Panicked, messed up taking birth control, still bleeding.

[Dana]

I'm on OrthoTriCyclen Lo, have been for 5 months, it's worked great and I've taken it perfectly. My period was supposed to start Tuesday, April 6th. My boyfriend has been gone a couple months (military stuff) and was only going to be home a few days, starting Friday, April 9th. I had heard from a friend who had done this (and after reading a lot online) that it's okay to start your next pack of birth control pills instead of taking the sugar pills, and that will prevent your period from coming that month. So I decided to try it, and started my next pack of pills instead of the sugar pills during the week I should have gotten my period. It was all going well until we actually had sex on Friday, the 9th, which is when I started bleeding (I also had cramps beforehand, which I just thought were nerves because I was meeting his grandmother, who had flown in with him). I freaked out and decided to up my dosage by taking a pill every 12 hours instead of 24 in hopes of stopping the bleeding. I did this for three days, and the bleeding pretty much let up, and then when he left Thursday, April 15th, I went back to taking one pill a day, in order, like I was supposed to. The problem is that it's now Thursday, April 22nd and I'm still bleeding. I stopped taking my pills Tuesday (because I figured at this point I'm out of the woods pregnancy-wise) and am now just hoping it will stop. :/ I'm not sure if it's related, but on Friday (the 16th) I started experiencing some UTI symptoms which eventually went away and I got sick (with a cold).

Lesson learned:
Skipping periods probably won't work with lo-dose birth control, and it messes you up. Not my best decision.

Does anyone have any advice? Obviously if it doesn't stop I'm going to have to go to the doctors.

[Pour the Teapot]

i don't think you're supposed to mess around with prescriptions like that, it can be pretty dangerous. i would probably go see the doctor and stop messing with your pills.

[Pour Into Possibility]

I always skip the sugar pills in my packet because i get really painful cramps and back pain when i get my period, and it's possible to do, and most doctors don't mind. But if you do start bleeding when you're skipping it, stop taking your pill. Don't keep trying to take the pills while you're bleeding, and never ever double up on doses. Finish bleeding then go back onto your birth control. If you don't think you're going to be protected from pregnancy, then don't have sex.

[flowerchild32273]

ok well i was on otc lo before and you probably started bleeding because it is a low dose pill and that means you can get spotting, even when you take them correctly. i know that i got some bleeding the last 2 weeks when i was on it as opposed to just the week of sugar pills. also it would be bad to try to take twice the dosage because they prescribe that amount for a reason and messing with it is dangerous and otc low is a pill that actually has 3 levels of hormones starting with the lowest the first week and ending with the highest the third week. this is also a reason that you could start bleeding if you just skipped the sugar pills. you went from a higher dose of hormones to a lower dose and the drop in hormones is what allows you to have your period normally on the sugar pills. if you end up in a situation like this again its better to just have sex during your period (ive done it, it's not that bad if the guy doesnt mind) or just forgo sex for that time. im sure youll be ok pregnancy wise just in the future dont mess with your birth control without talking to your doctor first! haha