Spotting on birth control pills

Dear Ask The Doctor: I have been on birth control for 6 months and I just started spotting about a week ago and it's definitely not getting any lighter and not going away. What does this mean??

Dear Cindy: While birth control pills can lead to spotting and irregular bleeding sometimes, since you are having it for a week i would advice you to take a home pregnancy test if you are sexually active to rule out/in a potential pregnancy. Also if that is negative and the cause is indeed you bcp then you may need to change to another brand or birth control pill. Please see you GP in any case.All the best.