Ovulation After "The Pill"

Hi S.,

I teach NFP (Natural Family Planning) which tracks fertility signs such as basal body temperature and cervical mucus in women's monthly cycles via charting. When we teach our method women who are coming off the pill follow special rules for the first 3 cycles after they have stopped taking artificial hormones. That's because it usually takes at least that minimum number of cycles before the hormones are out of the body enough to stop affecting the fertility signs. Of course there are variations of this....could be shorter, could be longer....but 3 months is average for the signs to return. Often the first cycle off the pill is annovulatory with no temp shift and cervical mucus is erratic/continuous and can't be depended upon in our method. By the 2nd cycle, the mucus is usually starting to go back to normal, but still could be erratic. Sometimes the woman ovulates (temp shift) the 2nd cycle off, but sometimes not. But by the third cycle the mucus is usually back to normal and often there is ovulation (temp shift) again. You would just have to keep charting to really know for sure. Now for injectable hormones such as Depo-provera, they can last much longer in the body and it can be a while before ovulation returns, but for the pill it is on average 3 months.

Good luck,
M.

Dear S.:

In most cases it will take about 6 months before ovulation returns to normal. Ovulation is a mechanism of the liver regulating back to normal from the medication. Some women have been known to take 2 years.

If you want o get back to normal much faster and be sure there is no residue of the drug left in your system during the pregnancy you can use a product called Hepata*Trope. This is an all natural product prescribed by many physicians over the past 20 years for this purpose. It is not a prescription and can be found in specialty pharmacies or on the web.

Good Luck

S. L.

It varies from woman to woman. I was on birth control for 9 years (the pill, depo and the pill again). We decided we wanted to try for a baby so I completed my pack of pills and ovulated 14 days into my 1st cycle. I tracked my cycle for 2 months, the 3rd month we tried for the first time and got pregnant that month. We were very lucky! I know other women who have taken much longer. Tracking your basal body temperature is the easier method to determine if/when you are ovulating and to time sex around ovulation. I used www.fertilityfriend.com and found it to be a wonderful source!

I actually just talked to my doctor the other day who said that given I am around the same weight I was when I got pregnant with my son, same lifestyle, etc., she thinks I would have an easy time getting pregnant again, but there is no telling what will happen.

Good luck!

It all depends on the person. i was on the pill for a little over two years and quit taking it and my daughter was concieved about a week later. How do I know? We tried once then my DH got sick (he has Crohn's Disease so we expected concieving would be a challenge). A month later I was "late" and took a test and it was positive.

Don't start checking your temp. yet it is going to take awhile and you want a break. Enjoy the terrible two's and if it happens it happens. If you have kids too close together you never get the breal that is needed not to mention if you wait a littlelonger your youger one wll love to help out with the new baby and wont feel as left out if they are to closw together

Sara,
I decided to try for my second when my first was about 1 1/2 yrs, I got off the pill and started tracking temperatures immediately and had no changes in temperature but got pregnant after three months. Not sure why my temperatures didn't change but and we just counted days instead. Wishing you the best of luck!
M.

you dont have to have a temp change to be ovulating. the ovulation predictor kits also dont always work for everyone. basically find out how long your cycles are if they are regular...like every 28 days or 35 or whatever just count back 14 days. thats the time you want to "try". 14 days before you would normally get you period plus a couple days before that and after just in case. at your next ob/gyn appt. ask for a coupe tests like thyroid and an insulin resistance test. these two things can make it hard to get pregnant.