Sudden problem with OTC Lo
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| Mon, 07-12-2004 - 11:10am |
I've been on OTC Lo for four months now and have been pretty happy with it. This month, my tender breasts (my biggest side effect) finally subsided and I thought that I'd finally found myself a winner. (I'd had problems with btb when I first went on the pill, Loestrin, and was switched to OTC Lo). Anyway, I took my last active pill this past Saturday and, as with past months, I thought I'd be getting my period on Tuesday. Yesterday (Sunday), when I went to the bathroom I had a little spotting (really very minimal) and today I've had a little too (again, not much). But I haven't had this before with OTC Lo - I always just got my period as normal during my inactive week. I'm sure my real period is on its way but what's up with this spotting? Do you think it's a sign that maybe this pill is too low dose for me too?
I take my pill on time every day and have not been taking any supplements or meds that would interfere with it. But I was out in the sun for four hours on Saturday. I know that BC can affect skin's sensitivity to sun but can it do anything to cause something like this? My feeling is, I'll see how my period is this month and then what happens next month before I call my doctor. Does this sound right?
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Kristina

Deep breath here! Calm down! Did you know that when you have your "period" while on the pill, that it is not a natural period? What happens is that your body is withdrawing from having hormones in its system, so after 3-4 days of not having that pill everyday, it starts to shed the uterine lining. Maybe this pill that you're on now is also very low dose; low enough that you start your period right away as soon as you stop taking the pill. Maybe you started your period a little earlier than expected because your system is touchy enough that when it was missing those hormones (even by a few hours) that it started to bleed a little early. On the up side though, if it starts early, it should be done early too!
Maybe talk to your doctor about Ortho Tri Cyclen instead of the "Lo" becase it seems like your body could use a highter amount of hormones to hold onto that lining.
J
Kristina
If you did start to spot into your active pills and wanted to change, you'd want a different progestin, not more estrogen, but don't cross that bridge until you come to it, okay? ;)
Good luck!
Co-cl for Birth Control