Post-Pill Effects: What to Expect After Stopping Birth Control

Question
I had been on Ortho-cyclen for 3 months and was horribly nauseous. My doctor switched me to Yaz, but the nausea was even worse so I decided to stop taking it. My last pill was 6/25/10 which was the 8th pill in the new pack. My boyfriend and I last had sex on 6/23/10. We always use condoms in addition to withdrawal. I had a 3 day withdrawal bleed starting on 7/5/10. I've not had a true period since this date. I've had cramping, tender breasts, and spotting the past 5 days. I took a HPT last week which was negative. What are the chances of pregnancy? Can one have a withdrawal bleed and still be pregnant? How likely is it that the HPT could have given me a false positive? (I used first morning urine.) Is this a fairly normal side effect of stopping the Pill mid-cycle? Thank you.

Answer
Hi Jamie,

How are you doing? From what you have said, it sounds like you could be pregnant. To confirm, I would advise you to go to a pregnancy resource center and get a free test there. http://www.optionline.org or call 1-800-395-HELP. Another website to find a center would be
http://www.heartbeatservices.org and click on the worldwide directory in the upper right hand corner.

I'm glad you went off the birth control pill because I always advise against a hormonal birth control method. I hope you will email me at CHERYL51@aol.com and let me know what happens.

Diane Cheryl