Took the morning after pill...

[ladylish]

So. HELP

I'm 18. Had protected sex on Monday night, but the condom fell off inside me and we didn't realise right away. I didn't think anything of it (stupidly) until Tuesday night, by which time I'd passed the 24 hour window. I did go and get the pill the next day, though, so I was within the 48 hour window.

However now - a day after taking it - I have noticed that I have an odd discharge. It's a pale browny colour, and has a fairly strong odour (¬_¬), but no itching or pain or anything of that sort - an STD is not possible, either, as the guy I slept with has only been sexually active with me (and we were both virgins and sexually inexperienced). Is this discharge possibly a side effect of taking the morning after pill (Levonelle one step), or do I need to get a doctors' appointment to get checked for an infection?

Just as a side note: my period is due sometime next week. I have a fairly average cycle (between 26-28 days), and my last period finished around the 4th or 5th of August.

[Brandye]

I assume you took Plan B. That is two pills, actually, taken twelve hours apart. Lovenelle is available as a one pill dose or a two pill regimen. Assuming you took something legitimate, it will deliver a high dose of hormones and will cause various menstrual symptoms. The brown discharge is likely part of that.

No infection will dause a brown discharge. And infections usually cause a foul smell.

[ladylish]

Originally Posted by Brandye

I assume you took Plan B. That is two pills, actually, taken twelve hours apart. Lovenelle is available as a one pill dose or a two pill regimen. Assuming you took something legitimate, it will deliver a high dose of hormones and will cause various menstrual symptoms. The brown discharge is likely part of that.

No infection will dause a brown discharge. And infections usually cause a foul smell.

No it's definitely Levonelle - the one pill dose. It's definitely legitimate, too, as I got it from my pharmacist - I'm not one for lobbing drugs down my throat that I don't know where they've come from/what they are From what I've read, isn't Plan B largely used in the States/Canada? (I'm a Brit).

Thanks for the reply, though - it's not a foul odour as such, just very strong, so I'm assuming that means no infection, then. It's just very odd... Sometimes I'll get a dark browny discharge before menstruation, but I've never had a very pale brown colour. If it's not an infection, then it is a relief that it's probably just the morning after pill working.

thanks for the reply

[Brandye]

OK. I did not realize you were also in the UK. You had the OTC one pill Levonelle and that is about 90% effective when taken within 72 hours. The brown spotting should have meant that it was doing its job.

Do monitor that and seek help if it keeps up more than a few days.

[ladylish]

Originally Posted by Brandye

OK. I did not realize you were also in the UK. You had the OTC one pill Levonelle and that is about 90% effective when taken within 72 hours. The brown spotting should have meant that it was doing its job.

Do monitor that and seek help if it keeps up more than a few days.

It's stopped now, for the mean time at least. Thanks very much for the advice!

EDIT: as a side note, I've read in a few places that spotting can be a side effect of blastocyst implantation? Now I wouldn't call the discharge I had 'spotting' (it was like normal, helathy discharge...but pale brown and smelled strongly), but as it seems to have stopped so quickly... Am I worrying unnecessarily? As far as I can see, it's too early for my to take a pregnancy test (I'm not due to have a period until next week, and our contraception only failed monday), but would it be too early for a blastocyst to have implanted, assuming that my cycle is roughly 26 days, and my last period finished around the 5th August, so I would have ovulated by the 25th?

Sometimes I wish I'd revised for my biology exams a liiiiittle better...

[Brandye]

Yes spotting can indicate i,plantation but it is usually fresh blood and nothing that resembles a flow.

The morning after pill is a shock to the body and what you describe sounds like it worked. You cannot assume anything about the date of ovulation. You are thinking "normally" and all of us have some variation. So, maybe it would not have been to early for implantation. Yes, it is too early to use a home pregnancy test. Read the boxes at the chemist and see what each recommends. In the meantime, relax and get some vaginal spermicide to put in you before the condom sheathed penis.