11 weeks of bleeding! help!

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-07-2004
11 weeks of bleeding! help!
8
Mon, 06-07-2004 - 6:38pm
Hi!

I have been taking birth control pills for almost 2 years now (since I was 18). This past winter I had a huge cyst removed from my left ovary (11 cm) and a smaller follicular cyst removed from the right ovary. My doctor suggested that I go on continuous birth control in order to give my ovaries "a break" and because he thought there was a chance of me having endometriosis. So I started the continuous plan w/ yasmin and it worked for about a month (maybe a little more?) but I have now been bleeding for a little over 11 weeks.

I called my doctor a week and a half ago and let him know and so he switched me to a new pill...but things haven't really changed- still bleading (sometimes heavy/sometimes light).

I've been reading a bunch of things on-line for continuous bleeding and some of the reasons I have found are: hormonal imbalance, fibroids, and pregnancy...is pregnancy really a possibility?

Any words of advice- ANYTHING - would be really really really appreciated!

THANKS SO MUCH!

-Jess

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Tue, 06-08-2004 - 8:25am
Continuous bleeding on a continuous pill regimen is not all that uncommon--usually when you look it up on the internet they leave out bleeding caused by medications, it seems. And if you were bleeding for 11 weeks during a pregnancy that'd be a sign of a BIG problem, I don't think I'd worry about that.

When you take the pill, and really just doing regular pill cycles (three weeks on and one week off) could accomplish the goal your physician is looking for, the pill sends a message to your brain telling it not to start the ovulation process. This is giving your ovaries a break. But your normal hormonal cycle, what causes ovulation, some PMS (we still get PMS even on the pill), and normal periods, isn't there anymore and the hormones from the pill are there to make up the difference. As far as your uterus and periods go, the estrogen in the pill acts just as the estrogen that surges midcycle when you would ovulate off the pill--it helps to develop the endometrium but not as much as if you weren't on the pill (why it would help endometriosis). The progestin in the pill, which is chiefly responsible for suppressing ovulation, tends to limit the growth of the endometrium but also helps to keep it intact, like how progesterone acts during a pregnancy. If, under the influence of the estrogen, you develop more endometrium than you have the progestin to maintain, it's going to start to degrade. Each day you take an active pill, you're giving it more estrogen, making the endometrium grow more, but the pill isn't providing any more progestin to maintain it, so it will continue degrading, which you'll see as spotting and later bleeding.

If you were to take the pill on a regular schedule, you still wouldn't be ovulating. You'd have bleeding once a month, ideally, but if your doctor isn't sure if you've got endometriosis (can only really be diagnosed with a laparoscopy)....

I guess what I'm saying is that what you're experiencing is very common among women who are taking the pill continuously without taking a week off to bleed periodically. Did you take a week off between Yasmin and the new pill? You might ask your doctor about taking a week off every two packs or if he'd be okay with you trying the pill the "normal" way to see if that helps--it could take care of the bleeding problem.

I hope that helps! I hope it makes sense too...if it doesn't, feel free to come back and ask more questions!

Judie
Co-cl for Birth Control
Judie Cl for Birth Control 
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-07-2004
Tue, 06-08-2004 - 9:10pm
Thank you so much for your response Julie! I'm still a little confused, but I'm sure I will figure it out...

My doctor never told me to take a break after two packs, or after taking yasmin, but I'm thinking that it might help. The new pill he put me on is Low-Ogestrel 28 - do you know anything about that pill? Is it the same situation, or does it change what you have to say?

At first the whole bleeding thing didn't bother me because I assumed I was just getting used to the new pill (reason why it took me so long to call my doctor), but it has just been SO long- bleh what a process!

I had surgery (not laparotomy- regular slice and dice)in January but the report my doctor got back from the lab only focused on the benign tumor I had on my ovary and not the fluid in a cyst that he removed from the other ovary- obviously I was a little upset about that- I told him I wasn't up for having surgery again to find out if I have Endo. Anyhow, that's just a side note...thank you again so much for your help, if you have any more information on that other bc pill I'm now taking that would be awesome!

Thanks,

Jess

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Wed, 06-09-2004 - 8:40am
Low-Ogestrel is either a generic or non-US (I don't know which) version of our name brand pill LoOvral. LoOvral has the about the highest endometrial activity of the pills on the US market, and what that means is that it should be a very good pill for keeping the uterus intact for at least 21 days (hasn't been studied for longer than that). In theory, it should be better at controlling your bleeding than Yasmin, but time will tell.

