Does Taking Plan B Delay Your Period

Will I Have A Normal Period After I Take Plan B

What causes delayed periods after taking emergency pills? – Dr. Teena S Thomas

It should go away by the time of your next period. However, it is possible that Plan B One-Step may cause your next period to be heavier or lighter than usual. It may also come earlier or later than is normal for you. If you dont get your period within three weeks, get a pregnancy test to make sure youre not pregnant.

Is It Normal To Bleed Irregularly After Plan B

It is normal to bleed irregularly after plan B, this bleeding should remit before your next period. But remember, if you dont bleed within three weeks of taking Plan B, we recommend taking a pregnancy test. This article is merely informative, oneHOWTO does not have the authority to prescribe any medical treatments or create a diagnosis.

Can Emergency Contraceptive Pills Cause Delayed Periods

It may take up to one week for your period to be delayed by using the morning-after pill. Taking the morning-after pill usually does not require you to contact your health care provider after using it. If you do not get your period within three to four weeks, you should take a pregnancy test.

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Can Taking Plan B Delay And Lengthen Your Period

i’m geena, and i’m just curious if i should be freaking out.

i was on oral contraceptives for 3 months, and when my third pack ran out , i stopped taking the pills because the moodiness was too much for my boyfriend and i to handle. i left the country to travel on my own on sept. 30, so i did not look into birth control other than condoms for the one month i was still at home. within that month, my boyfriend and i had unprotected sex twice . i had two doses of plan b one-step, and i took a dose after each incident.

Can The Morning After Pill Delay Your Period Ask Ella

Bleeding a Week After Plan B, is That my Period?

So youve taken the morning after pill and youre sure your period should have come by now, but theres still no sign of it. What could it mean? Are you pregnant?

While your mind will probably jump straight to pregnancy, a late period doesnt necessarily mean thats the case. Its a bit more complicated than that, especially if youve recently taken the emergency contraceptive pill.

A lot of you have been asking us if the morning after pill can delay your period, so we spoke to Julia Hogan, Nurse Consultant* for , to get an expert opinion.

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Why Does Plan B Affect Your Period This Way

Plan B uses a synthetic hormone called levonorgestrel to prevent pregnancy by stopping an egg from being released.

Levonorgestrel is found in birth control pills, but Plan B contains a higher dose that can alter your bodys natural hormone levels.

The extra hormones can, in turn, affect the menstrual cycle, leading to an earlier or delayed period as well as heavier or lighter bleeding.

Precautions Of Taking Plan B

Can Plan B delay your period? Yes, it definitely can. It is therefore important to take some precautions when you decide to use this type of emergency contraception. Here is a bit more about Plan B.

Who Can Take It

  • Anyone can take it on as-needed basisthere is no age restriction.
  • It is important to take emergency contraception as early as possible after having unprotected sex. It proves effective when taken within 72 hours of having unprotected sex. You can take it when you did not use any birth control method, you forgot to take your regular pill before sex, or your partner’s condom slipped or broke.
  • Be sure to talk to your doctor when you have any confusion about taking Plan B.

It is important to consult your doctor before taking the pill because there are certain situations when you should not take Plan B. For instance, you should avoid it when:

  • You are already pregnant.
  • You are allergic to any ingredients in Plan B, especially levonorgestrel.

What’s more, you should know that using Plan B as your regular birth control method is not a suitable choice, and it does not offer any protection against HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.

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Taking 2 Packets Of The Combined Pill Back

If you take a combined contraceptive pill, you can delay your period by taking 2 packets back-to-back.

How you do this will depend on which pill you take.

Examples are:

  • monophasic 21-day pills, such as Microgynon and Cilest you take a combined pill for 21 days, followed by 7 days without pills, when you have a bleed . To delay your period, start a new packet of pills straight after you finish the last pill and miss out the 7-day break.
  • everyday pills, such as Microgynon ED and Lorynon ED you take a combined pill every day. The first 21 pills are active pills and the next 7 pills are inactive or dummy pills, when you have your period. To delay your period, miss out and throw away the dummy pills, and start the active pills in a new packet straight away.
  • phasic 21-day pills, such as Binovium, Qlaira and Logynon the mix of hormones in each pill is different, depending on which phase youre in. You need to take these pills in the correct order to have effective contraception. Ask your pharmacist, community contraception clinic or GP for more information.

