“Why am I late on my period even though I am taking birth control pills?”

Do UPT.

Birth control pills sometimes will completely stop your periods and that is normal. When you stop the pills, you will get your period within a month. If you have not been taking the pills as prescribed, do your pregnancy test. If you have been taking the pills, no period is normal.
Stay Healthy!

The artificial hormone of birth control pills or oral contraceptive pills (OCP’s) will build a thinner lining in your uterus. Over many consecutive months of taking OCP’s, the lining gets thinner and thinner and with many patients, you will not make enough of a lining to shed so there is no bleed. That effect is completely reversible and once you are off the pill, your ovaries will go ‘back to work’ and will increase production of Estradiol, Progesterone and Testosterone which will then resume building a lining (Estradiol), stabilizing and enriching a lining (Progesterone) and having systemic effects to the body (Testosterone); then it’s important to know if you will resume ovulation; this may lag behind vs happening at the same time as resuming production of hormone. Most doctors do not check hormone levels for any reason; but if you were placed on OCP’s for heavy bleeding or irregular bleeding, then OCP’s may help regulate these issues. However, these same issues are just ‘covered up’ and will likely resume once you stop OCP’s for any reason. So, if you make the decision to stop your OCP’s or if you had a medical reason to take OCP’s in the first place (besides contraception), then realize that the medical reason likely still exists and will need to be dealt with at a later date. If that medical reason could influence your ability to get pregnant down the road, then dealing with a medical reason sooner than later allows you the time to work out the issue vs having fewer options available to you or a time crunch of being too close to age 35 and the increased risk of Down’s Syndrome to deal with. Remember, if it seems too easy, there may be a catch; you may be dealing with a medical problem later. If you have any questions about whether you may have any medical reason that you were put on OCP’s, then ask your doctor to help you get the work-up that you need. If they tell you it’s because you have irregular periods, then make certain you do not have elevated Testosterone which could mean Polycystic Ovary (PCO) and this can mean higher infertility risk and probable need for infertility medication, delays in getting pregnant or perhaps even a surgical intervention to help you get pregnant; all things you would need to know sooner than later; knowing your hormone levels is one way to find out if you have this diagnosis.

Dr. Victoria J. Mondloch