Scarleteen

I am normally VERY careful about taking my birth control on the same time, I usually take it within less than an hour window. This morning I woke up and realized I forgot to take it. That means it has been around 13-14 hours since the time I normally take it; I normally take my pill at 9:30 every night. What now? I already took the missed pill the second I remembered. Am I not protected from pregnancy anymore?

Either way, I and my boyfriend always use condoms as a backup just in case, and only recently stopped using the pullout method too along with the condom. There is no possible way I could get pregnant by using these methods, missed pill or not right?
Was it dumb of me to agree with him to stop using the pull-out along with condoms? I made sure he knew to always hold the base when he does pull out after finishing to make sure it doesn't slip off and we always look to see if there were any leaks.

Hi raily_,

Are you on the combination pill? Or are you on the mini-pill?

Either way, if you're backing up with condoms that already gives you a very effective level of protection. As for using withdrawal as well, while the condoms and the pill combined offer a really, really, really high level of protection, would you feel more comfortable if you two went back to using withdrawal as well?

I am currently on the combo Mono-Linyah pill. As for the second question, we used withdrawal not because we thought it gave much more protection but simply for peace of mind. We both understand as long as the condom doesn't break or leak or slip off then we are just as protected. We both discussed it and feel fine with only condoms and birth control because on the off-chance the condom does break then we have birth control as the backup. I just wanted to make sure that I am almost just as protected and that someone else who was more educated than I thought it was a good choice.

Got it. With the combination pill, even with a "missed" pill that's taken more than 24 hours after it's supposed to be, there isn't a big risk increase. And you have 12 hours before it's even considered "late." So given all that, in this instance I don't think you need to worry about a decrease in the effectiveness of the pill.

As far as combining methods, the pill plus condoms brings you to around 98% protected, so opting for those two without adding in withdrawal is still a sound choice. But really, you and your partner are the experts on how much risk you are and aren't comfortable with, so you know if that level of protection is the right level for you.