Expert: Norman Solberg - 3/23/2009

Question
I am 19 and have been on birth control from about 15 mainly for medical reasons. Does un normal bleeding occur when stopping the pill. I started bleeding for over a month and a half, so they changed my birth control and i had a normal period then a week later started to bleed again. So i stopped takin the birth control all together. my fiance and i want kids anyway. But the bleeding is just getting worse and worse. what could be wrong,

Answer
Dear Cassie,
What you're experiencing is unusual.  Birth control pills usually cause periods to be very regular and normal.  Sometimes women will get bleeding on the pill, but usually changing to a different pill or stopping the pill will take care of it.  I'm assuming that the pill you've been taking is the combination pill, meaning combined estrogen and progesterone taken for 21 days followed by 7 days of placebo pills.  If so, I would expect the bleeding to resolve itself within a couple of weeks.  If not, you probably should see someone to figure out if your blood doesn't clot normally or if there could be something abnormal about your uterus or cervix causing the bleeding.  If the bleeding is heavy, don't wait too long.  Best wishes.