Will a Time Difference Really Help!?
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Will a Time Difference Really Help!?
| Thu, 06-12-2008 - 10:53pm |
I am currently on Femcon Birth Control Pills and Provera pills (10mg) to help regulate my periods. I take both pills at 6:30 in the morning everyday. I feel good until about 5 in the afternoon. At this time I start to bleed lightly and have cramps. It isn't horrible, just very annoying. I went to my doctor today to see what I could do about this and he said just start taking the provera at about 10 in the morning. My question is, won't this just make the bleeding and cramping start later in the day? He said it shouldn't. Will taking the two pills separately help them be more effective?
Thank you very much!
Bunny

Hi there,
By taking the Provera at a different time, it may help to prevent the drop in hormones after it has hit its peak dosage in your system. If it does, then in theory it might stop the bleeding.
I'm interested as to why you are taking both the BCP and the Provera together? You shouldn't need both. There is a risk with taking too much progesterone that it will over power the estrogen in your birth control pill, and cause breakthrough bleeding like you are experiencing. In theory, the progesterone that is in your birth control pill should complement the estrogen in it. But by adding Provera to the situation as well you have a much higher dosage of progesterone in your body, and they are two different types of progesterone. With two different types of progesterone in your body, you could be confusing your body with too many synthetic hormones, which could also cause breakthrough bleeding.
I wouldn't say all this if I hadn't learned the hard way from experience.
I would seriously recommend getting a second opinion about this. If the pill was causing breakthrough bleeding without Provera (I assume you tried it without Provera first), then you should consider trying a different BCP. Provera is usually only used short-term, say a 7-10 day course, to trigger a period after stopping the pills, for those women that aren't ovulating properly, or their period is unusually late.
Thank you for your response.
On this Sunday, I am going to start a new BCP without the Provera.
Good luck!
I had a doctor that used to throw all kinds of things at me, and as a consequence, she just made things worse for me in the long run. So I think that you are thinking along the right lines in terms of looking for a new doctor.
Just be aware that if you stop the Provera and other pill at the same time, and then start straight onto the active pills, that you may get some bleeding when the Provera drops out of your system. Once you get onto the placebo pills, that should help to reset things.