Early period on birth control?

[MarieT1]

Hi, possibly dumb question here, but I'm worried because I'm not sure if this is normal or not.

I've been on Alysena birth control for 3 years and I take it very faithfully. Usually, I don't get periods on it at all, which has been a blessing and is also apparently normal. Some months I do though. I was due to start my period today, but in reality, it started 2 days ago. It started off just light brown, very light. Yesterday it was a bit heavier. Today it was heavier, but now it's suddenly slowing down. This is not a normal period for me. I've also never had it start during my active pills. Yesterday, I was peeing like crazy too, about 3 times an hour for some reason. I'm fine today, but that was abnormal for me. I have cramps and I feel bloated, like I normally do on my period, but is it a sign that my pill isn't working properly if I'm starting early?

I've never had sex before. The furthest I've gone is dry humping with at least two layers of clothes and oral, but I don't think there's any chance that semen has come into contact with me. I just mention this because Google keeps suggesting I'm pregnant.

I'm just wanting to know if this is normal. I figured it would be normal if I was just starting on birth control, but I've been on the same pill for 3 years. I don't think I'm more stressed than normal. I am fighting a bit of a virus right now. Not sure if that could mean anything.

[Heather]

You know Google isn't a person who can actually answer questions for you, right? I'm being a little bit cheeky, but the truth is that Google can't give information or advice, it can just respond with algorhythms based on what keywords you're using and what that pulls up based on how all the SEO or context of websites relate to those keywords. This is why pulling this kind of question up in a search engine just isn't a way to go. You need to talk to a person.

With any medication you use, you can always call into your prescribing physician or pharmacist with ANY questions about that medication or how it may or may not be impacting you, and those people are the best people to ask with medication questions or concerns, always. And since you have some other symptoms right now that are troubling you -- like needing to urinate frequently and not feeling well -- ideally, you want to just put a call into your doctor.

By all means, no matter how long people have been using a hormonal contraceptive, just like with other medications, because your body doesn't stay the same, how that medication impacts you and your body won't always stay the same, either. Breakthrough bleeding is one of the most common side effects of those methods, and can happen anytime, and yep, sometimes people will start withdrawal bleeds before or even without (if they skip) the placebo period in each pack.