Hi Kathryn,
I'm glad to hear that you took emergency contraception (EC), and it sounds like you read all of the information...that this "mega dose" of hormones can "mess up" your cycle, so it really does make it confusing to know when your period is supposed to start.
Since you have been spotting for 11 days, some of this could be a combination of "withdrawal bleeding" from not taking the pill, plus taking EC around the time of your expected "period". (As you said: women do not ovulate when they take the pill, and in order to have a menstrual cycle you must ovulate. So, the bleeding we experience and call our "period" during the time of sugar pills is technically "withdrawal bleeding"...our bodies are "withdrawing" from the lack of hormones for the week, even though we are still protected from pregnancy). It is all confusing!
You started your pills immediately after the EC...does that mean you took them Wednesday or Thursday, instead of waiting until your Friday start? It's fine if you took them "early", but just remember that you have a new start day-of-the-week from now on.
Spotting for 11 days seems a little long to be spotting, the reason it could have been a combination of a light "period" (withdrawal bleeding), but the only real way to know if the EC worked is to wait another cycle until your next week of sugar pills. If you do not have withdrawal bleeding during that week, you should take a home pregnancy test just to make sure.
It sounds like you did everything right, once you realized you missed your pills! It's also important to continue using a condom or other back-up form of birth control for 7 days after your missed pills.
Sorry to not be able to tell you that you definitely had a period, but every woman's body reacts different to the "mega dose" of EC. I hope to hear from you in a month to let us know that you began your sugar pills and are having withdrawal bleeding as expected!
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Hi Kathryn,
I'm glad to hear that you took emergency contraception (EC), and it sounds like you read all of the information...that this "mega dose" of hormones can "mess up" your cycle, so it really does make it confusing to know when your period is supposed to start.
Since you have been spotting for 11 days, some of this could be a combination of "withdrawal bleeding" from not taking the pill, plus taking EC around the time of your expected "period". (As you said: women do not ovulate when they take the pill, and in order to have a menstrual cycle you must ovulate. So, the bleeding we experience and call our "period" during the time of sugar pills is technically "withdrawal bleeding"...our bodies are "withdrawing" from the lack of hormones for the week, even though we are still protected from pregnancy). It is all confusing!
You started your pills immediately after the EC...does that mean you took them Wednesday or Thursday, instead of waiting until your Friday start? It's fine if you took them "early", but just remember that you have a new start day-of-the-week from now on.
Spotting for 11 days seems a little long to be spotting, the reason it could have been a combination of a light "period" (withdrawal bleeding), but the only real way to know if the EC worked is to wait another cycle until your next week of sugar pills. If you do not have withdrawal bleeding during that week, you should take a home pregnancy test just to make sure.
It sounds like you did everything right, once you realized you missed your pills! It's also important to continue using a condom or other back-up form of birth control for 7 days after your missed pills.
Sorry to not be able to tell you that you definitely had a period, but every woman's body reacts different to the "mega dose" of EC. I hope to hear from you in a month to let us know that you began your sugar pills and are having withdrawal bleeding as expected!
February 25, 2010 - 1:04pmThis Comment
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