Had my cycle starting on the 20th of February. It lasted 3 days (as usual). Began BC pills but stopped after a week-i work crazy hours and got super distracted- The weekend of March 11th I had VERY light bleeding -very dark blood- that lasted two -3 days and ended. Light to non existstsnt cramping. I have a very regular 28 day cycle. Should have started the 18th. Instead I had some spotting. Barely a smear. Its Now the 21st, and I have been having some cramps very tender breasts, back aches. Also, since the previous bleeding ended my stomach has been sore. Like I've been doing sit ups, which I have not been. I called my local health department when the bleeding happened but they didn't seem worried, and couldn't answer any of my questions, should I break the bank and go to a real gyno? Taken 2 tests since first missd day both bfn.

'Began pills' - for the first time ever, or that month?
I know this is catty but you deserve it: how did you have time for sex, calling a clinic, and buying 2 HPTs, but not to continue the pills?

None of the symptoms matter. When you disrupt your body's cycle with pills, you can get any symptoms under the sun. 2/20-2/23. 2/24-3/1. 3/11-3/13. Spotting instead of real period.
Sounds more like pill stoppage than pregnancy, but technically, if you are having sex, you also could be pregnant!

Maybe the pill isn't for you. Try a patch. Not sure about costs. Try Planned Parenthood.

Most likely you aren't pregnant but it's a possibility. Give it a week and try another test if you don't have a regular period. Be sure to follow the directions carefully. If negative, see what happens with your period in April.

If you want to continue with the pill, try setting an alarm on your phone, watch, or alarm clock as a reminder to take it each day. Otherwise, as joypulv suggested, consider an alternative that doesn't require you to remember it daily. A wise decision would be to also require your partner to use a condom to lower the chance of an unplanned pregnancy even more.

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Originally Posted by joypulv

'Began pills' - for the first time ever, or that month?
I know this is catty but you deserve it: how did you have time for sex, calling a clinic, and buying 2 HPTs, but not to continue the pills?

None of the symptoms matter. When you disrupt your body's cycle with pills, you can get any symptoms under the sun. 2/20-2/23. 2/24-3/1. 3/11-3/13. Spotting instead of real period.
Sounds more like pill stoppage than pregnancy, but technically, if you are having sex, you also could be pregnant!

Maybe the pill isn't for you. Try a patch. Not sure about costs. Try Planned Parenthood.

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Well if I were here for judgment I would inderestand the first part of you rresponse. But you answer your "catty", I would have used a different teem, question, I work extremely long hours and I couldn't never get time to take it at the same time as my schedule heavily varies.. So I stopped taking them. I was planning to go to implenon.. I had gotten put on the pill because everywhere in Arkansas within distance is out and has been for weeks.
And excuse my ignorance but I'm confused by what you're dates stand for?

The dates are your sequence of events, which weren't totally spelled out, and they helped me guess what you are going through.
I get that your work schedule is varied and hectic. I was on the pill from 1965 to 78 when I had my tubes tied. I had hectic schedules. I took the pill when I could.
I was catty because if I ever screwed up or lost the pill pack, I stopped screwing for the rest of the month.
It still isn't clear if this was your first ever month on the pill.

Not first ever. Had tried previously. Same crap. I have about 3 day cycles every month seldom last a day more. Had mirena for 5 years continued monthly cycle during. Always on time. Even after 5 yearai had it taken out last Oct. Still had normal cycle up until now.

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Originally Posted by mcarter2588

Had my cycle starting on the 20th of February. It lasted 3 days (as usual). Began BC pills but stopped after a week-i work crazy hours and got super distracted- The weekend of March 11th I had VERY light bleeding -very dark blood- that lasted two -3 days and ended. Light to non existstsnt cramping. I have a very regular 28 day cycle. Should have started the 18th. Instead I had some spotting. Barely a smear. Its Now the 21st, and I have been having some cramps very tender breasts, back aches. Also, since the previous bleeding ended my stomach has been sore. Like I've been doing sit ups, which I have not been. I called my local health department when the bleeding happened but they didn't seem worried, and couldn't answer any of my questions, should I break the bank and go to a real gyno? Taken 2 tests since first missd day both bfn.

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Hi!

You have interesting spelling that does cause me a little confusion but I figured it out. First a little education on how birthcontrol pills work. It was discovered many years ago that if you keep a certain hormone constant in your system your body will believe itself to be pregnant and not release a egg during the woman's cycle. During the placebo week the hormone drops, the body believes that the pregnancy failed and has a period. The basic idea is to fool your body into thinking it is pregnant so it can't release an egg to get pregnant. Your body knows to conserve resources so that it doesn't waste its finite number of eggs. The kicker here is that the level of hormone needs to be constant throughout the month. Some people can get by on little spikes and troughs that come from either missing a pill or taking it late. Some people aren't and will still release an egg with the possibility of pregnancy.

When you got your prescription I am sure the medical professional told you that during the first month, while everything is getting normalized, you should use a secondary physical form of birthcontrol, be it condom or abstinence, until you've got the routine figured out and the birthcontrol is at full strength. As well if you miss more then a day you should use a secondary form of birth control for the rest of the month. If you miss more then a day then the levels drop too much and you could ovulate. I am not making this up, I can tell you about my friend and her beautiful daughter. The point is that for this to work you need to have discipline to be able to take the pill at the same time everyday, and the wisdom to use a condom if you've missed a pill.

You failed on the wisdom part but that's okay, we're all human. The result is that you could have ovulated and since it sounds like you've had sex during this period, you could also be pregnant. What else is working here is that you're hormones are a bit screwed up at the moment with going on then off the pill. So what can you do? First off no sex without a condom unless you're willing to commit to parenthood, I would say no sex at all but that's not reasonable. Second you're going to need to keep a close eye on your cycle. I would start using HPT weekly until they either come positive or you get a period. If that's not reasonable then wait for when you expect your period and then wait for two more weeks. If no period comes, then you've Solidly missed your period and need to do a test.

I would also use this time to talk to your partner about the possibility of being pregnant and what your options are: raise the child, put them up for adoption, abortion, what not. You've got a lot to think about. Pregnancy scares are no fun.

Hormonal aberration, or pregnant, no way to know yet.
As we age, 'always' (always on time, always 3 days, etc) loses it's meaning. Our hormones change. They can change from aging, from stress, from diet, from exercise, from so many little variables that it's impossible to know what a specific month is about. Menstruation and pregnancy are pretty much alike hormonally.