Spotting after skipping sugar pills - Birth Control Message Board

dustoffkid · 11-16-2006, 01:20 PM

My coworker skipped the sugar pills in her pack, and now says that she has been spotting... but it's brown, like old blood. How long can she expect this to last? It's been going on for four days.

MoonLight0 · 11-16-2006, 01:46 PM

The "sugar" pills are placebos. They don't have any hormones in them and don't affect the actual period or bleeding of any kind.
I never take mine, I throw them away since they're useless.

The spotting she's experiencing could be from something else and could be normal, especially if she just started taking the pills.

dustoffkid · 11-16-2006, 01:50 PM

No, she's been on them for a long time, and occasionally skips the off week and goes right to the next pack so that she can skip her period. She has done this with success in the past and this is the first time she's had the breakthrough bleeding. The question is, how long might she expect it to last?

MoonLight0 · 11-16-2006, 04:00 PM

I've personally never experienced breakthrough bleeding so I don't know much about it. I'm sure it's not going to last very long. The longest I've heard from other women is like 2-4 days. It really depends on why she's experiencing that. It could be because her pills are no longer working properly and maybe she needs to switch to something else.
The best thing is to just talk to her doctor and figure it all out.

tUrRrRa · 11-16-2006, 05:55 PM

I would also guess that it would only be a few days, but I'd imagine the longest it COULD be would be maybe 5 days or so? I have never had this happen to me when I skip the placebo pills.. I would ask the doctor about it if the spotting doesn't stop soon.