late period

[yankeechic87.livejournal.com]

ok so my last period was in the beginning of june.
in the beginning of july i had sex and the condom fell off. the next day i took Plan B and the day after that as instructed by planned parenthood i began birth control pills (estrostep) which obviously made me skip my july period.

the problem is that tomorrow is my last day of placebo pills and i have not gotten my period this week like i was supposed to. last week i had some spotting and brown discharge. i took a pregnancy test on monday which came back negative.

my question is...should i start my next pack of birth control on friday even though i did not get my period? i have been really stressed and this was my first time ever taking birth control so i dont know if that has caused my missed period.

im really scared that im pregnant but i want to stop freaking out so much. i just want to know if it is safe for me to start my next pack without having gotten my period this month.

Comments

[stripypants.livejournal.com]

I think generally it's not a good idea to skip the placebos long-term, though.

[queensugar.livejournal.com]

That really depends on the person. Not all women can do long-term skipping successfully; however, to my knowledge no conclusive evidence exists to show that long-term skipping is dangerous.

In fact, doctors often recommend continuous HBC use (never having periods) to women suffering from endometriosis or other disorders that cause extremely difficult periods; and there's a new kind of HBC in the works that's marketed as being used to stop all periods. You can read about it in a very interesting article here (http://www.macleans.ca/topstories/health/article.jsp?content=20051213_117621_117621).

Of course, many women aren't comfortable with that idea (which is totally their right), and there's certainly the possibility that there are problems with long-term skipping that we're not aware of yet. But that's a start, anyway. :)

[yankeechic87.livejournal.com]

thanks so much! thats comforting.
im just nervous bc i really thought that by starting the BC i would DEFINITELY get my period this month. its freaking me out that it never came.

[galaxy-soup.livejournal.com]

I can't really give you any advice on your question, but I've also been given estrostep as birth control I haven't tried it yet since I've read about a lot of unhappy reviews on it. How has estropstep been for you so far? I haven't wanted to use it because of the side effects some people have had =X

[yankeechic87.livejournal.com]

i actually havent had any side effects. my best friend was on it too and she hated it, but i havent had any problems so far. give it a try..u can always switch! good luck!

[queensugar.livejournal.com]

Just so you know... and this is one of our most common questions... other women's experiences will not predict how your body will react.

All HBC can produce all side-effects in some women, and not in others. There's no way to know how your body will react other than to try it (preferably for at least three months) and see if it works for you.

Additionally, it's good to bear in mind that people often speak up more and louder when they've had a negative experience than a positive one... so even the "reviews" you may hear are not going to be a representative sample.

If you want to try Estrostep, give it a whirl! It may be great for your body. Or it may not... but no amount of reviews can tell you what to expect in terms of how you will react.

[queensugar.livejournal.com]

For many women on HBC, the brown old-blood discharge essentially is a period. I know when I was on HBC, all of my periods were extremely light (about 36 hours long) and almost exclusively brown old blood.

Furthermore, since your cycle was probably thrown a bit out of whack by the Plan B and then again by starting HBC, it's perfectly reasonable that you're not bleeding now.

While HBC is effective against pregnancy after seven days of appropriate use, it can take up to three months for your body to sync up to the pill's bleeding schedule.

But yes, you should always start your next pack of HBC on time. Extending your placebo week beyond seven days can compromise your protection and put you at risk for pregnancy.

[queensugar.livejournal.com]

By the by, for more information on EC and HBC, you can check out our FAQs:

Big HBC FAQ:

http://community.livejournal.com/vaginapagina/7325155.html

Big EC FAQ:

http://community.livejournal.com/vaginapagina/7466955.html

A lot of the information in there may explain why you didn't experience a full bleed this month.

[mauh.livejournal.com]

Just to echo what's already been said here, I'm certain that you'll be fine. Between Plan B and the birth control pills, it's no wonder your cycle's a little out of whack. It'll take your body some time to adjust - it could even take a few months. When I first started my doctor told me that either spotting or missing periods entirely for a bit wasn't uncommon, so try not to stress too much.

[yankeechic87.livejournal.com]

thanks so much ladies!
im so much more at ease after reading ur comments!