Seasonale

I am 37 and took depo for several years. I went off depo for a few years, I was recently prescribed Seasonale. I am 2 weeks into my second pack, however I have had HEAVY bleeding two weeks PRIOR to my regular pill period and now 2 weeks AFTER I am still bleeding cramping, SEVERELY bloated, have insomnia. My doctor says to keep taking it, but I just want to stop. I don't think I can stand 60 more days of this. Why can't I just stop taking it? What would happen?

[Machelle Seibel, MD]

A. It does sometimes take a few months for Seasonale to work, especially in the beginning.  However, if you are in pain, severely bloated and bleeding, there is no reason you must stay on it. I suggest you tell your doctor you are coming off of it and get his/her recommendation about what to do. Sometimes doctors substitute one pill for another.  Sometimes they recommend stopping everything for a month or two to let the body get back to normal and then start up again. Sometimes they do testing to see if there is some other problem.
Machelle M. Seibel, MD