going with the Mirena IUD since I have a hard time with anything containing estrogen.
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