How long can sperm survive?

[b1e2t3i4]

Hi!

Just wanted some advice about the length of time sperm can survive inside the vagina? I've been on Cerazette for four months now, but really want to stop taking it as its making me feel really really unwell. However, I had sex at the end of my fourth pack of pills (unprotected as the condom split) and am now in to the first week of month five. How long should I wait into the month before I can stop taking it?
The other thing is, I had really bad diarrhea about 5 hours after taking my pill almost a week after the unprotected sex happened (so, a few days ago). Could this have reduced the effectiveness of my pill, and if there was sperm left over, could I become pregnant after almost a week?

Thank you!

[Sam W]

Hi Bie2t3ia,

First off, if you're thinking about stopping your current pill, I would suggest talking to your healthcare provider about what the best/safest way to go about doing that is.

You're correct that sperm can survive for several days inside the reproductive track. However, it takes a BC pill on average 2-3 hours to absorb. So, if you got diarrhea 5 hours after taking it, you can assume it had absorbed that day and that you had protection from it.