tried to skip?

[angel_light]

what do I do...

I tried skipping my P with just taking my next packet of pills and I have been spotting for the entire time. Day 3 of my new pack I spotted and now it is day 8, and I am still bleeding.. a little bit but still..

What do i do?

Do I finish this pack and then have a regular P, or do I take another pack in a row and see if my body gets use to it and then get my p after that.

[LadyMirabelle]

I think you should keep on taking the pills throughout your pack. You will probably mess up your cycle more if you stop to have a "regular" period now...

I don't know what kind of pill you're on, but if you are on a triphasic pill, that might be why you're having trouble with skipping -- since there are different levels of hormones each week, you would have gone from the highest dose in week 3 to the lowest dose of active hormones, in week 1. So the drop in hormone levels might be what is causing your spotting.

Also, if you are on a low-estrogen pill, it may be more difficult to skip a period, because the estrogen is typically what prevents breakthrough bleeding/spotting in midcycle.

And even if it isn't one of these two reasons, I have read that not all people are able to skip their periods on the pill (I don't know if you have done this before)... also, if it were something you wanted to do regularly, your body might need to get used to it...

Overall, there's nothing to worry about - if you have been taking your pills correctly every day, then you don't need to worry about pregnancy. Spotting is a pain, though, and it's really too bad that you didn't get to skip your period.

I hope the spotting stops for you soon!!!
-Mirabelle

[Thisby]

If you are taking a triphasil pill, forget about trying to skip your period. Finish this pack (you'll just have to suffer the spotting) and let yourself have the required break.

If it's not a triphasil, then you might just be unlucky. Some women can skip their periods on non-triphasil pills, but not all. The body really does want to have a period and although there are pills designed to have you skip periods, many women have nothing but problems (constant spotting) with them.

I would suggest you finish the pack, then have your period break.

I would definitely not suggest going for a third pack in a row since your body doesn't seem to like it.

From personal experience (I was under doctors orders to take mine continuously for medical reasons) I'd say don't try to do it w/o medical adivce - for me, it might have worked for the first period, but my body would just rebel eventually and it would get worse and worse regardless of the brand (3 different ones, all non-triphasil). There was no 'getting used to it'. It was more like my body was getting annoyed with it and just spotted more.

[angel_light]

Well I take ortho-tri-cyclen and I am still spotting... day 12 of my new pack!!!!!!!!!!!! Thiis is not fun, it completely did not work. and today i am bleeding more! Do I worry? Or just finish and never atttempt that again.

Could it be bad for me to be bleeding all these days? Even if it is a little?

[Bracelet]

If you were on regular Ortho Cyclen it may have worked better. But OTC is a tri-phasic, which is why it didn't work. It has different levels of hormones every week, which makes it a lot harder to skip.

If you want to try again with a monophasic pill you'd have to switch brands to a pill that has the same level of hormones for the entire month. But it depends on how comfortable you are with your OTC.

As for the bleeding, because it was caused by your pill, then it's not a reason to freak out. But you should probably let your doc know that you tried to skip and it didn't work, so they know that you're having breakthrough bleeding right now.