Emergency contraception

[Eleanor_687]

Hi. Well I was wondering if emergency contraception applies to like the time you did 'the deed' so if I did it at 9, i would have to take it within the next 3 days before 9 for it to be effective and then after 9 it would be four or does it just go by day? (Sorry this is confusing)

[Heather]

Not quite sure I understand what you are asking, so let me just give you the basics, and you can ask me to refine them for you as needed, okay?

Emergency contraception -- the kind you take as a pill or pills -- can be effective for up to 120 hours (five days) after a risk. However, it is most effective when used within 24 hours of a risk, and from then on, it becomes gradually less and less so. Within 24 hours after a risk, it can be around 95% effective, but by the time folks are around that 120 hour mark, it's probably around 75% effective, tops, based on most estimates I have seen in data about the window of effectiveness.

[Eleanor_687]

I'm nervous, I've been on the contraceptive pill for a while now (a year or so) and I started taking it the day before we had sex but I'm not sure if its worked?
I feel like I am pregnant but are there any side effects that could be prevalent? (after 3 days)

[Heather]

I'm feeling confused: you say you have been using it for a year, but then say you only started it the day before. Do you mean you started a new pack the day before? If so, know that that is a non-issue. Unless you took more than a seven-day placebo break with your previous pack of pills, or are earnestly just starting the pill (as in, you haven't been using it for a year), the protection the pill gives you is the same at the start of a new pack as it was during the previous pack.

Three days after intercourse no one is likely to yet be pregnant, because it takes longer than that for pregnancy to occur. So, I don't know what "feel like I am pregnant" means to you, especially if you have not been pregnant before to know what that can feel like for you, but the timing of things here sounds like such that even if pregnancy was going to happen, it couldn't have happened yet, and certainly not to the point where you are feeling any different. In very early pregnancy, the only thing people usually notice is a missed period, and until that's noticed, it's too soon for anything else to even be going on TO notice. Make sense?

[Eleanor_687]

But what I was trying to get at with my question was like if I had sex on the 1st at 9:00 am, and then I waited until the 4th but took the emergency contraceptive pill at like 7:00 am, would that count as three days, or four?
And with the pill, Ive been taking it for a year but started a new pack after my 7 day break but I waited more than seven days.
Yeah, I understand it's just I think I'm really nervous about like ending up being pregnant, is there any chance the emergency contraceptive pill could do any damage to me if I took it and wasn't pregnant?

[Heather]

Okay. So, if you took longer than a seven day break between packs, then you need to know you CANNOT rely on your birth control pills for protection right now. You'll need to figure you need a full cycle of pills -- and then to stay on schedule with them from here on out -- to have the pill provide the protection it can.

That given, if that was the only method you used and you want to reduce your risk, then emergency contraception is the way to get that, and you want to access it ASAP.

EC doesn't do "damage." It has some potential side effects, just like your birth control pill, but if you use a combined oral contraceptive, EC actually poses fewer risks and side effects because unlike your pill, it is not both estrogen and progestin, but a progestin-only medication. However, if you have questions about what side effects or risks it poses, that's something you can always ask to discuss with the pharmacist you are going to talk with to get it from.

Per figuring out the timing, really, right now, you just want to go get it and use it if you want to. But if you feel a need to figure how long it has been since your risk, per looking at EC, you want to count by hours, not days.

[Eleanor_687]

I haven't been able to go to a pharmacist or anything because it's been the bank holiday weekend and Monday, will I be able to purchase the EC pill over the counter? Will they ask for ID?
I had sexual intercourse about 3 days ago.

[Heather]

Since you already have someone who prescribes you the pill, your best bet -- to make this quickest and easiest for you -- may be to just call into that healthcare provider, and ask them to phone in a prescription for EC for you to your pharmacy. And yes, as it usually goes with picking up any kind of prescription, you will likely need ID.

Not knowing where you're located, I can't speak to the legal and age policies for getting EC over-the-counter, but looking at your age in your profile, I'd say your best best is to get the prescribing physician for your pill to call this one in for you.

Moving forward, would you like to talk about using a backup method, like condoms? That way, you can better avoid situations like this.

[Eleanor_687]

I'm in the United Kingdom, and I really need like the EC pill tomorrow because the other pill for up to 5 days hasn't been tested on under 18's so I have no clue whether they would prescribe it to me or not?
I'm so bad with this kind of stuff I have no clue what is going to happen and I'm panicking, a lot.
Would it go down on my medical record, would they tell my parents???

[Heather]

Have you yet tried calling whoever prescribes your birth control pills as I just suggested?

Really, the same things that apply to your birth control pills will tend to apply here insofar as things like your privacy and your age.

If it turns out you have no way to access this until tomorrow, then that's just how it is: neither of us can change limitations if nothing is open yet, or you can't contact your usual physician.