unexplained bleeding (while on the pill)

[plasticpepper.livejournal.com]

VP, I am a little worried. :(

Yesterday I noticed some unexpected spotting, which has continued today. I'm on the pill (Aviane) and I'm currently at the beginning of the second week of this pack, so it's definitely not supposed to be bleedy-time. The initial spotting that I noticed was a small splotch of thick, brown blood which was followed by at least 6 hours of nothing at all, but today I've had a little more spotting which seems to be much lighter (in color/consistency).

I experienced breakthrough bleeding throughout the entire first pack of pills I took, but that was about nine months ago and I've had no breakthrough bleeding since then.

I haven't been totally perfect about taking my pills on time, but I haven't been TOO bad. Saturday night (the day before this spotting started) I took my pill around an hour late, and there was another day earlier in the week that I was about that late or maybe a little later. But I've been that late or later plenty of other times without experiencing any spotting.

Is there anything that could be causing this besides me screwing up my pill timing? And does it seem likely/possible that that could be the cause even though my body has never been that sensitive to timing before?

Also, how likely is it that my protection is compromised? If I did mess up the pill timing enough to cause this, is it likely that I've ovulated, or that I will sometime soon?

Comments

[archangelbeth]

The uterus and the ovaries are entirely not talking to each other when you're on HBC, so unless your pill-taking is compromised by days of no-hormones, the bleeding is more likely to be that your uterus decided it wanted to shed a little something for some reason. An hour-late pill will do it for some people! (Though the ovaries don't care about an hour; they care about, y'know, 12-24 hours, or maybe even 48 hours.) If you're under stress, that can do it. And sometimes the uterus just does breakthrough bleeding for no obvious reason; the uterine lining becomes thinner and often more fragile, when on HBC, and anything that's knocked some loose (e.g., an orgasm, bouncy exercise, etc.) will cause spotting.

[plasticpepper.livejournal.com]

Delayed response because my computer hates me but - phew! Thanks so much for this.