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.

 

[skyfox]

@shasikatesl Yes! This is one of the reasons I went off of HBC when I did. It should be more widely known! I was told by everyone I would get pregnant immediately and that I was being stupid. I firmly believe FAM is the way to go if you don't want to use hormones. I personally will never go on HBC again. I've been doing everything I can do to replenish my nutrients and make super healthy eggs for when we start trying to conceive.

 

[shasikatesl]

@skyfox Yep. DH and I made the compromise that we’ll wait until the fall to switch to FAM so any due dates for an oopsie would be after I graduate from school, but once that happens I’m not going back. I’ll have a full year or more to focus on getting my body prepped for TTC! I know that’s definitely a luxury, but I always encourage people to go off HBC as soon as they can. In the TFAB sub, people frequently say they wished they had gone off earlier.

 

[femalove]

@luvmylord2 Nothing wrong with still staying protected whilst you’re waiting but as far as I’m aware you can’t temp on birth control because you don’t ovulate, best of luck with everything!

I’m over an hour away from all our family and that’s how I like it, 20 minutes would be too near for me!

 

[luvmylord2]

@femalove I just want to start practicing temping and charting to get in the habit of it. I know it won't mean anything until I'm totally off hormones.

 

[shasikatesl]

@luvmylord2 I’d be really hesitant to double up on hormonal birth control because of the potential side effects. Could you practice taking a vitamin at the same time everyday instead, then just add your birth control pill in when you’re ready to take the nexaplon out?

Also I get wanting to get used to temping before hand, but it’s reallllyyy hard to stay motivated to stay in the habit of temping when you aren’t getting any actual information from it. In the pay when I’ve tracked my cycles for birth control, the big motivator of remember to temp every morning was then being able to look at the data I got from it. I might be worth a shot, but I wouldn’t get super discouraged if you have a hard time staying on top of temping every morning without the reward of getting any information from it

 

[cassiet2001]

@luvmylord2 I feel I should point out that the implant, and most birth control, actually works by adding hormones, rather than subtracting them. So, if you do add in the birth control pill as well, it’s unlikely that you’ve have better results with some of these effects, as you will be adding yet more hormone into your body. This is also why some people will add more of their chosen birth control, or even double-up on them... in order to make themselves less fertile, if a single dose is not enough for their bodies.

Also, as someone else pointed out, temping during this time would be fairly useless, as you would not ovulate at all. I mean, you could get used to doing it, but you wouldn’t see any of the indications you normally would if you were not on birth control.

If you’re planning on trying soon, it is usually recommended to come off of any hormonal birth control, and allow your body to return to it’s normal hormone cycle for at least a month or two. That way, it can start ovulating!

Best of luck!

 

[luvmylord2]

@cassiet2001 I think because Nexplanon is progesterone only that adding a pill with estrogen can help with some of these things. That's what planned Parenthood told me last time I was having these issues. Back then, I just told them I wanted a new implant because I was going to lose my insurance, so they put a new one in.
The way my brain is working this out is that I can slowly add more responsibility on myself by starting pills and temping on top of the implant, so I know I'm protected. Also becoming consistent about taking prenatal. Then I can take out the implant, but still take pills for a while. But, as soon as we are ready, I can stop the pills. I don't want an oopsie this summer when I have so many vacations on the horizon.

 

[cassiet2001]

@luvmylord2 Sounds like a plan! Just remember that you may need to give your body a bit of time to adjust after finishing the pill- not everyone returns to ovulating and stable periods right after. It all depends!

I was gonna start temping... one of these days >_> lol I just can’t be bothered right now. Waking up consistently is a struggle.

 

[katrina2017]

@luvmylord2 Would you be willing to use condoms or using the withdrawal method? We've been using the withdrawal method for over a year now and so far, no surprises. It's also been good to let my menstrual cycle regulate. When I first stopped the pill, my cycles were shorter than pre-BCP (24 days vs 30 days). A year later, they're now at 28-30 days.

 

[luvmylord2]

@katrina2017 I think that's the plan for late summer, early fall. I have a vacation planned for June, July, August. I'm trying to plan a final, pre baby hurrah to Europe in September. I'd rather not be pregnant on that trip, but maybe start trying then. I know my cycle is gonna be all screwy, but trying is supposed to be the fun part.

 

[kevintristan]

@luvmylord2 I got my mirena out in May of 2018 because our plan had been to start trying in May of this year. I knew it was going to be a year of condoms but I wanted to give my body time to adjust and see what my cycles were like after five years of not having a period. I knew that some people have gotten pregnant right away after stopping HBC and others it took way longer, but I wanted to give my body the best odds when we actually started. Now we have pushed our TTC to next May! Which means I won't have used hormones for two years! But I am shocked at how easy it has been. We track my cycle and use the pull out method unless it is my FW. I have lost weight, I feel way less hormonal/moody and my libido sky rocketed!

Every one is different.. but if I were you and was planning in trying in four months... I would just go off birth control all together.