Can I start my 2nd pack of Birth Control Pills (loestrin 24fe) one day early?

They make the pills come in the box with that number for a reason. Deal with it and don’t start early.

It won’t make your period go away because you take it a day early. It’ll still be there.

From what I understand, I am not a doctor though, many women skip the placebos and go straight to the next pack. They do this to skip their periods. Its recommended if you having something planned like a vacation or wedding and don’t want that monthly gift. I’m sure if women do that, it probably wont have very negative effects.

But I would consult your doctor first.

@theichibun – actually, you CAN skip all four if you wish and go straight to the next pack. I am just wondering if skipping ONE brown pill is the same. No need to tell me to “deal with it”. I;m guessing you’re not a girl.

@chels – if it’ll even just make my period lighter, I’m willing to try. I just want to make sure it is safe.

I asked my gynecologist about skipping the placebo, while I was on the same pill actually, and she advised against it. But everyone is different and yours might have different advice for you, so talk to your gynecologist before you try anything. However, I doubt skipping just one will do much for you either way.

If you wanted to start a day early to permanently be on a slightly different schedule I might say go for it, although I think preferable is to not take pill 24 and shorten your cycle to 27 days that month, but I would not advise starting your next pack early because of the bleeding. I think you should talk to your doctor if you are very unhappy with what you are experiencing.

How heavy is your bleeding? How many tampons or pads how often? It’s just been a couple of days right? Are you using tampons?

@Fly – Yeah, I assume it won’t do MUCH, but if it has a chance of helping to lighten it even a LITTLE, I am willing to try, but only if it is okay. I am just worried that it’ll screw up my cycle or something, I don’t know. Just general worry.

@JLeslie – I was going to talk to her, but I don’t really have a chance to right now. I could call tomorrow and hope to speak with a nurse or leave a message.

But my bleeding has been weird. The fibroid increased bleeding enough to make me anemic (hemoglobin of 8 out of 12) and it lasted 12 days with severe pain. On the first pack, the bleeding lasted 20 days, which I thought might just be a side effect of being on it the first time. I heard it lightens by month two? I had a week off my period and it started again. I am just tired of bleeding, tired of being in pain and tired of being anemic :/ I change about every 1–2 hours (overnight pads). Period started 3 days ago.

@yoshiboshi Did you change from a different pill? Or, had you been taking no birth control, and you just started this month?

@theichibun‘s comment is absolutely wrong. Doctors commonly recommend taking packs while ignoring the placebo pills to delay one’s period for the duration of taking the pills. My doctor did so when I was on Alesse and I have heard plenty of other anecdotal evidence to suggest this is commonplace.

That said, with your current situation I would recommend you consult with your doctor tomorrow and to take their recommendation instead of internet recommendations. Bleeding 20 days or 12 with pain is not common at all and is cause for concern or at least alertness. My periods were not nearly as intense as yours thus perhaps my doctor would have a different recommendation for you than with me.

In the future though I do suggest consulting with a doctor to see if continuously taking birth control for say 3 months at a time, then having a week off to have a period, would be good for you considering being anemic.

@yoshiboshi It won’t make your period lighter. Trust me.

@JLeslie – Nope, my first ever time. I started them last month.

@dynamicduo – Well, I bleed heavier than normal due to a 4 inch tumor, the fibroid, but the GYN said the BC should help with the bleeding… I guess I will call her tomorrow morning then. Your last statement seems like a good idea though.

@chels – If there is even a slight chance, I am willing to try. How are you so certain? Have you tried?

@yoshiboshi Taking a birth control pill to stop your period while you’re ON your period will not work. You’d have to take it before you even start your period for it to work, and even then you may get some spotting.

Ok, so let me paraphrase what you have said to make sure I understand. You started your period last month, and then began your pills. While on your pills you continued bleeding until about 10 days ago. Now that you are on the iron pill/placebo you have started your period again, so this is the first period after taking a month of BC pills? So you have to give it a chance and see what happens I would say. This is the first time your uteris is shedding after accumulating blood while on hormones.

The big question is are you having other bleedig not necessarily menstruation bleeding. I say do the pills right this month and see how you are doing in two days. Make sure to take Slowfe iron daily for your anemia.

How old are you?

I empathasize with you bleeding that many days sucks.

Yes @JLeslie. Instead of 10 days it’s 8 days, but not much of a difference though :P But you’re probably right. It’s weird though, because I began bleeding my 2nd period while on the last WHITE pill on the first pack. I think my period is too confusing to even think about anymore, haha.

I don’t think I am having any other bleeding besides menstrual. I do take a multivitamin with iron and an iron supplement, but of course, I am just desperate to stop the bleeding.

I’m 22, will be 23 next month :P

Thanks so far to those who have given thoughtful answers.

So this period kind of came early, while you were still on hormone pills (I am assuming second period means the period you have now). Had you taken your pills perfectly at the same time every day?

@JLeslie – Pretty much. I normally get my period on the 6th of the month, and I got it on Sat I believe? I really hope it is not the pills having an adverse effect on me! I took them every day on time at 3pm. Maybe 3–4 times I was like 10–30 minutes late.

@yoshiboshi It makes no sense that you normally get your period on the 6th of the month, unless you typically have a 30–31 day period, coinciding with the length of the month you are in. The pills completely regulate you to a 28 day cycle typically, meaning the date means nothing it is the day. If you begin to cycle like most do on the pill, I realize your situation is more complicated, you would get your period the same day every month. Like when I cycle every 28 days, I get my period starting every four weeks on Monday. The old style pills we would start on a Sunday our hormone pills, last pill on Saturday (21 pills) and then our periods would usually start Monday-Friday (each person was slightly different, but I could time my period to the hour). They started us on Sundays so we would have less chance of having to deal with our periods on the weekend (datenight, vacations, etc.)

I am less familar with the pill you are on, but I think the idea is similar, but with your pill it is expected that your perios will be shorter than even compared to the old style pills. I think the last few of your white pills have lower hormones if I remember correctly how those work, so that would explain why you might have started bleeding on your last white pill, the hormone level was already dropping off.

I say stay hopeful and give it a couple of more days and be sure to take your iron.

@JLeslie – Hm I’m a little confused by your first statement. I always get my period on the same day of the month. Sometimes I will get it on the 7th, and every once in a while the date changes. for about 4 months it has been on the 6th, and this month it changes. That is all very interesting information though, I didn’t know about the last white pills having less estrogen. I guess that is why then. But alright, I won’t skip the last day. I will probably still have to talk to my doctor about everything though. I don’t want another 20 days of bleeding X_X

If your uterus has already started shedding, it’s going to keep shedding until it’s done.

You either have to stop it from starting, or wait until it’s finished. Sorry.

Also, it’s just a personal thing, and your body chemistry may be different than mine, but LoEstrin 24FE made me bleed like a stuck pig, and I often had two full periods a month. It was absurd. I had to stop.

Understandable :P

Interesting about it making you bleed so much. I think I definitely should bring this up with a doctor. I don’t think I can handle another month of this, and if it really will make me bleed more, I think I would rather opt in for surgery! D:

@yoshiboshi Try a different pill before surgery. You are very young to be cutting and blocking blood flow down in that part of your body.