Delayed (Late) Period on Birth Control – More FAQs!

As the name suggests, birth control — also familiar called ‘contraception’ is a method purposed to control conception. When you are on the pill, you can still have periods each month but your ovulation is modified so thus there is small chance for pregnancy. How about late (delayed) period on birth control? What does this mean, the following are some helpful FAQs!

As well we know that late period is often associated with an early sign of pregnancy. But the story could be different when you are on the pill.

Regardless pregnancy, the following are other factors that may cause delayed period on birth control:

1. Certain conditions that affect the length of your ovulation. These may include vigorous exercise, rapid weight loss, taking certain medications, illness, emotional stress, etc. These conditions may affect your ovulation. When you don’t get your ovulation, there is no adequate hormone to trigger luteal phase (the phase between ovulation to the next period), making late period more likely.
2. Depending on the type of your birth control, you may miss certain procedure to have bleeding every month. For instance, some traditional birth control pills usually use inactive (placebo) pills along with the active pills. These placebo pills are usually prescribed to be taken for the last seven days of your period cycle. If you skip your placebo pills, you may miss your menstrual bleeding in the end of your cycle.
3. Miscalculation! Not all women have regular periods.

In addition, women who have been continuously using birth control for a long time may have a delayed period for once in a while. Furthermore, if you are over 38 of age and you are getting closer to your menopause, you’re also likely to have more irregular ovulation.

First things first, make sure that your missed period is normal. If your late period is followed with unusual symptoms or if you in doubt to your condition, see a doctor promptly to have more advice! Here are a few helpful checklists to remember:

1. If you have one missed-period but yet have no other pregnancy symptoms, and you also never skip any pills – you are very unlikely pregnant. However if you worry to your condition, call your doctor for more advice!
2. In case if you have two missed-periods in a row, do a home pregnancy test! You should not be pregnant if you take your pills properly. Discuss more with your doctor for more detailed information about your test results and the next steps you should follow!
3. If you ever forgot one pill, do a home pregnancy test immediately! If you find that the result of test is positive, you need to stop using any birth control options since the pills may affect the growth of your baby.

You may doubt whether your home pregnancy test will work accurately to detect your pregnancy while you are on the pills.

The good news, the standard home pregnancy test is also usually designed for several different cases. In other words, it does work to give the accurate results. However, like when you are not on the pills – the time when you do the test is also crucial.

Most of home pregnancy test kits work by analyzing the specific hormones associated with pregnancy (particularly such as hCH / human chorionic gonadotropin). And birth control pills usually don’t have an effect on these hormones. The elevated pregnancy-related hormones occur due to the pregnancy itself!

If you don’t have any period after stopping your pills, you may have a condition called post-pill amenorrhea . In general, birth control pills affect the production of hormones associated with menstruation /ovulation. Therefore, your body may need several months to restore your normal condition in producing these hormones.

In many cases, women will get back their normal periods for about 3 months afterwards. However, sometimes this may take longer to return.

If you still don’ get your period after 3 months, do a home pregnancy test in order to ensure that you are not pregnant, call your doctor for more advice.

After stopping your pills, you need to get back your normal ovulation to get pregnant.

So, the question is how soon you get your ovulation after stopping the pills? The answer varies between individuals, but in general it may take about 2-week. Normal menstruation can return about 4-6 weeks or a bit longer after the last pill.

Should you wait for a few months before trying to conceive? Is there an advantage from this idea? Yes, it is much better to do it because you can plan your pregnancy better.

Write down your periods after stopping the pills so you can estimate your ovulation more accurately. As a result, you would get your conception more easily!