So you've been taking pills continuously for 15 weeks or so? With no break? Sheez... Many doctors recommend a three month cycle to their patients, like how Seasonale (that "new" pill that's all the rage right now) is dispensed--3 months of active pills followed by 7 days off and then the cycle starts again. You might ask your doctor about that, taking breaks at regular intervals may help. If you can get rid of the current endometrium (by taking days off and allowing a "period" to get rid of it), you can start over new after a 7 day break and hopefully have some weeks without bleeding. Make sense? You may still have bleeding in the first three month cycle, but it may improve in later months (that's common with Seasonale, too).

Good luck, keep us posted, okay?

Judie
Co-cl for Birth Control
Judie Cl for Birth Control 
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-07-2004
Thu, 06-10-2004 - 9:18pm
Yup...15 weeks on the pill continuously! I was supposed to have an appointment with him after three months but had to cancel...that meeting was prob to tell me to take a break? Maybe? Oh well.

I left a message to have my doctor call me, but of course he hasn't yet. I'm meeting with him on Monday but just wanted to ask him questions first. You have been more help than my doctor so far- thanks!!!

Since it will prob. take a while for my doctor to get back to me, maybe you can answer another question for me...my mother was concerned that all of this bleeding could make me anemic and has been telling me for a month now to stop taking the bcp because they weren't working- but I trusted my doctor, and for the billionth time find myself saying "I should have listened to my mother!" Can I become anemic from all of this break-through bleeding?

I will let you know what my doctor has to say if he ever calls me back...if not, I'm sure I'll have more info after my appointment on Monday. I dread going to the gyno- EW. If I'm still bleeding can I request not to have an internal exam? Will they let me skip out on that? Yuck- so scared.

Thanks for your help, you have been awesome!

-Jess

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-16-2004
Fri, 06-11-2004 - 2:19am
i really don't know if you can get anemia from it. i believe anemia is caused by a lack of iron.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Fri, 06-11-2004 - 1:41pm
Any word back from the doc, Jess? You can become (temporarily) anemic from too much blood loss, but that seems to be an issue more with heavy bleeding than long-term bleeding. I'd guess that a slow leak gives your body more of a chance to replenish red blood cells (a lack of which is anemia).

If you're feeling unusually fatigued, dizzy, weak, have a faster heartbeat, those are symptoms of anemia and you should call your doctor to see if he wants to do anything immediately (can be tested for with a quick finger-stick). Otherwise, make sure you're eating properly, drinking plenty of water, and taking a multivitamin. Extra iron is not always necessary (check with your doc), and can be a problem as the body stores iron and the only way to get rid of it is by bleeding (so men need to donate blood, eh?).

As far as your follow-up appointment, I think mine (waaaay back when) was just to check my blood pressure and find out how things were going, no pelvic exam. If he does want to do one, remember that gyns examine women with bleeding _all_ the time, it's just new to you!

Good luck, let us know how things are going, okay?

Judie
Co-cl for Birth Control
Judie Cl for Birth Control 
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-18-2003
Fri, 06-11-2004 - 2:20pm
I would stop taking it right away. I'm no doctor, but I was on the pill between the ages of 14-16, and one day I started my period and didn't stop for 12 weeks. Some days it was very light other days it was extremely heavy. I went to see my Doc. for an exam, and he took some blood and did a few other tests. That same day, or night rather, he called my house at 11:30 p.m. and told me to hurry up and get to the hospital b/c my hemoglobin level was down to 2 and a normal level I believe is around 12 (I could be wrong). As soon as I got to the hospital, they filled my bladder and did a ultrasound, immediately after that, I needed a blood transfusion. After a week in the hospital I was put on Depo. Please go get examed b/c that was a very scary situation for not only myself, but my whole family. My doc. told me that if I hadn't of come to the hosptial that night, I could of died in my sleep. It's always better to be safe than sorry. The whole time leading up the this tragidy, I didn't feel sick in any way. Well I did get shortness of breath every now and then, but I just thought that was b/c I was in the best shape I could of been in. Also, check your eyes, pull down your eye lids and look to see if they're red, compare with someone else's eyes. Before my transfusion, my eyes were white where they should have been red.

And yes this does lead to anemia. I have anemia and ITP, and I've had it since my 12 week lose of blood.
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-19-2004
Fri, 06-11-2004 - 2:45pm
Anemia doesn't have to be caused by iron loss, it simply means "not enough blood." losing lots of blood depletes your body's iron stores (ferritin) and, while you may have enough blood cells (not be anemic), you may be iron deficient. It wouldn't hurt to ask your doctor to order some blood tests to decide if you should be on iron supplements to rebuild your ferritin stores. in the meantime, eat well (losing blood means losing all your vitamins, nutrients, and water!), and maybe increase your intake of foods rich in iron, like leafy green vegetables (think kale and spinach) and red meat.

Also, you might want to consider taking a daily multivitamin to replace vitamins and minerals lost to your constant bleeding.