Diarrhea on Placebo week

[minischnaulover]

I started having diarrhea (which I know is several watery stools within a 24 hour period) on the second day of my placebo birth control pills. Do I need to use backup protection even though I am not on the active pills? I am fairly sure that this can't affect the birth control efficacy since I'm on the placebo pills, but I just wanted to confirm that. Thank you!

[Redskies]

You're right, this won't affect your pill's effectiveness because you're on the placebos at the moment. Diarrhoea would only be a problem if it might interfere with the absorption of an active pill, and on the second day of the placebos, it certainly can't do that

In general, we do suggest using dual contraception for people who don't want to become pregnant. If you feel happy with your pill as a single method, though, there's no reason to do anything differently to usual simply because of that diarrhoea.