T O P I C R E V I E W
nayit
Member # 47861
posted 03-05-2013 02:21 AM
Hi, I was just curious about ovulation and birth control pills. Say I have a 28-29 day cycle. Ideally ovulation occurs roughly 14 days after start of the menstrual cycle (i.e. first day of period). If I start taking Birth control pills then they generally shorten your cycle don't they? as you get your period roughly on the 22-28th day of the month (so 1st-7th day of the pill free week). So you may get it on the 23rd day or 24th day, shortening your cycle from 28 days to 23-24 days. I understand some people ovulate on the pill, however the pill works in the remaining 2 days to prevent pregnancy. Does this mean in the event i ovulate on my first month on the pill, it will still occur around the 14-15th day (as was the case previously) or does the body ovulate sooner since the cycle time is reduced?
Robin Lee
Member # 90293
posted 03-05-2013 06:11 AM
Hi nayit, I'm really not sure what you're asking here. First of all, do you get a 28-day cycle? Not everyone does. Even if they do, that doesn't mean that all people wil ovulate on the 14th day. The only way a person can know when they ovulate is by tracking their own body--basal body temperature and cervical mucus--for several months. What I'm trying to say here is that the body is super-individual. I think it might help here to understand how birth control pills work. The primary way combination birth control pills work is by preventing ovulation. Yes, there will be a small number of people who do ovulate, at least sometimes, while taking combination birth control pills; however, for the majority of people, ovulation just isn't going to be part of what's going on with their body while they're on the pill. The other ways birth control pills work to prevent pregnancy are by thickening cervical mucus--which makes it harder for sperm to move--and thinning the uterine lining. Birth control pills really don't "shorten" a cycle. The reason the withdrawal bleed comes during the placebo week is that the body is "withdrawing" from the hormones that were taken during the rest of the month. Were someone to ovulate while on the pill, it still wouldn't be possible to predict or know when that ovulation would be taking place. The body isn't a machine, and it's not possible to predict anything by the number of days, unless, as with birth control pills, the number of days a bodily process happens is being controlled by something else. here's a piece that might explain this more clearly than I just did.How do birth control pills really work, even during the placebo period?
nayit
Member # 47861
posted 03-05-2013 06:17 AM
Thank you very much for the above link, it was most helpful. My question was even though I just started my pill for the first time this week, would I go through ovulation this month? or is the suppression of ovulation something that can't be predicted?
Heather
Member # 3
posted 03-05-2013 10:13 AM
If you started the pill on day one of your menstrual period, or on or before the first Sunday after it began, then yes, your pill should suppress ovulation for you this month. If you did not, then it may not be fully effective in that way -- or the others -- until you're on your next pack of pills.
nayit
Member # 47861
posted 03-05-2013 01:25 PM
Thank you