need reassurance too

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-24-2004
need reassurance too
3
Tue, 08-24-2004 - 5:05pm
i know a lot of these questions have been posted before, but i just need someone to reassure me on some things. here are my questions and thank you to whoever replies.

1. what is the difference between spotting and implantation bleeding? can someone tell me how long implantation bleeding usually lasts or when in the cycle it would occur?

2. being on ortho-tricyclen makes the body work on a 28 day cycle. so ideally, ovulation would occur the 14 days before next cycle, right? i do know the pill should prevent ovulation, i just want to know if that's the cycle my body is on.

3. now here is my situation. the first day of my last period was wednesday, august 4th. the only time i was sexually active was august 13th. then on august 19th i had spotting which has yet to stop. i have been on ortho-tricyclen for nearly four years, have never missed a pill, although i don't always take them the same hour everyday. on top of the pill, we also always practice withdrawl. so my questions are what is the likelihood that i could be pregnant? could the spotting be implantation bleeding or just simply spotting? i have never spotted before until now. knowing that i am on a 28 day cycle, and assuming the ovulation dates were right, the sperm would most likely not survive until ovulation, right?

if anyone could please give their opinions, i would greatly appreciate it. and i'm sorry that the questions seem to resemble a lot of previous posts. i just need to hear someone address my situation so i can know how to handle myself.

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-16-2004
Tue, 08-24-2004 - 5:30pm
As long as you didn't miss your pills or take them significantly late (this board considers "missing" a pill to be taking it more than 2 hours different that your "usual" time), you should be just fine. That said, I typically take mine more erratically than the board recommends and my husband and I have fully unprotected sex (no withdrawal or anything) and have not gotten pregnant in the 4 1/2 years I've been on the pill.

It is possible for your body chemistry to change and a pill that used to not give you problems can suddenly cause btb, which is probly what this is. That said, when your period is due, if you are late by a day or two, go out and buy a pregnancy test and it should put your mind at ease. If you test negative on the day after you are due or later, it is highly unlikely you are pregnant.

However, I really wouldn't worry too much, because all that's gonna do is upset your body even more and cause even more funky bleeding.

Hope it works out well for you!!

Susan

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-15-2003
Tue, 08-24-2004 - 5:55pm
1. I don't honestly know what implantation bleeding might be like. I don't think it is as common as people think... I think it is one of those things that many people have heard of, but less people experience. I would presume it also differs between women (and possibly between different pregnancies for the same woman).

2. This is just a big contradiction! If the pill is stopping ovulation (which it will in almost all women, almost all of the time, when taken accurately), it is stopping ovulation - nuff said. If it isn't stopping ovulation all of the time, you can't predict WHEN you might ovulate - or even if it will happen every month. Even for a woman cycling on her own hormones & ovulating regularly, with a 28 day cycle, there is no guarantee she'll ovulate on day 14 - these numbers are averages.

3. Spotting happens. I wouldn't be very quick to jusp to the conclusion that you are pregnant - *absence* of bleeding is the most common symptom of pregnancy, irregular bleeding is more likely a change in your body's response to hormones.

You could wait this out & see if this month is a fluke & all goes back to normal. You could wait until 2 weeks after the intercourse you're questioning & take a pregnancy test. You could contact your doctor & see what s/he wants you to do!

If you've taken all of your pills correctly, you aren't likely pregnant (withdrawl isn't a very effective form of contraception, I don't personally think it will make much difference). I would just wait this out & see what happens next month, but you have to do what you are comfortable with.

Good Luck!

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-30-2003
Tue, 08-24-2004 - 6:14pm
High helptoo, welcome!

1. what is the difference between spotting and implantation bleeding? can someone tell me how long implantation bleeding usually lasts or when in the cycle it would occur?

Visually they may be similar. Spotting, break-through-bleeding or irregular bleeding are all terms for bleeding between periods and caused by the inability of the hormones in your pills to totally control the lining of your uterus. Implantation bleeding is caused by a fertilized egg burrowing into the uterine lining to attach itself to the lining. There may or may not be spotting associated with implantation. Implantation bleeding will usually occur several days after fertilization and last for a short time.

2. being on ortho-tricyclen makes the body work on a 28 day cycle. so ideally, ovulation would occur the 14 days before next cycle, right? i do know the pill should prevent ovulation, i just want to know if that's the cycle my body is on.

If you are on combined hormonal contraceptives, then ideally ovulation WILL NOT occur. If you are taking your pills correctly (read: ‘Taking your pills correctly’ in the FAQs at the top of the board) there is very little chance that you will ovulate. If you don’t take your pills correctly then when you ovulate will depend on when the event occurred that caused your protection to fail.

If you were cycling naturally and if you had an ‘average’ 28 day natural cycle then typically you would ovulate on day 14. The problem with all that is that no women is average and typical all the time… we are each different and subject to the vagaries of cycle fluctuation caused by things like diet, illness and stress. So, cycling naturally you won’t know when you will ovulate unless you are charting your fertile signs: basal body temperature, cervical position and cervical mucus. That’s why counting days as a contraceptive method doesn’t work.

3. now here is my situation. the first day of my last period was wednesday, august 4th. the only time i was sexually active was august 13th. then on august 19th i had spotting which has yet to stop. i have been on ortho-tricyclen for nearly four years, have never missed a pill, although i don't always take them the same hour everyday. on top of the pill, we also always practice withdrawl.

Irregular bleeding can be caused by a number of things such as: not taking your pills on time, loosing weight, and taking more than 1,000 mg of vitamin C per day or the pill you are on is no longer right for you.

3A. what is the likelihood that i could be pregnant? could the spotting be implantation bleeding or just simply spotting? i have never spotted before until now.

No method is 100% effective except abstinence. However, If you have been taking your pills correctly there is very little chance that was implantation bleeding and that you are pg. Our bodies change over time. It may be, if the spotting continues over several cycles that you will need a pill change.

3B. “knowing that i am on a 28 day cycle, and assuming the ovulation dates were right, the sperm would most likely not survive until ovulation, right?”

As I mentioned above it is very, very unlikely that you ovulated if you were taking your pills correctly. If you did ovulate you can’t calculate when it occurred by counting days from CD1 it would be some unknown number of days from the point where your protection failed.

My guess is that you are fine and stressing over nothing. However, you might want to ask your doctor and see what s/he says. Let us know how you’re doing, ok?

Good luck,

      Jill