I have been on bc for 7 years and Loestrin 24 for over a year now...

I just stopped cold turkey (after being on it for 2 1/2 years). I started within a couple of days. I have now been off of it for 2 1/2 months. I am slowly (very gradually) losing the 30 pounds I gained on that stupid pill. It turned me off of birth control pills completely. I still feel the effects of it, and getting off of it has been very hard...my hormones have gone nuts. But I think it would have done that whether I had finished my pack or not. I tried to quit once about 2 years ago and couldn't bear it, so I went back on. This time around, I had gained so much weight and my sex drive was so low that I decided to brace myself and tough it out. I think I am slowly getting better. I was on other pills for about 15 years before this Loestrin. The Loestrin was AWFUL!

I'm a nurse practitioner and yes you can stop the pill anytime throughout the pack. You may experience break through bleeding and it may take your menses a couple of months to adjust back to what's "normal" for you but yes you can stop your pill anytime. *Each active pill of Loestrin 24 is the same amount of active ingredients :) For those that hate hormones you may want to look into Paragard IUC. This is the only *non-hormonal* birth control that is not a barrier method and is 99% effective. Good luck to all! :)