The Patch or Uterine Fibroids?

As I said in my previous blog, I was on the Patch. The Patch was my preferred choice of birth control to use so that I could use Accutane, a very strong medication for the treatment of severe acne. I was on the Patch for a couple of months I believe.

I'm not sure how long afterwards that I noticed it but I did notice it: break through bleeding or spotting. When I should have been off my period, I was experiencing spotting. I was told spotting sometimes happens with using the Patch (again, consult YOUR doctor on any of your symptoms and get proper medical advice). Spotting had never before been a problem for me. So it was a good chance that since I also had never used the Patch before, that the two were linked. But my GYN and I weren't sure whether my spotting was from using the Patch, from possibly not putting the Patch on the day I needed to replace it, or whether it was coming from the fibroids. I was hoping that the spotting was from using the Patch and not from the fibroids. My hope was that if I stopped using the Patch, then presumably, the spotting would stop too. So I was advised to temporarily stop using the Patch just to find out. Consequently, I also had to stop using Accutane, which was clearing up my acne. (see my first blog on this story).

The results: The spotting did stop after I temporarily stopped using the Patch so I discontinued using the Patch completely. Though the spotting stopped, my GYN still wanted to make sure that my menstrual cycle was otherwise regular and that the uterine fibroids I had were still asymptomatic, so she gave me a menstrual cycle calendar.

I'll tell you more about the menstrual cycle calendar in future blogs.