[stephaniekc00]

Hi everyone,

I began taking birth control for the first time last September; my doctor had me start with Ortho Tri Cyclen Lo. I took it up until about the first week of this month, February, but had bad period-related side effects: the first few months I'd have my period for two weeks, and then in January I had it for three. We decided the hormones weren't strong enough in the "Lo" version, so my doctor just recently switched me to Sprintec.

I'm becoming very familiar with bleeding about half of the month now, so wasn't hugely surprised when I noticed earlier today that I was beginning to get my period once again- I just started the third week of "active" pills (so a week before I start the placebos).

I guess my question is more so- does your body have to readjust to every different type of birth control you take? I've read everywhere that it can take 1-3 months to get on a regular schedule (and maybe for any spotting to dissipate), so I'm thinking this is probably normal that I'm still spotting with the new Sprintec... and hopefully it will go away in a month or so. It's just extremely frustrating to get my period this often- I'm losing my patience with birth control.

Thanks for any help (or if you have a similar issue, that helps to hear, too) in advance!

[kira]

Ortho tri cyclen lo is a triphasic pill which doesn't work for many people. It has a different dose of hormones for each week and many bleed through the lower dose week, myself included. Your new pills is monophasic so it should not have that problem once your body adjusts. You do have to adjust to the pill and it's cycle. This is less of a problem when switching from one pill your body follows to another pill your body follows correctly but you never got on a good schedule with ortho tri cyclen because of it's triphasic pill schedule. You will have to adjust to a monophasic pill which can take several months. However don't just keep trying and trying when you definitely aren't adjusting. I spent 6 months with a nonworking pill bleeding all the time because I didn't want to give up too soon and it turned out that pill completely wasn't right for me and I gained a ton of weight on it. As soon as I switched to a similar pill with ever so slightly higher hormones I did great and stopped gaining the pound a week I was. It's a judgement call.

[stephaniekc00]

Kira- Thanks for your reply! That's really good to know about the triphasic vs. monophasic- I read that they were different in that respect, but wasn't sure if it would affect me much. My doctor ordered me two refills of the Sprintec, so after the three months I'll see if the issue has resolved itself.