Delaying period on Orthotricyclen Lo
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| Sun, 07-22-2007 - 8:06am |
Hello - I am currently taking Ortotricyclen Lo. I ran across a posting that showed the information below for delaying a period on triphasic pills:
"To delay one week: Take the first pack as you normally would, phases 1,2,3, then take phase 3 from the second pack then take the placebos to have your period and begin a new pack. Save the other 2 phases of active pills for emergencies in case you lose of vomit a pill. Taking two phase 3s back to back keeps the hormone levels in weeks 3 and 4 of your cycle constant which gives you the best chance of avoiding irregular bleeding.
To delay for two weeks: take phase 1 and 2 from the first pack then phase 2 from the second pack then phase 3 from one pack and finally phase 3 from the other pack so for the five weeks the pill order by pack phases is: 1,2,2,3,3. Then take your placebos and begin a new pack. Save the extra week for emergencies"
My issue is this: I have delayed my period by one week using a different medication, Orthotricyclen, and it didn't go too well. I did not have breakthrough bleeding but felt pretty crappy in general - bloating, crabby etc.
My husband and I are taking a spur of the moment trip to California the end of August for 2 weeks (August 21 - September 1) and the way my current cycle is hitting, I will get my period at some point in one of those weeks and really don't want that. I'm scheduled to start my period tomorrow if I don't delay my period by a week this cycle.
Would I be better off:
A - Delaying my period by a week for 2 months in a row - July and August
B - Letting my period come this week and then following the instructions to delay my period for 2 weeks which would delay my period until September
Both scenarios would keep me from getting my period while on vacation.
I'm wondering if my body would react better to the delay for 2 weeks since it didn't seem to react well to delaying it by a week. Or since it didn't react well to delaying it by a week, would I be even worse off delaying it by 2 weeks?
Thanks in advance for reading this long post and any suggestions.

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Hi xicachicaim, welcome!
Jill
Thank you so much for the quick reply! I really like this site.
Unfortunately, I don't know of a way to delay my period for 2 weeks before the vacation or really far in advance because this was a spur of the moment trip and we're leaving in less than a month. If I wait to delay it by 2 weeks for my next cycle, it would put those 2 questionable weeks (possible breakthrough bleeding, PMS symptoms etc.) smack in the middle of vacation and I am kind of afraid of feeling crappy.
So this made me think of another question:
Last night I just finished the 3rd week in the pill pack. Starting today, could I take the 3rd week (of 2 different packs) for another 2 weeks? Doing it that way would put me back on a more normal schedule in August for vacation but I'm not sure if that is an advisable method. Any thoughts on this idea?
Thanks again!
Hi again hon,
Jill
OK, I think I'm going to do it that way then.
One last question (I think :) For the next 2 weeks I'm on the 3rd week of my pill packs, do I need additional contraceptive or will this level of hormones be as effective as it normally is?
Thanks again Jill! I will definitely report back on how it goes. You have been so helpful.
>>For the next 2 weeks I'm on the 3rd week of my pill packs, do I need additional contraceptive or will this level of hormones be as effective as it normally is? <<
As long as you take your pills correctly there should be no decrease in your protection.
Good luck,
Jill
Hi again - I'm back with another question! I am into the 2nd week taking the 3rd week in a pill pack. I was going to try and take 3 weeks in a row of the 3rd week but I ended up talking to my doctor and she didn't recommend it. She said I probably wouldn't be able to delay it that long and she was right...I'm having breakthrough. Oh well!
Anyway, that leads me to my question: Can a person delay their period for 2 weeks by taking the 1st hormone week in a pill pack for 2 weeks in a row, instead of using the 3rd week? Would the effectiveness not be there? What is the difference between taking the 3rd week, 2 weeks in a row versus taking the 1st week, 2 weeks in a row?
Thanks again and let me know if this doesn't make sense!
Hi again xicachicaim, welcome back!
Jill
Thanks, that helps! I am wondering if I am sensitive to the progestin because in the past when I have delayed things by taking the 3rd week two weeks in a row, I haven't felt very good. Same thing happened this last week. I didn't feel absolutely terrible, but generally not great - nausea during the day etc.
Which leads me to another question - let me know if I should start a new posting.
What is a triphasic bcp that has a low hormone levels? I switched to OTC Lo after taking OTC for years because of feeling terrible. I like OTC Lo better than OTC but if there's something else with even less hormone that is just as effective I would maybe try it. But the catch is that I have been scared to change things around because when I made the switch to OTC Lo, my skin broke out like mad and I had painful, cystic acne for half a year. I've been on some kind of pill for 10 years and never felt "right" the entire time, but never done much about it and just settled on it because I'd rather take the pill than have kids! And because of my break out when I switched from OTC to Lo, I've been terrified of trying other pills - it was very painful and now I have some deep acne scars from the whole thing.
Any other suggestions from anyone who has tried other pills would be great!
>> I am wondering if I am sensitive to the progestin because in the past when I have delayed things by taking the 3rd week two weeks in a row, I haven't felt very good. <<
Jill
Ok, Hi im new here and i will starting my new pack of BC tri cyclen lo tomorrow, i got my period on Tuesday so the gyn told me to start on Sunday. there are white, lite blue and dark blue and green pills, and i have no idea what you just said about phases.
So not be rude or crude or anything, but can I just take the pills normally every morning along with my thyroid medication and not worry about phases.. just asking because this is all soo confusing... and i usually just follow the numbers and the days of week from the pack,
thank you
cristy
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