Taking your contraceptive pills in the ways described above will not affect how they work as contraceptives.

If youre not sure which pill youre on or which pills in the packet to miss out, speak to your pharmacist, community contraception clinic or GP.

Avoid taking more than 2 packs without a break, unless your GP says you can.

Theres a risk you could experience side effects, such as:

  • feeling sick

Summary Of Recommendations And Conclusions

How late can your period be after taking Plan B?

The following conclusions are based on good and consistent scientific evidence :

  • Ulipristal acetate is more effective than the levonorgestrel-only regimen and maintains its efficacy for up to 5 days.

  • The levonorgestrel-only regimen for emergency contraception is more effective than the combined hormonal regimen and is associated with less nausea and vomiting.

  • Insertion of a copper IUD is the most effective method of emergency contraception.

The following recommendations are based on limited or inconsistent scientific evidence :

  • No clinical examination or pregnancy testing is necessary before provision or prescription of emergency contraception.

  • Treatment with emergency contraception should be initiated as soon as possible after unprotected or inadequately protected sexual intercourse to maximize efficacy.

  • Emergency contraceptive pills or the copper IUD should be made available to patients who request it up to 5 days after unprotected or inadequately protected sexual intercourse.

  • Body weight influences the effectiveness of oral emergency contraception. The efficacy of the copper IUD is not affected by body weight. Therefore, consideration should be given to use of a copper IUD as an alternative to oral emergency contraception in obese women. However, oral emergency contraception should not be withheld from women who are overweight or obese.

The following recommendations are based primarily on consensus and expert opinion :

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What Are The Side Effects Of The Morning After Pill

“The “morning after pill” can disrupt your periods. Your next period may be heavier or lighter and it may come earlier or later than expected.” – Dr Zenon Andreou

“The “morning after pill” can disrupt your periods. Your next period may be heavier or lighter and it may come earlier or later than expected.”Dr Zenon Andreou

Can You Still Get Pregnant After Taking Plan B

The morning-after pill, sometimes referred to by brand name Plan B, is a levonorgestrel emergency contraceptive pill that prevents pregnancy after unprotected sex or if your contraception failed . It works by stopping an egg from being released from the ovary during ovulation, which prevents the egg from being fertilized if ovulation has already happened or prevents a fertilized egg from being implanted in the womb.

There are many brands of levonorgestrel EC pills that work in the same way. This type of EC works best when taken as soon as possible after unprotected sex, ideally within 12 hours.

When taken within 24 hours, levonorgestrel EC is 95 percent effective. If taken 4872 hours after unprotected sex, the Plan B effective rate is 61 percent. The effectiveness of Plan B decreases the longer you wait, so taking it sooner is better!

After taking Plan B, you may feel some side effects, including nausea, abdominal pain, headache, dizziness, or vomiting. If you throw up within two hours of taking the pill, you should talk to a provider right away youll need to get a second dose or use another form of emergency contraception, like the copper IUD, in order to prevent pregnancy.

The other type of morning-after pill has ulipristal acetate as the main ingredient and can prevent pregnancy when taken up to five days later. But they always work much better when taken within the first three days.

You may also ask yourself, does it matter when in your cycle you take an EC pill?

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Can Plan B Delay Your Period

Emergency contraception is a way to prevent unwanted pregnancy after unprotected sex. Post-coital pills, emergency contraceptive pills, and morning after pills all refer to emergency contraception. These drugs contain the hormones progestin and estrogen and are not for routine use. Some drugs contain estrogen or progestin, while others contain combination of both. Plan B is quite a popular choice and is available in the form of two levonorgestrel pills, each of 0.75mg.

