Kimberly Ross3 said:Hey Cure, why exactly is it that you have to start taking birth control pills on the very first day of your period?
What actually happens if you take them, say, a few days early or a few days late? What’s the actual impact there?
I’m asking just out of curiosity—I wasn't looking for an answer elsewhere, and honestly, I totally blanked on asking my OB-GYN when I was last at her office.
Specifically, my cycle is incredibly irregular (and painful)—there's zero chance I can predict when it'll show up (last time, I was waiting 100 days for it and almost lost my mind three different times...). I've used the pill before and it worked wonders for me, but I had to stop because of some inflammation. That was about a year ago, and now I want to get back on it—I've done all the tests, got my prescription, and now I just need to start. Well, I did technically start my period, but it wasn't a "classic" Day 1 situation; instead, I had this weird little spotting for a week—just barely enough for a pantyliner—and then yesterday my actual period finally kicked in (my last one was back on October 17th).
Since I couldn't really figure out what was going on—it was my first time dealing with something like this—and I wasn't sure if the spotting would turn into a regular period, I didn't take the first pill. Instead, I’m planning to wait until the next cycle (which will be a normal one, hopefully). While I was overthinking all of this, this question popped into my head, so here I am asking it here. I'd love for someone to explain this to me since it isn't quite clear to me, and frankly, this whole waiting game and my erratic cycle are driving me absolutely crazy.
Thanks in advance!
Hey ladies!
So, after that whole situation I mentioned above (here's the link to that part of the thread and the replies I got:
http://www.americanhealthforum.com/thread...#post42829165), much to my surprise, a similar thing happened again..
I hadn't had my period since Christmas (that's 107 days!), and then finally, two days ago on Wednesday night, I started bleeding. Even though it was pathetic and super light, I didn't want to let another weird situation happen, so I took my very first pill that same evening. After that, the bleeding stopped completely, even though I spent Thursday dealing with the usual menstrual cramps.
I've continued taking my contraceptive (Trinovum), and for these past two days, my ovaries have been aching—the usual symptoms are there, but the bleeding has totally vanished, and now I am seriously at a loss.
I keep up with all my regular checkups, everything looks fine on paper, and my OB-GYN tells me I'm perfectly healthy and normal, saying that this kind of irregularity isn't unusual at all... When I first started pills, the same thing happened where I bled very lightly for the first two days and then it just stopped, so I rushed to see her immediately, and she told me not to worry and just keep taking them... So, now I really don't know what to think—am I protected or not? What does all this mean?
I've been thinking about what
drewnightfall2 said: "
In exceptional cases, you can start taking the pill even if you aren't on your period; the only difference, like Angel mentioned, is whether or not you're protected. If you take it on the first day of your period, you are. If you take it any other day, you need to use backup protection." My question is, how paranoid should I be? How long do I need to use extra protection—a week, two weeks, a month?
Has anyone else ever started on the pill when they weren't actually on their period, and how did it work out for you?
Edit: I just found some info on this site:
http://www.webmd.com/health/diseases...read which says I should use backup protection for two weeks to be safe, so that's exactly what I'm going to do..
