Should I Stop Taking the Pill at 35?

Expert advice on when to stop taking birth control pills.

Q. When I went on the pill, my doctor said I should go off it when I turned 35. Do I really need to stop?

A. No, as long as you're healthy, you don't smoke,, and you have no family history of cardiovascular disease. "Your risk for having a blood clot rises from one in 10,000 to two in 10,000, but that's still very low," says FITNESS advisory board member Sarah L. Berga, MD, professor of gynecology and obstetrics at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. "The guideline is really a warning bell. Now is the time you may want to discuss other birth control options with your doctor if you're done having kids or your lifestyle has changed." The real cutoff point for taking the pill is age 50, when the risk for a clot jumps to one in 1,000.

Are Your Birth Control Pills Hurting Your Sex Drive?

The experts say that oral contraceptives could be causing your libido malfunction — or not. We attempt to decode the mixed messages about birth control and sex.

1. Libido Loss

Scan the list of side effects that comes with your birth control pills — you know, the piece of paper that you toss in the trash every month. That little insert will tell you that oral contraceptives can cause everything from weight gain and breast tenderness to nausea, dizziness and...loss of libido? Come to think of it, you did start feeling a little different when you began taking these things. Could your birth control be preventing pregnancy in a way you hadn't planned?

According to some women who have experienced a drop in sex drive while on the pill, the answer is yes. Lisa*, a 33-year-old Web designer from New York City, blames oral contraceptives for a year-long libido malfunction she experienced after moving in with her now-husband. "When I realized I had no drive at all, I talked to my doctor, who said it was possible that it was the pill" causing the problem. "So I stopped taking it and used a barrier method, and things got really good again."