I am gong thru the same prolem. I had baby #3 in sept 04 had my tubes tied. ever since i have had uncontrolable bleeding! finally three weeks ago i broke down and went to the doctor. He also put me on birth control (wasted money on tubes!) but he had me take 3 the first two days then 2 tehn go to one pill after that. he said it would make me sick to my stomach but it would stop the bleeding. HAHAHA still bleeding. its been over a month! heavy, clotty, horrible! he recommended me to go to a obgyn to check for fibroids and endo. have yet to hear from gyno! i have no insurance so if they are not willing to help me with a payment plan i suffer! i am going to tlak to a friend tomorrow who had the same prob. she had a hysterectomy i am gonna possibly call her doctor. i need to do something. i am missing work like crazy over this i stand up and i need to change my clothes instantly!
but anyway i hope my explanation of the bc pills helps you a little.
n.
Thank you everyone for your advice. The Yasmin pill definitely helped slowed down the bleeding, but I'm still on my period. I'm also experiencing very bad back and abdominal pain in the morning (but for some reason it seems to always stop around 1:00 pm). Today is the first day that I was instructed to take only one pill (I had to take two per day for the past four days) so I hope I don't start heavy bleeding again. I have to go back to take another vaginal and external ultrasound in three weeks and I just took another blood test to check my hormones. She said that if they can't control the bleeding I'll probably have to do a D&C to scrape out the lining.
Also, when I went to the gyno she said she thinks I have Polycystic Ovary Syndrome because I have had somewhat irregular periods that vary in length, etc. and don't always come at the same time. So she thinks that might be causing the problem too. I guess she'll know when she gets my blood test results.
Now that you are having some issues, you should definitely be seeing an GYN, not simply a regular family doctor.
To answer your question and explain a little further:
The fourth week of pills (placebo pills) do not induce your period. They are simply sugar pills and have no effect on your body at all. They are merely place holders to keep you in the rhythm of taking a pill every day. You can take them or not take them and it won't affect you either way.
The regular pills have hormones that prevent you from ovulating and bleeding. You take them for three weeks and then stop - and that allows your body to have a period. If you were to open a new pack of pills after that third week and start taking the new pack then you would prevent yourself from having a period that month. Some women like to do this if they are going on vacation or something. So, it's the lack of taking the regular pills that allows your body to have the period.
If the pill is working correctly for you then you will not bleed at all while taking the regular 3-week pills. If you have bleeding, it's called "breakthrough bleeding" and that might mean that this particular type of birth control isn't right for your body. That's why I said you might need to try some different types before you find one that works for you. And that's why I said it's very important that you see an GYN for this help.
I hope this helps! Feel free to ask more questions if you need to.
My daughter has been going thru basically the same thing since she was 13. She is now 16 and we still have no diagnosis as to why. She has also had external ultrasounds showing a thickened lining and has taken So many different types of BC pills. It took 8 months for them to work initially. But then they would only work for a couple of months and then she'd have to switch to another. She was on Yasmin a few months ago and they quit working. Now she is on another one, (the name escapes me at the moment) but they haven't worked at all! She is now facing more extensive tests and they are REALLY pushing for the Depo shots in hopes of controlling the bleeding. She was told to skip the placebos but she still bleeds constantly. In 4 weeks she has had 3 or 4 days where she was only spotting. The rest have been a constant heavy flow, messing up her clothes and sheets, etc.. I really feel for you. I pray that they can find something to help you, but make sure to PUSH for a diagnosis. Yes, treat the symptoms, but you have to know what is causing them.
I'll let you know if and when I get any answers, and I hope you are back to normal very soon!
Best of luck--J
Thank you very much for response. I really appreciate your comments. I'm such a newbie that I didn't even know the fourth week pills were the ones that induce your cycle. I actually went to my doctor and he made an appointment to see a gyno (I've been actually going to my normal doctor for all my women's issues becaue I've never had any problems until now). She took me off my birth control and put me on a new one called Yasmin. She told me to stop taking the placebo "white" pills and start the new pack and to skip the fourth week when I come to it.
Normally with birth control, does the first three weeks of pills prevent you from bleeding?
Your mom is correct, you should not start bleeding until your third week of regular pills is finished (when you start taking the placebo pills).
However, it takes some women a few months to adjust to taking bc. This might have been your body adjusting and after a couple more months you might be on schedule.
Another possibility is that this bc is not right for you. There are lots of other options (nuva ring, patch, seasonale, etc) so if you continue to have bleeding when you should not then ask your doc about getting a different type.
Good luck!