If you don’t have the option to log a period and your bleeding options are Withdrawal bleeding and Spotting, it means that you’ve indicated in the app* that you’ve recently quit hormonal birth control – this article is for you!
What is withdrawal bleeding, and why is it different from a period?
Even though you may experience bleeding while on different types of hormonal birth control, it’s not a menstrual bleed (period) – it’s another type of bleeding called withdrawal bleeding. Withdrawal bleeding may look and feel like a period, but it is important to know that they are not the same thing.
We get our period because the egg that was released during the last ovulation hasn’t been fertilized. This causes the body to release hormones at the end of the menstrual cycle that make the uterine lining shed in the form of a bleed.
Because hormonal birth control usually stops ovulation, you technically don’t have a menstrual cycle while on hormones, and the bleeding that you get is not a period. Instead, it’s a type of spotting called withdrawal bleeding.
The first bleed that you get after quitting hormonal birth control is also a withdrawal bleed since that bleed is not triggered by ovulation.
If you have been on hormonal birth control for years and thought you had periods, you’re not alone. Not to worry – we’re here to bridge the knowledge gap! To learn more about withdrawal bleeding, you can check out our article, What is Withdrawal Bleeding?
How to log withdrawal bleeding in the app
If you have answered in the app’s setup questions* (when setting up your account) that you recently quit hormonal birth control, and that you haven’t had a bleed since, you will have the option to log Withdrawal bleeding in your Add Data page.
Note that you will not have the option to log a period at first; your only options for bleeding are Withdrawal bleeding and Spotting.
Once you do get your first bleed after quitting hormonal birth control, you should log it as Withdrawal bleeding in your Add Data page. Please ensure to select Withdrawal bleeding for the day the bleeding starts, regardless of what time you get it. You should then keep logging Withdrawal bleeding each day until the bleeding stops. You can also select the flow of the bleed each day by selecting Light, Medium, and Heavy.
When will I be able to log my period?
Once you have logged your withdrawal bleed, you will be able to select Period for your next bleed – the Withdrawal bleeding option will be replaced with Period when seven days have passed since your withdrawal bleeding ended.
*If you recently signed up and need to re-answer your setup questions, you can do so by going to the top menu in the app > My profile > Answer setup questions again.