Quit Birth Controll Pill, How Long Until Sex Drive Returns?

Not really a How To but more of a Now What....

After doing a few searches here on if anyone was having problems with their libido while on Birth Control Pills (BCP), I decided to go off of them.

It's now starting my 3rd week off of them, and while I feel like I have more energy and my boyfriend says I seem happier, I still haven't had a return of my sex drive.

I'm 25 now, and went on them when I turned 18, so it's been six years of the pill (and about 3 different brands).

Has anyone gone off the pill because of low sex drive (or any other reason) and found that their sex drive returned/increased?

And if so, how long did it take before their libido returned?

Thanks!

P.S. Take it easy on me, this is my first time posting!!!

Welcome to lit!

This is such a timely thread for me, personally. I recently went back on birth control pills after not being on them for a year. My sex drive absolutely plummeted. My mood changed...I was weepy ALL the time. It took a lot to get me excited about things. I began to feel like a shell.

So...I'm not on them right now. It's been about a week. My libido is returning, and my mood is SO much better. And it's funny, because I originally went on the pill to keep my mood swings under control! Strange, how it works just the opposite now that I'm older. Oh, well.

Keep us posted?

And again, welcome to lit. You will find quite an interesting and supportive group here.

S.

Well, they say it's supposed to take about three to four months for the pills to take total effect, so wouldn't it stand to reason that it would take the same amount of time to reverse it?

I have tried a number of birth control pills and they all ended up wiping my sex drive.

Actually, I often wondered if it wasn't a built in safety margin. I mean while you're on the pill you sure don't want sex, therefore no sex = no pregancy !

Seriously though, after one cycle off the pill I was pretty much back into it

I was on the pill for many years during that time I could take or leave sex. I thought it was my relationships, that I was depressed by my injuries or something but then I had some problems and went off them, it took a couple of months and then everything changed.

I started getting very interested in sex again like when I was younger and I was not on the pill. It took a couple of months. The first thing that happened was I could smell men again. I told my gyno this when she asked how it was different and she just about freaked, threw an assortment of polyurethane condoms at me, explained in great detail that I could get pregnant, even at my advanced age, I was 39 ! LOL It was probably the gleam in my eye that did it. I always used condoms anyway.

So now I feel a lot more normal and when I am ovulating I can really feeling the change, like I could devore my lovers or any attractive guy that walks by I also come harder but I am sure that is the men in my life and not the lack of pill.
Oh and when I am ovulating those phermones are incredible, like men magnets, of course the ones I want are rarely the ones within smelling range

It's been many years now, but yes, I think it took a couple of months to get my groove back after I went off the pill to get pregnant. I would have dumped them years before if I had realized how much effect they had on me--I carried ten extra pounds, I didn't care about sex to the extent that it hurt my marriage, and I felt lethargic and uncreative. I never had a clue that it was the pills until I stopped taking them. I won't ever go back to hormonal birth control.

MM

Thanks for all the replies!

sheath- Thanks for the welcome!

I'm glad to hear that your drive is returning so soon.

Since I've been on them for 7 years straight now, I hope mine starts coming back soon.

Maybe I will have to keep you all posted...

entitled- I hope not, but even if it takes that long, as long as it comes back, then it's worth it.

tendril- That's exactly what I was thinking too! The pill didn't need to do anything more than kill my sex drive, forget all the other stuff!

Glad to hear that you to regained your drive!

Noor- Glad that yot also got your drive back (it sounds like you really got it back!)

Madame Manga- Glad to hear that it only took a couple of months.

I am at the point also that it is affecting my relationship with my boyfriend, so I'm really glad that you all have got your libidos' back after going off the pill.

Thanks to all!

BCPFree

I've been on b/c pills for about 2yrs and haven't had any problems. Of course, 2yrs isn't that long but I haven't noticed a change in libido or had mood swings as much. If I had problems I'd go off them too, it's not worth it. There are alot of other b/c methods out there. Just my .02 worth.

I've done the pills, the shot and various methods of b/c over the years since I was 18 (I'm 25 now). I've never really had them affect my sex drive. I HAVE had stress affect my sex drive though. And if you're worried about whether or not your sex drive is high, it's going to affect it.

