Hope this is in the right forum. I've been taking Yasmin birth control pills for about 8 years now to treat acne. According to my doctor, it also helps with the symptoms of perimenopause. I've decided to stop taking B.C, but I'm afraid of what may happen. I expect the acne to return, but I'm wondering what else to expect. When my doctor has blood drawn to have my TSH (?) levels checked, she feels that the results are not always accurate. So one benefit of being off the pills is that we may finally have an accurate level reading. In the meantime, I'm a little fearful of what awful symptoms I can expect from stopping B.C. pills after so many years. Any thoughts, experiences with this?

I can't speak from experience but I did a huge amount of reading because I was considering using low-dose BC pills for my peri. I decided against them because they suppress your body's production of estrogens and progesterone and it can take some time after you stop the pills for your body to go back to "normal" again ... whatever normal is, especially during peri ! I would think that when you stop, you *might* experience symptoms of flatlined E and P, so perhaps some hot flashes and missed periods and other symptoms. But after a few months you should know exactly where you stand. Hopefully someone with experience can post her experience.

Btw, I decided to use OTC progesterone cream for now, based on my symptoms and lab test results.

I've also been using birth control pills to control the symptoms, and I dread the day I'm told to stop. I use Seasonale and only go off them for one week a month, but it's a week of misery. Hot flashes, migraines, fuzzy thinking, anxiety that not even Xanax seems to help, you name it.

I guess that wasn't very positive, but of course your mileage may vary.