Scarleteen

Hey everybody,
I apologize for my embarassing lack of knowledge on the topic (it's my first time on HBC), hopefully someone will be kind enough to shed some light on the matter.
I'm going on holiday at the end of this month, but my period was scheduled to arrive exactly during those days (talk about perfect timing). Knowing my period and its crippling effects on my body fairly well, I decided to ask my gyno for something to delay it. She put me on Zoely and told me to skip the 4 placebos and go straight for the second pack of active pills in order to be period-free while on holiday.
Now, my boyfriend and I are in a long term relationship, but we've always used condoms as I'm not exactly thrilled about the idea of taking HBC for prolonged periods of time. However since I'm already on birth control at the moment, I thought we might as well make the most of it. But since I'm as paranoid as they come, before ditching the condoms I'd like to know: will the pill be fully effective when I start the second pack even though I skipped the sugar pills from the first one?
I probably should add that now we're still using condoms since I started the pills on the 8th day of my menstrual cycle (a couple days after my period ended) and, you know, better safe and sorry.
Thanks in advance to everyone!

Welcome to Scarleteen, bluebell!

Just to be clear - the doctor prescribed you the pill just now for the purpose of skipping your period, and you were not previously already taking birth control? Are you now taking the pill, and when did you start?

Thanks!
And yeah, I've never taken birth control before and I started only 4 days ago.

Alright! So, provided you are taking it as directed - one pill daily, at the same time every day, no late or missed pills, you can rely on the protection once you are done with the first pack.

Do keep in mind that the pill does not protect from STIs, so if you and your partner have not been tested recently, it would be a good idea to continue to use condoms.

Also, taking two packs of the pill back to back is not a 100% guarantee that you will skip a period, especially if you are only just starting the pill, which often causes spotting and irregular bleeding. So, you'll want to be prepared for some irregular bleeding.

Your answer was extremely useful, I'll keep everything in mind. Thank you very much!