No Menses Since Discontinuing Pill
Question
My husband and I are trying to get pregnant. My cycles are irregular and birth control pills help to regulate. I stopped taking my birth control pills almost two months ago and I haven’t had a cycle since. My gyno prescribed me medroxyprogest but I haven’t started the prescription yet because for the last week I’ve had cramping and have signs of my cycle starting but not all the way. I want my cycle to come on without the help of the prescription. Should I wait, or start taking the prescription, or could I possibly be pregnant?
Tameka
Answer
Last Updated: July 16, 2013
Dear Tameka,
There is certainly a chance that you are pregnant, and a home pregnancy test would be helpful. If you are not pregnant, you may find it very helpful to learn how to chart your cycles with the modern NFP techniques. With your history of irregular cycles, there may be an underlying disorder, such as polycystic ovarian disease, that could affect your fertility as well as the health of your pregnancy. Charting your cycle will help you know the time of greatest fertility. The charts can also help diagnose certain menstrual changes that have a higher miscarriage rate. Once diagnosed, these menstrual changes can then be treated prior to pregnancy with specific treatment, rather than birth control pills.
Regarding taking medroxyprogesterone if you are not pregnant, generally waiting a week to see if you are going to start on your own is okay, but you should discuss this with your doctor. One of the great advantages of NFP charting is being able to give progesterone support that is timed to your cycle, when your body would normally be making the progesterone. The human identical progesterone can be used to regulate cycles, and is safe and supportive of pregnancy.
I wish you well in your efforts to build your family.
Sincerely,
Lynn Keenan, MD, CNFPMC
There is certainly a chance that you are pregnant, and a home pregnancy test would be helpful. If you are not pregnant, you may find it very helpful to learn how to chart your cycles with the modern NFP techniques. With your history of irregular cycles, there may be an underlying disorder, such as polycystic ovarian disease, that could affect your fertility as well as the health of your pregnancy. Charting your cycle will help you know the time of greatest fertility. The charts can also help diagnose certain menstrual changes that have a higher miscarriage rate. Once diagnosed, these menstrual changes can then be treated prior to pregnancy with specific treatment, rather than birth control pills.
Regarding taking medroxyprogesterone if you are not pregnant, generally waiting a week to see if you are going to start on your own is okay, but you should discuss this with your doctor. One of the great advantages of NFP charting is being able to give progesterone support that is timed to your cycle, when your body would normally be making the progesterone. The human identical progesterone can be used to regulate cycles, and is safe and supportive of pregnancy.
I wish you well in your efforts to build your family.
Sincerely,
Lynn Keenan, MD, CNFPMC
Answered By:
Lynn Keenan, MD
Lynn Keenan, MD, Immediate Past President of the CANFP Executive Board, is a Clinical Professor at the UCSF/Fresno Internal Medicine Residency Program (now retired), Board Certified in Sleep and Internal Medicine, and Vice President of the International Institute for Restorative Reproductive Medicine. She earned her BSN at UCLA, her MD at Temple University School of Medicine, and completed her Residency in Internal Medicine at UCSF/Fresno. Dr. Keenan served on the Executive Board of CANFP since 2004, as President of CANFP since 2010, and graciously agreed to continue her service to CANFP on the Advisory Board at the beginning of 2019, upon her retirement from the Executive Board of CANFP
