Coming off the pill in preparation for trying for a baby

[Fiona85]

Hi everyone,

I take the contraceptive pill (femodene) for three months and then have a week break and have been doing so for the last few years to control endometriosis. My husband and I want to start trying for a baby later in the year, should I start taking my pill as normal now? Worried that if I do the endo will come back but don't want it to take years to come out of my system!

thanks in advance for any help

[jo-scho]

Personally I would hang on and go off it at the last available moment. I took the combined pill for years and then when I started ttc I came off it 6 months before hand to get it out of my system. 6 years later & 6 cycles of IVF I was still trying to get pregnant!

We made it in the end though, with a twin son & daughter concieved on our 7th IVF attempt. I have no evidence that stopping the pill sooner made any difference but within those 6-12 months after coming off the pill i got worse and worse bowel pain & severe constipation (was absolutely fine while on the pill), and eventually got stage 4 endo all over my bowel and womb diagnosed by a laparoscopy. .

Wishing you loads and loads of luck in getting pregnant. Fingers crossed for you!

xxx

[Fiona85 in reply to jo-scho]

Thanks so much for getting back to me, so pleased to hear you got there in the end! I'm really quite anxious, i've given up asking the gp anything as i've always found them to be very unhelpful! Were you recommended to come off the pill in advance or did you just choose to? Xx

[babypink]

well you have got to concider that it could take you a year to concieve, you could always come off the pill and let nature take its course ,,or they is that chance that you wouldnt concieve naturally ,so if you needed a little help and you havent concieved before the end of the year ,,you could look int to that ,theys no time like the presence i always say, with endo i think its best to try as soon as possible when your ready to have children ,,coz its a awful disease that can rob you of been a mother,id give your self the best possible chance and start sooner than later before the endo gets too bad xxxx

[Fiona85 in reply to babypink]

Thanks, we've just moved into a new house and it needs a bit of work doing sp we anticipate being ready by may to start trying. I've looked on lots of websites but can't find anything about whether you should stop taking the pill a few months beforehand

[Livinginpain35 in reply to Fiona85]

I would come off it and use protection at least your body is getting the break from the pill ...

wishing you all best 🙏🏻

[jo-scho]

No, I wasn't recommended to come off the pill, I just chose to as like you say, i thought it would be good to get my body free of hormones. At that point in time I had no idea I had endo, always suffered from very painful periods but just thought that was normal. Then when the bottom pain started I had no idea what it was and just suffered for ages before a laparoscopy confirmed it was endo and I then joined the waiting list for IVF.

From my own hideous experiences of ttc I would suggest coming off the pill and immediately ttc, and if nothing happens within 6 months go to your GP (embellish the truth and say you've been trying a bit longer so they don't tell you to go away and 'relax!'). I just had a funny feeling (I think with my constantly painful periods) that it wasn't going to happen naturally so I went after 6 months and I'm pleased I did, cause I waited so long for appts, check ups etc that by the time we got rolling for IVF it was nearly 2 years later. At least you're already aware of the problems you may face as I didn't have a clue when I first started out. Knowledge is power!

I have everything crossed for you that you won't need to go on the journey I did, but it makes sense to be prepared and be ready to get help if you need to. And don't give up! My beautiful baby boy and girl are worth every single second of the hell I went through.

Wishing you all the luck in the world hon xxxx

[Fiona85]

Thanks so much! I'm really excited to start trying. I was diagnosed with endo when I was 19 and was told by so many GPs "have a baby now otherwise you'll regret it" even though I was still at uni, lived with my parents and had only been with my partner for a few months. I guess it's a gamble waiting but I don't think I could have been a mummy aged 19 but totally feel ready now (aged 27) so fingers crossed!