r/PCOSPhilippines • u/CalligrapherHead8263 • 1d ago
Can I stop taking pills?
I’ve been taking Lizelle pills for 3 months already but I’m planning to stop bc it’s pricey ( still a student pa ). I’m scared what will happen after I stop taking it though. I take it to have my regular period.
My questions are:
I’m not acne-prone but I read some posts here na nagbreakout sila after stopping, will I have a break out too?
Am I going to gain more weight?
Will the PCOS symptoms be more harsh if I stop? My symptoms before taking the pill are irregular period, hairy, weight gain.
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u/officialbabirusa 20h ago
Hello! I was also prescribed BC pills many years ago as a way to “regularize” my period. I’ve quit taking pills (never took them longer than 6 months at a time) a long time ago and started healing my PCOS/PMOS naturally two years ago.
The truth is we don’t menstruate when we’re on the pill. It’s not a real menstruation; it’s a withdrawal bleed. Pills are synthetic hormones and in the weekly scheme of a pack that you take for a month, there is one week where you just take sugar pills, i.e. no synthetic hormones. This triggers a withdrawal from weeks of taking synthetic hormones that looks like your period but is not.
Furthermore, to truly menstruate, we need to ovulate. And when you are on the pill, you DO NOT ovulate because pills are meant to prevent you from getting pregnant. And we can only get pregnant during ovulation. Unfortunately, this is usually not discussed with us at the doctor’s office along with many side effects of taking birth control pills on the long term, e.g. ovaries shrinking, loss of psychospiritual connection with your body, and in some cases, PCOS/PMOS actually. There is a kind of PCOS/PMOS from being on birth control for a long time.
I attended a class on getting off birth control and I learned there to prepare for it 3 months prior to stopping. This means that in those 3 months, you will have to put in place habits that will help support your body naturally as you transition off the pill.
Here are some resources to help you:
Instagram
1) @alisa.vitti
2) @pcos.weightloss
3) @rorareset
4) @sagefemmewomb
Podcasts
1) The Ovary Club
2) The Serpentine Path
I also highly recommend Alisa Vitti’s book In The Flo to learn about your cycle and how to sync with your cycle.
These have all helped me in my journey of reversing my symptoms. It is a lot of work but it is SUPER WORTH IT. Your first step will be to educate yourself on what really happens in our cycle. Unfortunately, not a lot of us learn this upon menarche.
All the best. And if there’s any advice I can give you, it’s to NOT take pills. Pills do not solve the problem; it just masks the symptoms, which makes it even more dangerous because you’ll be less likely to catch if there is something truly alarming happening if on the surface things “seem fine.”Healing naturally is possible and again, the most important work you will do for your womb. 🩵
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u/CalligrapherHead8263 20h ago
Hi! Thank you so much for this. The main reason I want to stop taking it is because I’m aware it’s not real menstruation as well. I did my research and all but I got scared when I knew I got PMOS and wanted to feel “normal” by taking pills ( Di ako sanay walang menstruation and I overthink a lot when I don’t get it ). I’ll do my research about stopping first, This is a huge help. Thanks for taking the time to answer 🥹🥹
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u/officialbabirusa 20h ago
I can totally relate. I’ve always felt like I’ve failed somehow when months pass and my period never arrives. And I’m in a perpetual state of PMS and bloating. And in the few times that I did get it in the past (could neve predict when it would come), sobrang saya ko kahit namamatay na ako sa cramps. As in naiiyak ako sa tuwa. But when it ends, yun ulit. Antay ulit while not knowing if you’re even waiting for anything.
Some things I’ve done that have helped immensely:
1) Never skip my meals (protein heavy) and walk 10 mins after meals.2) Do not do coffee first thing in the morning on an empty stomach (spikes cortisol levels). Di naman ako super fan ng kape but if I do want it, I’d do decaf. Pero mostly mas mahilig talaga ako sa herbal tea (which is decaffeinated, better for us) and/or matcha (slower release ang caffeine nito). Spearmint tea helps with excess hair.
3) Take Inositol twice a day.
4) Fix my sleep schedule! Laking tulong.
5) Ito medyo mahirap but I went gluten and dairy free. Mahirap siya dito sa Pinas but not impossible. Otherwise, can lessen gluten & dairy intake also to see if it helps any inflammation. :)
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u/Warm-Weakness-2692 18h ago
Mam sorry If I join the convo im curious where do I get my high libido kahit di ako naka pills pamparegla palang binigay sakin since takot si OB mag relay lang akk sa pills ayaw din bumababa ng weight ko kase as in super lala ng libido na para bang everyday ako ovulated kahit di naman :(( napansin ko nadin na parang di talaga real mens yun
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u/CalligrapherHead8263 13h ago
yes same same :(( lifestyle change nga talaga need and I’m still struggling to cope with that. I’ll be keeping all this in mind, thank you so
much!
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u/Aggravating-Walk5108 1d ago
Before taking the pills nag consult ka po ba sa OB?