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[born2misbehave]

Hi everyone,

I’m not sure whether to be worried about this or whether it’s normal…? I’d appreciate some thoughts so much to help me stop worrying.

I’m 42 and have been ill with gastritis (caused by iron supplements) for the last few months. I suspected my Yasmin pill was making my stomach worse while it was trying to heal, so I stopped taking it on the GP’s advice. Since stopping, my stomach has healed much better. So the bleeding -

Stopped taking the pill, had the standard withdrawal bleed. Felt ovulation about ten days later. Then a fortnight or so after that the bleeding started. It’s not what I was expecting, it’s quite frankly bizarre!! I only bleed every day between 11am - 5pm. Doesn’t matter whether I’m active or lazing around the house, it’s always the same time. I bled for ten days, had 7 days no bleeding, bled for ten more days, had 2 days no bleeding, bled again and currently on day 6. It’s not a lot, only fills like half a standard sanitary towel each day, and sorry for TMI, but it’s usually mostly like an egg white consistency.

Now I’m not sure whether this is normal for stopping a COCP at my age, or what is going on?! I know it’s meant to take a while for hormones to settle etc after stopping the pill. I’m also wondering whether it’s stress related, after being ill for so long. I also had a bad reaction to a prescribed H2 blocker which caused me to have anxiety attacks/palpitations/shaking/insomnia, and had to stop taking it but the side effects have taken a while to reduce, still not gone away completely.

Please help me with your thoughts on this, GP isn’t very helpful and I’ve found nothing googling, just ‘can take a few months for hormones to settle’

[bombsh3ll]

There are two possibilities after stopping the pill

1) the pill had been masking cycle changes that might have gone on during the time you were taking it, for example due to perimenopause. In this case your cycle may have become erratic at an earlier point had you not been on the pill.

2) post-pill cycle disruption - the HPA axis can take a few months to resume normal function after long term suppression.

I lost access to my combined pill during the pandemic for a year or two age 41-42. For the first 5 months or so I didn't bleed at all and then started back with a regular cycle albeit shorter than it had been 10 years earlier when I started the pill.

If you remain untreated only time will tell whether your cycle will return to what you were accustomed to before the pill.

However our 40's are when we have the most to gain from the combined pill especially when taken continuously - it allows us to completely bypass all the unpleasantness of perimenopause and remain bleed free and hormonally stable, as well as protecting our bones and reducing the risk of ovarian, endometrial and colorectal cancers, so for me this far outweighs curiosity about what my natural cycle would be doing by this stage!

If GI issues are a problem for you, the same benefits of the COCP can be obtained with the contraceptive patch or the Nuvaring.

[born2misbehave]

Thank you. I’m definitely going to look into the ring or patch in the future, I did ask my GP about them both instead of the pill as I don’t want anything that’s going to affect my stomach while it’s healing. She had never heard of the ring! And said they didn’t prescribe the patch because of cost! She gave me the details of a local sexual health clinic I can go to though, and I know I can also buy both online from the pharmacy website if I need to

[bombsh3ll]

I have used the Nuvaring in the past and can highly recommend it. I used to get it free from a local sexual health clinic.

I changed it every 4 weeks instead of removing it after 3 and spending the 4th week bleeding - that's for mugs!

I never bled at all on it.

In my opinion the Nuvaring is better than a patch as patches can easily come off, especially as one contraceptive patch is meant to last a week but if you work out and shower every day forget it! Especially if you have to pay for them.

Also you can get 4 weeks out of the ring whereas patches you would run out even quicker if you skip the withdrawal bleeds like I do.

[born2misbehave]

Thanks very much! Definitely going to look into this for the future