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Can switching birth control pills affect your AF?
I am a 32 year old woman of average height and weight.
I've been on norg-eth estra tri (I think the generic of Trinessa? Trisprintec? So many names for birth controls...) for years now, but have had issues with breakthrough bleeding as of the last few months. Thus, my doctor, who is also my GYN, prescribed a different brand. On Sunday the 21st of December I began Lomedia Fe with iron pills for the last few days of my AF. Now, I'm also on the generic of Lamictal, which is Lamotrigine. I was taking three 25mg pills every morning up until a month ago, around December 19th, when I was upgraded to one 100mg pill each day. (I've recently cut back down to the three 25mg pills due to weird side effects that I attributed to the increase in Lamotrigine but may have just been incidental or due to something else. Insomnia, heart palpitations, nausea, increased thirst, headaches, hot and cold flashes... etc, etc...) I've read online that Lamictal can affect the effectiveness of birth control, but my doctor assured me that the dosage I am one would not. It should be noted here, just in case, that I am, in fact, sexually active. Our contraceptive is my birth control pill.
Long story short, (too late!) about 4 day before my AF I began to bleed pink and brown, some red. I thought it was my AF, due to some mild cramping. On the first day of it, it was merely a one time event that I wasted a tampon on. (Sorry for that TMI!) Over the next few days it was spotting. Now, my AF was due Monday or Tuesday and it is now Thursday. Since last week I've had nausea, sore throat, headache, fatigue, sore breasts, mild cramping, intense hunger and thirst alternating with the nausea, emotional swings consisting of rage and grief, milky vaginal discharge and itching breasts and nipples. I've already taking a HPT and it was negative, so that rules out that possibility.
I start my next pack of birth control pills this Sunday, and I'm making a doctor's appointment. It's not an emergency so I'll most likely be scheduled for some time out.
To ease my mind, I'd just like to consider the possibility that all of these symptoms are due to the birth control switch.
I've been on norg-eth estra tri (I think the generic of Trinessa? Trisprintec? So many names for birth controls...) for years now, but have had issues with breakthrough bleeding as of the last few months. Thus, my doctor, who is also my GYN, prescribed a different brand. On Sunday the 21st of December I began Lomedia Fe with iron pills for the last few days of my AF. Now, I'm also on the generic of Lamictal, which is Lamotrigine. I was taking three 25mg pills every morning up until a month ago, around December 19th, when I was upgraded to one 100mg pill each day. (I've recently cut back down to the three 25mg pills due to weird side effects that I attributed to the increase in Lamotrigine but may have just been incidental or due to something else. Insomnia, heart palpitations, nausea, increased thirst, headaches, hot and cold flashes... etc, etc...) I've read online that Lamictal can affect the effectiveness of birth control, but my doctor assured me that the dosage I am one would not. It should be noted here, just in case, that I am, in fact, sexually active. Our contraceptive is my birth control pill.
Long story short, (too late!) about 4 day before my AF I began to bleed pink and brown, some red. I thought it was my AF, due to some mild cramping. On the first day of it, it was merely a one time event that I wasted a tampon on. (Sorry for that TMI!) Over the next few days it was spotting. Now, my AF was due Monday or Tuesday and it is now Thursday. Since last week I've had nausea, sore throat, headache, fatigue, sore breasts, mild cramping, intense hunger and thirst alternating with the nausea, emotional swings consisting of rage and grief, milky vaginal discharge and itching breasts and nipples. I've already taking a HPT and it was negative, so that rules out that possibility.
I start my next pack of birth control pills this Sunday, and I'm making a doctor's appointment. It's not an emergency so I'll most likely be scheduled for some time out.
To ease my mind, I'd just like to consider the possibility that all of these symptoms are due to the birth control switch.
Tgen it shouldnt change your cycle. But you could get all those other symptoms. I would take another pregnancy test here soon just to make sure.
I take my bc religiously, so now I'm thinking I have a stomach flu. I still feel rubbish. The flu would be preferable to pregnancy though. Doctor's appointment is two weeks out. Poo...
It also depends on when you started your bc pills. Did you take the new ones the same time/starting day you would have with the old ones?
Hoping pregnancy isn't the case. If it's just the hormonal changes making me feel awful and crazy, I can handle that if it's merely a transition.
They might be the swich in birth controls or you could be pregnant and you just dont have enough of the hormone hcg to get a positive reading. Its hard to tell if you still dont start in a few days then take another test or go to the doctor and they can do a blood test to confirm if you are pregnant or not.
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