Break through bleeding on the pill

[anxietythroughtheroof]

I have recently started taking the combined pill (microgynon) to deal with painful periods. The doctor advised to run 3 packs together and then have a 7 day break. I'm on pack 3 now and have been having a small amount of brown bleeding the last few days, and today have mild period cramps. Is this breakthrough bleeding? Would I be better off only running 2 packs together?

The first time I noticed the bleeding was after sex which really freaked me out, but I'm now wondering if it's pill related rather than 'bleeding after sex'
I will of course see the doctor, but just after others experiences of running packs together

Brown blood is old blood so maybe your womb lining thinning out

Yes maybe. The last time I started in the pull was nearly 20 years ago I can't remember what happened! Plus I never ran packs together at the start, let alone 3 packs so would have had a bleed every month

Last time I too the pill I have spotting for a few months and then it went, as my body got used to it. It may just be normal, but you could try 2 packs instead of 3 if 3 makes you spot.

Yes maybe that will be the way forward. At least to start with. I was completely fine on the 2 packs.

@WhatIsCorndogs does this kind of spotting tend to just continue until you have a break and a bleed? It's minimal. I'm not sure id even notice now if I wasn't looking for it, but it is still happening. It's been 3 days now

From what I can remember, yes. But of course if you're worried then speak to maybe a pharmacist? They'll know more than I do

That's a good idea. I was thinking of the nightmare of trying to get a dr appointment... a pharmacist would be much easier!

So I saw the dr who was fairly confident it was a breakthrough bleed and advised stopping and having a break. So I did and had a bleed as expected. It was very heavy and lasted a week but I thought 'great, back to normal'
3 days after my period ended, and 6 days after starting the next pack of pills I'm bleeding again. This is more than spotting, it's like a light period, definitely requires a pad. I do have endometriosis and I'm wondering if this pill is just not going to work for me. How can I have any lining to shed though when my period has just finished?!

Still bleeding. It's been a week now. It's in and off but still bright red. It had been 19 hours since the last blood and I thought I was done, but apparently not