Scarleteen

Hi Scarleteen,

I was wondering if I had need to worry that I had some light bleeding whilst on the pill. It only lasted an hour or so and was too light for a tampon. I'm just about to finish my 3rd pack without a break and was wondering if this was the problem? Although I'm worried this could effect the effectiveness of my contraception?

Spotting is one of the most common side effects of hormonal contraception methods, and is all the more common when people piggyback them, skipping placebo breaks. It doesn't change the effectiveness of those methods, so no need for concern about that.

Thanks so much

Happy to help.

Just FYI, though, we still do not have any studies on people under 18 piggybacking hormonal methods to know about the safety of doing so.

So, we, as an organization, do not generally advise anyone under 18 do that unless they have been directed by their healthcare provider to do so for a health condition, since we just don't know yet, at all, if there are any long-term health issues that may occur as a result.

Thanks for letting me know. I had spoken to my doctor about this previously, she said unless I ran on for more than 3 months I shouldn't have much to worry about. Although I always take my break if I can. Hopefully I'm ok health wise, contraception isn't affected by piggybacking hormonal contraception is it?

No, contraceptive effectiveness isn't impacted by skipping the placebo break. Getting some breakthrough bleeding or spotting is also not a concern per effectiveness.