Birth Control question

[meiling]

Hi

First off I'd like to say thank you for running this site. It's been a constant help since I can't easily access any other kind of help or go to my doctor that often.

Yesterday I had intercourse with my boyfriend, I've been on the birth control pill since December now and have never missed one. We also use condoms just to be extra sure. Today around 2pm I took the pill I was supposed to, but then around an hour later I had to run to the bathroom about three times due to loose stool. Should I be fine or should I consider a missed pill and take another one? How will this affect me since I had sex yesterday? (assuming worse case scenario like condom didn't work, etc)

Also, I keep noticing my partner's condom keeps sliding up until half his penis but does not completely slide off. Is this safe? Am I still protected from pregnancy when this happens?

Thanks

[Heather]

You're so welcome!

Generally, if you're not having diarrhea -- that's a pattern of loose stools, usually over days, not just one loose stool -- there's no cause for concern about that being an issue with oral contraceptives.

Per the condom, it sounds like your partner should probably be using a snugger size condom. Some sliding is okay, but of course, sliding means it's way more likely for a full-on slip-off to happen, in which case we'd have an issue with effectiveness. To prevent that, it's important condoms fit the wearer very snugly, rather than sliding around a lot.

There's a caveat to that advice, though, which is if that your partner has a much-wider than average penis, he may actually need a larger condom, rather than a smaller one.

In other words, if a condom is slipping around a lot, it's probably not the right size.

Also, one of the perks about condoms is that they are one of the few methods where we can know, right at the time of us, if they worked or not. So long as a condom is on for ALL direct genital contact, and doesn't break or slip off into the vagina at any time, you can rest assured it did its job. It's when it isn't on for all contact, breaks or slips off that creates a condom failure.

[meiling]

Thank you so much for the quick response, you've eased my mind. One last question if you may, that I thought about after posting that.
Due to time constraints sometimes I have to take my pill an hour earlier or some hours later (max I stretched it was around 4 hours). What's the safe time range to take it?

[Heather]

No problem.

If you take a combined oral contraceptive, you have a 12 hour grace period with taking your pill each day before a pill would be considered late. Perhaps obviously, though, you want to try and stay around the same time each day, just so it's harder for you to space taking a pill sometimes altogether.

If you use the mini-pill (progestin-only contraceptives), then you only have a three hour grace period. It's very important to take those kinds of pills at pretty much the very same time each day.

[meiling]

I use the combined one. Thank you so much