Scarleteen

Hi,
I just wanted to get a more solid opinion on my situation. I'm a 21 year old female who has been a part of a sexual relationship for over a year and a half. We've practiced protected sex for the duration of our relationship, using condoms and regular birth control with the seldom use of EC (Plan B). I have contemplated the risk of vaginal intercourse without the usage of a condom for awhile now and wish to discuss the topic of "safe unprotected sex". Does that even make sense? I've been on Altavera tablets for over a year with no issues, however I do weigh 160 pounds. This is 5 pounds below the limit that was stated in the medications' information. It starts losing effectiveness after 165 pounds. I have been able to take these pills regularly, with a few hours missed in between (Take it at 11 PM the first night, and 1 AM the second for example). I have only taken EC once prior (over a year ago) in combination with my birth control pills with no severe effects.

In short, I wanted to use a Today Sponge or Cervical Cap with in combination with the regularly used Altavera, buying an EC in case to take after we have sex.
Based on this information, will I be risking too much? I've read the posts on this site for these combinations before, but I really wanted to discuss this issue with someone.

Thanks.

This is really something where only you can decide how comfortable you feel with a certain birth control setup. Just in case you haven't seen this particular article, we do have a rundown on the combined effectiveness of two forms of birth control here: The Buddy System: Effectiveness Rates for Backing Up Your Birth Control With a Second Method

Even if you're close to the weight at which your pill states that it starts to lose effectiveness, you're not over it, so as long as you're taking it according to directions you don't need to worry about a change in effectiveness (and if your weight changes, you may want to talk to your doctor about other options; research on the relation between weight and pill effectiveness seems to be fairly inconclusive and I think you'll still have plenty of options, even if you might need to change pill brands). Taking the pill at 11pm one day and 1am the next is still well within the window that counts as "on time" so you aren't losing effectiveness there, either. In general, using two forms of birth control properly is about the safest you can be, in terms of preventing pregnancy, so if you aren't wanting to become pregnant this sounds like a good plan, from that standpoint. But it really comes down to whether you and your partner feel comfortable with it.

One thing I would recommend, though, is that if you're considering going without condoms you make sure you and your partner are up to date on your STI screenings.