Birth control pill

[Hearth6]

Is there such thing as the birth control pill just not working for a person? Meaning, they just don't get protected? I've been on this new pill for a month now and I'm on my second month and I get really nauseous on the first pill of each pack and i vomit about 8 hours later. If my body shows these side effects does that interfere with protection at all or make me not protected at all or am I still protected?

Also, when you miss a pill and it says take it right when you remember, did I do the right thing if I took it 3 hours before my next scheduled pill? I then proceeded to take the other pill at regular time so I took two pills in one day. Am I still protected?

[Jacob]

Hi Hearth,

I would recommend going to see your doctor as vomiting could cause the pill not to be effective. So it sounds like you could do with finding a more suitable method of contraception. If you want to have a look around, we have a fair bit of information on the different options:


Birth Control Bingo!

[Hearth6]

If it's 8 hours later doesn't that make it ok though? The pamphlet says within 3-4 hours it's no good

[Jacob]

My concern is that it has happened more than once (right?), and the pamphlet might refer to unrelated vomiting, whereas yours is showing a pattern in which it might be caused by the medication. As I said it *could* be related to effectiveness, rather than that it definitely is. It sounds like this has been a bit worrying for you too, and the best person to talk to might be your healthcare provider.

[Hearth6]

Sorry I think I wasn't clear in my writing. I only throw up on the first pill in each pack. It's definitely related to the pill but it's only when I take the first pill in eqch pack.

[Heather]

Just FYI, if you're finding that taking the pill makes you vomit, you might want to talk to your prescribing physician about other, equally effective, alternatives, like the patch or ring.

[Hearth6]

is the patch not known for causing nausea and vomiting? Is the patch harder to use than the pill?

[Heather]

The things is that it doesn't matter if someone vomits or not with the patch or ring, because they don't have to worry about throwing them up. Make sense? Too, it may be that you find those other ways of getting the hormones into your system don't have the same effect on your tummy.

The patch and ring are often easier to use than the pill in terms of compliance, actually. Neither have to be taken every day, so they're often more goofproof than the pill.

[Hearth6]

Oh wow and it's equally as effective as the pill? I'll have to look into the patch then because I'm getting quite tired of feeling nauseated all the time. Thank you!

[Heather]

Yep, the combined pill, patch and ring all have the same effectiveness levels, save that compliance rates for typical use of the pill in teens, in specific studies on that, are much, much lower than for those other two options.

You can read up more about those options -- and all your BC options -- here, if you like: Birth Control Bingo!

[Hearth6]

Thank you !

[Heather]

My pleasure! (Seriously, doing contraceptive consulting has always been one of my fave parts of working in this field, so I'm always particularly happy to do it!)

[Hearth6]

I will make sure to change over to the patch because that seems like a better option for me. Until I do that in the next month or so, for my peace of mind for this month, do I have any cause for worry being pregnant though? I know I explained this before, I had sex twice 9 days after the missed pill. I took two pills the next day to make up for it and took my pill normally the next 8 days, so I was 91% protected at the time I had sex? And throwing up that night 8 hours after the pill is not a reason to worry?

[Heather]

The combined pill is 91% effective in typical use, and I see nothing you've posted here that suggests that you wouldn't have had that level of effectiveness, no. There also wasn't any need for you to take extra pills: it doesn't take the body anything even close to 8 hours to absorb a medication. And you really don't want to take extra pills after sex because you're freaking out, if that's what you're saying you did. All that does is increase health risks of the pill, not its effectiveness: you want to stick to taking the pills as directed, which is one pill a day only.

That doesn't mean no risk, but that's not about the vomiting, but about the fact that no method of contraception provides 100% protection from pregnancy. If you want more protection than your pill (or the patch) gives you, then you have two options: you can back up with a second method, which is always what most effectively prevents pregnancy, or you can consider methods like the implant, IUD or Depo that have higher typical use effectiveness rates.

[Hearth6]

Sorry, I think I'm having trouble making sense today on messages! Haha. I did not take extra pills, I just took the missed pill the day after, so I ended up taking my missed pill and my scheduled pill in the same day, about 3 hours apart. Then I took my pill regularly the next 8 days, then had sex. Ok I'm glad to hear I'm still in the 91% effectiveness so I should not worry. Wow there's so many different methods I may look up more to see if the patch is the best one for me. I really appreciate all of your help it really helps my worrying

[Heather]

Sorry I misunderstood!

I forget if I asked you this before, but do you want to talk about backing up with condoms? They're usually the easiest thing to get a hold of for people, and also offer you what no other method can, which is important STI protection, as well as protection from other annoying infections, like bacterial vaginosis and UTIs.

[Hearth6]

So I did correctly take my missed pill? Even though it was so close to my next scheduled pill?

Yeah I definitely will have my boyfriend use condoms along with whatever choice I make regarding my own birth control method, I am tired of worrying and it seems as if two methods will give me the best protection I can have against pregnancy and infections which is great. I just hope I can get him to use them.

[Heather]

Sounds like you have some doubts that'll be easy: want to talk about that, and about how to let partners know that you need for them to use condoms?

(Not "will you," in other words, but "If you want to have sex with me, this is how it's gotta go, so if you don't want to, that's cool, but that also means no sex, because I need them to protect myself and feel okay having sex.")

[Hearth6]

Yeah I need to lay it down to him so he knows this is important to me, and if he cares about me he will do that. If not, I know he's not right for me. Thank you!

So did you say that it is ok even though I took the missed pill only a few hours before my next scheduled pill?

[Heather]

Yep, it is!

And I think the way you put that about the condoms is spot-on. If and when we have a sexual need, a non-negotiable, then the partners who are the right partners for us will be down, no big whoop. And if someone isn't, they aren't -- and we need to obviously respect that -- but then that just means we aren't going to be sleeping together. And if that IS what happens, well, that's something everyone can live through and with. On the other hand, taking health risks we don't want to, or having sex without the things we need to be okay about it, can create some serious issues or problems.

I'd add that if you have the idea using condoms is some big sacrifice, it's so not. It's not anything big to ask, just like asking someone to wash their hands before they eat (or put them in your pants), isn't. When we have good condoms and use them correctly, they don't take anything away from sex. If anything, they usually enhance the experience, because everyone involved can feel freer because they have less to be scared of.

[Hearth6]

I have to say you really have helped me so much I can't thank you enough. Are some condoms more effective than others because they have spermicide on some brands? So the pill(or patch) plus condoms and spermicide is like triple protection?

[Heather]

Happy to do it! You're more than welcome.

How effective condoms are isn't about brands or styles, but about proper and consistent use. So, while the quality of condoms does vary, that's not really about effectiveness, but about how condoms feel, about pleasure with them. And spermicidal condoms are no more effective than those without, so no need to seek those out, since they don't actually offer extra protection.

[Hearth6]

So why do some put spermicide and some not? I thought spermicide kills sperm so even if a condom may fail, won't the spermicide help a little in killing sperms or no?

[Heather]

There's so little spermicide on spermicidal condoms that if someone wants the extra effectiveness spermicide offers (which it only can of a condom breaks or slips off, which is very easy to prevent with proper use), they need to use an additional spermicide.

I'm afraid the short answer to this is: the sell them because people buy them. Alas, capitalism also applies with many condom manufacturers, not just other kinds of businesses.

[Hearth6]

Oh gotcha, so the extra money isn't worth it then for spermicide like condoms it seems. Is it easy to properly use a condom?