Just a thought...but every woman's libido is afffected differently.

When i first went on the pill it really dulled my libido, and i also found that i couldn't get enough lubrication during sex. I went off the pill for a while and got my drive back in a couple months, but couldn't wait to get back on it b/c of the horrible cramps and horrible skin and horrible bleeding i have when i'm off it. When i did go back on it, i asked the doctor to put me on something that wouldn't decrease my sex drive (a very liberating moment for me). It was a female doctor, so she said she'd have me try her pill which didn't give her any libido-reducing side effects. It sounds kind of weird that she would put me on her own pill, but it was because she went to look at a list of different pills and their side effects and evidently was unable to determine from this list which ones would and wouldn't affect your libido. Does anyone besides me think this is just horribly wrong??? That doctors and pharmaceutical companies think a woman's sexual drive is not important enough to consider when prescribing a medication that she will be taking every day for years and years???
The footnote is that my new pill is much better. I may not be a hundred percent, but right now it's a happy medium. If anyone wants to know what i'm taking so they can ask their doctor about it, feel free to pm me.

Well, I just went back on the pill last October due to being pre-menopausal. Had been off of them for over 10 years. Didn't notice any significant change in my sex drive, except that it probably increased after I started taking them again. It helps when the pills control the horrible, death-wish, cramping, and the bleeding that happens almost non-stop for 3 weeks out of 4! Just being able to have sex comfortably again without having to worry about bleeding all over the bed, or having to take off at least one day from work due to cramping felt liberating to me! And no, no weight gain, either.

Perhaps it is the kind of pill? I am taking Yasmin, and from what I've heard it is fairly new on the market. It is specifically designed so that a woman doesn't gain weight, and it is a lower dosage so she doesn't get the side effects of other pills.

Whatever it is, I'm on these puppies until I get through menopause! The way I feel, its' "free at last, free at last, thank God I'm free at last!"


Edited to add: Granted my man is 50 and I'm 43, but my libido is greater than his. And just after my period ends? It's his favorite time - can't hold me back!

catch-22

I never realized how much I hated hormonal birth control (HBC) methods until I finally stopped them. There is something magical about the natural ebb and flow of a womans cycle. HBC stops ovulation, which in my experience, makes us (ME !!!) want to fuck like rabbits! Granted, ovulation is also what causes us to become pregnant. And causes the mood swings, cramps, and expence of feminine products. Hence the catch!

I'm still searching for an answer too!

emer

My 2 Cents...

Hi,

I had my tubes tied at 21 years old. Unusual? Yes. Every birth control pill they gave me caused "breakthrough bleeding". I was informed that this meant non-effectiveness. By then I had a son and daughter, so it was okay with me. I was informed that I was highly fertile, therefore the Pill would never work for me.

During the couple of years I was on the Pill, I was always horny. Periods lasted 3 days max, no cramps, it was great. After, I went back into a week of bleeding, grumpiness, cramps, on and on.

At 37, I am already starting to slack on my cycle, and hope I'll be blessed with early menopause. Pray for me. I do hope all of you achieve what it is you wish for when it comes to children...

Hugs,
Wantonica

Re: catch-22

emer said:

There is something magical about the natural ebb and flow of a womans cycle.

Click to expand...

Um, not to me...I worship at the shrine of the shot because I DON'T get my period, and the moment I have my second child I've getting rid of my ovaries...I can't wait!!!!!!! If I didn't want to have kids they would already be gone. Or I'd be on that false menopause treatment they have. I don't see any reason to have my period unless I'm trying to get pregnant. I have seriously painful periods and I want it over with. Wonder if there's any way to just have the uterus removed or something once I'm done with procreating.

Re: Re: catch-22

deliciously_naughty said:

Um, not to me...I worship at the shrine of the shot because I DON'T get my period, and the moment I have my second child I've getting rid of my ovaries...I can't wait!!!!!!! If I didn't want to have kids they would already be gone. Or I'd be on that false menopause treatment they have. I don't see any reason to have my period unless I'm trying to get pregnant. I have seriously painful periods and I want it over with. Wonder if there's any way to just have the uterus removed or something once I'm done with procreating.

