Missed withdrawal bleed

[Chucks12]

Hey scarleteen-
I have a question about the reasons why someone can skip a withdrawal bleed. I have been on hormonal birth control for years now and I've never missed a bleed. Last month I started working out after being inactive for a long time and I am now five days late on my bleed. I usually get it on the Wednesday or Thursday of my placebo week, even if it is very slight and spotting. THIs time I've missed it completely and I've been having much more discharge than normal with white stretchy fluid. I'm really nervous now and wanted to know if exercise can completely skip a bleed like this, or if skipping it and the white discharge are signs of pregnancy. Please help!

[Mo]

Hi Chucks12, and welcome to Scarleteen!

Did you ask this on chat this weekend? We had a similar question come through recently.

Unfortunately we can't always know why withdrawal bleeds are late or can be skipped altogether. Sometimes a change in exercise patterns can impact it, although it's not always possible to know what the cause could be in any particular situation. This article on missed periods has some info that carries over to withdrawal bleeds as well: M.I.A or, Dude, Where's My Period?

Discharge isn't a sign of pregnancy; if you're concerned about pregnancy you could take a test as soon as one would be accurate.