Scarleteen

I skipped the last week of my birth control that was supposed to start last Thursday. I didn’t want my period and heard you could skip it so I tried, which I’ve never done before. I started taking it in May. Since then, I’ve been lightly bleeding a dark red, almost like at the very end of my period where it’s on-off and moving back to normal, but it’s been going for over a week now and my periods are normally only 4 days

I read online about breakthrough bleeding with the pill, and it can last like 3 weeks. Is that what this is? Is there any way I could get this to stop?

Hi there spotteddog,

It often takes a bit for any changes in hormonal birth control to take effect- that’s likely what’s happening. For folks who are trying to take the pill continuously, it can take a few cycles for the body to catch up and react to that consistent dose of hormones.
As long as you’re not experiencing any other concerning symptoms (pain, losing lots of blood, etc), you shouldn’t have anything to worry about. However, you can always check in with the person who prescribed them about how your pills work, and what to expect! Just to clarify - does your healthcare provider know that you’re taking them continuously?