Numerous women who have been using the birth control pill to prevent pregnancy will experience changes in their menstrual cycle when they discontinue using it. According to the Mayo Clinic, some women will experience a condition that is called post-pill amenorrhea. Post-pill amenorrhea is when a woman does not have a period while the hormones in her body are returning to their original, pre-pill state. For most women, normal periods will resume within three months, though it could take up to six months for women who have been taking the same type of pill for any length of time.
Inability to Conceive
For women who have been using Depo-Provera, an injection administered in the arm that supplies a continuous amount of hormone to the patient, conceiving could be delayed once they are off this method of birth control. Women who opt for this method need to get a shot four times a year. If a women decides that she wants to have a baby and stops getting the shot, it could take as long as 18 months after her last shot before she has any chance of becoming pregnant. Also, she is at greater risk for miscarriage because, as stated on on the website Beyond Fertility, reproductive hormones are no longer in balance. Depo-Provera works by causing an imbalance in female reproductive hormones. Medicine.net states that a woman's body could take anywhere from two weeks to eight weeks for the reproductive hormones to return to normal after stopping birth control. Once the hormones have balanced to a normal level, conception should no longer be delayed.
Acne
Low-dose birth control is commonly used to treat acne. Though it has been proven temporarily effective in getting rid of acne, it is usually a short-term solution to the problem. Women who have never had a problem with acne before will sometimes develop it once they stop using the pill. Usage of a birth control pill is one of the leading causes for adult onset acne in women, according to AcneNet, an online information and resource site from The American Academy of Dermatologists.
Weight Gain
A large number of women have heard that taking the pill could cause weight gain, but not many realize that coming off the pill could cause the same problem. The imbalance of hormones can disrupt a woman's metabolism and can lead to subtle weight gain.
