Research suggests elevated clotting factors return to normal levels when a woman stops using hormone-based birth control.

It’s widely known taking birth control pills and other hormone-based contraceptives can increase one’s risk of developing a blood clot, but new research suggests the risk rapidly decreases two to four weeks after stopping this form of contraception and, by 12 weeks, completely disappears.
A recent peer-reviewed study in Blood, a journal published by the American Society of Hematology, enrolled 66 women aged 18 to 50 years who had been using hormonal contraceptives—the most common form of birth control—for at least three months. Researchers focused on hormonal contraceptives such as combined hormone birth control pills, vaginal rings, and skin patches. Women with a personal history of blood clots, anticoagulation, a recent medical event, or pregnancy were excluded from the study.

Researchers then collected blood samples six times before and after the women stopped taking contraceptives to assess estrogen-related clotting biomarkers. The samples were then compared to a control group of 28 women who were not using hormone-based contraception.