I started birth control back up back in May this year after being off it for a year due to my doctor wanting to see if it was triggering my eczema (it was not the cause, thanks doc 🙃). I had a weird cycle (normal period then next period 9 days early) in March due to COVID-19 stress, but things rounded out by May.

I started birth control again, Pirmella 1/35, on May 3rd. All was good until I accidentally missed a pill/doubled up the next day and then had breakthrough spotting for an entire month before reaching the next placebo week and having normal withdrawal bleeding. That went from June 14-21.

This month, my placebo week started July 12th and I started having brown discharge on the 13th — I’ve had a few tinges of bright red blood, but the majority has been red-tinted-brown blood, dark clots, or just brown. My thought is that my withdrawal bleeding is so light that it’s just coming out brown, but I’ve never experienced this kind of withdrawal bleeding before. I only need a panty liner to deal with it, which is so different than my regular periods and withdrawal bleeding in the past. My pill does have a high (1mg) dose of progestin. I did experience my usual breast tenderness before hand and light cramping during.