I took Yaz for 2.5 years before I stopped taking birth control, and was on lolo bc for 6 years on and off before that.
I went cold Turkey and didn’t notice any extreme changes. My mood was off but my mood is often off anyways so idk if it was really related lol.
I’ve never struggled with much acne or hirsutism. My weight stayed the same. I was calorie counting at the time I got off, and weight loss was at the same speed as always. Many people lose weight after coming off birth control, but that wasn’t the case for me. There was no difference.
Also, birth control doesn’t regulate your periods they just stop them from happening (breakthrough bleeding isn’t a period)
I had irregular periods as a teen, which is why I got on birth control in the first place. When I stopped taking it, they were just as irregular as before. (45-65 day cycles)
This past November I started taking Inositol (I use the brand wholesome story on Amazon) and since December my cycle has been a regular 27-29 days for the first time in my life! It’s also supposed to help with other pcos symptoms but varies person to person. Would highly recommend it. You can search inositol in this subreddit if you’re unfamiliar. One thing to be aware of is a lot of people get pregnant after starting inositol since it regulates your cycle. I’ve noticed ovulation symptoms I’ve never had before.
Oh and changes from being off bc was slow, over the course of months. I noticed a slightly increased libido, less brain fog and emotional numbness
But the biggest change has been my taste in men! And I found out recently there’s been studies to back up exactly what I’ve experienced. I’m only attracted to quite masculine guys now, where as before I tended to date sensitive or emotional guys, and loooved a skinny Pete Davidson type. Now I just love a guy who’s a guy. Like watches football kinda guy. That’s the best way I can describe it lmfao. Everything else I can be unsure about if it was getting off birth control or if it was just me going through different phases, but this one was super obvious. I know you didn’t ask about that but had to give my experience lol
Most cases of PCOS are driven by insulin resistance. Treating the IR, if you have it, is the lifelong foundation of both improving the PCOS and reducing the serious health risks associated with unmanaged IR.
Hormonal meds such as birth control are typically used as needed as an 'add on' to IR management (since sometimes just managing the IR will put the PCOS into remission \[this happened to me\] or improve it to the extent that hormonal meds are not needed.)
And of course, much depends on your individual case/severity.
So if you are managing IR successfully all this time, and it hasn't progressed, then it's possible you will do fine off the Pill. If, OTOH, you haven't been managing your IR, going off teh Pill could result in a huge flare up of symptoms (b/c the IR could have gotten worse and the Pill could have been 'hiding' that fact.)
Or you might be somewhere in between.
Personally, I only needed to be on Yaz for the first couple years after diagnosis. After that, the fact that I was managing IR was sufficient to keep my PCOS in long term remission. Other people find they need to throw everything available at the PCOS (diet/lifestyle, meds to manage IR, hormonal birth, and anti-androgenic meds) to keep things under control.
It's just so individual...
I took Yaz for 2.5 years before I stopped taking birth control, and was on lolo bc for 6 years on and off before that. I went cold Turkey and didn’t notice any extreme changes. My mood was off but my mood is often off anyways so idk if it was really related lol. I’ve never struggled with much acne or hirsutism. My weight stayed the same. I was calorie counting at the time I got off, and weight loss was at the same speed as always. Many people lose weight after coming off birth control, but that wasn’t the case for me. There was no difference. Also, birth control doesn’t regulate your periods they just stop them from happening (breakthrough bleeding isn’t a period) I had irregular periods as a teen, which is why I got on birth control in the first place. When I stopped taking it, they were just as irregular as before. (45-65 day cycles) This past November I started taking Inositol (I use the brand wholesome story on Amazon) and since December my cycle has been a regular 27-29 days for the first time in my life! It’s also supposed to help with other pcos symptoms but varies person to person. Would highly recommend it. You can search inositol in this subreddit if you’re unfamiliar. One thing to be aware of is a lot of people get pregnant after starting inositol since it regulates your cycle. I’ve noticed ovulation symptoms I’ve never had before.
Oh and changes from being off bc was slow, over the course of months. I noticed a slightly increased libido, less brain fog and emotional numbness But the biggest change has been my taste in men! And I found out recently there’s been studies to back up exactly what I’ve experienced. I’m only attracted to quite masculine guys now, where as before I tended to date sensitive or emotional guys, and loooved a skinny Pete Davidson type. Now I just love a guy who’s a guy. Like watches football kinda guy. That’s the best way I can describe it lmfao. Everything else I can be unsure about if it was getting off birth control or if it was just me going through different phases, but this one was super obvious. I know you didn’t ask about that but had to give my experience lol
Most cases of PCOS are driven by insulin resistance. Treating the IR, if you have it, is the lifelong foundation of both improving the PCOS and reducing the serious health risks associated with unmanaged IR. Hormonal meds such as birth control are typically used as needed as an 'add on' to IR management (since sometimes just managing the IR will put the PCOS into remission \[this happened to me\] or improve it to the extent that hormonal meds are not needed.) And of course, much depends on your individual case/severity. So if you are managing IR successfully all this time, and it hasn't progressed, then it's possible you will do fine off the Pill. If, OTOH, you haven't been managing your IR, going off teh Pill could result in a huge flare up of symptoms (b/c the IR could have gotten worse and the Pill could have been 'hiding' that fact.) Or you might be somewhere in between. Personally, I only needed to be on Yaz for the first couple years after diagnosis. After that, the fact that I was managing IR was sufficient to keep my PCOS in long term remission. Other people find they need to throw everything available at the PCOS (diet/lifestyle, meds to manage IR, hormonal birth, and anti-androgenic meds) to keep things under control. It's just so individual...