The present invention provides a method and an apparatus for responding to changes in measurement of a system load in a spread spectrum communication system. Using a load control algorithm, for example, the spread spectrum communication system may handle sudden changes or variations, such as spikes or steps in system load measurements for an uplink and/or a downlink between a mobile unit and an access network. The load control algorithm determines whether a sudden variation of a measured system load is generated by a source not under a power control or is caused by a variation of a spread spectrum communication system load. A load control measure may be selectively applied to adjust one or more parameters associated with the system load. That is, an increase of a first new measurement value may be limited to a given maximum increment for one sampling time period of a plurality of sampling time periods in response to a spike in the system load or a desired response to a sudden increase of the system load may be delayed by a given maximum number of measurement samples. By allowing a limited increase, the response of the spread spectrum communication system to sudden changes of a system load may be controlled such that some blocking may occur but dropping of calls may be avoided. In this manner, the load control algorithm may avoid unnecessary dropping of calls.