Missed Last Active Pill! Please help!

[Graves1125]

I am taking Junel FE 1/20 and have never missed a pill. In my last cycle, I vomited shortly after taking the next to last active pill. I read that I was supposed to double up in the event of vomiting, so I took the last pill after I vomited. Since I did not have an active pill the last day, I started my placebos a day early, as this is what I was advised to do by my pharmacist. I'm wondering if this was the correct thing to do and if my protection from pregnancy was greatly reduced by this? The reason I am asking now is because I intended to use back up methods for the first seven days of my new pack, just in case, we used Conceptrol, a spermicide, and a condom, but the condom broke. That was just last night, so if you think it is needed, EC is still an option, but I don't want to take it for no reason. So, I'm freaking out now, wondering if this could have compromised my BC effectiveness. Also, do I need to wait seven days into my new pack before I am as protected as I was before? Please help me!

[Heather]

I would suggest you call into your prescribing physician about this. Likely, using EC here or not is just going to be about your personal preference - one missed pill is generally thought to put someone in typical use effectiveness, not perfect use, but that is the level of protection (typical, which is 91% in one year of use) most pill users will have anyway, so this will most likely just be based on how you feel about that. But your prescribing physician would be the best person to ask if you are on the fence.

But yes, I would use a backup method for the first week of your new pack. Condoms rarely break when used and stored properly -and that includes using additional lubricant with them, from a bottle or tube - so if you want to troubleshoot that break to make breaks less likely moving forward, we are happy to do that with you.