I am on a low dose birth control pill. I was travelling last week and didnt want to get my period, so I skipped the week of placebo pills and went straight to a new pack. However, I did get my period, and I've had it for a full-week now which is unusual. The bleeding is light- but it doesnt usually last more than 5 days. Should I be worried about this bleeding? And in order to return to a normal cycle, should I just go straight through this pack of pills? Will all this make them any less effective?

Which pill are you taking? It's a well known fact that women who are on a triphasic pill are not able to skip their period the way a woman who is on a monophasic can do. Do you have the same level of hormones in every active pill of the pack? Or do you have different levels of hormones each week?

And for some women, they just can't skip their period, regardless, for whatever reason. Their body just won't allow it.

What you should do is keep taking your pills as regularly scheduled and take the placebo week off to get the next withdrawal bleed again. Then you just have to wait and let your body get readjusted again. Sometimes trying to skip when your body doesn't want you to can mess with your bleeding schedule until it re-regulates. And all you can do is wait it out.

:) i was on the pill and was informed that its a bad bad idea to start new pills when ur not supposed to have any that week....never take your pills any other way than you were prescribed trust me i learned the hard way...sorry,lol,trying not to be negative just dont want you going thru what i did...hope this helps sammy!

Ok, now I realize I am on a triphasic pill- and I'm feeling very stupid. Definitely just want to get back to normal! Will the pills be any less effective in terms of pregnancy prevention right now?


Which pill are you taking? It's a well known fact that women who are on a triphasic pill are not able to skip their period the way a woman who is on a monophasic can do. Do you have the same level of hormones in every active pill of the pack? Or do you have different levels of hormones each week?

And for some women, they just can't skip their period, regardless, for whatever reason. Their body just won't allow it.

What you should do is keep taking your pills as regularly scheduled and take the placebo week off to get the next withdrawal bleed again. Then you just have to wait and let your body get readjusted again. Sometimes trying to skip when your body doesn't want you to can mess with your bleeding schedule until it re-regulates. And all you can do is wait it out.

I have been taking the Microgestin BCP and skipping the placibo pills for a few years now. I only let myself have a period every 4 months under my doctors instructions for endometriosis. It will not effect the effectiveness of the pill. It did take about 6 months for it to start working and actually stop my period for several months at a time. So doing it that one time like you did doesn't really work normally. I would suggest to keep taking the pack you started until you get to the placibo pills and then take the placibos like you normally would. You may have a problem with spotting though. Hard to say how your body is going to respond since it was on a certain cycle. It might take a little time for your body to adjust. Just go back to taking it like prescribed and you body will adjust it may take a couple cycles though. But like I said it won't change the effectiveness of the pill.

You may want to use another form of birth control for about a week though. I have the understanding that it will not effect the effectiveness but I've always had the mind set better safe then sorry.

Hmm I havent heard about that with the tri-phasic pills. I would use a backup birth control method just in case! I would imagine it would be possible to make it less accurate, but who knows.. and I'm sure it depends on your pill. The longer period could just be a lot of spotting too.

If you want to skip a period or delay it in the future, consider going on a same-phase pill. It is safe to do this with that kind of pill.. I have asked the doctor and know plenty of people who do this. It's the same thing as going on something like Seasonale. I skip it occasionally and never have a problem with it. I'm on Yasmin.