
This can happen for a variety of reasons including stress, illness and travel and, rarely, thyroid or other hormonal issues. Sometimes a user may take all her pills correctly and will not get a period. If you are experiencing light bleeding on your active pills that lasts longer than 5 days, or heavier bleeding lasting more than 3 days, contact your provider. Contraceptive effectiveness is present even with spotting, as long as no pills have been missed. Some may notice some mild menstrual cramping with the spotting but this should resolve for most by the third pack of pills as well. By the third pack of pills, 90% of users are no longer experiencing spotting. This is a common side effect during the first 3 months of birth control pills use and up to 50% of users may experience this.

This is vaginal bleeding that occurs during your active pills. If you develop new headaches while on birth control pills, contact your provider. If you notice persistent discomfort or a discrete lump, make an appointment with your provider. Usually it gets better within a few weeks. The tenderness can be reduced by decreasing your caffeine and salt intake and by wearing a bra with good support. Mild breast tenderness or enlargement may occur after starting birth control pills. If you have persistent problems or unusually severe nausea, contact your provider. Taking your pill with food or taking it before bedtime may help. Usually this goes away within a short time. Some users experience some mild nausea when first starting birth control pills. There are minor side effects and also rare but serious side effects. Like all medicines, birth control pills have possible side effects that you need to be aware of.
