birth control confusion?

[girlydani01]

hi, i was hoping someone could offer me some clarification.

i’m on the xulane patch birth control. i use the patches weekly without a week off to skip my period. i stopped using it for a little while because i accidentally left them at school (for about two or three weeks) and i just started it again two weeks ago. i had my period in the time that i was waiting to go get the patches from school. this is my second patch as of friday.
so today, i got my period. i don’t change patches until friday. so i’m wondering why i got my period in the middle of a patch. does that mean the birth control is not working properly? hellllpppppp!

[Heather]

No, that doesn't mean that.

That most likely happened just because you stopped using it for a few weeks then went back on. In order for your withdrawal bleeds to happen on (or close to) schedule as expected, you have to stay on the schedule of using your method, only taking breaks from it with that week off and when that's supposed to happen.

You should figure that you might have some erratic or unexpected spotting or bleeding, or even withdrawal bleeds out of sync, for a cycle or two.

And while if you don't live with your sexual partner(s), during the outbreak you shouldn't be leaving home (or having visitors) and engaging in sex or other kinds of physical contact, know that if the situation were different, you'd want to use a backup method of birth control for the first month back on your patch, just because that time off you took means you have to effectively start over when it comes to its effectiveness. Make sense?

[girlydani01]

yes, makes sense. thank you!