QuestionI am currently on Ortho and have been for about three years now, with little to no problems. I've always been very faithful at taking it on time until recently, my life has become so hectic it just slips my mind.
I started a new pack on Thursday as planned, and then had sex with my partner on Friday of last week. However I had forgot to take them the entire weekend. And I still haven't taken them because I don't know if I should or just start again next month. That's my first quetion and my second is that today I started bleeding very heavily like the first day of my period but it's only been 9 days since my last period. Is that normal when you stop taking pills or is there a chance I could be pregnant and something is really wrong?
AnswerHi Amber,
We all make mistakes sometimes, especially when things get hectic. For your first question: Whenever you miss pills and are unsure about what do, the best thing to do is take a pill as soon as you remember and keep taking one a day until you speak with your doctor. Use a back-up method for at least 7 days. Even though you have been off the pills for a few days, you do not need to wait until next month to go back on the pill. If you have another complete pack you can start taking those today and ask your doctor what to do about the incomplete pack. If you only have the incomplete pack, I suggest checking with your doctor first since you are missing the 2 pills you have already taken. It is still fine to start now, but you may need to get replacement pills for the 2 you took last week.
I found a link for you specific to ortho that you can use in the future (it ortho-tricyclen lo but it will also pertain to ortho-tricyclen):
http://www.thepill.com/thepill/aboutortho-whatif.html
For your second question:
Bleeding is common when you miss or are late with taking pills, and for some women it can be heavy. So this is probably what is happening to you. If it continues for a few days you may want to ask your doctor about it.
Since you have been off the pill for almost a week now, there is a chance you ovulated and your chance of pregnancy has increased. However, this does not mean you are definitely pregnant, just that your chances of pregnancy are greater then if you had not missed the pills. If you start back on the pills this month you will not get your period at the time you normally would, since you will be on active pills (and even if you wait to go back on, you may still not get a period at that time). That doesn't mean you need to wait until next month before taking a pregnancy test. There is a First Response test that you can take up to 4 days before you would have expected this month's period.
I know this is a lot of info but I hope this helps. If you have further questions, please let me know.
-Mia
