Expert: Diane Cheryl - 1/28/2009

Question
Hi, I am on Ortho-Tri Cyclen Lo, and I have veryy light bleeding, (but its not really bleeding; more of a tan- brown color) between my periods usually around the mid-cyle. It is small amount of it, and usually happens from my mid-cyle to my period. (so that would actually just be maybe a week or so) I have been on this birth control for almost two years. I have had this "bleeding" before more than four or five times out of the year of 2008 and recently had it again, so its really nothing new. I just thought it was mid-cyle ovulation or something like that, but I now just learned about breakthrough bleeding. Do you think thats what it is? And is it anything bad/dangerous/uncommon? can it happen to anyone using b/c over a year? I am just worried that something is wrong in my body or if it can happen to any women in my same situation, and if its just normal and doesn't harm anything.

Answer
Hi Rebecca,

I found out some information about breakthrough bleeding. What I read makes it sound like this is pretty common. In fact, this article said that in one study, breakthrough bleeding was the #1 reason that women discontinue the pill. It also said that women should take a higher dose of estrogen to overcome this problem. I don't agree with this because I don't recommend hormonal birth control methods at all. I don't agree with putting hormones in our bodies that we don't need to. Try to go as natural as possible.

So in my opinion, it does harm our bodies. But that is up to you and you can always talk to your physician. However, most doctors just go ahead and recommend hormonal birth control constantly. You might want to read up on birth control and make your decision. Good luck. If you want to talk to me on email, you can reach me at DCHERYL51@yahoo.com and hope to hear from you soon.

Sincerely,
Diane Cheryl