QuestionQUESTION: i am 29 married for 4 and half years.i am on ocp(minipills)for 4 years.somehow i got pregnant and had an abortion (using abortion pill)on 28th sept. After that i started my pills again i had my last period on 28 oct my bleedig stoped on 1 nov,but i had a unexpected break through bleeding on 7th nov and on 13th nov.is this normal?
ANSWER: Julie, this is completely normal. The minipill commonly causes breakthrough bleeding, and also is less reliable as a contraception. In addition, it's common to have spotting or irregular bleeding months after an abortion, especially with the pill. It could be caused by either the abortion pill or your birth control pills - but either way it's normal. You may want to consider switching to another form of birth control pills or another method that is more reliable.
I hope this is helpful,
Doctor Joan
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QUESTION: i stoped taking birth control pills but still having spot bleeding throughout the month My last period started on 20th dec stoped on 26th but still having spot bleeding. please suggest what should i do?
AnswerJulie,
You can either wait, and see what happens; go back to the doctor who prescribed the pills; or go to your gyn, who will likely put you on a combination oral contraceptive as I mentioned before.
Ongoing irregular bleeding after the abortion pill is usually hormonal, but occasionally can be from retained tissue from the pregnancy. This would be diagnosed by ultrasound by the doctor who prescribed the pills, or by a gyn. Hormonal bleeding is typically treated with pills (higher dose contraceptive pills than the ones you are taking). If it is retained products - sometimes even the smallest amount of tissue can cause this ongoing bleeding. The treatment for retained products would be a procedure - the aspiration procedure. You do not NEED a procedure at this point, because the bleeding is not causing anemia and is not heavy, and there are no other health consequences related to retained products that are a concern. Retained products that cause this type of light spotting eventually would likely resolve on its own.
In other words, spotting is harmless, and is likely hormonal, and if given time will usually resolve on its own. It also could be retained products, but in my opinion, I wouldn't intervene at this stage with a procedure. The bigger problem would be getting pregnant again if that is not what you want at this time in your life. Getting on birth control (combination pills, not the minipill) would have the highest chance of taking care of both problems.
I hope I haven't confused you more. This was a very difficult question not to respond to in person.
Doctor Joan