Click to expand...

Hysterectomy... but it's not recommended for anybody your age. Or mine, for that matter. my doctor did agree to do a tubal after my last child was born, but that was more for medical reasons than anything. i'm just so fertile, and getting pregnant so many times so close together, that it was ruining my health. Even with that she almost didn't agree to it.

SexyChele said:

<snip> And just after my period ends? It's his favorite time - can't hold me back! <snip>

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\

Ahhh yes, that lovely feeling 'ripe' time. Isn't that just the best !!

BCPFree said:

Has anyone gone off the pill because of low sex drive (or any other reason) and found that their sex drive returned/increased?

And if so, how long did it take before their libido returned?

Click to expand...

I stopped taking birth control pills a couple of times over the past 13 years because they completely killed my sex drive. I absolutely hated it.

The only exception I have found is the progesterone only pill called Micronor, which I am on now because I am breastfeeding. It doesn't dry up my breast milk, but it's effectiveness will rapidly decrease once the baby is weaned. When that time comes my doctor has suggested trying out either the patch or the nuva(sp?) ring. According to him there is less progesterone and estrogen in these kinds of HBC because it is more readily absorbed into the body than when it has to go through the stomach.

I'd prefer to skip hormonal birth control all together and opt for something that won't mess with my natural cycle at all, but those options seem to be few and far between.

Re: Re: catch-22

deliciously_naughty said:

Um, not to me...I worship at the shrine of the shot because I DON'T get my period, and the moment I have my second child I've getting rid of my ovaries...I can't wait!!!!!!! If I didn't want to have kids they would already be gone. Or I'd be on that false menopause treatment they have. I don't see any reason to have my period unless I'm trying to get pregnant. I have seriously painful periods and I want it over with. Wonder if there's any way to just have the uterus removed or something once I'm done with procreating.

Click to expand...

LOL ... yeah, it's pretty easy for me to sit here feeling smug and happy in my "natural" womanliness ... this week. In ten to 15 days I'll be a quivering ball of tears, in the fetal position on the couch with the heating pad, trying not to overdose on Advil!

I'm going back to the shot too. I'm concerned about the depression I felt when I used it before but I'm come to realize that my home life may have been the culprit, not the Depo.

Getting pregnant now would totally suck! Eventually, as soon as I have better insurance, I'm going to get my tubes tied.

emer

Re: Re: Re: catch-22

emer said:

I'm going back to the shot too. I'm concerned about the depression I felt when I used it before but I'm come to realize that my home life may have been the culprit, not the Depo.

emer

Click to expand...

Can you tell us more about the shot? I'm curious, since the pills were horrible for me.



S.

I too was on the pill for a number of years and had a very high sex drive which my bloke loved. I ended up coming off it for medical reasons it shot my bp through the floor so hormonal b/c was out of the question. We decided to use the coil as our next option. My sex drive did take a dip but that was when the coil was put in and I was getting stomach cramps quite frequently. That has now gone and my sex drive is back to normal. The only thing I miss about the pill is you could in effect control your periods well you could on the one I was on. And now every 4 weeks along it comes I get grumpy and want to be left alone. Bu what does my bloke say one week out of four isn't bad then week off sex gives him time to recover and restore his energy ready for the next 3/4 weeks.

Re: Re: Re: Re: catch-22

sheath said:

Can you tell us more about the shot? I'm curious, since the pills were horrible for me.



S.

Click to expand...

http://my.webmd.com/content/article/4/1680_50968.htm?lastselectedguid={5FE84E90-BC77-4056-A91C-9531713CA348}

I did a quick search on WebMD and found this article. It highlites the same info and concerns I had 6 years ago when I started on the shot. (which is worse? ... not being able to access my online work medical sites at home or not being able to access Lit at work?)

Prior to beginning depo shots I used Norplant. Had the little rods implanted on my 6 week checkup after the birth of my second child. The first year was great. No period whatsoever! Didn't even think about the loss of libido because I was taking care of a two year old and a newborn.

