Early period while on BCP--best choice to minimize the bloodbath

August 16, 2009 9:01 PM

Period starting a week early on Seasonale: your best educated guess about whether I should skip the sugar-pill week or not?

This is my first 13-week cycle on Seasonale. I already had 18 days of heavy bleeding, tapering to spotting in the last few days, beginning in late June. Now my period has started with a week yet to go of the active pills, after several days of spotting. I see myself having three choices:

1. Given that my period has started, make this my sugar-pill week and then start the next 13-week packet of pills.

2. Keep taking the active pills and take my sugar-pill week as scheduled.

3. Keep taking the active pills and then start the next 13-week packet immediately, without a break.

I am interested in minimizing the suffering and blood, especially the blood. I've been having epically long periods with heavy heavy bleeding and flooding at roughly 24-day intervals for a long time. Regular 28-day BCP stretched my cycle to 28 days, but my period always started during the last week of active pills and lasted 8-10 days. My doctor and I are trying Seasonale in the hope that I can finally get some relief.

I know this is hormones speaking but (weeps quietly) I am just so tired of bleeding all the time and I want to make the choice now that will minimize this period that has just started.

posted by not that girl to Health & Fitness (6 answers total)

Stick with the schedule. In my experience, there's pretty much nothing you can do at this point to make it any better. Just take them as directed. Do NOT jump straight into another pack without the requisite break. I know people who do this with no problems, but I have the same issues you do and trying something like that would result in a month or more of bleeding.
posted by Hildegarde at 9:06 PM on August 16, 2009 [2 favorites]

Yes, I agree. Stick with the schedule. I took Seasonale for a number of years, and I had a similar beginning to you -- heavy bleeding before I was supposed to, headaches, etc. I had the equivalent of a very light period for WEEKS during the first schedule. It sucked. I hung on, though, and I didn't have those symptoms after the first packet. Just stick with it!
posted by theantikitty at 9:11 PM on August 16, 2009

Take them exactly the way the packet says to. Your body is still adjusting, and hopefully it will get progressively better with each pill cycle, but don't mess with it at this point, especially because there's no guarantee the bleeding will stop if you stop!
posted by so_gracefully at 10:01 PM on August 16, 2009

Response by poster: Thanks, gals. I cling to the hope that I will eventually adjust...and if not, someday I'll hit menopause, right?
posted by not that girl at 11:05 PM on August 16, 2009

Yeah, I had breakthrough bleeding on my 2nd pack of Seasonale, but I'm about to start my 5th and it seems that my body accepted the "new schedule" after about 5 months... so far, so good, so just stick with it and good luck.
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 7:53 AM on August 17, 2009

maybe you should try a different pill....i became a raving lunatic on seasonale..
posted by dmbfan93 at 8:58 AM on August 17, 2009