Worried

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-30-2003
Worried
6
Thu, 10-28-2004 - 10:59am
I've been on Ortho Lo for what will have been 18 days today. I've been spotting for 3 days now. I am also having period-like cramping that often wakes me up in the middle of the night. Would it be safe to take Tylenol or something to ease the pain? When will the spotting stop? Also, I may be paranoid but I am just curious; I had sex w/o a condom on the 14th day of the pills, could I still have gotten pregnant?
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-14-2004
In reply to: roxy1385
Thu, 10-28-2004 - 12:20pm
You should be good to take a pain-reliever to help with your crampiness. :) Also, it`s completely usual to have spotting while your body is adjusting to the new hormones. It could last this month, it could last for three, or you might always have a little bit of a problem with it. After three months, if you`re annoying enough with the spotting, you can always change to another pill until you find one that works best for you. But the general rule of thumb is to give it three months to see how well your body is going to accept the new addition of hormones.

After 14 days, your body should be protected against pregnancy by the hormones - actually, after a week, you`re generally good. As long as you`ve taken them on time, haven`t taken any antibiotics, and haven`t vomitted one due to illness or something of that sort, you should be well protected. Even so, this board generally recommends using back-up protection for the first month of your new birth control, to give you time to adjust to taking it at the same time every day as well as not getting that "eek! Am I pregnant?!" scare when your period is a little late. (Which is might be - your body is on a different hormone schedule now and your period may not come when you expect it to.)

Hope this helps!

Lena

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-29-2004
In reply to: roxy1385
Thu, 10-28-2004 - 4:35pm
hey roxy,

if you are anything like me, you might have problems with spotting on lo dose pills, and definatly take thoes pain killers! another good option is chamomile tea, which can ease the cramps and help you sleep.

as for the pill, i had to go on one that had a higher dose of hormones (regular tri cyclen) to avoid the problems with spotting. its easy to freak out when you start to spot and it is no fun at all, but don't worry and be sure to take all the pills before starting the placebos.

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-30-2003
In reply to: roxy1385
Fri, 10-29-2004 - 12:32am
Hey Pyrra1-

Thanks for replying. So you dont think there is a possiblity that I could have gotten pregnant?
iVillage Member
Registered: 02-29-2004
In reply to: roxy1385
Fri, 10-29-2004 - 9:21am
hey roxy,

i think the chance is pretty slim. i've always heard that after 7 days of active pills you are protected against getting pregnanat, and since you took 14 it sounds like you should be ok. unless you did something to interfere with the activity of the pills (throwing up a few hours after taking the pill, a bad case of the runs, or taking antibiotics), they should be effective.

i went through almost exactly the same issue on lo dose pills--i started spotting in the third week of active pills and got really worried too. if you are still concerned about potentially being pregnant, i suggest you go to planned parenthood and they will help you out. hope you are feeling better :)

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-11-2004
In reply to: roxy1385
Fri, 10-29-2004 - 10:31am
If you were taking your pills correctly (about the same time each day without missing any) then it's highly unlikely to get pregnant. You were fully protected after 7 days on the pills. Even if you somehow were to conceive when you had sex on the 14th day, it would take at least a week if not more before implantation would occur, and until then you would not be pregnant, which would mean it would be absolutely impossible for you to show any sign of pregnancy. The cramping and spotting that started 4 days after you had sex can't mean you're pregnant. It sounds like it's just a side effect of the pills.
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-30-2003
In reply to: roxy1385
Fri, 10-29-2004 - 8:56pm
Thanks everyone for posting. Being new to all this...and a worrywart, I was a little paranoid as to how everything was gonna work out. I'm still cramping and spotting and all that and lemme tell ya it's not fun at all. I hope it goes away soon... =/