The second year on Norplant (and third and fourth ... didn't make it to the fifth!) were absolutely horrible. The bleeding started and NEVER stopped. Really, I mean never. If I was lucky I may have had 5-7 days a month that I didn't bleed. At the time I was in school, unemployeed, and uninsured so relied on govt dole-outs. One "rule" about having the govt pay for the Norplant was that I couldn't have it removed until the fifth year. (unless I paid for it myself). Documentation that my hemoglobin dropped from 16 to 8 convinced my gyn to remove it.

Sorry I got side-tracked.

Depo ... I'm going to try it again for a number of reasons. It is extremely convenient and not too expensive. Every twelve weeks I got a deep muscle shot in the butt. (I did take it in the arm once ... lord that hurt! Get it in the butt and walk, run, or do your normal exercise to lessen the ache.)

I am concerned about the loss of libido more than the loss of bone density. I'm in the high risk group so I'll make sure I keep up the exercise and get more calcium.

Also worried about the horrible depression I went thru. Like I said before, I don't know if I should blame the hormones or the crappy marriage situation. Not sure if I can blame the loss of libido on the shot or the ex-spouse! Right now I'm extremely happy to be out of the marriage. During the next three months I'm going to pay attention to my moods, be aware of a funk I can't get out of. I'll probably give it at least 6 months.

I'd love to try some of the new pills and patches but I always forget to take the pill.

emer

BCPFree said:

Not really a How To but more of a Now What....

After doing a few searches here on if anyone was having problems with their libido while on Birth Control Pills (BCP), I decided to go off of them.

It's now starting my 3rd week off of them, and while I feel like I have more energy and my boyfriend says I seem happier, I still haven't had a return of my sex drive.

I'm 25 now, and went on them when I turned 18, so it's been six years of the pill (and about 3 different brands).

Has anyone gone off the pill because of low sex drive (or any other reason) and found that their sex drive returned/increased?

And if so, how long did it take before their libido returned?

Thanks!

P.S. Take it easy on me, this is my first time posting!!!

Click to expand...

Dear BCPfree,

One important thing you said ... your boyfriend says you seem happier. That is a good sign. Most of the time our friends and family notice mood changes before we do.

I flashed back to when I was 25 and remembered how busy my life was then ... two jobs and full time college. Once or twice a month I may have had the energy to initiate sex ... the other 20 times I just endured and silently memorized trig formulas.

One thing I realized that may actually help and you may not like this.

The desire to get pregnant definitely increased my pleasure and desire ... just as the fear of getting pregnant sometimes decreases it. (not always, hence the two incredible kids I have!)

Good Luck,
emer

I was on the pill for 11 years straight until I got my tubes tied 4 years ago. Now I've been told I have to go back on it for a few months to regulate my periods which have been all over the place this year due to personal stress. Seriously, I thought I was hitting the menopause at 44

My hormone levels are normal, but I have a excess of one of the pituitary hormones which has caused the lining of my uterus to thicken normally but not shed properly (missed periods). My doctor wants to try the pill to get the lining to shed (not looking forward to that.....I'll probably be flooding all over the place ) Not to mention the possible effect on my sex drive, which I never noticed in the past due to shall we say not wanting to with my ex anyway I was lucky in that I didn't have any side effects when I was on it other than delayed conception (again, that could have been because of the problems in the marriage.....)

SexyChele I'll ask my doctor about Yasmin and see if it's available here. That one sounds ideal...

Bandit58 said:

SexyChele I'll ask my doctor about Yasmin and see if it's available here. That one sounds ideal...

Click to expand...

I think it's been around about a year and a half or so, and that's here in the US. It normally takes our government longer to approve drugs overall than most other countries. If Yasmin is not available, you might want to have a sit down with your doctor and discuss other brands. I'm taking mine simply to regulate my periods as well, so I only needed one with a low dosage. That seems to be the key, I think.

Yet, when I was on the pill in my 20s I didn't notice any significant drop in libido or nausea or anything, so it might be me. And now, I'm just happy not to be bleeding 3 weeks out of 4 and to have almost cramp-free periods, that I'm just more comfortable about having sex! That probably has a lot to do with increased libido for me!

Good luck!