Birth control pills (Microgynon CD Bayer)

[Jose]

Hello Scarleteen,

I just have a question about how possible is to have the withdrawal bleeding in the first day of the week off (4th week) taking the 21 active + 7 placebo pills.

Based on my understood is that the levels of hormones in the body should decline in order to generate a withdrawal bleeding. However, I am wondering how fast is this declining ? Because to bleed on the first day of the week off it means that the hormone levels drop really fast ? Is this possible ? I know that the bleeding must be in the week off, but that means that can start even in the first day of the week off ?


Thanks and sorry to ask too many questions.

[Karyn]

Some people on the pill do get their withdrawal bleed on the first day of the placebo pills, but for most people it takes a couple of days at least for the level of hormones to drop enough to trigger a withdrawal bleed. It varies from person to person, though, and there's no way to know ahead of time what will happen. (And on top of that, it isn't always the same even for one person from one cycle to the next: sometimes a withdrawal bleed will show up on the second day of the placebos, the next cycle on the fourth...bodies can be unpredictable that way!)