How soon after starting birth control pills does it affect your period?

Answer 1

If you are taking oral contraceptives ("The Pill"), then you will get a period shortly after taking your final dose of the month. But the pill can disturb your hormonal balance, so if this is the first time you've ever taken oral contraceptives, you may not get one (or you may get a very mild one).

However, if you have had unprotected penetrative intercourse in the time running up to starting oral contraceptives, you could already be pregnant. Contrary to urban myth, oral contraceptives do not cause a miscarriage.

Therefore, if there is a risk that you may already have become pregnant before you began taking the pill, see your sexual health or family planning practitioner for confidential help and advice now, which should include a pregnancy test.

Answer 2

Most Birth Control pills have a placebo week when you don't take hormones; that's when you have withdrawal bleeding. The patch and ring have a similar hormone-free period when most women have bleeding. Sometimes, the hormones lighten the flow so much that you don't see any bleeding, or have only red or brown spotting.

With progestin only methods, like the contraceptive implant, injection, or Mirena IUD, or the progestin-only pill (minipill), you may have irregular bleeding and, eventually, no bleeding while you're using the method. Again, this is because the method lightens the flow so much that it doesn't occur.

With the copper IUD (Paragard, in the US), there are no hormones, and your period comes on the same schedule it did before the IUD.

Answer 3

You should know if the birth control pill is going to give you a significant change in period length, flow, or cramping after the first three months of use. If you don't experience the change you were hoping for, contact your health care provider to discuss a possible change in pill brand.

Answer 4

An actual period? about three months. You will probably have some light bleeding between when you get the shot and when you get the next one. You may be a lucky person and stop your period all together :)

Answer 5

It depends on what birth control you're using - people wrongly use 'birth control' to mean the combination birth control pill, so I'm going to assume this is what you mean. On the combination pill you don't menstruate full-stop, the purpose of this form of birth control is to suppress your menstrual cycles in order to stop ovulation from occurring, as you don't ovulate you don't menstruate. The bleeding women experience on the combination pill is a withdrawal bleed caused by the drop in synthetic hormones when going from active to inactive pills - thus you will bleed sometime during the placebo week.

Answer 6

You will get a withdrawal bleed as soon as you discontinue the pill, but when you will ovulate and thus menstruate can vary greatly - depending on what your cycles were like prior to going on the pill your overall health, and how long you were on the pill for. If you go over three months without a menstrual bleed then it's a good idea to speak to your doctor, although it can take up to a year for cycles to regulate after hormonal birth control use you would typically see menstruation sooner than that.

Answer 7

Depending on the birth control you were taking, and the dosage, it can take between a couple of weeks or up to three months.

Answer 8

Your birth control stays effective until you stop using it.