I wanted to share my experience with Plan B in hopes it will calm some fears of others who were in my position.
I had protected sex, with a condom, when it slipped off while being withdrawn. This was after he ejaculated. Not being sure if any sperm had leaked out or somehow presented itself, I took action into my own hands. My partner claimed I had nothing to worry about, but I wasn't so sure. I was never one for charting my ovulation, nor was I highly aware of it, BUT the night this happened I could have been ovulating. I panicked. I did not want to have a baby, so I rushed to my local 24 hour drugstore. I picked up Plan B. It ran me $50 and it's now found on the shelf in the family planning aisle. It was Plan B one step. I took the one pill about two hours after we had had sex. Then the waiting began...
The night I took it, I felt pretty decent. Next day, nothing. It wasn't until about a week after taking Plan B, that nausea, little hot flashes, dizziness, and breast tenderness started setting in. The second week after taking Plan B, my breasts got so sore, I couldn't barely put a bra on, shower water hitting them was like daggers, it was awful! I was pretty concerned as it's normal for me to experience tender breasts about a week before my period but my period was still a while away and my breasts had NEVER been this sore. But I dealt with it, and reassured myself that I was okay. At the end of the second week, I started feeling cramps, really really bad cramps, spotting occurred, brown at first, then pink, then about two days later I broke out into a full bleed. I bled straight for 4 days, pretty much the length of my normal period, however this one seemed more heavy, and more bright red blood than I was used to, but on the 4th day of it, it stopped.
So to recap, I took Plan B around the possible time of ovulation. I experienced symptoms within a week, VERY sore breasts that lasted about three weeks, cramps, bloating, zits, dizziness, just awful. However I received my period 3 days earlier than when it was due.
Did I feel relief? Yes. Did I think this ordeal was over? Not quite. Even after my "period" had ended I ended up being the worry wart I am, taking a pregnancy test. First morning urine, about 3 weeks after the sex had happened, negative. At that point I was convinced Plan B had caused my bleeding and that I could consider that my period and the pill worked.
So when do you count your next cycle from? Well I ended up counting my next cycle from the day the new bleeding started from taking Plan B. My cycle is usually 30 days and I'm pretty regular. I am also NOT on any additional birth control, I only use condoms. So I sat here waiting or my next period to show, the next period after you have already bled once on Plan B. Now I know cycle changes are one of the side effects from Plan B and can go on for months, but again, what girl isn't worried about her health? And if you are like me, you want to be double, triple, quadruple sure you are okay?
So 30 days since I bled after taking Plan B, I had NO signs of my period coming. Very light soreness in my breasts, a twinge of pain in my abdomen, but nothing like what usually indicated it was coming. Day 30 came and went, nothing. Day 37, nothing, I was panicking! I took more home pregnancy tests even though probably not needed but to ease my mind I did. They were negative. I got so worked up that something was wrong I actually went to a free clinic for testing and they only did urine samples, negative. No one could really give me a real answer if Plan B was causing this and they seemed to have no information for me, just telling me everyone woman is different. Which I understand, but the last thing you want to hear when you are in full out panic mode is an, "I don't know, come back in two weeks", I mean this ordeal has been going on for almost two months now and the immature guy I was with jumped ship the moment I even tried to tell him I was a bit fearful of being pregnant. So lesson learned. If your partner is decent enough to stick around, bravo. I just wanted to share with him what I was going through and he did not even want to hear it.
Moving on though, so I sat with my negative pregnancy tests, being alone and scared, with no health insurance not knowing what my next move was. I have done the internet searches, I have read many of these message boards. So many girls in the same position as me, grasping for answers, yet they never seem to get one of people don't come back to tell their story after they have gone through something. So that's what I'm here for, I want to help others, because man I have been through the gauntlet with this Plan B.
So to wrap it up, here I sit, 45 days into my second cycle after taking plan b, which makes me roughly about two weeks late and I had the worst cramps, and I had mild spotting, but it looks like I have finally gotten my period and maybe now i can finally get my life back on track and focus on my life again instead of worrying about peeing on a stick.
So to recap -
Can Plan B bring on your period late or early?
Yes, after taking Plan B, I actually ended up bleeding fully two and a half weeks after taking it. I took it during the time I was ovulating and the day I got my period after taking Plan B was three days earlier than I would have expected.
Side effects?
I hate VERY sore breasts, alarmingly sore for almost three weeks, cramps, dizziness, very bad breakouts on my face which I'm still dealing with and some weight gain / bloating.
Second period after Plan B, showed almost no symptoms and more than two weeks late?
YES! My second period showed no signs it was even approaching, I drove myself nuts taking pregnancy tests, all negative, FINALLY i got my period after 45 days in between the time i bled after Plan B and now. The cramps are pretty bad I will admit. Stronger than I'm used to.
hope this helped someone out there! lesson learned for me, I'm glad as a female I have options like Plan B, very glad it's there, but wow it does work over your system pretty good so lesson learned and take caution!
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Add a Comment288 Comments
Did you get your period yet?!
June 25, 2017 - 5:25amMy situation is exactly like yours.
I'm going on two weeks late!