Does It Affect The Next Period

Common Misconceptions About the Morning After Pill

Taking the Plan B pill in addition to continuing to take birth control pills may result in the next period being slightly different than usual.

For example, periods may:

  • be earlier or later than expected
  • be heavier or lighter than usual
  • cause more symptoms, such as nausea or cramping

If a persons period is more than a week later than expected after taking Plan B, they should take a pregnancy test to rule out pregnancy. Anyone who has concerns about taking birth control pills or the Plan B pill should talk to a doctor.

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Could Plan B Delay Your Period Even On Bc Pills

Levonorgestrel is found in birth control pills, but Plan B contains a higher dose that can alter your bodys natural hormone levels. The extra hormones can, in turn, affect the menstrual cycle, leading to an earlier or delayed period as well as heavier or lighter bleeding. What if its been longer than expected and still no period?

Why It Affects Your Period

Morning-after pills such as Plan B and Ella help prevent you from getting pregnant after having unprotected sex. They work by stopping or delaying ovulation. In doing so, they might also affect the length of your normal menstrual cycle. For this reason, many women experience an abnormal period after theyve taken the morning-after pill. How it affects your period might depend on where you are in your cycle when you take the morning-after pill. In fact, you might not have any irregularities at all.

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You Might Experience Medication Interactions

Plan B is available over the counter, but that doesnt mean its always a good idea to take it without consulting a medical professional first. In fact, it might not be as effect if youve taken certain medications, including barbiturates, St Johns wort, and certain HIV/AIDS medications, Dr. Patel says, so check with your pharmacists about medication interactions. Even if you dont think your prescriptions or supplements are on this list, check anyway. Its always better to be safe than sorry.

How Does Plan B Work

How late can your period be after taking Plan B?

It is possible to take the Plan B pill up to 3 days after unprotected sex, even though many people call it the morning-after pill. However, the sooner a person takes Plan B following unprotected intercourse, the more effective it is in preventing pregnancy.

The Plan B pill contains 1.5 milligrams of the hormone levonorgestrel. Levonorgestrel is a synthetic chemical that mimics the natural hormone progesterone. It triggers several responses in the body that prevent pregnancy.

Levonorgestrel ensures that the body is:

  • Preventing ovulation, the process by which the ovary releases an egg. If there is no egg to fertilize, pregnancy is not possible.
  • Thickening the mucus in the cervix, which helps prevent sperm from reaching the uterus and combining with an egg.
  • Thinning the uterine lining, which reduces the likelihood of a fertilized egg attaching to the uterus.

There are many misconceptions regarding how the Plan B pill works. The pill is not an abortion pill as it does not destroy or damage a fetus. Instead, it prevents a pregnancy from occurring in the first place. Once an embryo has implanted in the uterus, Plan B will not disrupt it or cause an abortion.

Anyone who has had unprotected sex or failure of their birth control method can take the Plan B pill. This pill is available without a prescription and has no age restrictions.

Some people should avoid taking Plan B, including those who are:

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Types Of Emergency Contraception Pills

There are 2 types of emergency contraceptive pills commonly sold in the U.S.:

  • Plan B One-Step – to be taken as soon as possible and within 72 hours of unprotected sex
  • ella – to be taken as quickly as possible after unprotected sex and within 5 days
  • Editor’s note: Technically, a doctor could have you take higher doses of regular combination birth control pills as emergency contraception, something called the Yuzpe regimen. But that’s not as effective as the other 2 types listed above, and it brings with it more side effects. Additionally, the copper IUD could be inserted within 5 days as a form of emergency contraception.

    Scientists have found that both Plan B One-Step that you can get over-the-counter, or the prescription for ella, are safe to use to prevent pregnancy. Any side effects that you have after taking either of the emergency contraceptive pills should be mild and short-term.

    After you take emergency contraceptive pills, the most common side effect is – you guessed it – changes to your menstrual periods.

    Here is a list of some possible side effects after using a “morning-after” pill like Plan B:

    • Irregular bleeding
    • Fatigue

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