I have endometriosis and I’ve been taking birth control pills continuously. I have a brownish discharge that I haven’t had for over 3 years and I’m worried. I have a huge workload this semester and I work out a lot at the gym. Can stress or working out cause your birth control not to work?

birth control pills
Birth control pills

As long as you are taking your birth control pills at the same time every day and you haven’t missed any doses, the Pill will work. Brown discharge, often called “spotting,” can happen while taking continuous birth control pills. This is typically nothing to be concerned about and usually goes away by itself. If you continue to have spotting despite taking your Pill on time, call your health care provider.


Our health guides are developed through a systematic, rigorous process to ensure accuracy, reliability, and trustworthiness. Written and reviewed by experienced healthcare clinicians from Boston Children's Hospital, a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital and consistently ranked as a top hospital by Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report, these guides combine clinical expertise, specialized knowledge, and evidence-based medicine. We also incorporate research and best practices from authoritative sources such as the CDC, NIH, PubMed, top medical journals, and UpToDate.com. Clinical specialists and subject matter experts review and edit each guide, reinforcing our commitment to high-quality, factual, scientifically accurate health information for young people.