Long, But Advice Needed Plz

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-30-2003
Long, But Advice Needed Plz
3
Mon, 11-01-2004 - 9:12pm
I've been on Ortho Lo for almost a month now. I will have taken my 3rd placebo pill tomorrow. For a week now, I've been experiencing spotting that has gotten progressively worse over time. A few days into the spotting, I started having some cramping. About 3 days ago, the cramps started getting so bad that they would wake me up in the middle of the night and I wouldnt be able to go back to sleep. Around the same time the cramps started getting so bad, I also started passing not just blood, but some tissue as well. Today and yesterday I've noticed that they are a lot larger than what I normally pass just on a normal period. This morning in the shower, I actually HEARD one of the larger clots hit the shower floor. On day 14 of taking the pill, I had sex w/o a condom. My partner and I used condoms every time we've had sex up until that point. I was talking to a friend today and she said that if by some chance I had gotten pregnant that time or another time prior to that, that there was a good chance that all the major bleeding, cramping and clot passing has actually been stages of a miscarriage. I've been taking an OTC pain reliever, but it doesnt really help with the cramps as much, just keeps them at bay I guess. Although I have pain all throughout my lower abdomen, it seems to be greater on the lower right side. I seem to bleed worse during the day, but cramp the most when I lay down. Is it normal to bleed this much and pass all this tissue if you're just "spotting" getting used to the pill, or do you think it possibly is a miscarriage? I would like any feedback you may have. Thank you.
iVillage Member
Registered: 12-30-2003
Mon, 11-01-2004 - 10:04pm
Hon, it usually takes about 3 cycles for your body to become accustomed to the hormones in your pills. This is your first pill-period and you're still in the early stages of your body adjusting to the hormones in OTC-Lo. Clots can sometimes form from sections of the endometrium that slough off during menses and they are quite common. If you have been taking your pills correctly you should be quite safe. However, I think at this point you would benefit from a talk with your doctor and perhaps a blood test to reassure you as to what exactly is going on. I know you're scared thinking about a possible MC but I'll bet you are ok and it's just Aunt Flo reacting to the new hormones. Let us know what you find out, ok?

(((HUGS))),

      Jill

    

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Mon, 11-01-2004 - 10:22pm
Another thing that might help ease your mind (I agree with Jill that this is probably a normal adjustment--some women have heavier periods on the pill than they did before, though it's less common)... If you had sex without a condom two weeks ago and had gotten pregnant for some reason, let's say that conception occurred that same day. Implantation would follow by 3-5 days or so, and at that time, the embryo is just a very small collection of cells. At the end of three weeks past implantation, the embryo is only 1/4" long--very very small, smaller than a grain of rice! That this tissue could be part of a miscarriage is pretty unlikely, that'd be a whole lot of tissue for this early in the game. It takes six weeks for the fetus to be the size of a bean or about 1" long.

I've had some hideously clotty and painful periods in my time, but never a miscarriage. ;) Hang in there! It will be over soon....but a call to your doctor might reassure you too.

Judie
Co-cl for Birth Control
Judie Cl for Birth Control 
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-30-2003
Tue, 11-02-2004 - 9:31am
Thanks for posting you guys. This being my first time on the pill and everything, plus reading up on all the side effects I could be having, I guess I'm just freaking myself out here. Sad but true...I'm always thinking "Man, this pill is really gonna mess me up, isnt it?" Oh well...hopefully I'll stop spotting soon.