Confused about birth control

[sporty23]

Hello, I wrote a topic the other week about breakthrough bleeding on the pill. I was concerned that the breakthrough bleeding meant that my pill's effectiveness in pregnancy protection was decreased due to this breakthrough bleeding. Even though I take a pill at literally the same time every day plus or minus 30 min-1 hr depending on obligations and never missed a pill for the last 7 months. So, I bought a pack of ovulation tests (which maybe was a bad idea) and have been using the tests daily. I notice that on all the tests, the control line is very dark whereas the test line is faint. I know this means negative for ovulation tests, but I am just wondering why a faint line shows up at all? Someone told me that the pill prevents the release of LH. So why am I still having some LH appear on the test (though not a surge)? Does this mean my pill is not strong enough?

[Sam W]

Hi Sporty,

The best person to ask this question of would be the manufacturers of the test. There may be a hotline number you can call on the box, or a website that answers some FAQs.

If you're curious about how to track your cycle, you can check out our advice on it here:
Get With the Flow: All About FAM

I want to ask, how comfortable do you feel using your pill? Do you feel like you trust it to work correctly? And, if you don't, any sense of why you might not trust it?

[sporty23]

I guess what I am asking is how does the pill exactly affect LH? Is it normal to still have some LH in your system or should you have absolutely no LH in your system?

I honestly love taking my pill. I like being in control of my pregnancy protection. I guess I just was never entirely taught about what is normal for the pill and whatnot.

[sporty23]

I tried to research LH and birth control but I am still confused. Is it normal to still have LH in your body when on birth control? Or does the presence of LH indicate that I need a stronger pill and that mine is not effective in pregnancy protection?

[Sam W]

Hi sporty,

I've been looking at the reliable info on my end, and I'm not turning up a concrete answer (most things talk about how BC suppresses it, but not to what degree). I think this might be a good question to direct to your healthcare provider, since they can likely explain it in more detail.

Since you mention you feel like you were never really taught what was normal for the pill, we have a few articles that cover a lot of info on it (with the caveat that people's bodies are different, so normal for you will be slightly different than normal for someone else)
Combined Oral Contraceptives (The Pill)
Three questions about taking the birth control pill (and plenty of answers)