Early bleed on pill

[sporty23]

Hello, I am taking a combined oral contraceptive called Vestura. This is my 6th or 7th pack. I got what appears to be a withdrawal bleed exactly one week before I start my placebo pills. The bleed is not really heavy but not light either and mostly brown. I understand that breakthrough bleeding is common in the first few packs, but what about for the 6th pack? I had a similar thing happen to me 2 months ago, but it was more spotting than anything 2 days before my placebos. I have been taking my pills within the hour every day, never missing ny pills. Last month, I did take 2 pills in 1 day twice because I had a horribly sore and dry throat and my pills actually got stuck, forcing me to gag back up the pill. I got nervous and took another pill on these instances.

So my question is , is this normL to get the bleed early? Does this mean that my effectiveness For pregnancy protection is reduced?

Thank you!

[Sam W]

Hi Sporty,

It may be that your body is still adjusting to the pill, as for younger people it can take longer for your body to fully sync up with it. Since you've had no issues with taking pills during this pack, then you can assume the effectiveness has not decreased.

[Heather]

Too, breakthrough bleeding is a common side effect of hormonal methods, period. So, it can happen any time.

[sporty23]

Great, thank you so much! The only other thing I can think of that May have impacted something is that a couple days ago, I took my pill at the normal time. However, 2 hours later, I was eating chips and one got caught in my throat. I was able to cough and was fine, but could it be possible to have coughed up the birth control pill? This seems outlandish to me though....

[Heather]

I'd say a pretty good rule of thumb in life is that when something seems outlandish, it probably is.

If you swallowed your pill fine when you took it hours before, not only would it no longer be in your throat, you've also likely fully metabolized it by then.

[sporty23]

So basically coughing up is not the same as the vomiting protocol for pills then, especially if it was after 2 hours? I. Other words, no need to take another pill?

[Heather]

Even with vomiting, two hours after taking the pill is not going to present issues. Almost everyone's digestive systems work much faster than that.

[sporty23]

Awesome, thank yo!