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Illustrated by: Paola Delucca

And actually, your periods in general might become more erratic.

“The pill tends to produce regularity,” Dr. Minkin says. That tends to mean regular timing of your periods every month (both in terms of when they start and how long they go) and consistent flow each period. Go off of the birth control pill, and you could experience the opposite of this, especially at first: erratic period frequency, unpredictable differences in how many days each cycle lasts, and unexplained spotting between periods. These irregularities often go away the longer you’ve been off the pill, but they don't always.

On top of that, it’s not abnormal for your periods to change over time. So after some time on the pill, you might notice new things once you’re off it because the pill was basically masking those changes. That's why when a patient wants to stop taking it, Dr. Minkin often asks, “Do you remember how crummy your periods could be? I want you to stop the pill, use condoms, and see what your period is like. If it’s terrible, just [go back to] the pill.”