Expert: Brigid Kowalczyk - 6/23/2006

Question
I'm 23 years old and have recently gotten married.  My husband and I are looking to start a family in about a year and I have been on Kariva for right at 2 years.  I am wanting to stop the usage due to the rumors I here about the trouble women have getting pregnant when they have been on it for so long.  The main reason I started taking birth control was due to my irregular cycles.  I am really worried about the side effects of stopping the usage of it.  What can I expect?

Answer
The only side effects I'm aware of for stopping the pill is regaining your natural health!  However, since you had irregular cycles before starting the pill there is no reason to expect that they will not still be irregular because the pill doesn't cure that problem.  

Whatever was the root cause of irregularity is probably still there.  So, you can expect that your cycles may still not be what you expect (the doctor expected) and that could effect your fertility.  

Yes, pill users can sometimes have impaired fertility.  So when you stop begin a regime of good healthy habits and perhaps you can overcome any deficit:  good eating, exercise, vitamins, enough sleep and water.  There are natural things you can do to help your cycles to regularize including Vitamin B6, light therapy, PMS vitamins, etc.  

You will have to wait and see how things go.  Two years isn't a really long time to be on the pill and you were older when you started it.  Real problems occur when girls start taking it in their mid teens or continue on it for years and years.  

I would recommend you look at Natural Family Planning because not only does it help you understand your fertility, it gives you great information about your general health and doesn't impair your relationship with your husband like the pill does.