I went to my OBGYN a couple weeks ago because I hadnt had a period in awhile. I told her I did not want Birth control because my husband and I have been "trying" for 2 years so she gave me provera. However, now that I am going to go through the lap band surgery I didn't want provera and would rather do birth control so that 1. I can finally have a period after 114 days and 2. not get pregnant before the surgery (which is weird to me since I've been peeing on a stick for so long). I called my surgeons office and they said I could be on BC but would have to stop it 4 weeks before surgery and not get back on 4-6 weeks after surgery. I then asked them about Provera but she wasnt familiar with it (its to make me have a period with still have the possibility of getting pregnant).

Does anyone have advice or have any experience with this. I've always had irregular periods, however, 114 days is kinda pushing it to ridiculous.

Thanks!

OBGYN says that I need to first have a period before they will proscribe Birth control. So...after I take Provera and start I will get the birth control and just stop 4-6 weeks before I turn in my insurance request. I'm guessing because there wasn't any replies after 208 views this hasnt been an issue...but wanted to let someone know that might of been wondering the same thing as me.

I'm going to side step if you don't mind....

If you have been trying to have children, and have irregular periods.

That is a major comorbitey as far as Ins., and the Doctors.

So make sure you tell your surgeon this.

Meaning approval for you for surgery is a snap.

Once you had your surgery, and have healed, you can again deal with this problem.

But 1 at a time.....

It is also possible that down the road, if you are on the pill for a while, and have lost weight, that once you stop the pill you could end up pregnant.

DON'T hold me to that ! It has been known to happen. The obesity is related to the irregular periods. Ask your OBGYN She should know.

But it works with getting banded.

I wish you luck, and good health, Shirley.

If you're taking BC pills you need to continue them for at least 1 year after surgery. The risk is too high to you and the baby if you get pregnant before you lose all of your excess weight.

Plus it's very unsafe for a baby to gestate in an overweight mother. While those babies survive just fine, they have many issues as they grow up so it's to your advantage and your future child's advantage for you to get on birth control (no reason to stop taking it 4 weeks before surgery - say on it the entire time - talk to your surgeon about that) and stay on it for at least 12 months following or until you've lost all of your extra weight then about 3 months after you've reached your goal.

Once you're at that point you'll know how you should eat. This is crucial because it's very likely you'll have your Fluid mostly - if not completely - removed if/when you become pregnant and if you already know how to eat you'll be able to minimize weight gain outside of the necessary 20-30 lbs for your baby.

I was told you absolutely can NOT be on birth control 4 weeks out of surgery. The reason I was told to stay off of birth control was because it can cause issues with blood clotting for the surgery. I was told it would be fine to resume the birth control pills as soon as the surgery was over and I started my period. I am only 2 weeks out of surgery and just started back on the birth control pills. Also, I was told by my doctor that a lot of women get pregnant either before or right after the surgery because they don't take enough precautions with birth control when they have sex. I was told that if I wanted to have sex before the birth control pills are back in my system for over a month to make sure my husband wore a condom everytime, PERIOD! I know that you are wanting to get pregnant, but aren't you going to wait until some of the weight comes off? Why are you having surgery if you are trying and planning on getting pregnant any time soon? If I would've told that to my doctor he would NOT have done the surgery. The surgery is for us to get control of our weight and get down to a healthy BMI and weight for us, not to try and have a child right away. Maybe you should rethink the whole idea of having a child anytime soon and just concentrate on one thing at a time!

Thank you for the information...I'm confused why people are thinking my post was about me getting pregnant. My intentions previously was to get pregnant and went to my OBGYN for help. Thats when she told me about the surgery and since have put attempting to have children on hold. My COMPLETE focus is this surgery and getting healthy and am trying NOT to get pregnant in the meantime that is why im asking about birth control. Thank you all for your information I will be starting birth control soon, once I get a period they said they would prescribe it so i've started taking Provera to jump start that. In the meantime we are being safe. I'm not doing this for the main purpose of getting pregnant I'm doing this to be able to maintain a happy and HEALTHY life and can only hope I do have children in the future, and if so, I'm going to be here long enough to enjoy them.

Thanks again!

I was told you absolutely can NOT be on birth control 4 weeks out of surgery. The reason I was told to stay off of birth control was because it can cause issues with blood clotting for the surgery. I was told it would be fine to resume the birth control pills as soon as the surgery was over and I started my period. I am only 2 weeks out of surgery and just started back on the birth control pills. Also, I was told by my doctor that a lot of women get pregnant either before or right after the surgery because they don't take enough precautions with birth control when they have sex. I was told that if I wanted to have sex before the birth control pills are back in my system for over a month to make sure my husband wore a condom everytime, PERIOD! I know that you are wanting to get pregnant, but aren't you going to wait until some of the weight comes off? Why are you having surgery if you are trying and planning on getting pregnant any time soon? If I would've told that to my doctor he would NOT have done the surgery. The surgery is for us to get control of our weight and get down to a healthy BMI and weight for us, not to try and have a child right away. Maybe you should rethink the whole idea of having a child anytime soon and just concentrate on one thing at a time!

I was on birth control until the evening before surgery and starting taking it the night of surgery. Seriously. I didn't miss one pill. You'll find 830,927 opinions on here from everyone, but your personal doc will tell ya what's best for you.

My doc said no pill for a month before surgery and then a month afterwards.......guess every doc is different.