Birth Control Fear

[ah7]

Hi! I began the combined pill in February of this year (a Friday and the first day of my period). The next month I believe I began it on a Thursday and in May and June I began it on a Wednesday. However, since July I have began each new pack on a Thursday and take it the same time every day (although in September I began the pack a day late, but took 2 on the Friday to make up for it). Since this incident in September I have been terribly paranoid and am very afraid that for not taking the pill right at the beginning, I won’t be fully protected. My boyfriend and I always use a condom as well to be safe but I can’t stop thinking about if I am fully protected on the pill, despite taking it correctly for months now. It’s all I can think about and is really getting me down. If there’s anything you could do to help ease my mind, I would really appreciate it.

Thank you!

[Sam W]

Hi ah7,

If it helps to know, even if the late start on the September pack had caused a decrease in effectiveness, that decrease would only have lasted through the month at most, and not almost four months on. For some starter advice, this article goes over what to do if you're having trouble trusting a birth control method: Have a Little Faith in BC.

It might also help to dig down some on where that anxiety about your pill might be coming from. Can you say a little more about what those worries entail or what they tend to center around?

[ah7]

Thank you so much for getting back to me! I guess after having a late start to that pack it made me question if I had been taking it wrong in the months previous. Even though I have been taking it perfectly since September, I’m still terribly paranoid and am even too afraid to engage in sexual activities with my boyfriend (despite us always using a double contraceptive method).

[ah7]

I guess taking it wrong in September caused em to question if I took it wrong in the months previous. Even though I have been consistently taking it correctly since september, i’m too afraid to even engage in sexual activities with my boyfriend (we always use the double contraceptive method) as i’m terribly afraid i’m not protected on the pill from messing up at the beginning and starting that pack late in september. I guess i just needed the reassurance

[Sofi]

That makes sense, and it's valid for you to want to be extra careful. It's good you're using double contraceptive methods, but it also means you should ease the anxiety over your mishap in September. You are doing great and are protected, so try to worry less about what happened back then!

[ah7]

Thank you for all the advice! I really appreciate it

[ah7]

Just one final question sorry ( I tend to really overthink these things!)- do you think even if i didn’t take the pill correctly for the first few months (ie I know in May and June I took it on a Wednesday and since July i’ve always taken it on a Thursday apart from Sept, but when i first started it in February it was a Friday and I’m not sure when i took it in march and april i’m just presuming it was a thursday but i never actually noted it down even though i still got periods those months) that i’m still protected as of now as I’ve been consistently taking it correctly , same time everyday and starting new packs on time? Again thank you so much for all the help!

[Sam W]

Hi ah7,

We've already offered reassurance around this, and the added details about how you took the pill close to a year ago are not going to change the answer we give you around this, since what matters with the pill is recent behavior, not behavior from months ago.

What we can continue talking about is where you think those hard to shake fears are coming from; when we're seeking reassurance over something we already have the answer to, that's a pretty good indicator that there's something else causing that anxiety.

[ah7]

Hi thank you once again for getting back to me and I apologise for bringing it up once again. I believe it is just because I am an over-thinker and as previously stated, the event in September really threw me. However now that I know that the pill is more concerned with recent behavior, I feel I have finally gotten the closure I needed form the incident. Thank you

[Sam W]

You're welcome! If you eventually find that the over-thinking around contraception just isn't going away, that's something we can talk with you more about.