Heat damage and birth control pills

[Soupdispenser]

Hello!!

This last week my air conditioning in my apartment was out for 5 days. I kept fans running, but it was up to 95F outside. Luckily it’s fixed now!

My combined BCP instructions say to store the pills and no hotter than 77F. My indoor thermometer told me that it reached 78.5F at peak temperature inside the house.

I keep my pills in my bedside nightstand away from sunlight. When I checked the pill blister pack, I didn’t notice anything weird. The packed looked like is usually does.

Should I continue taking this pack or toss it? What should I look for in terms of heat damage? My first thought is if the pills look normal they are probably fine. But I was hoping to get a second opinion and Google wasn’t helping.

Thanks in advance!

[Latha]

Hi there, Soupdispenser- welcome to the boards! Losing AC must have been so uncomfortable- it's great that's fixed now.

It is true that heat can make birth control pills less effective, but they won't stop working entirely in the conditions that you mentioned. I'd suggest that you continue to take them, and consider using a backup method like condoms as well. Using the buddy system is a good idea in general, but it can be useful if concerned that your usual birth control might be less effective for some reason.

(If you're looking for damage, you can check for changes in things like the smell, color, smoothness, or hardness of the pills, but damage isn't always visually clear.)

[Soupdispenser]

Okay, that makes sense. Thank you!!

In the future, should something like this happen again, where is the best place for me to store my pills?

[Sam W]

Hi Soupdispenser,

Keeping them in the bedside table is already a good call, since it keeps them out of any direct sun or heat. But you can also think about what rooms in your living space tend to be cooler (for instance, in my house the bathrooms tend to always be cooler due to only having small windows) and figure you can move the pills there for storage.

[Soupdispenser]

Sam,

Thanks for the suggestion! The temperature thing has always been a bit confusing for me!