Staining but no period on Pill
13 February, 2016
Question:Thank you for a wonderful website.
I'm on the combined pill, and have been off the active pills for a few days, expecting withdrawal bleeding. So far I have not had more than brown staining with a few red spots, which have not been enough to render me a Niddda. Does the withdrawal bleeding have to make you a Nidda, or is it possible that it will just continue for a few days as staining?
Answer:Some women do not experience an actual flow of blood during withdrawal bleeding from the pill. There are even some formulations of pills that only cause light bleeding or staining. This type of withdrawal bleeding makes you niddah only if it meets the usual conditions for stains, or if it is accompanied by a hargashah.
However, during your first cycle on the pill, or following pill cycles on which you have had a blood flow, you do need to observe onot perishah and the bedikah required on your onah may render you niddah. For a more detailed discussion of when to observe these onot, please see our article on Vesatot and Hormonal Treatments. Red on a bedikah will generally make you niddah; if you find brown on a bedikah it should be evaluated by a halachic authority.
If your bedikot do not render you niddah, then you may take precautions against becoming niddah from the staining by wearing colored underwear and waiting 15 seconds after urinating before wiping in order to disregard stains on toilet paper. We also recommend abstaining from marital relations until 24 hours after the staining subsides so your status may be clarified.
If with subsequent cycles you have only staining but no flow of blood after stopping active pills, then you probably will not have onot perishah to observe until you next have a bloodflow. (There are exceptions, such as if you previously had a veset kavua on the pill.)
Please feel free to get back to us with any further questions.
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