A Journey through Treatment and Pregnancy

I document every period I have, and had also been documenting all of the changes I had been going through since beginning the continuous birth control therapy, so I brought in a copy for Dr. Zimmerman’s records.
When I spoke with Dr. Zimmerman I explained what had been happening to me, and he agreed it was breakthrough bleeding. So he changed my prescription from Lutera 1/20 to Zovia 1/35. He felt that the possibility may exist that my dosage was just not strong enough.

I began my new medication within a day, and my breakthrough bleeding began to dissipate rapidly and finally stopped. However, with only a one day reprieve the brown spotting began all over again.
Now I must explain that usually when I have my period and have brown spotting it’s normally liquid. However, this breakthrough bleeding was anything but liquid. The only way I can describe it is by using the term “flecking” like small paint chips falling from a wall or ceiling. It was odd and quite disturbing, and as each day passed I felt less and less like a woman. I couldn’t feel sexy; how can a woman feel sexy wearing a pad 24 hours a day 7 days a week? I had begun developing something similar to a diaper rash because that portion of my body constantly had something against it and not allowing my skin to breath. It was devastating me. So I decided to just stop taking the medication continuously and just take it with the 7 day break . . .

April 8th I had experienced my first bout of breakthrough bleeding. It lasted less than a day, so I thought nothing more of it and continued taking my daily dose of birth control.

April 14th I had realized I had forgotten to take my regimen of birth control the night before, and nearly 12 hours later I took my medication.

April 15th I began feeling uncomfortable mild cramping and spotting began. Not red, but brown. I thought I was experiencing breakthrough bleeding again, and thought it would stop, but I was wrong.

April 16th my period began even though I was continuing to take my daily regimen of birth control. Although it had began, I still continued to take my daily pill

April 23rd it had slowed down to only brown spotting, but by May 20th I had been spotting non-stop so I thought it was possible I had just needed a cleaning in my vaginal cavity, so I figured it would be alright to douche, but I was wrong. Within 30 minutes I began feeling uncomfortable cramping, and the bleeding began again in earnest.

June 3rd it had finally slowed to brown spotting once more, and then stopped but I had become tired of this back and forth. So I made an appointment with Dr. Zimmerman, in the hopes of some answers

Breakthrough Bleeding as described by the great Wiki:

Breakthrough bleeding is bleeding while taking the active pills of combined oral contraceptives, or other hormonal contraceptives. The bleeding is usually light, often referred to as “spotting,” though a few women may experience heavier bleeding. Breakthrough bleeding is most common when a woman first begins taking oral contraceptives, or changes from one particular oral contraceptive to another, though it is possible for breakthrough bleeding to happen at any time. Smokers are especially prone to breakthrough bleeding while taking oral contraceptives; though many users experience breakthrough bleeding in the first three cycles of taking the Pill, non-smokers tend to see the bleeding dissipate more quickly than smokers.

Many women find that the breakthrough bleeding ceases after one or two cycles. Breakthrough bleeding that does not resolve on its own is a common reason for women to switch to different Pill formulations, or to switch to a non-hormonal method of birth control.

Breakthrough bleeding is most commonly caused by an excessively thick endometrium (uterine lining). This is not a dangerous condition, though the unpredictable and often lengthy periods of bleeding are unpleasant for the woman. Breakthrough bleeding may also be caused by hormonal effects of ovulation. If the Pill is not suppressing ovulation, the woman is at high risk of pregnancy. Breakthrough bleeding may also itself be a symptom of pregnancy (contraceptive failure).

After spending a few days researching continuous birth control therapy, and finding some interesting information, I finally came to the realization that this form of treatment, although still experimental, was worth at least trying. The trick was to stop my period entirely until I was ready to have a child. So I gave it a shot.

A few weeks before my well deserved vacation I had gotten my period on March 12th, and began my therapy. The entire time up until this point I was still under threat of suffering from the knife like pain I had experienced the October before, so of course I was still taking my double strength Naprosyn.

While on my vacation, I began taking my second box of birth control without the break on April 2nd. All was fine until the day after we returned from our cruise. On April 8th I experienced what is called breakthrough bleeding, which was what my GYN had warned me would be a possibility. I just didn’t expect it to begin so soon.

Going to the 2nd appointment with the fertility GYN had me just a bit nervous. I had gotten the results of the endocrine test over the phone (my ovaries are releasing properly), but I couldn’t get the results of the hysterosalpingogram over the phone.

By the time I made it to the 2nd appointment I was pretty nervous and somewhat afraid.
1) The doc told me that his colleague viewed the MRI results, and that the results were accurate (it’s nice to have a 2nd opinion).
2) The results from the hysterosalpingogram showed some scar tissue in my fallopian tubes.

The fallopian tube test came back with some information that wasn’t too normal, but not terrible. The test showed that the fallopian tubes, at least one of them had blockage from scarring after an infection I had as a teenager. The doc basically said when I’m ready to start trying for children I should have a laparoscopy to help clear up the passageways. When I do become pregnant I would then have to be monitored to be sure I don’t suffer an ectopic pregnancy (this is when the fertilized egg implants itself outside of the uterus (normally the fallopian tube).

To try to slow the spreading of the adenomyosis, the doctor suggested Continuous Birth Control Therapy in order to “attempt” to make the uterus quiescent. Layman’s terms? The doc wants to treat it by putting me on the pill for at least 6 months, and then take another MRI image to see where my body stands. On this treatment, I would continuously take the pill and not take the customary 7 days off. Therefore no period. Sounds cool right? When the notion scared the crap out of me because there are so many issues with being on the pill . . . and not having my period sounded . . . well . . . unnatural.