Expert: Norman Solberg - 9/29/2009

Question
I've been taking ortho tri-cyclen for the passed few months and have been experencing a light amount of spotting since around the 19th of this month. For the passed few days, it'll go away and come back but it remains very light. Plus I haven't had my period this month. I have been sexually active with my husband, but only for the passed three weeks. Am simply experiencing a side effect of the pill, or is it something else?

Answer
It's not too unusual to have some bleeding or spotting while on the pill.  Sometimes this will be associated with the period not coming when expected.  This may be from stress or may just be the way the uterus is responding to the hormones in the pill.  Since your period didn't come, it's a good idea to do a pregnancy test, just to be sure.  But most likely you're not pregnant, and this will take care of itself in time.  If it persists for a month or two, you could probably switch pills and that would resolve it.