Warning: this post is about womanly stuff. I am about to tell you all about how I don’t have my period and how mad that makes me.
I stopped The Pill and now my period stopped. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I was under the impression that stopping The Pill meant bringing on the bleeding? Or did I fall asleep during that part of health class? Oh wait, I went to Catholic school.
But NooooOOooo. No, *my* body doesn’t know what to do with itself now that I’m not telling it what to do with a teeny, hormone laden pill.
I stopped the Pill because my doctors were afraid I might stroke out (migraine related).
Now, since quittin’ The Pill (like it was a bad habit?) my period is 10 days late. And no, I am not pregnant, as told to me by the 5 pregnancy tests I took of three differing brands (I had to be sure).
In calling my (new) GYN and sharing my confusion, the nurse told me I probably have post-pill amenorrhea– it means an absent or missing period after being on the pill. I can come into the office for a blood pregnancy test to be sure, but they really didn’t want to see me for a good three months (not their exact words). I need to give my body time to even itself out, since The Pill confused the period out of it.
See, “the Pill works by suppressing the pituitary gland’s cyclic stimulations of the ovaries. In essense, the Pill makes the pituitary gland think you’re pregnant, so the ovary is not stimulated to ovulate every month.” (-taken from here)
Once off The Pill the pituitary gland doesn’t know how to do its job. It needs time to acclimate, much like teenage me after a rough breakup. It’s sending out sporadic calls of desperation and not making any contact. If only chick-flics cured the endocrine system.
In my frantic search to find all the answers, the internet said I probably won’t be ovulating until my period resumes to normal. The internet also said it can take up to a year to return to “normal.” To me, all this means something I thought was so easy, actually isn’t.
I’m pissed I lived my life taking this pill to not get pregnant, now I go off of it and probably won’t be able to get pregnant for awhile. We are not currently trying to conceive, but I always thought I was in control of my body. I always assumed if I stopped the pill it meant things were back to the way they were before the pill. Now I find out that’s not the case. I would have stopped the pill a bit ago had I known this, or maybe never even started.
Frustrated, party of two (me and the pituitary gland)
Anyone else had issues with post-pill amenorrhea??
Living in our nation's capital allows me to learn something new every day. So does teaching 2nd graders. My nose piercing and tattoos keep me from normalcy, while my job and religion keep me grounded.
