When do side effects appear?

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-26-2004
When do side effects appear?
2
Sat, 10-23-2004 - 4:54pm
I have about 5 pills left before I'll have finished my first pack of OTC Lo. I haven't had any side effects really in this first month. Can I assume I should be okay with this pill? I would think that if you were going to have side effects, they'd come in your first pack for sure as you're adjusting. Is this correct, or is itpossible to start having negative effects in the 2nd or 3rd pack? Thanks!
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-11-2004
Sat, 10-23-2004 - 5:24pm
It's hard to say. A lot of women have side effects right away that get better after they adjust. It sounds like it's a good sign that you're not having side effects that this pill is right for you. I've been on a lot of different pills, and sometimes I would have side effects immediately, and then two separate times I was on a new pill for many months before the problems started.
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-30-2003
Wed, 10-27-2004 - 9:20pm
I'm also on OrthoLo.(first time BC user) I have 4 more active pills to take before I start the placebo ones. Yesterday, for the first time, I started spotting and still am experiencing a little of that today. A few days before that though, I started getting a bit nauseous a few hours after I took the pill, but that has subsided. So far, nothing else. I went for a follow up today actually and told my Dr the side effects I was experiencing and she said that it was all totally normal and that women will normally start to have side effects the week before they take the placebo pills or during that week itself. She said they everything should settle down and eventually go away by the end of the next pack, and that all those symptoms are just your body getting used to all those hormone changes. I have to say that the spotting is a little annoying but as I've been told, that should stop within the next few weeks.

Maybe you will have side effects, maybe you wont but if you do, they should all start to regulate and you should be normal again within 2-3 packs. Hope this helped.