loestrin, missing pills, weird periods

[piranhasifought.livejournal.com]

 i feel like i post here every other day...

anyways. i missed my first pill of the pack...which was last sunday.
now, i'm looking at my pack, and somehow, i missed another pill somewhere.
i'm not sure when. maybe xmas eve? idn. 

am i protected against pregnancy? 

also- my periods are really weird on loestrin. i know they're supposed to be lighter, and my gyno said i may not get them at all..but what happens to me is for 1-2 days i get this thick, weird, brownish...stuff. i don't even need to wear a tampon though. i'll use maybe one the entire length of my "period." but when i have sex, this weird stuff ends up on my significant other. there's not much of it...but it's almost like a thick weird discharge type thing. it's kinda gross..
is this normal? 

Comments

[archangelbeth]

I'm assuming Loestrin is a 21-active-pills, 7-placebo-pills brand? If so, when you missed the first pill from your pack, that potentially compromised your pregnancy protection until you took 7 days of active pills. If you've missed another one, and haven't "made it up," then your protection may be compromised for some unknown duration.

I'd suggest going on at one pill a day, using backup contraception such as condoms or withdrawal for at least 7 days, and throwing away one of your placebo pills, so you only have 6 days off of hormone pills. You may wish to use backup contraception during your placebos, and for 7 days into your next pack. After that, you'll be fine again.

If Loestrin is a 24-active-pill brand, then you're likely fine, because missing an active pill only extends to 5 days, and that's within the 21/7 rule. Make up the missing pill now, and go on normally.

(The 21/7 rule: no fewer than 21 days of active pills; no more than 7 days without them.)


And yes, what's likely happening is that your uterus is not building up much lining, so it doesn't shed much, and what it is shedding is somehow weirdly oxidized "old" blood. From everything I've ever seen on VP, it's pretty normal.

[piranhasifought.livejournal.com]

It's an active-24 brand. Do you think I should make it up by taking two pills? Or just take one and keep going with the pack?

[archangelbeth]

You could probably do either -- if you missed the pill within the last few days, then take two. If you do keep on going, then I'd have a 3-day break instead of a four day one, so you're starting on your usual start day and so the time that the ovaries might try to realize you'd missed a pill was minimized. You may wish to use backup contraception during the break, and any time you aren't sure you've had 7 days in a row of active pills; that would probably be unnecessary, because I believe even 21-active-pill brands can miss a pill entirely and be okay, but it's the super-conservative anti-pregnancy routine.

[watchthesky214.livejournal.com]

I'm on the generic version of loestrin and i have the same period symptoms. And I freak because i know that sometimes we're not supposed to get our periods, which is gonna trip me out to think i'm pregnant. But yeah, it's supposed to change the consistency and length as well as lightness. It's shocking and I didn't think it was normal when i started, coming from what I used to experience. But with some googling and talking to my obgyn, it's quite normal.

[manda-moo478.livejournal.com]

Yup, the brown discharge is completely normal. Gross, but normal.

[piranhasifought.livejournal.com]

sweeeeeeet.

it's kinda gross but it only lasts a few hours so it's kinda less gross then bleeding for 5 days all over the place and ew'ing everywhere.