After 3 years with the birth control pill , we’ve amicably parted ways. I was on birth control for the obvious reason, but it always felt like a bit of a necessary evil. While I didn’t love the idea of pumping my body with hormones, I also didn’t love the idea of a surprise pregnancy….so taking the pill seemed unavoidable. I always thought I would stay on birth control until I was ready to get pregnant (I wish), but instead I decided to take a break this summer after going through a break up. I wanted to give my body a break from the hormones, and see how it would react to the change. It’s been about 4 months since I quit, and today I’m sharing my experience quitting birth control.

My experience quitting birth control

Skin changes

In the days after I quit birth control, my face broke out like I have never seen before. I never struggled with acne before or while taking the pill, and I assumed that wouldn’t change afterwards. WRONG. Looking in the mirror in the first few weeks after I quit birth control was honestly like looking at a different human. I seriously felt like I had been face swapped! My poor skin hung around for about a month, at which point I panic subscribed to Curology, a prescription skincare service. (P.S. I highly recommend Curology). Once I started Curology it took about another two months for my skin to calm down. My skin still isn’t perfect, but it is much improved and feels much more “normal” now!

Period changes

Menstrual cycle, menstrual cycle, wherefore art thou menstrual cycle? When I stopped taking birth control, I had a short period in the month afterwards, and then my cycle just straight up disappeared for 2.5 months. Unfortunately this wasn’t due to immaculate conception, just my body recovering from the hormone change. I actually even started to worry that I was suddenly infertile or menopausal (LOL), but apparently it’s normal for your cycle to be wonky after leaving the pill. 

When I was taking the pill, I got used to seeing my period exactly every 4th Tuesday (down to the hour), which made it easy to plan for. It’s definitely a major change to not know when my period is coming. That’s been the biggest adjustment so far!

Mental health changes

I’ve heard that people can have negative reactions to birth control – increased anxiety, depression, etc. Luckily for me I’m already blessed with anxiety, so birth control never affected my mental health. (I kind of wish my anxiety could be blamed on birth control!) Alas, there has been no notable difference in my mental health on/off birth control.

Future changes

After this experience, I am super torn about whether my future will include the birth control pill. Going through the post-pill facial breakouts was enough to make me never want to go on the pill again! On the other hand, I do like the peace of mind and regularity of periods that occur on the pill. 

Forward thinking, when it comes time for kids (a dream is a wish your heart makes), I don’t want to have to go through months of transitioning off of the pill, so I’m taking that into consideration as well. While that’s a ways off, I think I’ll do research on other non-hormonal methods of birth control before I consider the pill again.

Ladies – what kind of birth control method do you use? Do you have experience quitting birth control? I’d love any recommendations or insight on your experience!

xo,
Liz