Birth control was expired

[confused123]

I started taking oral contraception last month, and it seemed to work because my period was shorter, lighter and happened during the time when I took inactive pills. However, today (halfway into the second pack) I realized that the pills expired 4 months ago
I also started spotting yesterday, and at first I assumed it was breakthrough bleeding since this is only my second month taking the pill, but now that I have found out the pills are expired, I am unsure and I am scared it is implantation bleeding. I know the Scarleteen staff cannot tell me what this bleeding is, but can this bleeding still be breakthrough bleeding caused by the pills even though they are expired?

My boyfriend and I engaged in intercourse almost 2 weeks ago, but we used condoms and he didn't end up finishing, so I'm hoping pregnancy isn't something to worry about.

I want to consult with my doctor on whether or not I should continue taking these pills, but the office is closed until Monday, but since it appears that the pills are still working, should I continue to take them until the end of this cycle or stop taking them?

[Redskies]

Did you get these pills fairly recently (so, around or after the time they expired), and are you able to go to the place where you got them? If you were given expired or nearly-expired pills, that's a big mess-up on the part of that person/place, and they should sort it out for you by replacing the pills with in-date ones. If you have a receipt, that'll help; if you had a prescription, they likely have some record of filling your prescription. You'll need to take the packet and pills with you, and any other expired pill packs that you still have.

It's important to take medication that's in-date, and not expired medication, to ensure that it does do what it's supposed to. Your doctor would tell you to replace the expired pills that you still have. We can't suggest taking expired medication, so your best option is to go to the place you got them; if you can't do that, the next best thing before your doctor's office opens is to go to a different pharmacy (again with the packet and pills), explain, and ask for their help and advice. (Those are much better options than simply stopping taking the pill for the rest of this cycle, because that kind of stop-start is very likely to muddle your body for a while and give you more side-effects for longer.)

About the expired medication you already took: the pill has a pretty long shelf-life, several years (newer packs in pharmacies will have an expiry date several years in the future), so they don't become ineffective as soon as they get to their expiry date, that's not quite how it works. They just can't be guaranteed to do their job after that date. As you also used a condom and withdrawal (big yay for back-up methods here!), I'm not seeing a need to be concerned about pregnancy. Breakthrough bleeding and spotting is a very common side-effect of the pill, at any time but especially in the first few months of starting it or after switching pill.

[Redskies]

Oh, and also: you'll want to keep the expired pills and packet until this is completely resolved and you've got replacements, so that you can prove you need the replacements - but after it's completely resolved, don't throw the pills away or into any waste water/sewer system, that's very unsafe for the environment. Give the waste pills to a pharmacist to incinerate as medical waste. Any pharmacist should be willing to take them off you for safe disposal.

[confused123]

Thank you, I'll be sure to do that! & No, this was entirely a mess up on my part, I got these pills as "testers" about a year ago - I expressed to my doctor that I was afraid of the side effects that would come with the pills & she gave these ones to me to try out. I didn't want to take them right away because I was still a bit scared, and I just didn't think to check the expiry date when I started taking them last month

[Redskies]

I see. Oops! It's likely obvious now (isn't it always, after the fact!), but for the future, it's good to check the expiry date on medication before you take it out of the pharmacy and before you take it, to make sure.

So yep, I'd suggest taking the pills and the situation to a pharmacist to see what they can do to help you before your doctor's office opens. When it's not their mistake, they're not required to help, but usually they'll want to do what they can so as not to leave someone high and dry with expired medication.

Just to check: do you have a scheduled check-in with your doctor about your contraceptive options? Of course you can simply stop taking the pill after these packs if you want to stop taking it, but if you might want to take the pill in the future, you'll likely feel a lot better if you have continuous and consistent coverage. Like I said above, going start-stop-start with pill-taking is pretty likely to give you those side-effects you don't want.

[confused123]

The bleeding hasn't stopped, it's been 6 days and I've been having cramps everyday as well. If this is breakthrough bleeding from starting bc pills, is it normal for it to go on this long?

I'm seeing my doctor this Friday, and I've continued to take the pills because I didn't want my cycle to get wacky, could taking expired pills cause this?

[Sam W]

Hi Confused,

Since you've started the pill fairly recently, your body is probably still adjusting to it, which can make your cycle wonky. However, we can't know for sure if that's what is causing the bleeding, so you'll definitely want to mention that to your doctor.

[confused123]

So I visited the doctor, she gave me a new pill pack and told me to start where I left off in my expired pack. This pack finishes in 2 days and I am still bleeding It's been 12 days and I don't know if I should just stop after the pack is done or continue? Also should I be concerned that the bleeding has lasted this long? I told the doctor and she wasn't concerned about it, but with my period coming up, and this bleeding showing no signs of stopping soon, I'm afraid that I won't be able to tell if I actually do get my period

[Sam W]

So, in order to get the effectiveness from the pill, it would be best to take the packs as your doctor directed. When you mentioned you're concerns about the length of the bleeding to her, how many days had it been going on? And did she explain to you why she was not concerned?

[confused123]

She didn't direct me to take it in any way- she just said I should continue taking this months pills from the new package. And at the time it had been 8 days, she said it could just be my body getting used to the pills

[Sam W]

Okay, then I would suggest doing that. It's true that this could be your body getting used to the pills, but if you continue to have bleeding with no breaks in between, I would call her and give her an update to see if that changes her suggestions.