the pill

I stopped taking my birth control in October.Had my first few periods just fine.  This period will not go away I have had it for a month, should i be concerned??  Is there a way to stop the bleeding?? ahhhh

[Elaine Brown, MD]

Hi!
If my patient called in with your symptoms, I would probably prescribe 14 days of progesterone.  That will stop the bleeding and "re-set" the uterine lining.  I would then suggest a wait and see approach before doing a big work-up.  If she never had another crazy period I would blow it off, if she had them every month, we would need to figure out why!

You could also re-start your birth control--if my patient wanted to do this, I would tell her to take two pills per day until the bleeding stopped and then back down to one to finish the pack.

You should definitely call your doctor and get it over with!
Dr B