PDA

View Full Version : If I miss a pill?


Tortuga
February 5th, 2002, 01:54 AM
Hello everyone,

Currently I am on the pill and we don't use condoms, and honestly, it kinda scares me. I know it's a pretty senseless scare with no real basis behind it, because "when used correctly, the pill is 99.5% effective" or whatever, but it still kinda worries me. I mean, what exactly is "used correctly", ya know? Do you have to take it at EXACTLY the same time, every single day? And what exactly is "missing a day"? You know in the directions it says that if you miss a day you can usually just make it up and it's okay? Well, what is "missing a day"? Like, is it missing a day if I don't take it within 2 hours of my time? I take it at 8 in the morning. If I forget and don't take it till noon, is that missing a day? Or is it, "Oh, shoot, it's Tuesday and I forgot to take Monday's pill, so I'll take 2 today"?

The reason I ask is because I've forgotten to take my pill twice this month at 8:00. One Saturday night I stayed the night at my honey's--I wasn't planning to but it got too late and his parents told me to stay--so I didn't get home till about 2:00 Sunday afternoon. So, that was 6 hours late. Then about a week later, I forgot again, and once again took it at about 2:00. Now, does that mean that I've missed two days? And if that's the case, I should be using back-up, shouldn't I? Well, I had sex last night and I didn't. So now I'm going to needlessly worry for the next few weeks, waiting for Aunt Flo to show up.

Now, I know y'all are probably thinking, "If you're that worried, then just use condoms, too!" But do you know how hard that is? Once you've made love without a condom, you'll never want to use one again. But I guess it's just a matter of choice. I shouldn't really be whining about being scared because I'm just on the pill, when I could very easily do something about that and use a condom, too.

What about the rest of you? What is your preferred method of birth control? How many use condoms only, how many are only on the pill, how many use both? Do any of you do the implant thing? What are your thoughts on the whole "missing a day" thing? Just curious about all this stuff.

Thanks,
Tortuga

Barefoot Matt
February 5th, 2002, 03:55 AM
I think you should read the documentation your pharmacist gave you, and if that doesn't help, talk to your pharmacist or doctor. I'm totally supportive of using the forums, but for an issue like this, do you really want to risk the chance that the person giving you advice made a mistake?

As for the backup question, of course using both is always the safest way to go, but like anything to do with birth control, it's up to you to weigh the risks *shrug*.

Pudding
February 5th, 2002, 04:29 AM
ur allowed to be 12 hrs late.

say u normally take ur pills at 8:00pm, but one night u forgot, that means u have till 8:00am the next day to take the pill. then that night u just take it at the normal time again.

eurydice
February 5th, 2002, 07:26 AM
okay, i had the same question you did and asked www.webmd.com awhile ago. i'm on mircette, which is a low-dosage birth control pill. basically, they give you the smallest possible amount of hormone for it to be effective, thus causing less side effects. anyways, the people on there said that being over an hour late is a pretty big no no (then again, this is for low-dosage so if you're on a high-dosage like ortho it might be a completely different story). i've noticed that if i am late, i'll get spotting and feel nauseous. i'm not currently sexually active (i started taking the pill for cramps etc) but just to be on the safe side i think it'd be best if you either asked your ob-gyn or just took your pills wherever you went. that way you can always take them at 8 on the dot. anyways, good luck!

SoSweetAngel
February 5th, 2002, 02:01 PM
The pill that I am on means that you can take it up to 12 hours late before you have to start worrying. But all types of pills are different - so have a look at the leaflet. Missing a day is probably when it's taken more than 12 hours late. But again, don't take my word for it.


I suppose that they do mean taking it bang on time every day as taking it "properly". The reliability doesn't go down in leaps and bounds though!

Condoms make me itch!

kuju
February 5th, 2002, 03:08 PM
okay.

if you miss the 8am pill (how insane... I'm NEVER up at 8am) then take it as SOON AS YOU REMEMBER, or are able to take it. if it's 2 in the afternoon, don't worry. if this is only happening a couple of times a month you're safe.

If it's 8am the day after, and you realize, OH CRAP! I FORGOT TO TAKE YESTERDAY'S PILL! then it's simple. Take yesterday's pill at 8am. Take today's pill at 8pm, and then you'll be back on track for the month. ALWAYS TRY TO SPACE THEM AS EVENLY AS POSSIBLE. don't ever take two at once.

if you miss two days in a row, use condoms for the rest of the month.



On a personal note, after I broke up with my boyfriend, I decided to continue using birth control. Honestly, there's NO POINT in stopping. But becase I wasn't having sex I was often lax. I'd be off by a few hours every other day or so... sometimes missing a day, and I got really angry at myself... so I went on the shot. It's been great so far because I rarely even GET my period, but the pill got rid of my pimples... and now the bastards are coming back! AH!