(no subject)

[antibob.livejournal.com]

i hope my period comes this coming week. i haven't had it since october. i ran out of the pill and wasn't able to get it renewed it until after thanksgiving. i didn't have my period in november and i wanted to start my new pack of bc but i didn't want to wait for my period to come because i didn't know if it would ever. i took a pregnancy test a week before thanksgiving but i'm scared i could have become pregnant the week of thanksgiving. its very doubtful, but i'm paranoid about it. does anyone know if birth control works if you don't wait until after your period to take it? or if you're pregnant and you take the pill, is there any way that your body will have a period anyway?
thanks!

Comments

[amylynn.livejournal.com]

personally... and [disclaimer] I'm not a dr, so I don't know this for certain [/disclaimer], but... if I started a pack of BC when my period hadn't started, I'd wait through at least the time after that pack ended and I'd started a new one, before relying on it to keep me baby-free...
but I do also know that taking birth control if you're already pregnant, generally isn't a good idea, especially if you're one of those people (such as myself) who reallyreally doesn't want to get pregnant, but would keep the baby if something happened and a pregnancy happened anyway...
I'd suggest taking a pregnancy test (for your ease of mind, most likely) and/or getting to a gynecologist.
-amy

ummmm

[raticus.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure, I have heard that certian types of the pill can cause birth defects in the unborn feotus, but I don't know if its proven or not. I think the best thing for you to do is have a pregnancy test again. And if your not pregnant, wait around and have fun without it lol. Once you stop taking the pill it can muck up your hormones and you do sometimes wait a few months for your body to kick in and say HEY I havent bleed yet!

Re: ummmm

[mary-contrary.livejournal.com]

There's no evidence that birth control pills taken after conception cause any kind of problems with a fetus. It's obviously not wise to continue taking them after you find out you're pregnant, but enough women get pregnant while on the Pill (and most don't find out for 6 weeks or so) that there would be an established link if it was a serious risk.

Re: ummmm

[amylynn.livejournal.com]

...which is why it says, all over the little insert they throw in with BC packs... "DO NOT TAKE IF YOU ARE PREGNANT"?
-amy.. hm

Re: ummmm

[mary-contrary.livejournal.com]

Um, it's not wise to take, but in early pregnancy it's not a huge risk, either. Don't yell at me. I read medical textbooks for fucking fun, okay? I have some idea of what I'm talking about.

Re: ummmm

[gezellig-girl.livejournal.com]

Actually, two doses of the last phase of pills (such as Ortho TriCyclen) are commonly used as emergency "day after" contraception.

Re: ummmm

[mary-contrary.livejournal.com]

Yes, two doses taken within 24 hours can prevent implantation of a fertilized egg, but will not abort a pregnancy that is already implanted.

The warning is so women won't continue to take pills after they find out they're pregnant, or if they really honestly believe that they are or may be. But like I said, plenty of women do get pregnant while on the Pill, and most women don't find out they're pregnant until 6 or 7 weeks. Yet there's no evidence that taking birth control pills during the short period of pregnancy before finding out about it necessarily causes any harm.

In fact, that's pretty much exactly what it said in the insert for the Emergency Contraception I used a few weeks ago - don't take it if you know you're pregnant, but studies suggest that taking birth control pills in early pregnancy before finding out isn't harmful in most cases.

Re: ummmm

[gezellig-girl.livejournal.com]

My clinic always told me it was within 72 hours - unless they have something else they administer in the office.

So, is it the double dose that prevents implantation?

Re: ummmm

[mary-contrary.livejournal.com]

I meant taken with 24 hours of each other, not within 24 hours of intercourse.

Birth control pills taken regularly also alter the uterine lining to prevent implantation, as well as preventing ovulation - the same things EC does. The double dose is designed mostly to hold off ovulation until the sperm dies, if ovulation hasn't already happened, and if it has, to alter the uterine lining for long enough to keep a zygote from implanting..it's the same as missing a pill and taking two the next day to make up for it, to replace the bc hormones missed before...that's not making much sense, I'm having a hard time articulating it, bah.

Re: ummmm

[amylynn.livejournal.com]

I "fucking" read medical books for "fucking fun" when I was about 7, okay? Don't yell at me, either, because I wasn't yelling at you -- I was imitating the large, all-caps print that they put in the insert.
Calm down. I wasn't trying to ostracize you.

well...

[tyrsalvia.livejournal.com]

IF you want your period to come, drink parsely tea. I posted directions a few days ago, you should be able to find it pretty easily. It should make your period show up in 1-3 days. (If you haven't had it by then, see a doctor and stop drinking the tea.) It is not an abortificant, so if by some chance you are pregnant, it should not affect the fetus.

Good luck.