No pregnancy symptoms just sore nipples!
This Comment
hi i took the generic version of the plan b pill, aftera, about 4-5 hours after an incidnet which occurred on April 13th (about 11 days ago) and I am also on a combination birth control pill but was worried about it being ineffective since I took one dose very late at night when my usual time is 7 am. Initially i didnt have any symptoms or nothing noticeable but yesterday I had some very dark brownish red blood and it is less viscous blood and more so thicker dark brown discharge now. I'm worried about this potentially being implantation bleeding. Other side notes... when the incident occurred it may have been close to the time of ovulation since it was in the 2nd week of my 28 day cycle, so the plan b is still effective? and also this is the week I am due for my period. The spotting started about 2 days before I was expecting anything but I just can't tell whether its implantation bleeding or the plan b messing with my hormones and causing brown discharge before my period? If you could give me your perspective on this and any knowledge you have I would appreciate it tremendously as I am very nervous. I plan on taking an at home pregnancy test this weekend just to make sure the results are more accurate (my period according to my birth control is due on wednesday). Once again, thank you.
April 24, 2017 - 7:40pmThis Comment
Hi. My boyfriend and I had sex yesterday and his condom broke. After finding out his condom broke we immediately went to Walgreens to buy a plan b pill and I took the pill like 15-20 minutes after we had sex. I have been super worried ever since. But I have pain in my ovaries and was wondering if that is a possible side effect of the plan b pill?
April 12, 2017 - 9:51amThis Comment
I'm in the exact same boat as you right now, can you tell me what ended up happening?
July 10, 2017 - 5:55pmThis Comment
Hi guys, I'm a 17 year old girl, around 175 pounds. I took plan b at 10:00am after a mishap at 1:00am the same day. 6 days later I bled for four days starting pink, then bright red, darker red, and the end of the last day being brownish. I think I was ovulating around this time but I can't be for sure because I have PCOS and irregular periods sometimes. I believe I should be due for my period March 14. I took a test yesterday and it was negative. Should I keep playing the waiting game or am I overreacting?
April 11, 2017 - 11:05amThis Comment
Hi, I am scared because my boyfriend put it in me but only for a few seconds, he did not use a condom and did not actually ejaculate until like 20 minutes later but not inside of me I got scared because of pre cum so I took plan b 17 hours later. This was exactly a week ago and now im scared im pregnant because 4 days ago i started experiencing tender breasts and nipples
April 2, 2017 - 11:55amThis Comment
Hello Anonymous,
You can relax because breast tenderness is a side effect of Plan B.
If you do not have any bleeding within three weeks of taking the pill, then you need to test for pregnancy.
Regards,
April 3, 2017 - 9:21amMaryann
This Comment
Hi. I had an incident April 13th (11 days ago) and took a generic version of the plan b pill 4-5 hours after. I didnt feel any significant side effects but yesterday april 23rd I noticed some dark brown with a tiny bit of red and today it came in the form of mostly thick discharge. I am on a combination birth control pill (minastrin 24 fe) but I was worried since there was a day in the week this incident occurred that I took the pill much later than usual probably even over 12 hours after my normal time, so I freaked out. I also am anxious because the time this occurred I was in my 2nd week of birth control and since im on a 28 day cycle, I believe this was around the time of ovulation, but am not certain whether it was just before during or after. according to the rule of thumb i found online that ovulation is usually 14 days into a 28 day cycle my 'day' would be the 16th just 3 days after having sex. I also did notice that about a day after having sex, there was some clear somewhat stretch discharge however I am familiar with this type of discharge when I am aroused (tmi i know sorry) so i do not know whether this is ovulation discharge or not. It only occurred for about a fraction of the day (when I woke up). My period is due this week on wednesday and I have been getting this brown discharge since sunday (yesterday). could this discharge just be from the plan b pill? It is hard for me to tell since the timing of sex could make this match up with a potential implantation bleeding since it is about the 10-14 day mark after, and I am due for my period soon. Please help me.. should I be as worried as I am? also this might not mean anything but last week 5 days after having sex, I had to take a guardasil shot at my obgyn and a mandatory pregnancy test which was negative... even though i know that was WAY too early to tell anything for sure. Any insight, perspective, or knowledge you have on this situation would be extremely helpful. Thank you so much.
April 24, 2017 - 8:09pmThis Comment
Thanks for sharing! Definitely making me feel alittle better in my situation right now. I have unprotected sex twice in the 2 -3weeks .. took the pill the day after twice after those both times .. had no major side effects at all.. just some tiredness and mild cramping. Now I'm reaching my 3rd week and it looks like my symptoms are barley now coming. My breast are so sore.. any touch or movement hurts bad. Been sleeping a lot and feel very drained. Now, my next expected period is in about a week.. so I don't know if these symptoms are due to the pill (I've read these plan b side effects can last weeks) or just my period coming, but my breast have never been this sore in my entire life. Hoping everything is just alright and I'm just stressing. Again, thanks for info!
March 30, 2017 - 6:11amThis Comment
Please, any updates? I am dealing with the exact same thing. How are you now?
April 23, 2017 - 1:00amThis Comment