Sorry if there's TMI in this thread, but I feel like on this forum we're all about TMI anyway.

My most recent medication change was about 5 months ago in September -- changed BCP, and upped Met from 1500 to 2000. Around this same time, I started a really stressful term of grad school, which led to several instances of not going to sleep till 3am or later. I don't do it often, and if I go to bed that late I almost always can sleep in to get 7 or 8 hours.

But here's the weird thing. Regardless of how many hours I get a night, if I go to bed later than 1 or 2 (and even if I don't wake up till 9 or 10 the next morning), I start bleeding. Like, forever, at least until my next "period" (sugar pill week).

This has happened nearly every month, because since September there's always been at least one time a month I end up going to bed super late. The late bedtime is the only factor I can see that is wildly different that could be playing a part in the bleeding. It's really annoying. I was never the type of PCOS-er who would have constant breakthrough bleeding -- it was always the opposite, no blood ever. When I am getting normal sleep and taking my pills precisely on schedule, I get extremely light "periods," if anything at all (varies month to month).

Could it be the weird bedtime causing this? Does anyone else notice this? Think the met and/or BCP are playing a part?

Also, besides being ANNOYING, is this something I should be worried about?

Thanks for all the advice here, you girls rock.

Edit: Just thought of something else. On the nights that I go to bed super late, it's possible (I'm not sure though) that I'm taking my pill late, also. Normally I take it before bed, which is normally between 10 and midnight. Could a few hours in one direction be the culprit??

The later pill taking could be the culprit, it could mean your body is super sensitive to the hormones, then. Normally, an hour or two difference shouldn't make a significant impact on your cycle.

I've never seen it happen to me, so I can't offer any more advice than that.

My guess would be the BCP. When your body is adjusting to a change in the levels of estrogen and progesterone, breakthrough bleeding can occur during the cycle.
call your GYN to be sure since other things can cause that type of bleeding. ( Iam an ultrasound tech in an OB/GYN office)

Yeah, I'm with them thinking it's the BCP. But I never had breakthru on mere hours. It was skipping a few days or something much more... "dramatic" in difference.

Call the doc.

(And the line about TMI on this area totally cracked me up. So true! )

GL!
A.