Changing b.c. before trying

[luvmylord2]

My husband and I have been talking about our timeline. We are pretty close to wanting to start trying. Right now I'm on my second Nexplanon. I've had this one in for about 2 years and I feel like at this point it's starting to have less hormones, which leads to more side effects. The same thing happened after about 18-24 months with my last one. My periods get crazy. I had 3 periods in May. The most recent one lasted 7 days. It took a lot out of me. I also gained like 4 pounds from retaining so much fluid for a month, I guess. My anxiety was off the charts in April and May and causing issues at work. To make everything more complicated, my work laid me off on Friday for "budget reasons." It was only a part time job and I'm still self employed so that's really not a big deal to our financial health. It just really sucked emotionally. My acne has also been so bad I feel like I have teenager skin again.

So, regarding birth control, I have an appointment with my Nurse practitioner next Monday for my annual and preconception appointment. I'm going to tell her all this and ask if I can get birth control pills on top of my Nexplanon. Has anyone else done that? I'm hoping I can better regulate my bleeding if I'm on the pill. I have a lot of vacations coming up in the next few months, and it would be nice to know when to expect my period. Right now, I have a couple days notice because of PMS, but I can have almost back to back periods with pms in the middle and it feels like I don't get a break from it.

My plan is to get used to taking pills on a proper schedule for a while and start practicing temping. Then get my Nexplanon out in a couple months, then stop the pills when we are ready to ttc. I think we are at the point that we would be okay conceiving anytime now, so if I'm not good at taking my bc pill, an oopsie wouldn't be too bad. I wanted to buy a house before getting pregnant, but I don't even care now. I just want to move to live closer to my mom, even though we only live 20 minutes away from each other now.

I'm sorry this is long and rambling. I have a lot of feelings right now and I don't know who else to talk to. I was supposed to get free therapy sessions through my work, but now that I've been let go, I need to start over on my process of finding a therapist that my husband's insurance will cover.

 

[father_wolfgang]

@luvmylord2 Have you considered going off bc now completely and just using condoms for protection until ttc? It might take time for your cycle to regulate after going off it, especially if it's so irregular now while on bc. Just a thought

 

[luvmylord2]

@father_wolfgang I have thought about it, but I don't think we are quite ready to go to just condoms yet. I think I want to stay on bc through the summer vacations I have planned, and hope that adding pills will regulate the bleeding more.

 

[skyfox]

@luvmylord2 I think you should remove the nexplanon as soon as possible, and if you feel you need birth control still, you could start the pills. It wouldn't hurt to just go off completely either. I have a friend who went off nexplanon about a year ago and still hasn't had a consistent monthly period. It's very heartbreaking because she is currently trying to conceive.

I think practicing temping is a great idea! Some people will say it's a waste of your time if you are on birth control, but temping is definitely something that takes practice. I temped for about a month before going off the pill just for the practice.

I also should mention that I believe women should be off birth control for at least 6 months to a year before trying to conceive just to make sure their cycles stabilize and you have time to properly build up your vitamin levels that were depleted while on birth control. It would reduce the risk of miscarriage. I know this won't work for everyone, but if you are willing to learn the Fertility Awareness Method, then I don't think it should be a problem. I've been temping and checking cervical mucus for 8 months now and it's been going really well. I haven't had any scares yet.

 

[shasikatesl]

@skyfox Super agreed with your last paragraph. It breaks my heart how many times women are told to wait into my the very last minute to go off birth control without being told the realities that it can take up to 18 months for a perfectly healthy woman’s cycle to return to normal, and that HBC depletes some of the most important nutrients for conception and sustaining a healthy pregnancy.