BC Question

[resilientpewter.livejournal.com]

I know that this question may not be best suited to this community, and I will also post it in several others, but I am hoping for honest responses from people I "trust", as much as I can "trust" anyone I dont know... :o)
I have been taking bc for about 5 mos now [to knock some sense into my period and get rid of the cramps], and I take it fairly regularly.. by that i mean, i take it every day, but sometimes an hour or two later or earlier than the previous day. And on rare occasion, I take it about 3 hours different. it's ortho-cyclen by the way.
Anyway it never was an issue before but now i am wondering about the effectiveness of bc As bc, instead of as a way to get rid of cramps.
A lot of people have mentioned you need to take it at the same time every day - how close to the same time does it need to be?? And how long does it decrease the effectiveness if you *do* miss a day or are late? I know what the fine print in the pill pack says, but I am looking for real people's experiences here - have any of you gotten pregnant/know someone who has from taking the pill late one day?
Also this is my real question:
How many of you rely solely on bc pills as your method of bc?
How many of you use condoms all the time w/the pill? or how many use condoms as back up only when you're late taking the pill or miss a day?
I have always been very nervous about just taking the pill, but it seems like if i take it at the same time every day then it should be pretty effective, I guess I just need other people to confirm/deny that..
Anyway sorry for the long post, thanks for your help in advance, etc...

Comments

[urania.livejournal.com]

Orthotrycyclen, the rule of thumb is "within 2 hours of the previous day." of course, even more meticulous won't help, but don't worry if you're within 2 hours. (some kinds of the mini-pill, i think, it's 1 hour or even less; but o-t-c it's 2 hours). Hope that helps some! :)

[urania.livejournal.com]

oh, roight, and i forgot to add earlier: i use only b/c pills for birth control, nothing else. (if i was on antibiotics, or had been sick and thought i'd "lost" a pill, or had forgotten a day or something, yes, we'd use condoms.) so far no problems--fingers crossed! it's very effective if done right, though.

[wait.livejournal.com]

Just a thought, but everybody's body is different.

I've been taking birth control pills for years as the only method of BC in a monogomous relationship. I've never missed an entire day, though I have taken a pill up to 12 hours late. Even when this happened, I didn't have a problem with spotting or anything. I've never been pregant as a result of the failure of the pill.

(I do have a girl friend who has to take her pills on a strict schedule -- if she's off by more than 4 hours or so, she starts to spot. Not much fun.)

The only problem I did have was shortly before my wedding -- even with the pill, I had my period for an entire MONTH before I got married. My GYN attributed it to the power of stress. :)

[ex-sully914.livejournal.com]

I am very anal about taking my pills at the same time. Ususally within 30 minutes each day. There have been two occasions that I have been nervous. Once I took my pill about 10 hours late, and then just the other day I vomitted 30 minutes after taking the pill. I called my obgyn office and the nurse said to just use protection for the rest of the month. Does that sound right? It was the third active pill in the pack (ortho-tricyclen). I guess I am not really helping, just letting you knwo that I am nervous too. =0

[eliz.livejournal.com]

You threw up Pill 3 aka Tuesday of the white pills? And she told you to use protection the rest of the month???

ARGH.

This is why you should always have a spare pack (though I know a lot of docs/clinics/etc will not give more than a year's worth at a time). Did you see the pill when you threw up? They are quite small and dissolve quite quickly. Depending on how much you ate/drank/etc would be a good rule of thumb to know if you "took" it or not. Even still, you could have taken another from the emergency pack or just went ahead and made yourself ahead a day in your regular pill pack. Or followed the instructions for missing multiple pills-- and just kept taking active pills, skip the placebo greens and to the next active set.

I'm hoping that the nurse misunderstood what you said-- that's the only thing I can think of.

[eliz.livejournal.com]

Anyway it never was an issue before but now i am wondering about the effectiveness of bc As bc, instead of as a way to get rid of cramps.

For me that was the best side effect of taking the pill. Had I know how dramatic an effect it would have I would have been begging for bc pills when I was 12. That's one of the reasons I'd decided to go back on them.

A lot of people have mentioned you need to take it at the same time every day - how close to the same time does it need to be?? And how long does it decrease the effectiveness if you *do* miss a day or are late?

You do need to take it at the same time everyday-- partially so you get in the habit and will not miss any pills and partially because of the half-life of the pill. You're trying to "trick" your system into thinking that it is already pregnant and does not need to release an egg. If you stop the flow of hormones one of two things will occur- you'll ovulate (and run the chance of getting pregnant) or you'll have your period early- generally it takes more misses to trigger the period than ovulation. You may have spotting though- keep in mind even if you're spotting there is a chance you could ovulate too. Don't take chances.

More on the time issue though-- and this is the case with Ortho tri-cyclen... because I was really worried about this too. Basically they have a "half-life" built into them that gives you around a 12 hour leeway. So if you forgot in the morning, take it later that day, you're going to be alright, however when you go past this window, your hormone levels are going to drop and there goes the rue.

I know what the fine print in the pill pack says, but I am looking for real people's experiences here - have any of you gotten pregnant/know someone who has from taking the pill late one day?

Not by being late on one day. Now-- being late multiple "one days" over the history of a month or in combination with other things (such as medication that decreases the effectiveness) could cause some problems but if you're keeping in the 12 hr window it shouldn't.

I do know a girl who did get pregnant while taking the pill correctly. The odds are significantly against it occurring but they found out the hard way she needed to be on a higher dosage.

Also this is my real question:
How many of you rely solely on bc pills as your method of bc?

I used it successfully for around five years when I was dating/married to my ex-husband. Relationships after him were typically of the long distance type in which we just used condoms- when you're 3000 miles apart *shrug*. Currently the relationship I'm in now we started with condoms and I decided for multiple reasons to go back on the pill (see previous huge post). But we've been relying on the pill alone and will continue to do so in the future.

The answer though there is what do _YOU_ feel comfortable relying on. If you are not secure enough with just the pill or are concerned about STD's then use alternatives by all means. If your partner truly cares about you then they will not have a problem with it. If you're constantly worried about getting pregnant then you need to take more measures til you are more confident.

-- see next comment for further answers/response-- I found there is an actual limit on comment length! Wow!

[eliz.livejournal.com]

How many of you use condoms all the time w/the pill? or how many use condoms as back up only when you're late taking the pill or miss a day?

I wouldn't ask to use a condom unless I knew there was something significantly interfearing with the effectiveness of the pill- be it a medication or having skipped doses. If there are no other items to consider other than missing one day-- I would be confident to go without a condom. If missing them was a very common occurance then I'd reconsider relying on them as my sole means of BC.

Hope this helps! The main key is to remember that you need to do what you need to do to feel safe and secure in your decisions. Also keep in mind what fears your partner may be having too about becoming a father. Your partner may be more comfortable if he knows that he's doing his part in using BC by using a condom too. Just be open and honest and frank with each other about how you feel. If you can't, then you need to consider thinking about the relationship before worrying about the sex end of things.

*hugs*

[resilientpewter.livejournal.com]

Thank you SO MUCH for your comments!!! I really appreciate you taking so much time to answer my questions.

It wouldn't be a horrible thing if I end up pregnant, but its not the best time, so I'd like to be as safe as possible.
however condoms arent either of our favorite things, and i know he'd prefer to go without.. if i can get over my [what seems to me to be] irrational fear of relying solely on the bc pills that would be good. :o)

Again thank you for your insight!!