Hi there,
I recently stopped my birth control just over a month ago, after which I had a withdrawal bleed. A couple/few weeks later I had my first "normal" period, which started off heavy, crampy, felt gassy all the time, was passing small clots.. the second day it calmed to a medium/moderate flow and then trailed off, but since then (after I finished "officially", as in stopped bleeding around the 28th Dec I guess) I've been having random spotting every so often. I also have cramps every so often, a long with a griping sensation I can't explain. The thing is, I know stopping the pill after 8-9 years will probably have some effect, but what worries me is that my last smear I was diagnosed with HPV (but no abnormal cells), which was the whole reason that led me to discontinue the pill completely in fear of it being the reason my risk was heightened.
Now I'm worried that the HPV has progressed, and this spotting is a sign of something sinister or abnormal cells. Is it possible for it to progress quickly or for them to have missed something bad if there are no abnormal cells present?! Should I be running to the doctor again to discuss this? Should I be concerned?!

My anxiety has spiked a little the last few months especially with things getting bad here and the virus etc, my health has gone a bit downhill honestly, so I can see why my HA has kicked up... but my next smear isn't for a year now so I'm paranoid that they've missed something and I should speak to someone.

Has anyone else had similar symptoms after stopping the pill? Is this just a hormonal thing? If it's nothing to worry about when can I expect my period to get back to normal?
Honestly it's weird.. when on the pill I didn't really have that many issues, but since stopping it's been a cascade of issues lol.