mid-cycle bleeding on OTC-lo

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-02-2006
mid-cycle bleeding on OTC-lo
7
Wed, 08-02-2006 - 9:56pm

I've been taking OTC-lo for six months with minimal side effects. I experienced mild btb during the second month of taking my pills. This month, I started bleeding fairly heavily, almost like a regular period on day 16 of my pills. I have been quite neurotic about taking the pills at the same time each day and have not missed any. I talked to my doctor and she said not to worry (easy to say, hard to do), that I should still keep taking the pills to see if this continued for another cycle or two and then we could look into switching meds. I am still very concerned with whether or not the pills I'm currently taking are working effectively to prevent pregnancy if I'm experiencing irregularities with regards to my cycle. It's frustrating! I had a really regular cycle before going on BC, now that I'm on it, I seem to be all out of whack.

Any insights would be appreciated!

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-30-2003
Wed, 08-02-2006 - 11:41pm

Hi ahnemeke, welcome!


      Jill

    

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-12-2005
Fri, 08-04-2006 - 1:27pm

I'm glad I saw this thread, because I'm having pretty much the same issue with OTC Lo. I've been on it since December with pretty much no side effects whatsoever, and then out of nowhere on Tuesday I got SEVERE back pain to the point where I was going to go to the ER (it felt like a kidney infection!).. then my period started a week early the next day? at first it was just spotting and brown, like implantation bleeding or the beginning of a period, but now it's bright red and light, but definitely a period. the back pain is awful at night to the point where I feel like vomiting, but I have endo and no insurance so I kind of think they correlate. I have no real pregnancy symptoms, and have gone through crazy stress this month and started a diet, so I'm the poster girl for "do not do this while on the pill if you don't want breakthrough bleeding..".

however I am freaking out over my period starting a week early, even though my logical side is saying "shut up, you aren't pregnant." :(

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-22-2006
Fri, 08-04-2006 - 1:34pm
I had the same problem years ago on otc lo. I was having my period every 2 weeks. After 2 months of that, I had to switch. My gyn says that it is a very common side effect and actually doesn't like to prescribe it much because of the BTB. Good Luck
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-02-2006
Fri, 08-04-2006 - 9:13pm

Thank you very much for your reply. I know from talking to friends and reading through some of the posts on the board that BTB is not that unusual...until you're the person dealing with it. I bled heavy, like a regular period, for five days. Now that I'm about ready to start the inactive week of pills, the bleeding seems to be slowing down. At first, I sort of figured that this would happen, as it seems as though there should be a finite amount of fluid/endometrium that could be realeased at any given time. The nurse at my doctor's office said that I may continue to bleed into my inactive week. My question is, is there a chance that I could be pregnant? At first I didn't think so because of all the bleeding, but now I feel as though I've read too many message boards and they're all feeding into my own worries. I don't feel any symptoms of early pregnancy and I've never missed or been late with a pill and I'm not on any meds or anything like that. I suppose if I really am that worried, I could just take a test, although now I'm all confused about when my period would be considered late since my cycle is all messed up. I guess I'm just feeling stressed out and confused about the way my body is reacting to the BC.

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-30-2003
Fri, 08-04-2006 - 10:13pm

Hi again ahnemeke,


      Jill

    

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-06-2006
Sun, 08-06-2006 - 12:27pm

I'm having the same problem, just started taking pills to regulate my periods, and the first month on LoOvral I gained weight and switched to OTC Lo...on day 11 had bad cramps and got a heavy period on day 13 of the pills and it's been five days and it's not getting any lighter. It's freaking me out since I went on pills to regulate my periods to begin with, and now this heavy bleeding and bad cramps in the middle of my cycle. I know I'm supposed to give it three months, but I've already had enough and will probably quit.

Good luck to you though - I hope things get better for you.

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-03-2005
Sun, 08-06-2006 - 3:18pm

Hi ladies. I'm glad you posted too.. I've been having the same problem with my new BC pill.. I'm on Ovcon 35 and its been causing me to heavily bleed mid second week. Its really just a pain in the butt and it scared the heck out of me since I've never been on the pill before.

I guess its pretty normal though when first starting out.

Anyone on here been on Ovcon 35 and have this problem??