Emergency contraceptives, Plan B & late periods

Hi there. I have a few questions concerning emergency contraceptives and late periods. I am not on birth control and about 2 months ago I was concerned that my partner and I had not protected ourselves well enough, so I went to the local clinic and got an emergency contraceptive (Plan B) pill. I waited about 2 weeks and received my period, but about 3 days after I finished my period the same thing happened again, and I ended up needing another emergency contraceptive. After the second e.c. pill, I had, what I think was spotting, but am not sure because it lasted for about 3 days and required me to wear a tampon (almost like I had had my period again). I was due to start my period on August 12th and when I didn’t start it I waited till the 16th and took a pregnancy test (ept) and it read negative. That was a week ago and I STILL have not started my period. Is it possible that my body just got confused with taking two e.c.’s within 3 weeks of each other…or did I take the pregnancy tests to early..? I am very worried!!! Thank You, Muriel.

Dear Muriel,

Thank you for the question.  The Plan B^® pill is essentially a very high dosage of regular birth control pills.  As such, yes, in high doses it definitely can “mess up” your regular monthly cycle.

Side Effects:

The Plan B^® pill may cause temporary side effects including headache, fatigue, nausea & low abdominal pain.  Additional side effects including breast tenderness, vomitting, dizziness and diarrhea may also occur.

Plan B & the Menstrual Cycle:

Taking the Plan B^® pill does not bring on menstruation.  Note that you may experience some spotting shortly after taking the pill, but this is not your regular period.  Your next menstrual period will typically come on time (or a couple days early or late) & the bleeding may be lighter or heavier than normal.  However, overdosage of the Plan B^® pill can increase the probability & nature of side effects as well as cause more noticeable changes to your monthly menstrual cycle.

How does Plan B work?

The Plan B^® pill may prevent the release of an egg from the ovary or it may prevent the sperm & egg from uniting.  The Plan B^® pill may also prevent the fertilized egg from attaching to the wall of the uterus (i.e. an early abortion).  Once the fertilized egg has attached to the uterus wall, the Plan B^® pill is not effective.  The Plan B^® pill treatment involves taking the first tablet immediately following intercourse with the second tablet taken 12 hours later.

Muriel, having said all of that, I would venture to guess that taking the emergency contraceptives merely messed up your regular cycle.  However, there is always the chance that you may be pregnant.  An e.p.t. home pregnancy test won’t really be accurate until usually the week after your missed period should have begun.  EPT home pregnancy tests rely on your body’s production of a certain pregnancy hormone, and that production level varies from woman to woman.

So, most likely you are not pregnant; however, just to be safe, I would continue taking a pregnancy test–once a week for a couple of weeks.

One more thing to be aware of … the Plan B^® pill is quite a high dose of regular birth control medication.  Taken occasionally, reports seem to indicate it is not too dangerous over the long term.  However, when taken frequently or taken in lieu of standard birth control pills for any time a person thinks they might have had unprotected sex, those high dosages of birth control medication may have some long term unwanted side effects.

Just to give you a heads up,

Hannah