Multiple periods after missing BC for a week

[arewar.livejournal.com]

I've been on HBC for 3 years, and the same brand for half that time, never have had issues missing pills. I'm on an extended period schedule, every 3 months.

I finished a pack last week and had a normal period as scheduled. Then I realized that I had run out of packs. Oops. I work fulltime and have my packs shipped to me through the mail. I ordered a refill, assuming it would come within 2 days as usual, and didn't think missing 2 days right after a period would be a big deal. (Pregnancy is a non-issue, not been sexually active in the last few months.)

There was a screwup with my order, and now I expect to get them Saturday. Okay, that sucks but not a big deal.

Then yesterday, about 5 days after my last period ended, I've started a new period. It seems perfectly normal, no cramping or anything.

Is this normal, given that I'm on an extended schedule? When I get my BC, should I wait for this period to end, or should I start my pills immediately?

Comments

[nickelshoe.livejournal.com]

I don't know why you're having another bleed, sorry. As long as you feel all right, I probably wouldn't worry about it as a one-time deal.

If you're not using your pills for pregnancy protection, you can start a new pack whenever it's convenient. If something changes and you want pregnancy protection, it will be restored after seven days since you took a longer than seven day break.

[gryphonwing.livejournal.com]

Well, your birth control normally overwrites your actual cycle - so you have a withdrawal bleed every 3 months, but you're not having a period ever. Bleeding now doesn't mean a lot except that your body isn't getting the hormones it's really, really used to - it takes a week or so for the ovaries to wake up and consider ovulating. Five days after you stop bleeding is something like ten or eleven days after you stopped taking active pills, right? Even an anovulatory cycle is more than 4 days long, generally speaking.

The good news is that it doesn't actually matter if you take your BC while you're bleeding. You don't need to try to match it up with your natural cycles, because it makes you not have natural cycles anyway. You're not sexually active, so you don't need to worry about using backup for the first seven days. The whole 'start on the first day of your period" thing is for heterosexually active people, so that they don't have to use backup for the first week.

So pick the day you feel like starting on and start. :)

[minervasolo.livejournal.com]

I made the same mistake a couple of months ago and had the same thing. When I started the birth control I kept spotting for a while and started my next periods early (before I finished the pack) but everything's settled back down again.