Why am I having spotting after taking period-inducing medicine?

Spotting after a progestogen course such as dydrogesterone or medroxyprogesterone usually means the medication is working. Stopping it causes progesterone to drop, which triggers the lining to shed — and in many women that begins as light spotting before establishing into a proper flow. Expect bleeding within two to seven days of the last tablet. When to contact your doctor: if spotting continues beyond about a week without becoming a proper period, if no bleeding occurs at all within ten days of finishing, or if there is any chance you could be pregnant — a progestogen withdrawal bleed does not rule pregnancy out, and a test is worth doing. Do not take a further course on your own. If the lining did not respond, repeating the same medication is unlikely to help and may delay finding out why — a thin lining, adhesions, or an unrecognised pregnancy all present this way.