birth control effectiveness

[lycheefan]

just curious, ive been on birth control for about 3 weeks and i started the 4th week yesterday. being on the combination pill, does effectiveness go down if i take it a few hours later than usual? just wanna know if i should use extra protection thank you so much

[Coral]

Hi!

With the pill, in general taking it a few hours late isn't a need for concern. Here's a little more information from an article I'll link below:
"To use the combination pill properly, you need to take one pill every day, ideally around the same time of day every day. It's also important to take your pills in order with most brands (monophasic types are an exception). If you don't take it at exactly the same time -- but still take it on the day you're supposed to -- that won't make your pills ineffective: it's just a safer bet to take it around the same time to keep you in the habit to reduce the risk of you spacing out a pill on any given day. As well, with a medication like the pill that's all about rewiring a very specific process in your body that changes daily, taking it as close to the same time each day as you can helps to be sure your hormonal levels are as regulated as possible. If you want to be as close as you can to a perfect-use effectiveness rate, you'll want to try and take your pills within the same three-hour window each day.

With combined pills, you have a 12-hour grace period before a pill is late, and a 24-hour period before you are considered to have missed a pill. So, if you normally take your pill at 3:00 PM, and one day took it at 6:30, no need for worries."
https://www.scarleteen.com/birth_contro ... ation_pill

Taking your pill a little late doesn't make it ineffective, but using a backup method is always the safest option, especially if you're worried. Hope this helps!